I'd agree there are many students in secondary schools who could benefit from social programs at school, but I don't have time to provide them - I have enough to do just trying to teach as much of my curriculum as possible to students who can't read or do math because they've been socially promoted by a teacher who didn't want to harm their self-esteem, or an administrator who was afraid of overcrowded classrooms if too many students were retained.
I have enough to do trying to teach the kids who'd like to learn, in between distractions provided by some of the other students.
There are the children who have behavior disorders, and who need to be in my classroom because it's the "least restrictive environment", but they can't be punished like the other children because of their disability (and I can't explain to the other students WHY those children get treated differently, because that would be a violation of privacy).
I have the students who don't want to come to school, but they do, because if they don't attend, the state says they can't have a drivers license until they're 18, and if they don't have a drivers license, they can't get to work. However, the state law just says they have to BE THERE to get a drivers license, it doesn't say they have to PASS, or even attempt to.
There are also those who have to be there so their parents won't get put in jail for neglect - allowing the child to be truant - and those who are required to attend so that they, their mothers (or both) will continue to receive the Aid to Families with Dependent Children checks. Again, the law says they have to be there, but it doesn't say they have to do anything.
Almost forgot, I also have the teenaged parents, and the pregnant teenagers. The pregnant teenagers often don't want to be there, because they don't feel well. (They tend to ask for lots of restroom passes, too.) The parents sometimes can't make it to school because they don't have child care, so many of them don't do real well in school even if they're trying.
And then, there are the students who really are abused and neglected. We could use some social programs in the schools, I suppose. Please don't ask me to provide them. I've got enough to do trying to teach the curriculum.
I thank you for your comments.
It is very unsettling to share one's experience and perspective in an open forum. I don't think enough actual teachers participate in our democracy and join this national dialogue about education. Perhaps we should try harder. (As if we have the time...)
I teach in the Bronx. I often wonder if my life would be more enjoyable and rewarding if I got myself hired in a religious, private, or voucher funded school. Sure I'd make less money, but maybe the kids would be more like me, use more of the same social conventions (syntax, etiquette, values) that I was raised with. I mean, why should I have any compassion for children of immigrants and welfare parents? Why would I keep trying to inspire, motivate, and equip these other American citizens to succeed in their education?
All my flag waving, bible touting relatives tell me to get out of there. They say the public school system is doomed and they don't want a penny of their taxes going into it.
Well, that's why I'm there. I'm a dedicated teacher. Everyone who says these kids and their schools are a lost cause are the problem. Public schools are made up of a kid named (***) whose father is so determined to have him succeed that he practically beats him if he gets anything wrong on a test or hesitates for a second in solving a math problem. Inner city schools are also made up of a tiny girl named (*******) with learning disabilities whose father is in jail and whose mother speaks no English and maybe never will. What is that like? Move your family to China, see how much Chinese you're speaking in a year.
Everyone has an opinion about how to change education. Every politician has a slogan. Every school administrator has ten slogans. Every Houghton Mifflin or Harcourt Brace has a billion dollar solution. Every DOE has "a new push." Even the teacher's unions have millions of pages of forms and contracts. What has that got to do with the lives of these kids? What has it got to do with mine? None of that affects what I succeed at day after day.
I entered the education field because I believe in the power of education to improve an individual's life. The more young Americans we prepare for a productive life of service, innovation, and worthy contributions to society, the better our country will be for our own children--and for the children of disadvantaged, uneducated children.
I realize that an ignorant conservative is going to post in response to this. I'll be called a communist. According to the usual uneducated conservative rhetoric, I don't exist. The 30 struggling children I teach should give up their 28¢ and their caring teacher to an upstate school where the kids already speak the English of their white parents.
Since, according to these know-it-all conservatives who have never taught a single 4th grader, putting more money into education lowers test scores, so why not support legislation that forces me to spend even more of my own money in the classroom? My wife and kids would proudly make the sacrifice, we're white Christian Americans.
Why do you other professionals get to deduct thousands off of your taxes for unreimbursed job expenses (2106) and teachers get only a few hundred?