Public Education System

Lately I have seen a lot of mention of the public education system, most of it bad. But, I can understand a bit of it, I went through this system in two states. Now that I have been out of the system for 20+ years, I can see what is coming out now, what was in, and what should be in the school system. From my perspective, first of all, what is my perspective; my perspective is that of one who went through the school system, graduated then married a school teacher. What I saw as a student I can say was clouded, by wanting to get out of school, to get away from teachers and their ways. NOW however I see it another way; as one who has seen the teacher side of the system, the garbage that they have to deal with. Are there problems with the school systems? Yes, of course there is, if they were perfect would I be writing about it, or reading what other people are complaining about.
In my opinion, I can say that the problems with the schools start at home, not all homes, but many. The parents need to take an active role in teaching their children, not send them to a building to be “babysat” by the teachers. Parents need to care for their children, they need to see what their child(ren) are doing at home, at school, at play. At play? Yes, that time when there is really no parental guidance, like after school, who the kids hang out with, are they good kids, or are they trouble makers dealing drugs, or carrying guns to schools. I have seen teachers who have, in a way given up in doing any actual teaching, “here do this worksheet packet” and that is all they do. THAT is not effective teaching. Some people will say, “get rid of that teacher”; well you can’t. You see there is this thing called a union. Not all teachers belong to them, I think it really depends on the state they are working, and the teachers view on unions. As someone who has dealt with unions for 20+ years, I can tell you that unions (in my opinion) have no place in education. Each state should be in charge of the education programs statewide, the counties to have the control in their respective areas, and if need be, break it down to each city. Don’t give some union boss sitting at the state capital the ability to say, that teacher isn’t doing their job, but you have to pay them anyways. If there is a complaint towards a teacher, go through the chain of command, not through the union. If the teacher HAS done something wrong, they should take the punishment dealt them, if they have only done their job, and the complaint has no grounds, GET THAT TEACHER BACK IN THE CLASSROOM!
In New York City, roughly 600 “teachers” are in Temporary Reassignment Centers, or “rubber rooms”. Why are they here? According to the “New Yorker” August 31st 2009 issue “These fifteen teachers, along with about six hundred others, in six larger Rubber Rooms in the city’s five boroughs, have been accused of misconduct, such as hitting or molesting a student, or, in some cases, of incompetence, in a system that rarely calls anyone incompetent.”
“The teachers have been in the Rubber Room for an average of about three years, doing the same thing every day—which is pretty much nothing at all. Watched over by two private security guards and two city Department of Education supervisors, they punch a time clock for the same hours that they would have kept at school—typically, eight-fifteen to three-fifteen. Like all teachers, they have the summer off. The city’s contract with their union, the United Federation of Teachers, requires that charges against them be heard by an arbitrator, and until the charges are resolved—the process is often endless—they will continue to draw their salaries and accrue pensions and other benefits.” http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/08/31/090831fa_fact_brill
So this is what a union can do, keep spending tax payers money for teachers to sit on their butts. That needs to stop. Again I say If the teacher HAS done something wrong, they should take the punishment dealt them, if they have only done their job, and the complaint has no grounds, GET THAT TEACHER BACK IN THE CLASSROOM! We need to get politics out of our schools, get the teachers teaching what they have spent thousands of dollars learning to teach.
“What about the gangs in the schools” someone might say. Well, I could say that I was part of a “gang” in the school, it was called AFJROTC – Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp. There were other “gangs” as well; football, baseball, auto-shop and many others. Gangs that deal drugs or cause problems or shoot people and kids have no place in the school system. Gangs belong on death row. But why do kids join these gangs, well one reason, it gives them a sense of family, because they don’t have one at home. It used to be, mom stayed home took care of the family and their dwelling and dad went to work, “bringing home the bacon”. But slowly that family fell to, needing more money to take care of home, and the new entertainment system for the kids, the new SUV that get 10MPG, or maybe there is only one parent for one reason or another, it could be a parent has died and the other is having a hard time making things work (that parent should be getting all kinds of help). Another reason, one parent is dealing drugs and the other is a prostitute (they don’t deserve to have kids). How about the home where that dad is a deadbeat and the mom has many kids from many “fathers” who is collecting welfare and then spending the money on her food, and not taking care of the children. “But we didn’t have a chance to have a better life”.
You have the same chances as Helen Keller. She was born a normal healthy baby, but 19 months after her birth was stricken with an illness that robbed her of sight and hearing. 19 MONTHS OLD! “At the age of six, the half-wild, deaf and blind girl was taken by her parents to see Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. Because of her visit, Helen was united with her teacher Anne Mansfield Sullivan on March 3, 1887. After Helen's miraculous break-through at the simple well-pump, she proved so gifted that she soon learned the fingertip alphabet and shortly afterward to write. By the end of August, in six short months, she knew 625 words.
By age 10, Helen had mastered Braille as well as the manual alphabet and even learned to use the typewriter. By the time she was 16, Helen could speak well enough to go to preparatory school and to college. In 1904 she was graduated "cum laude" from Radcliffe College. The teacher stayed with her through those years, interpreting lectures and class discussions to her.” http://www.helenkellerbirthplace.org/
I’ve gone on long enough about this for now. Will continue my rant at a later time.