The Broad Foundation vs Parents & Teachers in Seattle

[Hannah Bell]

Seattle & wash state currently ban charters.

The Broad circus has targeted the state, starting with the installation of goodloe-johnson as superintendent. then she brought more broad toads in.

see the video here:

http://michaelklonsky.blogspot.com/

[exboyfil]

1. My daughters go to a pretty good public school

We spend less money per student than our somewhat disfunctional neighboring school system. Even with that I refuse to have my youngest daughter take 7th grade English with a particular teacher (she is being homeschooled in that subject).

What is wrong with giving more parents and children options in education? It is pretty bad when you cannot even give something away (public education). I would like to get your suggestions. I personally like the idea of charter and virtual schools. Maybe they have been poorly implemented in some areas, but my daughter's friend is doing virtual school in Wisconsin and she is doing well and loves it.

My biggest problems are not with teachers teaching the test, they are with teachers who are either incapable of teaching a particular subject at an adequate level (such as 6th grade math) or having no interest at all in teaching a subject (7th and 8th grade English for my oldest daughter). Remember this is a pretty good school system. I can't imagine what a poor school system is like. They spend about a $1K more per student in our neighboring school system, but their results are much lower than our school system. I don't necessarily blame the teachers in this case. I think the problem is the apathy or even hostility to the teachers and administrators by many of the parents. What the parents who care want is to have their children with other children who are respectful and want to learn.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. What do you propose we do about the kids who aren't respectful and don't want to learn?

I wish all my students had parents like you. But here it is the middle of the third week of school and I still have over half of my students who have failed to bring back emergency contact information. How hard can THAT be? You can forget about homework. No school supplies come to school either. It's like these parents are invisible. They clearly do NOT want to participate in their child's education.

We had a very sick child this week and had no way of contacting the parent. All the numbers we had were bad and she had not brought back the emergency form.

If we can't even solve this simple problem, how can we hope to involve parents in more complex issues? When the only involved adults are the ones who work in the school what do we do??

[exboyfil]

4. Early streaming by behavior to begin with and

later ability as well. Spend time with the kids who want to learn. Let the parents know what is going on, and let them decide whether you are a babysitting service or a teaching institution. Give plenty of options for children who want to learn but may be unable to do higher level math without expending a great deal of effort or other subjects for example. I don't want to prejudge their role in society, but, unless they are late bloomers, they will be continually frustrated by their inability to keep up with their peers.

I think these factors are at the heart of the charter and virtual school movements. At a certain point children become so disruptive that teaching can no longer occur. Also we do have teachers who really have no business teaching particular subjects. My daughters have had two so far - both are personable and skilled in other areas (one is an excellent 6th grade teacher except for math) and the other is an excellent coach (but not an English teacher).

Like I said I am fortunate - my kids are in a very good school system which could be better. I have quietly elected to Homeschool in subjects in which the school system is incapable of meeting my daughter's needs. My only regret is that I did not do the same with my oldest. I am hoping, without calling out the teacher, that my action is a clear indication of my displeasure with a particular teacher. It is one thing to complain. It is another thing to do something proactive in response.

[MichiganVote]

3. Your post is thouthgtful and I think truthful. But...

I'm a little bugged by this.

"What the parents who care want is to have their children with other children who are respectful and want to learn."

Ok. But do you realize what public school actually is? You see when you go to the grocery store you may want everyone in the store to be respectful or to want the same things, to pay with money in the same way etc. etc. But you're among the public so you expect differences. Hey we all say it, "That's the public"...Our very idea of what it means to be in public has changed. To some parents it essentially boils down to 'I don't like public, I like private so give it to me.'

The problem today with the "public" about public schools is that they do not expect them to be public or public in the way they want them to be. So then they say they want options. Ok.

If you have a car or the means, you can go to this store or that store that meets your idea of acceptable "public" behavior or whatever.

If you do not have a car, do not have means, you go where you can get food that you can eat.

Here is what educators are trying to tell American parents. Stop complaining and get involved in the system you pay taxes toward, Public Schools. Create options in the public system instead of creating public obstacles.

[exboyfil]

5. My option is streaming by behavior to begin with

followed by streaming by aptitude with plenty of options available for those who will always have difficulty competing with their peers but who want to learn. Those who do not come to school wanting to learn and are disruptive of the learning process need to be removed from those who do want to learn. Ultimately I don't know what happens to those individuals but maybe our alternative schools need to be larger, but with ample opportunities to return to the mainstream classroom. I just don't know what to do with the others that are not engaged in the process. I tend to look at things as a parent and not an educator. I am really resentful when a Life Sciences teacher's fish are poisoned, or a History teacher's class is so disruptive that no learning can occur. Teachers need more clubs in their bag to deal with this situation (no not a literal club).

Also something needs to be done about poor teachers. They are present in every school system, and they do lasting damage to the children which they have. While entry and exit test scores is not the whole story, I can point to a clear pattern with my oldest when she encountered a poor English teacher for both 7th and 8th grade. Her ITBS scores in Language Arts went down. Her 6th grade instruction was better than what she received in 7th and 8th grade. That is why I am Homeschooling my youngest in English - I am avoiding that teacher. It is really bad when you cannot even give it away. It is costing us to Homeschool in time and resources, but I think it is important for my daughter. I think my daughter's time is too valuable to be wasted, and her passion for English is too precious to be squashed by someone who cars more for sports than teaching English.

As a family we are very supportive of our local school system. My wife volunteers frequently to help in the classroom, and I have tutored classmates of my kids along with my kids. When teachers express passion and interest in their subject, I am on board with them. I am excited about the English teacher my oldest has this year for example.

While it can't duplicate the entire experience, my daughter's could take courses from the North Dakota Center for Distance Education for $3K/yr versus the $9K/yr that is spent on their education in our school system. Shouldn't parents have additional options available - especially parents without the resources to do anything about poor schools? Whether it is the administrators, teachers, or fellow students - many schools are not meeting the needs of their students. I was wrong about our sister school district - they actually spend $2K more per student and get poorer results.

[Fire1]

6. Excellent! Couldn't have said it better myself! Michigan

has alot of great minds! LOL!!