What’s It To You?
I recently opined about the dismal performance of the schools here in GA on the recent standardized testing. I can’t really express how pathetic this is. I have lived in GA for all but one of the last 40 years! So, I remember when the schools here were able to hold their own against any in the country. I remember when the schools used the Iowa Basic Skills tests to evaluate how well the students were learning.
Now, this state uses a dumbed down testing system to compensation for sustained poor education performance. Yes, I said dumbed down.
See, the CRCT is designed not to test how well students are learning. They are designed to test how well the teachers can drill specific topics into the heads of their charges. Then, the entire curriculum was changed to reinforce this flawed process.
Yet, no matter how they stack the deck the performance continues to slide downward.
These are my views and my opinions and needless to say, I am not all that popular with government teachers and school administrators. However, my stance is simple; don’t blame me for pointing this out. The government education system in this state was broken long before I said anything about it.
Yesterday, the webmaster email address of this domain received an email from someone claiming to be a school administrator. I am sharing it in its entirety here. The only things I have removed is their email address and the system they claim to work for because I haven’t verified they are in the position they claim and I don’t want others emailing them.
What is it to you? You do not have a child in the education system of Georgia. You have jumped ship and put your child in private school. How dare you then throw stones at those of us who want to improve education for all not just the priviledged [sic] few like you.
You have no right to even talk about the testing results because you are part of the problem when you could be part of the solution. You are selfcentered and should put others ahead of your selfish desires for yourself and your child.
Rich people like you are the reason I have problems hiring and keeping great teachers.
Disgustedly,
Jenna [last name removed]
What is it to me? Several things.
First, I am an employer in this state. Let’s not forget one of the primary reasons for creating the government education system was to supply an educated workforce to the employers in this state. On that the results are very clear, government education is failing miserably. There are employers in this state who are forced to accept the graduates of the government schools because they don’t really have any choice. The demand is high and the number of people willing to work in those low end jobs is dwindling. However, many of those employers compensate for the dismal job the state does by essentially educating them after they are hired. Notice, I did not say reeducating. When your first priority is to teach your new employees to read, you know you have a problem. In essence these employers are paying twice. They pay large sums in taxes being dumped down the drain in a failing education system and then they spend even more to actually do what they pay you, Jenna to do. Fortunately, I can be selective in who I hire and therefore I don’t have to educate my new hires in basic things like reading and addition.
Second, I am a taxpayer in this state. I don’t think anyone can reasonably argue the current education system in GA is a good steward of the money given to it nor of the children entrusted to them.
Third, I am a resident in this state and have to deal with all of the other social problems of a failing education system. Yes, I am talking about rising crime and a reduced quality of life.
Fourth, I am a citizen and I realize the only way this republic can continue into the future is by making sure those who come behind us have the tools and knowledge to continue to self-govern themselves when we are no longer here.
Fifth, the fact you think everyone who sends their children to a private school instead of the government schools is rich and part of the problem proves to me you are not qualified to train my dog much less educate my child. Sending my son to a private school is a huge sacrifice. Like those employers of low end laborers, I am paying twice. I am paying property taxes into the education system and then I am paying additional AFTER TAX dollars to make sure my son is educated. If you take into account the taxes I must pay to earn the money to send pay for his private school, I am actually not twice as much but more. All this means we do without other things.
Jenna, there you have five things to answer your “What’s it to you” question.
I would encourage you to concentrate on improving your own results instead of trying to drag the rest of us down so you can feel better about the poor performance of the government schools.
WOW, Jenna!
No doubt you can write well. That is part of the teacher and school administrator’s job: Ability to write well.
But there’s a big problem, Jenna. One part of the reading skills is the ability to comprehend what is written. You have failed that part of reading skill.
Go back and re-read the whole school performance blog and it’s replies. Comprehend our words, Jenna.
If you truly take the time to re-read the whole blog, then you should have a better comprehension and understanding of what we parents are saying.
If you still feel defensive, you have given us all the more reason why we can not trust you with our children.
By the way, notice our replies. It does not just say Georgia is the only state with lousy school system.
How sad you attack the easy target. The test is not dumbed down. Comparing it to other standardized tests shows you do not understand what is being done. The CRCT is designed to measure how well the students absorb and master the state mandated curriculum. This is much better than the old way that forced continual and damaging comparisons between students.
Wonderful, you abandoned your public schools. That is unfortunately your choice at the moment. Since you have made that choice why not just move on and leave us to wallow in the dregs you feel you have left behind.
We do the best we can with what we have. You want to make the schools better, get decent funding levels. Yes, no matter what the neocons chant, more money is needed and with enough of it we will solve the problem.
As you know, since you have your son in a private school, proper education is extremely expensive. We have been forced to do it on the cheap in the PUBLIC schools for far too long. Then to add insult to that injury we have to endure people like you telling us what a bad job we are doing.
Here we go again. Teachers putting words in our mouths stating that we blame the teachers.
Re-read what we said: we blame the government.
With that said, decent funding levels?
Huh. Each of my neighbors and I are paying between $4K to $6K via property taxes. Not to mention that, in addition, I pay taxes for Chatham District schools, Springfield District schools and New Berlin District schools.
Here’s my question: EXACTLY how much of my money is the government ACTUALLY spending towards schools only?
I have already commented more on this subject than I really wanted to, and since I do not live in Georgia, I don’t have much to say about the specific problems in that state. I would say that based on some very good friends I have in the state, I have been told that the schools are not very good. As a result they have home-schooled their children from the beginning, the oldest is now 9 or 10 years old.
One comment did catch my attention though…
“There are employers in this state who are forced to accept the graduates of the government schools because they don’t really have any choice. The demand is high and the number of people willing to work in those low end jobs is dwindling. However, many of those employers compensate for the dismal job the state does by essentially educating them after they are hired.”
Newsflash…nobody goes to school to get a “low end” job. The people who work those jobs can’t even pay the rent, and as a result they usually have two or three “low end” jobs. The only people who take those jobs are those who have no other options available to them.
My point is that you can’t blame the school system for not supplying workers for Burger King, McDonalds, Migrant Worker/Fruit Picker/Laborer, etc… Those jobs don’t pay enough, and there are no health benefits. Any moderately good student up through outstanding students would have their sights set on getting a college education. Those that don’t could most certainly go to some type of vocational school and be a mechanic or a carpenter or the like.
In short, the people who take those jobs, are the people who have any variety of problems that would cause them to do poorly at any school in the nation, public, private, or otherwise. No teacher or system is going to make them into anything other than what they are. Besides, as an employer you should know…you get what you pay for.
As far as the classist argument of putting your children in public vs. private schools, this is getting really old. Responsible parents are going to do what is best for their children 100% of the time. I would not put my children (I have 4) in a poorly performing Public School under the misguided reasoning that their mere presence will lift the performance of all around them.
I just so happen to be moving to an area that has some of the highest ranked public schools in the nation. If that were not the case, I would be making the sacrifices necessary to send my children to private school as well. In either case though the problems we all face are much bigger than a standardized test, or a public school system.
The blame game.
Are teachers to blame for the failing schools? No, and yes.
Are administrators to blame for the failing schools? No, and yes.
Are the various school boards to blame for the failing schools? No, and yes.
Is the federal government, specifically the Department of Education, to blame for failing schools? YES and a little no.
Are the parents to blame for failing schools? No, and yes.
Are the voters to blame for failing schools? YES! ABSOLUTELY! They bear the majority of the blame by electing less than stellar talent at all levels of government.
Look at the no child left behind program. It is a leftist, and if you examine it closely, very socialist program. It values the group over individual achievement.
Do we blame Ted Kennedy and the other liberals in Congress for creating that mess? Do we blame Bush for signing that liberal agenda laden debacle?
I blame the electorate for putting them in a position to be able to do it.
The decay came from the top down and it will only be solved by starting at that level.
The Department of Education should be disbanded. There is no basis in the US Constitution for its existence. All control should be returned to the state and local levels. The more local the better. Then and only then will we really return to a time when teachers were REALLY held accountable and their union was not just a way to keep incompetent teachers in the classroom.
You want to see an example of how bad the problem is? Talk to the principal of your local government school and ask them to explain how difficult it is to fire a teacher who is incapable of educating their class.
But, don’t get hung up with that. It is just as hard for the local board of education to get rid of an incompetent principal.
But, the electorate puts incompetent people on the board. Just look at the current debacle in Clayton County GA just south of Atlanta.
Nope, this national, group over individual attitude is what led us here and it is why it will not get any better until enough people opt-out and it collapses under its own weight.
If the schools are so bad where you live why don’t you just move? I’m sure your neighbors would thank you.
Brian,
Excellent post!
Jennifer,
Yes, our Springfield, Illinois school district is very BAD!
Chatham school district isn’t nearly bad but certainly need big improvements. In comparison to Springfield district, for many years, our residents has fought to move into Chatham school district neighborhoods.
New Berlin has what we call “Farmer’s school” but is now in the long process of updating to the 21st century. Our Springfield and Chatham residents are breathlessly waiting to see how New Berlin district schools will unfold. But my children will not stay small enough for us to “wait and see”.
Why don’t we move? I’d LOVE to move to the east or west coast. But, until resolved, there will always be “bad” schools.
But….there’s a resolution! We, the parents, find the resolution and makes LOTS of sacrifices to get it. How? We do without many things and use the money(ies) to send our children to private schools.
Let me say this: there are “bad” private schools. In comparison to “bad” public schools, there’s really no comparison.
Why not? Because we don’t allow “guv’ment” run our private schools!
I believe that bad public schools should be treated just like anything else that you have to pay for. If you go to a restaurant and consistently get bad service, do you continue to go and give them your money?
So what are the options?
1. Private School (If you can afford it)
2. Charter School (If available in your state)
3. Homeschool (If you are up to it)
4. Move someplace with better schools
Realistically I do believe that most people could pull off one of these four. Moving might mean that you go to an area that is more expensive, but maybe you have to make do with a smaller place in order to get by. Maybe you go so far as to change jobs, or even move to another state.
I don’t blame the Department of Ed. I have stated this before, but the Department of Ed, or even state governments have no idea how to handle some of the issues that face todays students and “families”. Families in quotes because the traditional nuclear family is no longer the norm, and that is really what is at the heart of this problem. Why?
Because the concept of public schooling is predicated on certain things being consistently done and put in place from within the family. When a lot of your students don’t have that foundation in place, the system doesn’t work.
I always seem to be able to find something to disagree with Tim on so this post will be no exception :-)…
Wasn’t No Child Left Behind a Bushie program? From what I know, it was based on the program he instituted in Texas when he was governor. It gave teachers and administrators bonuses for making sure students met standards as evidenced by standardized test results.
Problem was that instead of lifting the students at the bottom, some of the teachers whould just find a way to kick them out of school, and keep the better students. Thus, higher percentage of passing students, and higher bonus. This info comes from a documentary I saw about a year or so ago…nothing more.
Every person I know that talks about NCLB has the same thing to say…the government never fully funded the program, which made it even less effective than it would have been if fully funded. None of the people I know and don’t know who would be considered leftist/democrat/socialist like this program. As a matter of fact they never liked it. I consider myself more centrist than leftist, but I think Bush gets the nod for this debacle.
@Brian:
Brian, the Whitehouse partnered with Ted Kennedy to get NCLB through the Senate and enacted. It is not the same program they had in TX, as bad as the TX program was, NCLB is worse.
I agree with you the Department of Education doesn’t have a clue on the issues faced at the local level, which is one major reason it needs to be disbanded.
The biggest problem in government schools today isn’t that the traditional family has changed. The basic problem is a lack of enforceable discipline and common sense. That is why we end up with kids being suspended for bringing spent shell casings from a Memorial Day celebration to school and we suspend other kids because they bring a plastic knife to school to spread their peanut butter at lunch.
Kids know the teachers and administrators have very little power in actually dealing with a discipline issue. There are no real consequences for bad or disruptive behavior.
See, I am the type who believes disruptive kids should be able to be kicked out of school. If their parents thought they were going to have to find some other kind of babysitting service they might be more inclined to rein in their spawn so they can stay in school.
BTW, as to disagreeing, that is great. It is what makes a discussion. If we both believed exactly the same things one of us is not needed for the discussion.
Tim,
I agree with you concerning school discipline. If a child will not behave properly and has been given sufficient chances to improve, they should be kicked out of school. I remember when they banned corporal punishment in the Chicago Public Schools. I was in about the second grade. Before they completely banned it, they set up a system whereby your parents had to sign a form stating whether or not the teacher was allowed to punish their child.
Well, surprise, surprise, the kids whose parents objected to punishment knew it full well. Even as a second or third grade student, I could easily see that the kids who knew they could not be punished were taking full advantage of the situation.
My wife is currently studying for her Masters Degree in Education. She did one of her clinicals at a school in the western suburbs. I was both amazed and appalled to find out that this school (a high school no less) had a “no fail” policy (yeah, I know). If a student fails a test, they are allowed to continue to retake the test throughout the quarter until they pass. Mind you that they are allowed to take the SAME test over and over, not a different test on the same material. Our country will surely have a lot of challenges to overcome in the years ahead…
Oh, so going back to days of physical abuse is the solution?
@Brian: What is wrong with letting a student continue to learn until they understand the materials? Who says everyone learns at the same speed? If a student fails a test it just means they did not understand the material. Let them study some more and try again. Why would you have a problem with that?
@Tim: NCLB is not the problem a lack of money elitist attitudes like yours IS the problem.
Proud,
Obviusly no one is talking about physical abuse. The reality is when children know that there are no consequences for their actions, they take full advantage of the situation. If you are someone who uses corporal punishment properly, 90% of the time you never have to touch your child. The mere threat is enough to get them in line once it has been established that a good sound spanking is an option.
It is tricky to properly implement in schools, I agree, and I would never spank another persons child, even a family member, unless that gave me express permission. And even then it would have to be an extreme case of disobedience.
Secondly, the no fail policy is just plain stupid. If a kid fails a test, they should not be allowed to take the same test over and over so they can find out what the answers are from their classmates and then eventually “pass” the test. That is not learning.
If you are really concerned about someone learning after failing a test, then give them extra work to do on that area that they failed. I have nothing against extra credit. At least let the focus be actual learning, and not pass/fail statistics.