Demoralized Teachers, Unruly Students, Bureaucracy Top Concerns About Schools

AP Breaking ^ | 4/23/03 | Siobhan McDonough

[Lance Romance]

"The standards movement has taken hold in American schools and continues to enjoy broad support. But there are some troublesome fault lines," said Public Agenda President Deborah Wadsworth.

Heaven forbid teachers be held accountable. Whether they coddle the troublemakers, molest underage boys and girls or just sit back and collect the paycheck, the fact is the Teacher's Union has destroyed the public school system.

I'm not saying all teachers are bad, just a solid majority.

[Lance Romance]

Sorry, forgot to lay some blame on the Dept. of Education who thought teaching "word recognition" and "gender thought" were better ideas than phonics and math.

[ctlpdad]

I feel we should pull a regime elimination on the teachers unions. I HATE TEACHERS UNIONS!

[SamAdams76]

We need more no-nonsense teachers in our schools and they need to be backed up by an equally hard-nosed principal.

Most urban high schools are zoos. If you've ever seen the old sitcom "Welcome Back Kotter," that actually reflects rather accurately how many urban high schools really are (and an increasing amount of suburban schools). The high school I went to in the late 1970s was exactly like that. A few troublemakers constantly disrupting class and making it impossible for the rest of the class to learn. In fact, unruly kids usually encourage the same behavior in others that would otherwise not be exhibited if the troublemakers were dealt with harshly.

I am all for expelling high school students who cannot conform to acceptable standards of behavior as well as minimum academic standards. I don't know why this society is so fixated on everybody getting a high school diploma. In fact, the diploma becomes virtually worthless anyhow if everybody is shuffled through the system regardless of their performance. I say expel the troublemakers. The world needs ditchdiggers and sanitation workers too. And Burger King is always hiring. Just kick the punks out.

[trebb]

Sorry, forgot to lay some blame on the Dept. of Education who thought teaching "word recognition" and "gender thought" were better ideas than phonics and math.

Yep, the whole left-wing, PC environment has about ruined the system. When parents aren't allowed to discipline their kids, how can we expect teachers to do it? I remember a few years ago, there was an interview with the guy that Clinton had as his Education honcho - when asked if he thought some of these alternative teaching methods were a good idea, even when it was proven that they didn't work, he said (with a straight face) that sometimes teacher actualization was necessary and it was OK for actual learning to take a back seat...

[raybbr]

"It says that our young people are looking for positive role models out there."

"This is a true reflection of how the public feels," said Shirley Igo, president of National Parent Teacher Association. "It says that our young people are looking for positive role models out there."

Because the NEA has taken the parents away as role models.

Teachers said lack of parental involvement is a serious problem, with 78 percent of teachers saying too many parents don't know what's going on with their child's education.

Because the NEA and the school beaurocrats have forced parents out of the schools saying that parents don't know what's best for their children.

[Oldie]

Its not that they are "bad", its just that they are incompetent.

It is interesting to observe how decline of primary and high school education in the US parallels the professionalization of education. Schools of education typically attract students with lower high school GPA and lower SAT scores than other schools within our universities, and at the same time GPA upon graduation is much higher for education majors than for graduates from any other field. The reasons for this are rather complex, but the bottom line is that this is all tied to relaxed standards within schools of education. I have been a professor in various American Universities for twenty years now, and I have never even met an education major that I would consider to be a competent student.

[Alberta's Child]

That pretty much reinforces what I've been saying about American education for some time now. The problem isn't that our kids aren't being educated -- the problem is that our kids aren't being educated and we're paying a lot of money in the process. We've turned "education" into nothing more than day care, but we still insist on paying people as if they are educators.

[Dahoser]

Reading only the article and not the study nor looking at Public Agenda's, er, agenda, I think the point isn't evasion of teacher accountability, but saying that seriously disruptive kids and "Not my child" parents are huge factors in the problems with education. We know this in these parts, but seems to be a taboo elsewhere. Not only that, but isn't it refreshing that money was not even mentioned?

[apillar]

It burns me up to hear this crap from teachers that they want parents to, "get more involved".

They only want you to be "involved" if you walk lock step with what they and their union want. Go to a PTA or school board meeting and bring up the subject of increased teacher accountability / annual testing of teachers etc. You will find out quickly that they no longer want you to "get more involved" and you'll be lucky if they will even return a phone call

Trust me, I know from experience.

[netmilsmom]

Teachers said lack of parental involvement is a serious problem, with 78 percent of teachers saying too many parents don't know what's going on with their child's education. Only 19 percent said parental involvement is strong in their high school.

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Define parental involvement. From what I have seen it's only doing all the school work at home so we can discuss how bad war is in the classroom.

[netmilsmom]

I am so with you, and my daughter is only in Kindergarten. In her second month of school, a week after she turned 5, she was unsupervised as she and 3 other children carried lunch boxes back to the classroom. One of the children let the self closing door go too soon and my daughter's finger was smashed. 17 stitches and broken (only though God's help did she not lose part of that finger). When I went to the board and stated that the children should not be left alone, they said yes, yes, yes, and nothing changed.

[encm(ss)]

"Honor your father and mother" - which is the first commandment with a promise - "that it may go well with you and that you many enjoy long life on the earth." Ephesians 4:26

[TaxPayer2000]

83 percent of teachers said parents who fail to set limits and create structure at home for their kids are a serious problem;

Structure? Involvement?

My daughters school schedule has no structure whatsoever!

mon, tue, & thurs, she gets out at 2:45pm. Wed and Fri she gets out at 2:15pm. every other week there is either a holiday, or a minimum day. Not to mention the 3 month "vacation" as they call it. If a parent does not check the school schedule daily, if not hourly, then the parent has no idea when thier child is at school.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

This study , of course, excludes homeschool teachers. Please see Homeschooling 101 :}.

[two23]

Ill-mannered pupils

Parents who discipline their rude kids, run the risks of a visit from Children & Family Services

demoralized teachers

NEA and Teachers Unions maybe?

uninvolved parents

Many parents have found that getting too involved can have some very negative effects on their childs future in the school, especially if they question the curriculum or text books.

and bureaucracy in public schools are greater worries for Americans than the standards and accountability that occupy policy makers, a new study says

Yes, some parents are concerned about (the socialist agenda), diversity training, tolerance training, guilt-slinging environmental curriculum, re-writing of history, anti-patriotic sentiment, kicking God and the founding fathers out, over prescribing of Ritalin and other drugs, and tests that are 80% touchy-feely pyscho-brainwashing.

[SpinyNorman]

Just another argument for vouchers. I just hope there are places for the parents to send their kids......

And let us not forget the somewhat recent stories of teachers, daring to flunk a non performing student, being reprimanded and forced to pass the student. She eventually resigned rather than do it. The good teachers leave, the rest stay behind, like residue in the bottom of a barrel, too scared to teach properly, or too stupid to know the difference.

[anniegetyourgun]

Government schools = weapons of mass indoctrination. Aiming squarely at our next generation, the Left has ruled its dominion for decades. Now it wonders why the product is so poor and the process so inhuman. They muck up everything they touch and can't admit it.

Public education is a failed experiment and parents should not experiment with their children.

[yankeedame]

I don't know why this society is so fixated on everybody getting a high school diploma. In fact, the diploma becomes virtually worthless anyhow if everybody is shuffled through the system regardless of their performance...The world needs ditchdiggers and sanitation workers too. And Burger King is always hiring...

How right you are! I remember back many moons ago to how shocked I was when my mother (RIP) pointed out that until the mid-1950's or so that quiting school at 16("dropping out") was no more tramatic than dropping out out out of college today. Many, many jobs did not require a HS diploma, e.g. pump jocky, waitress, barber, clerk, hair dresser, construction work, military, factory work, etc.

Girls dropped out about as often as boys, esp. in rural areas. As my mother said: "A girl grows up to be a farmer's wife. What does a farmer's wife (or a farmer) need to know about French literature?"

My mother, who was born and raised in a small Illinois farming community, hated being a farmer's daughter and was determined never, ever to end up a farmer's wife. When she graduated in the mid-1940's she was 1 of only 4 girls in the entire graduating class of 50.

[netmilsmom]

Please send me a link to Homescholing 101. I'm trying to convince my husband.
Love your tagline.