Inspired by your book and observations from teaching

Perspectives on education from a teacher.

I have been in the educational system in some capacity for 30 years now, including 14 years as a teacher. It has come to my attention that the country is at a loss as to how to fix the educational system. I would like to offer a few ideas.

· Main streaming and full inclusion have run their course. Teachers who teach subjects such as history or science have heterogeneously mixed classes and even with differentiated instruction struggle. They are under pressure to pass the special education students and challenge the gifted, all within a 46 minute class period. While this can be done ideally with a co-teacher who is special education certified and knowledgeable in the content area- the behaviors of the special needs children is rarely considered. These students will often disrupt the learning environment and know they have full amnesty because they cannot be suspended for more than 10 days per school year. If the student does get a consequence the teacher has to defend his or herself and prove that the actions of the student were not a manifestation of their disability and they were not provoked. It has been observed by this teacher that a teacher asking a student to take their seat is provocation for the student to curse and yell at the teacher.

· Parents need to parent. I was astounded to hear a pregnant 15 year old tell me that having a baby will not change her life, all she needs is to find a babysitter. Parents are letting the schools raise their children. The schools feed the students two meals a day, they teach subjects from health and parenting to consumer math and life skills. When did parents get amnesty from parenting? I realize with the advent of women’s rights and the consumer/global economy parents are working longer hours to make ends meat or to buy McMansions. There is no one at home to see that Lucy did her homework. I have students who whose parents don’t even buy groceries for the home. Parents will have their own refrigerators and their children will have to purchase their own provisions. I call parents and to let them know of their child’s extremely poor attendance, behavior, grades, or any combination of the three and I will get the following response, “My kid is grown. What do you expect me to do?” or” I know they act up at home, I am not sure what to do- you do what you need to.” This is all assuming the school has a working number to reach a parent or guardian.

· Speaking of parenting, in the world of reality TV the role models one has are either the Bad Girls, Desperate Housewives, The real housewives of any American City, Wife Swap. Basically any show where children are not the focus or if they are there are no positive role models. Teachers are fighting an uphill battle against the media.

· The media- Can some energy and money be put into the media? Teachers are competing against horrifically bad TV that not only throws out any moral fiber but does it at prime time. The culture of America is being drowned in reality TV. Now I like my reality TV in doses. But our students are watching these shows without any supervision or explanation. I am not going to blame Survivor for our low test scores, just as I don’t blame Black Sabbath for teen suicide. I am just begging for the media to gain some control. We do not need to have so much CRAP on TV.

· Culture- I teach in an urban setting and I have a hard time explaining morals, ethics, and how to succeed in life. It is my super secret desire that people in the public eye like Jay-Z, Katy Perry, the Hiltons and anyone else would try to become popular with taste. Why get rich by being stupid and morally poor? These people should have to go undercover as a substitute teacher and see to what their actions have led.

· Bad teachers. Every profession has their “bad apples”. Teachers are no exception. There are teachers who do not belong in the classroom. There are administrators who do not belong in charge of a school. There are superintendents and board members who have no business making decisions that affect students. There has to be a fair way to evaluate, re-train, replace, and eliminate poor professionals. It cannot be at the whim of a principal. In the talk of the unions I have not heard much mention of another purpose they serve, other than tenure protection. Unions enable teachers to make professional decisions which they were trained to do without repercussions from litigious parents. If a teacher removes an unruly and abusive student from their room the union will protect that teacher from being accosted by the parent at a later date. As much as administrators give due process to students, unions give due process to teachers. I do believe in cameras in the classroom and access for parents to the class and grade books. After all trust is at stake here. They trust us to educate, I have no problem trusting them to observe them.

· Charter Schools- as I believe in the concept of individualized instruction and small class sizes. I do not agree that education is a business. Charter schools are in it to make money, often run by CEO’s , not educators. Charter schools, from my experience, will tell the parent whatever they want to hear- after all they are receiving money from that parent- just not in the traditional sense of tuition. Charter schools pull resources from public schools. If they have higher test scores it can be attributed to smaller class sizes and the right to refuse students. If I had classes of 12-15 in my public school and ability to call parents who signed a contract to keep their child in school I think my test scores would increase as well. Parents who chose charter schools are often in contact with that school.

· Special Education- I believe that some children actually are learning disabled. I believe many are misdiagnosed as a result of their parents not parenting and as a result of schools getting more money and breaks for having special education students. I have talked to some parents who regret having their child diagnosed because they stopped working. When a child is diagnosed with ADD or ADHD they now have an IEP. IEP’s require the teacher to only expect ½ the work from that student and they will receive full credit. This may sound preposterous but I have IEPs for students who are graded on a 60% scale meaning a 60% on a test is an A. Then on top of that they receive modifications for the test, the test will be read to them, they will only have 2 choices for multiple choice-not four, they will have matching rather than extended response, they will have a word bank. SO they only do 50% of the test and then if they achieve a 60% that is an A. I am not a math teacher, but to me that is not empowering a student but enabling them and practicing poor math along the way! What job in the real world allows one to do 60%? Another travesty is that students will be way over-medicated. The same doctor who happily diagnosed the 4 year old with ADHD because they would rather day dream then cut out shapes in pre-school is now giving them so many meds that they are comatose during the school day then cannot sleep at night. There is research that says a good night’s rest increases academic achievement. A body that works hard sleeps hard, I think I have heard that somewhere.

So these are some of my perspectives. I teach because I love it. I love science and I love to teach science. My husband is jealous because I like going to work. I have wanted to teach since I first saw Little House on the prairie and Anne of Green Gables.