So last week I tweeted this: “I just had a 17 year old ask me how to spell “stress”. Our education system has failed our inner city children.”
I didn’t get much of a reaction on twitter but a few days later I read THIS response from a friend/blogger of mine, Susannah. If you have time, please click on the link and read.
Now, let me start by saying that I have IMMENSE respect and admiration for teachers. But my comment on twitter isn’t in reference to teachers like Susannah or even the system she teaches in. I am referring to inner city school systems and they ARE, in fact, FAILING in a monumental way.
I think to make my case I need to back up a bit. Perhaps Susannah doesn’t know what I do for a living, or, for that matter, the settings in which I’ve been immersed for the past 4 years. I have counseled in a homeless shelter, a women’s prison, and an inner city school. I also did a year of in-home therapy in the worst of the worst neighborhoods in this city. I now work with teenagers, mostly from those same neighborhoods, in a residential facility. I do, what alot of people in the “helping” professions call… “in the trenches” work. The world I enter when I go to work is so foreign from the world most of you live in, it might as well be a third world country. I live and work in a city that is consistently in the top 10 most dangerous cities in the country. And the areas in which I have worked are the reason for that statistic. I have seen people I have worked with on the evening news…and most recently one was shot and killed. I have been in homes with no furniture…where 8 children were sleeping on 2 mattresses in the floor of one room…just bare mattresses with no blankets or pillows. I have shown up for “in-home” therapy sessions to find intoxicated parents. I have had things thrown at me. I have been spit on, threatened, called everything in the book…. and yet I get up every single solitary day and do it over and over and over again. Because it is my passion and my purpose. Most people don’t last in my position…I have lasted longer than any of my predecessors. So all that to say, I believe I am uniquely qualified to speak on this matter because I live it every day. I am as close to these kids’ “situations” as anyone outside of their family can be. I sit and listen to their stories on a daily basis and I ride the roller coaster of emotions with them. I cry with them, celebrate victories, grieve, dream and hope with them. I feel so much of what they feel, that I dream their stories at night and I cry myself home after work most days.
What I meant, specifically, in my twitter comment is that our education system is broken. It is SEPARATE and UNEQUAL. When you look around most “inner cities” in this country, specifically their schools, you will see we continue to live in a horrifically segregated country. Let’s take schools in Birmingham for example. We have Shades Valley IB, The Alabama School of Fine Arts …we have the Vestavia school system, Homewood…some amazing schools that regularly rank among some of the best in the country. Then you have Birmingham City Schools. A school system that is so bad, kids attending have a greater chance of going to jail than college. Schools that are known for violence, gang activity, drugs, and, most notably, horrible academic achievement. Why? How is it that Woodlawn high school is mere minutes from Shades Valley and yet they are light years apart in terms of student achievement and success. Because it’s in the ghetto. Let’s be honest. Inner city schools get less funding, fewer resources and, most often, run off the few quality teachers they have. Is this a racial issue, a class issue, a cultural issue – it’s all of the above. BUT although growing up poor and black and from the ghetto in our country, statistically speaking, usually means your future is doomed – it doesn’t mean poor, black, urban kids aren’t intelligent and can’t learn. BUT that is the message they are sent. Did you all read my blog post about the Culture War? If not you should. But anyway, when trying to press the issue of education with my clients or trying to encourage them to dream outside of their neighborhood, the common responses I get are, and I quote, “those things won’t happen to me because I’m not white..” and “Ms. Katie I’m from the hood, you don’t understand.” These kids have been taught that black and poor = less opportunity, lower quality education, dead end future. Period. They don’t believe their life can be any different than what they know in their own 5 block radius. And often, to try to believe any different garners criticism from peers – please see Culture War blog for that one too. BUT what I do know is that giving kids hope makes the difference…if they have something to hold on to…a dream that they believe in, a dream that others foster in them, and a safe place to dwell in that dream….anything can happen. For many kids…school can be that place. It was for me. I didn’t grow up black and in the ghetto…but I grew up poor for many years, in a single parent household. I was a latchkey kid, I had little family involvement, little support at home (insert defense of mom who was a workaholic to make ends meet). I’ll spare the details, but I witnessed a great deal of domestic violence and abuse as well. My story is nowhere near as bad as that of most of my clients…but, statistically speaking, I shouldn’t be as educated as I am today. So how did I make it? Because school was the ONE thing I could do. I couldn’t play sports, I was fat, I was depressed, I was a very lonely kid…but, by god, I was smart and teachers saw that in me and they encouraged me. School was my refuge and my sanctuary. When I was there I was safe. School is the reason I am where I am today. PERIOD. And I was fortunate enough to attend some REALLY good schools. Had I been black and from the ghetto, had I not attended suburban schools, would my story still be a success story?
Too many people think inner city kids just can’t learn, that they are just “bad” and trying to change their beliefs is useless. I have heard professionals in my own field talk about our kids in this way. They’ve given up and believe they can’t change…it’s too ingrained in them…culturally speaking. Susannah, in her attack on my twitter comment, essentially made my point for me. She said that there is more going on with kids not being able to learn than just a bad education system…I quote: “maybe they have a low SES.” Well my response to that is – why should SES matter? Why does “low SES” = can’t learn. You’ve made my point. We automatically think that children who come from underprivileged backgrounds can’t achieve. There is nothing more frustrating and infuriating than when I get a kid into my program who, despite being the victim of horrific child abuse, coming from a violent home and “bad” neighborhood, is HIGHLY intelligent. And yet there is NOTHING I can do to get that kid into a decent school or even ensure they will have a family to go to when they leave my program. Despite their high intelligence, they will, more than likely, be shuffled to another facility or group home, never settling anywhere permanent and, eventually, not even gra
duate. The majority of the kids I see already settle for their GED rather than pursuing a diploma because they are “too far behind, there’s no way they can catch up.”
duate. The majority of the kids I see already settle for their GED rather than pursuing a diploma because they are “too far behind, there’s no way they can catch up.”
Susannah argues that there is more going on…that this problem begins at home. True. And that’s mostly my usual area of focus…BUT…let’s stop a minute and discuss some places where, despite being poor and black and from the ghetto, kids are learning, excelling, overcoming academic deficits and changing the entire trajectory of their future – BECAUSE OF THE SCHOOL THEY ATTEND. I’m sure many of you have heard of the recently released documentary about education in America titled “Waiting for Superman.” Oprah did a show recently on the film and discussed some charter schools that were making great strides. Now let me state, for the record, that I acknowledge that not ALL charter schools are getting it right…but some are…and they are proving that simply being “low SES” doesn’t mean you are doomed to a dismal future. For example, YES Prep Charter School in Houston had 100% of their graduating seniors accepted to 4 year colleges and 90 percent of those were the first in their family to go to college. Several of the others featured had taken children that were 4 or 5 years behind and were able to catch them up in 9th-12th grade and prepare them for college. Going from a 1st grade reading level to 100% proficient by the time they graduated. And most had 95-100% acceptance to 4 year colleges. These are kids that are, again, mostly black and poor, but are finding they CAN learn and CAN dream bigger…why…because they have a safe place to do it, adults who believe in them, and a school that WORKS.
A recent study shows that this generation will be the FIRST in history to be less literate than the one before it. Our inner cities are getting poorer and our inner city schools are getting further and further behind. Dropout rates among african american high school students are staggering compared to their white counterparts. WHY?
So the point I was trying to make, in a very simplified 140 character tweet, was this… our education system continues to be mostly segregated, with the majority of money, resources and quality teachers going to the richer suburban schools. The result = less educated, poorer, inner city kids who are more likely to succumb to gang and drug activity and end up in jail than college. I don’t have the solution. I’m a therapist, not an educator. But I do know that it takes people with dedication and passion who are willing to fight in an environment that is very resistant to change. I have been fighting resistance in my own system (residential care and the foster care system) for quite some time and there are days that I just don’t think I can keep going. I complete my license in a few weeks. The license that will allow me to go into private practice, independently, if I choose and make more money. I will be free of the heartache and struggle of fighting a system whose dysfunction in SO deeply ingrained in the way it operates and sustains itself, that it seems it will never change. But will I walk away? Probably not. I can’t see myself ever walking away from these kids…I believe I will always work with them in some capacity or another. I might dabble in other ventures, but I will keep my feet “in the trenches” in some way, shape or form.
In closing, I would like to reiterate that I have immense respect for Susannah as teacher, a working mother, a blogger and a friend. My blog wasn’t an attack on her …although I think hers WAS an attack on me 😉 …but it was simply an explanation of my point of view. I don’t think Susannah has a clue what’s going on in our inner city school systems, or, for that matter, how VASTLY different they are from the type of school she teaches in. Maybe she does. But I don’t think simply being a teacher in a suburban school system means you understand, and fully grasp, the magnitude of the problem in our urban schools. I live in the city of Birmingham and Eric and I have already discussed the fact that, unless 1 of us gets a huge salary increase, and can send our future children to private school, we will be forced to move out of the neighborhood we love when they get to school age…otherwise they will be zoned for Birmingham City Schools. That, unfortunately, is the reality. And, again this was a 140 character tweet, but I NEVER said it was the fault of the teachers. It is the system in which they work. Susannah is a good teacher, it doesn’t mean all teachers are, but due to the way the system operates, we aren’t able to fire ineffective teachers OR compensate effective teachers more.
So go see the movie “Waiting for Superman,” get involved in trying to make a quality education something that is “equal opportunity.” Don’t just be thankful that YOUR kids go to a good school. Think about the kids that can’t. Think about how much better our society, our nation, will be if EVERY child in America has the opportunity to go to college. Maybe our math and science jobs will stop being outsourced to China and India. And maybe we’ll have more urban african american kids who make it out and can go back and show upcoming generations what is possible for them.
If you are interested in seeing the Oprah show on “Waiting for Superman” you can view it on You Tube by clicking HERE. The show is divided into 5 parts but one automatically starts after the previous one ends so it’s pretty seamless. If you don’t have time for the whole show please take a few minutes to watch part 4 of 5 …beginning at about 4 minutes in.
Before the criticism starts flying, let me reiterate again that I know this is not an ALL black or ALL urban problem. There are schools or poor rural areas that are under performing as well …but I’m speaking in generalities and from the perspective that I see on a daily basis. I haven’t seen the documentary yet, but from what I can tell, some of the major issues being discussed in the film are the politics of the education system, tenure, teacher pay, holding teachers/schools accountable, the need for longer school days and more teacher involvement, a better way to evaluate effective vs. noneffective teachers, etc. Go see the movie when it comes out. I plan to.
All Things Me 
You ladies bring up some very interesting points, and while I have experienced the sadness you speak of, ultimately the things that should be seperate are parenting and educating. Schools are for TEACHING and homes are for PARENTING. I do feel sympathy for people with a terrible home life, and the problems that brings on, but I still don’t think it is up to the school system to pick up that slack. I think the school system you speak of is a terrible cycle that will never end, because those children who have poor home lives, act out, and as a result of them acting out they make choices to further than spiral, not climb out of it and then the school becomes a terrible dangerous place full of children with similar problems instead of a place of education and opportunity. No one fuels money into those places because it would not be well received. The damage has already been done and reversing all of that would be more than any human could handle, be it teacher, counselor, church etc. Many people are to blame, and it would take many people to resolve it, starting with PARENTS. It is a sad state of affairs, as is our world because the american home/family life is not what it used to be, black or white.In the end, each individual (student) must make the choice to fight or give in to poor choices. Regardless of circumstance, there is always an option for growth and opportunity but it requires effort and cant be handed to someone.
Okay, I going to attempt to break this up into sections so as not to overwhelm.First off, let me say that I admire you for doing the job you do. I don’t think I could mentally handle all the sadness and unfairness you see with these kids on a daily basis. It is super effed up what people do and say to their kids. It really breaks my heart that most of these kids have heard that they are worthless from day one. I also agree SOMEWHAT on the "Separate but Unequal" issue-some schools are just better. But that is a combination of factors, mostly location. Property lines and surrounding areas will determine what kind of people live in an area, and a bigger factor for most people is the public school system and ranking in an area.I personally know a woman who works with inner city, at risk high school students in DC and the organization’s goal is to get the kids into college and to graduate from college. These intervention programs are what help the kids succeed. BUT, it’s also personal CHOICE. The kids have to want to succeed, and just because they go to a shitty inner city school doesn’t mean they are destined to be ghetto or dropouts or gangsters. Personal choice is our number one factor in making something of our lives. And the type of school you go to doesn’t make you decide to be a dropout who deals drugs. It may influence you, but you still make the CHOICE to succeed or not succeed.Also, inner city schools receive MORE funding than regular public schools due to Title I. They know the kids are more at risk, so the government allots more money. And I quote, "Title 1 funds aim to bridge the gap between low-income students and other students. The U.S. Department of Education provides supplemental funding to local school districts to meet the needs of at-risk and low income students."Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/11105.aspx#ixzz10sChD0UVAlso, I beg to differ on the quality teachers issue. I used to teach in a Title I school-96% of the school was on free/reduced lunch, and of those students, about 70% came from single family homes, a parent or other caregiver in jail, drug sales from the home, physical abuse, or other issues. I had two students having SEX IN THIRD GRADE. We had A LOT of teachers working 6 am-6 pm to meet these kids most basic learning needs. And that year, Georgia instituted the Pass/Fail CRCT testing law, and all but ONE of my children passed the test. The ONE was a special education student being mainstreamed for part of the day. My point is, quality teachers do go to schools that are tougher. Granted, the teachers aren’t lining up at the door to get the job-most want an "easier" school to work in. One where parents volunteer, kids are eager and well cared for, etc. I do understand that, but I also know that other teachers go there to make a bigger difference in lives.Another thing that needs explanation/defense is the issue of low SES. Low SES does NOT mean that kids can’t succeed in school. Nor does it mean that teachers "give up" on these students. Low SES typically means that there will be little to no support at home, due to parents working harder to make ends meet. This in turn impacts student achievement. Along with the little matter of choice. Also, who says they are "too far behind, there’s no way they can catch up?" Unless a kid is reading about 3 grades below grade level, I don’t see them being too far behind. They should be able to catch up with LOTS of hard work, after school tutoring with the teacher, and help at home.And for the love of Oprah, I honestly don’t see how we can implement LONGER school days and more teacher involvement. I am getting to work at 7 and leaving at 5. And I could stay longer if I didn’t have a child and a family to care for. I am not alone, either. I read a lot of teacher bloggers who are saying the same thing, too. We are allllll working hard, and we are allll trying to achieve a similar goal. Me and you. To see kids succeed, even through difficult circumstances. Home, society, and life circumstances in general.My main point in my blog was to "stick up for" the education system-I have been hearing it from various sources of media (like Oprah, Obama, etc) that we as an educational system are failing our kids. My response to that is (besides blow me :D) that this generation of teachers is working harder than any before them. They are better prepared collegiately and are more willing to try research based strategies than those leagues before them. They work longer hours and have more resources to use and try (even inner city/Title I schools).So, to end, I understand and respect your job and viewpoint. However, personal choice determines every human’s ability to succeed.
I would like to see you walk a mile in the shoes of a teacher. A teacher is more than just a teacher, we are also the social worker, nurse, "parent" and an educator. I have never been in a Birmingham City Schools but I have taught in Atlanta School, so I think that qualifies me to say this…. schools in ???bad??? area get tons of extra money for resources and supplies. It is called Title 1. These schools are given money to help make the education ???equal???. When I taught in Atlanta schools, it was early in my career. I spent almost $200 a month on food, snacks and supplies for my classroom. The majority of the money spent was on food for my classroom. Most of the students in our building where living in section 8 housing and would qualify for free or reduced lunch. However, their parents would not fill out the paper work for this assistance. They came to school hungry every morning. They could not settle in to learn until their very basic needs where met. This was not happening at home by their ???parents???. So I, their TEACHER, was making sure this basic need was met before I could even begin working on the academic tasks that faced them. In addition to teaching in the inner-city, I also grew up in a very poor town. The town was considered ???the red-headed step child???. We where almost an hour away from the rest of the district, in the middle of the swamp, and have very few students. We did not get the same funding, teacher allotments or supplies that the other schools in the district had. I remember visiting other schools in the district and thinking how lucky these students where that they had all the ???extra??? stuff. Looking back, I would not change it for anything because I learned more from those caring teachers than any of the ???stuff??? could have taught me. I think that before we blame teachers for our broken school system, we should think back to when we were kids. What a teacher said went, our parents backed up teachers. There where consequences for our actions. Our parents set examples for us to follow. They showed us how to behave, act and treat others. See, anyone who knows anything about human development knows that a person???s basic needs (food, water, shelter, and clothing) have to be met before they can be taught or can grow. I suggest if you think that the education system is SEPARATE and UNEQUAL, then go back to school, get a degree in education, and fix the school system, until then, let me do my job and stop bashing teachers.
Susannah asked me to check out your post, as I had strong feelings towards what she posted on her blog the other week. This topic is something that I hold close to my heart, as my husband works in the schools, my parents were staunch advocates for my educational accessability, and I am a product of the special education system. As a child with a disability, as a child of parents with limited income, as a child who attended sub-par schools, as an individual who has experience being in the position that so many of the children you speak of, and an individual who has worked personally and professionally with this population, I feel somewhat well-versed to respectfully disagree with some of your points.I think you do some incredible work. I have kudos and accolades for all the professionals who work with school children, because I know that if it were not for the teachers, like Susannah, who put in the extra hours, the extra effort, the extra attempt to call my parents, the extra snack when I was hungry, the extra attention, and going above and beyond their job description and call of duty, I would not be where I am right now. I truly, truly believe that those professionals empowered my parents to demand what we/I deserved, and in turn, their efforts benefitted me.However, those teachers, SLPs, counselors, principals, audiologists, paraprofessionals, and people outside the school system WORKED TOGETHER. Each individual brings a unique skill set, a unique frame of mind, and together, the team helps the child. In many respects, I feel that we, as a society, and at several points in your post, fingers were pointed. Instead of engaging in the blame game, it would be a better use of time to put heads together and work in the best interest of the child. At the end of the day, I truly truly believe that people WANT our future generations to be well-educated and carry our society in a respectable manner. The notion of "fairness" is a novel concept. It is a pretty picture that we paint, a eutopia of sorts. However, we need to be mindful and present in the moment. Life isn’t fair. Not everyone has caring parents, awesome school districts, money, and all their basic needs met. That’s a fact. Acceptance is something that I work on everyday, acceptance does not mean complacency. I accept that things are not fair, I accept I will not always have access to things that my able-bodied peers do, and that is okay. It is simply a fact. I don’t resign myself to feeling sorry, to lamenting the travesty of my situation, or to be enraged at the unjustices that are surrounding me. I do what I can with what I have, and I’ll never give up because I know I am a worthwhile person. I think that message is missing in many children’s lives. That they are worthwhile. That they are responsible for their own actions. That they are bigger than anything that happens to them. That they are in the driver’s seat and in charge of their lives. That they can be anything they want to be. These are some of the messages that the team of professionals and my parents instilled in me. It’s not our job to get them placed in a better school. It’s our job to make do with what we have, in that moment, to inspire them, to work with them, to be there. It is a tough pill to swallow, I will never deny that, but working together, making peace with frustration and anger, and working with what we have, in conscious effort to give these children some positive thought and hope. As another mental health professional, I’ll never stop listening, never stop empathizing, and never stop planting seeds of hope and change in those I work with.
"Under Valued" -I am not sure if I know you personally or not since you did not give your name, but my blog obviously struck a nerve with you. I am a little confused about your comments that I am "blaming" teachers and "teacher bashing" – I reiterated twice in my blog that this was not about teachers or directed at teachers in any way. I stated very clearly that I had immense respect and admiration for teachers and that teachers were KEY in my own personal success. I do believe there is a systematic problem with the education system, teachers unions, funding, etc. but in no way do I believe that teachers are the problem. In regards to your comment about extra funding for inner city schools, my response is simply — Where is the money going? Is it being mismanaged? Because it is obviously not going to improve buildings, buy supplies, etc. My boyfriend taught in ATL as well and he didn’t have enough books for his students, he had students sitting on garbage cans and he taught in an overcrowded trailer where the heating/AC didn’t work half the time. The schools may, in fact, receive extra funding but it isn’t showing. These schools continue to under-perform. With that said, I think many teachers, and apparently you as well, feel under appreciated, under valued and defensive about this issue. I don’t blame you. You pour your heart and soul into it, receive little pay, and often get criticized for what’s wrong rather than being recognized for what’s right. I understand that. I think your comments were unfair. I reiterated numerous times that this WAS NOT about teachers and ESPECIALLY not about good teachers who do all they can. You, obviously, sound like one of those. My blog was not about teacher bashing and I feel that is clearly stated. I think you took it personally because of what you do, and have done, for the education system. If you knew me you would know that I’m not a judgmental person and I believe strongly that kindness and communication are key in all things. We both work in a dysfunctional system where we try our best to make a difference, no matter how small, in the life of a child. That is what we should focus on here. I care deeply about the plight of inner city kids and I just want to see them have a chance in life. My frustration comes, not out of judgement or anger, but out of sadness.
there are lots of things in this post, many of which i cannot begin to comprehend. i’ll simply speak to my experience here in Montgomery.i’m a graduate of the Montgomery Public School System. i loved my time at JD, and was proud that there was actually a great staff and faculty in place that did a brilliant job. i had an incredible choral teacher and our group was tops in the state; we traveled internationally on an annual basis (we even sang in the Vatican). i took two years of Latin with an incredible instructor and was a member of Latin Honor Society. my senior year english teacher was also a college professor here in Montgomery. all this in a school that WASN’T a magnet school. when i left, i was really excited for when my younger brother could attend JD and have the same experiences i did. when it came time for him to start high school, my parents put him in private school. why?the city redrew the zoning lines. within two years, all those incredible teachers i had were gone. two retired, outright. one fled for the private school system (and is still there). there are now semi-armed security personnel on staff during school hours and large, black iron gates surrounding the front entrance of the school. the one teacher who left for private school told me he just couldn’t work with students who didn’t care.the education system, at least here in Montgomery, IS broken. the local politicians seem to do things on a whim, without thought for what the impact will be. teachers unions, especially the AEA, have a stranglehold on everything and make improvements damn near impossible. all of this colludes to create an environment where everything gets mixed up and children are left to whither on the vine. the great teachers are now in private schools. the kids who give a crap about their education are in private schools or are enrolled in the Magnet program. so the basic system is 1) private school, 2) Magnet school, and at the very bottom, 3) everyone else in regular public schools.this isn’t to say there aren’t teachers who don’t care. i know a handful who trudge it out and make the best of what they can but without any sort of viable support system in place to help them, they long for when they’ll be able to move into private schools. the parents don’t care and blame everything on the teachers and because it’s the teacher’s fault, there’s no repercussion at home to mete out punishment for things they do wrong.we now have a ten-month old daughter and before we know it, we’re gonna have to decide what to do about school. for the most part, the elementary school system is still pretty good (despite a teacher being shot outside a local school just yesterday). but junior high and on? yeah, we’re praying for a miracle in the form of some sort of financial windfall or to get super lucky and have her placed in the Magnet program. this coming from someone who has been one of the biggest believers in the public education system for a long, long time, but i’m not willing to put my daughter’s education on the line just to prove a point.ultimately, i have no idea what my thoughts here add to the discussion. i’m not a teacher, nor is my wife, so i can’t speak to any experience past mine as a student. take it as you will.
I think that you can say the system needs work and it not mean that teachers are lazy bums. The teachers and the system are very closely associated, just as good schools and bad schools make up the system. Just because the system could use tweaking, doesn???t mean that every school is underperforming. However, if you are a teacher and don???t see opportunity to change for the better, no matter where you are, then you???re kidding yourself. No one wants to be told they???re doing a bad job or doing a job poorly, be it parents, teachers, students, admin, etc. The reality is, if we have significant gaps in education, and the trend seems to be that our country will see stark changes and failures because of students falling so far behind and off the map, then something needs to be done. Having taught before, I agree that teachers tend to work long hours for pay that doesn???t match the effort, especially considering they are the front lines for preparing the future leaders and professionals of this country. But as teachers like to say, if you were doing it for the pay, you wouldn???t be teaching. For me, teaching wasn???t my passion. I felt it would best benefit not only me, but my future students, if I moved on from it. If I had stayed, I would have no doubt tried my best. But I did fear becoming a cynical, careless teacher, like many of whom I taught with, that perpetuated the downward spiral. I couldn???t allow myself to go on and become that teacher. There are a lot of bad teachers. But that???s not an indictment on the many good teachers out there making a real difference. If you watch the news, you know the bad news tends to outweigh and show up the good news. But it doesn???t make the good news any less good. The reality is that there ARE inequalities in our educational system. Funding is not always even or allotted for what teachers truly need. Facilities are not always up to date and efficient. Much of this has to do, at least in Alabama, with the way taxes are locally assessed and distributed for education. I do not expect that it would be the same all over the country. But if kids in neighboring cities are receiving much different educations, something is not right. Where does it start? Where does it end? I???m not entirely sure. I don???t know that adding extra hours to the day or imposing harsher restrictions or guidelines is the answer. Many teachers and schools go above and beyond expectations now, but I do know that if we don???t see this as an issue, and an issue that affects us all nationally, we will all ultimately suffer. It???s an issue that we need to see and approach as our own- both at home and at schools- or it could become our downfall.
I think that you can say the system needs work and it not mean that teachers are lazy bums. The teachers and the system are very closely associated, just as good schools and bad schools make up the system. Just because the system could use tweaking, doesn???t mean that every school is underperforming. However, if you are a teacher and don???t see opportunity to change for the better, no matter where you are, then you???re kidding yourself. No one wants to be told they???re doing a bad job or doing a job poorly, be it parents, teachers, students, admin, etc. The reality is, if we have significant gaps in education, and the trend seems to be that our country will see stark changes and failures because of students falling so far behind and off the map, then something needs to be done. Having taught before, I agree that teachers tend to work long hours for pay that doesn???t match the effort, especially considering they are the front lines for preparing the future leaders and professionals of this country. But as teachers like to say, if you were doing it for the pay, you wouldn???t be teaching. For me, teaching wasn???t my passion. I felt it would best benefit not only me, but my future students, if I moved on from it. If I had stayed, I would have no doubt tried my best. But I did fear becoming a cynical, careless teacher, like many of whom I taught with, that perpetuated the downward spiral. I couldn???t allow myself to go on and become that teacher. There are a lot of bad teachers. But that???s not an indictment on the many good teachers out there making a real difference. If you watch the news, you know the bad news tends to outweigh and show up the good news. But it doesn???t make the good news any less good. The reality is that there ARE inequalities in our educational system. Funding is not always even or allotted for what teachers truly need. Facilities are not always up to date and efficient. Much of this has to do, at least in Alabama, with the way taxes are locally assessed and distributed for education. I do not expect that it would be the same all over the country. But if kids in neighboring cities are receiving much different educations, something is not right. Where does it start? Where does it end? I???m not entirely sure. I don???t know that adding extra hours to the day or imposing harsher restrictions or guidelines is the answer. Many teachers and schools go above and beyond expectations now, but I do know that if we don???t see this as an issue, and an issue that affects us all nationally, we will all ultimately suffer. It???s an issue that we need to see and approach as our own- both at home and at schools- or it could become our downfall.
I just wanted to respond one last time about this issue…I realized that I started this whole debate and there isn’t a debate to be had. There is no disagreement. When you look back we are all in agreement that there is a problem with children not learning, especially underprivileged children. I never blamed anyone… I simply said the system is broken. Period. There are inequalities. I don’t know why, I don’t know how to fix it. But for some reason, our inner city schools are lagging behind and they shouldn’t be. That’s it. You can’t argue that point either. All of the statistics show that. As Luke and Joe say…"it’s science!" 😉