So how many of you have sat like me over the last few weeks, months and years listening to the rhetoric of the politicians talking about education? All of them point to studies showing how the US is falling behind further and further every year in Math, Science and basic Reading. Yet every time there is a budget short fall the first place they take aim at is the education system. We can build a Nascar Hall of Fame and a National Whitewater Center, both of which are losing money, with tax payers’ help, but we cannot fund the basic education of the generations that are following us. Don't get me wrong, the schools have also gone off the deep end with the expectations of what is needed to educate a student. It was not that long ago that I was talking to a contractor that was bidding on remodeling the entrance for a high school. Now the high school was built along the same plans as 3 other high schools in the area. It was a decent enough building of block with plenty of rooms. By using the same design when they built the schools back in the 70's the county save a ton of money. But back to the contractor, when I asked him what work he was bidding on, his answer was just the entrance with a bid of around 200K as they wanted curved ceilings and walls that mimicked plaster. He won this bid and they did the work, which came in around 300K from what I understand. A few years later I visited that school to watch a basketball game. I was amazed at the holes and damage done to the 300K worth of work in the entrance way. I though back to the way the original entrance of brick and block had held up so well when I had graduated form a school of the same model. Those walls were still sound after almost 20 years. What a crock. In talking to some of the county education board, the updates were made to make the school look nicer and promote a better learning environment for the students. Just imagine what the environment for the students would have been if that money had been spent on hiring decent teachers. It floors me why people refuse to realize that the 3 biggest factors, in my opinion, in a student’s ability to learn are the family being active, an engaged teacher and a community that expects something out of its members. From my own experiences with trying to raise my son to be a responsible member of a community, I have found that these 3 things no longer know how to communicate. The community is afraid to stop a child from doing things they should not be doing for fear of law suits from the family. The teachers are over whelmed or uncaring and are also afraid of law suits. Parents are over stretched and strapped for time and cannot be held responsible for their child’s behavior. BULLSHIT. First off, the courts need to stop allowing some of these law suits to make it to trial. If I was up to no good and a neighbor saw it, they would at the very least have told my parents, if not have come out and told me to knock it off. If my parents received a call, they would not yell at the neighbor and threaten them for telling them what I was up to, they would say thank you and then explain to me in no uncertain terms what I was not supposed to be doing. This did not include beatings, but there was no doubt in my mind when I got in trouble that I had better stop whatever it was. I was lucky in many ways as my parents had reached the point in life where they realized that punishment could be taken too far and be counterproductive. The is a comedian that makes some comments in his act about what would have happened if his teacher had had to call his parents. He talks in his act about how no matter what, he was at fault if his teacher called, no excuses and how dare he embarrass the family. Now a day there seems to be no shame or remorse for your actions. This has bled into the schools and we have allowed it. In the news a few years back as a case where the police had to be called to arrest a 6 year old (or close to that age) for acting violently and cussing in class. The teacher could not restrain the child for fear of being sued. The parents did sue the school system for having the girl arrested. If that had been me or anyone in the age of about 40 on, the teacher and/or principal would have jerked our asses out of class and sat us down in a room, if in the South only after warming that ass up. The cops would not have been called or if they had you would be glad for their protection by the time your parents got there.
But again I wonder from the main topic. Education! We are allowing children to leave the elementary level schools without the ability to do basic math and/or reading and writing. Why? Do we think this is doing the country or the child a favor? Maybe it is time to go back to making sure that the basics are fully understood, which may result in a child left behind. We have allowed the schools to become so caught up in the race to get the money that we have allowed them to stop teaching. Teaching to me, involves making sure the student has the ability to understand and solve a problem that does not exactly match what they are seeing on paper. It is not just preparing for a set test, but a full understanding of the material. In the case of mathematics this includes memorizing the multiplication tables up to 12. From there you can solve basic math problem. This was actually a punishment inflected on us in 6th grade by Mr. Price...gasp....Yes if we misbehaved, we were left in the classroom by ourselves during recess to write the tables out 0 to 12 10, 20 or 30 times. No teacher had to stay in the class and when recess was over you had better of finished, or the parents were called....see above for the outcome of that.
Parents it is time to take your child in hand...hard than it sounds as I have a 22 year old that is driving me to the edge and over. It is okay to spank them within reason; it is not okay to beat them. It is okay to push them to learn new things and try new things. It is okay to expect more from them. It is also okay for them to not be involved in every activity under the sun and to have some down time. Do not try to live your life again by having them do everything you wished you could have. Remember childhood is the only time in your life that you will have to lay in a field and not have the weight of your world bearing down on your shoulders. It is okay to talk to the teacher and the community and help to change the expectations of all.
Teachers it is time to expect more from the boards of education and to get back to truly teaching. Teachers should not have to worry about passing a certain number of students to qualify for funding. They should have to show that their students understand the material that is right for their age level. If a student fails that then they should be held back, but if a teacher fails to be able to teach the majority of student, that teacher should be replaced. While it is a hard lesson for children to learn, the quicker they learn that they are not all created equal the better it will be for them. When they leave the comforts of school they will have to learn the lesson, and it is so much harder on them.
Communities it is time to realize that the kids that you are allowing to do as they please, grow up to be the adults that cannot hold a job and terrorize the neighborhood. Become involved in the community around you. Watch out for each other and let someone know if you see things going on that should not be happening. Maybe if we can all reconnect to each other and work together and get back to basic teaching, we can put this country back on the path it belongs. A student with a good basic understanding will excel at the advance stuff, as that student will have confidence in themselves and be confident in the support of their family, teachers and community.
Okay so I have vented a bit about some of the stuff irritating me today. I ought to do this daily might help me with my stress.
