Leaving Children Behind

[proud2BlibKansan]

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1. In fact, NCLB does force the teachers to teach to test; consequently it squeezes the joy out of teaching for both teacher and student.

2. It narrows the curriculum to math and reading because those are the areas tested. The arts, human development, physical education, community service, environmental education, field trips and other electives are given short shrift, at best.

3. Several teachers I have spoken with even say they are so depressed by the pressure and narrowness of the test that they are about to quit the field. In reality, I have yet to talk to one classroom teacher who has had anything positive to say about NCLB.

4. I will say quite boldly what one of the two principals only alluded to, namely, that public schools-particularly inner-city schools-are hugely underfunded. Overcrowded classes filled with non-English-speaking students, bereft of books and supplies, need dramatic increases in funds. In Los Angeles, for example, the per-pupil spending is $7,000-$8,000 per year; by contrast, quality private schools-which offer what public schools should but cannot provide-spend more than $25,000 per pupil. Unlimited billions for Iraq, but not enough for our children. But that is a rant from previous blogs-a rant I will no doubt continue to hurl into the tax-cuts void.

5. The real problem is that students are disengaged from their education, and disengaged students ultimately drop out, as more than 50 percent do in large urban and poor rural schools. The antidote to dropouts is a rich and diverse curriculum offered under improved teaching conditions.

6. If we really wanted to see that no child was left behind we would cut class sizes by half in inner-city schools, which would require hiring 100 percent more teachers in those schools, and we would obtain top-quality additional teachers by providing a pay increase of $25,000 a year across the board. If prison guards can make $75,000 to $100,000 a year, why can't teachers? These changes would, of course, demand increased revenue that would, alas, require everyone-including wealthy individuals and corporations-to pay their fair share of taxes. Good luck!

more . . .
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107F.shtml

[annabanana]

1. The Worst? . . . NO CIVICS.

Students are never told that they are supposed to grow up and run the place, or at least try to. No one impresses on them that they will be responsible for the future of the country.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Our rights are being taken away

why do our kids need to learn about them?

[EFerrari]

2. Is it still teaching when you train for tests?

I don't know how you do it. They would have had to put me in a nice quiet padded room by now.

I hope we can recover from these bastards.

What area of American life have they not f#cked up.

But to do this to TEACHERS. To the people our children spend their waking hours with. It's beyond effen' mindboggling.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. No it is not teaching

I am so glad my kids are out of school. It is hard enough to deal with this crap as a teacher. At least my own two were taught to think critically at school.

[EFerrari]

8. When Doug was very ill, I took a "teaching" gig at a business school

because I could do that at night when he was resting.

That was not teaching. They wanted me to train people to regurgitate, not to think. It was totally stupifying for me and for them. It felt like we were all brain damaged prisoners.

It's so painful to know that this is being inflicted on our kids and on our teachers all over the country. I feel so lucky that I went through public school when I did. Going to school was fun, engaging, we couldn't wait to see what was next.

Moment of silence for our public school system. And another one -- to figure out how we get it back. :(

[Gormy Cuss]

3. I ranted about #1 to a dittohead I know and she honestly didn't see what was wrong with that.

I tried to explain that it misplaced the emphasis of education, which is to promote thinking while learning basic skills, but Rush has her so convinced that our kids is illiterate that there was no breaking through the steel door on her mind.

[AbbyR]

4. I cover our local schools

and I do not know one teacher who likes NCLB. The very finest teachers here are threatening to quit because they can't stand it. When I was teaching, and when I was in school, we were told NEVER to teach to the test. Now, thanks to NCLB, teachers are forced to teach to the test to the exclusion of all else.

Our schools need smaller classes, effective teacher inservice and training, and a broad, interesting curriculum for all students - not just math, reading and writing. We have to do better than that.

[Rosemary2205]

5. I have to argue with truthout about the numbers

I can agree private schools spend more per child but I personally know of 3 private schools that deliver extremely high quality education on a relatively tight budget (7-11,000 per child) - 2 are catholic and one is a secular private school.

IMHO the big difference between public and private is that private schools are not bound by NCLB and are free to use the teaching and educational support measure that best address the needs of thier own group of children. The flexibility for schools is the key to the results more than purely the monitary spending itself.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. No there really are some private schools that spend way more per pupil

than public schools in the same community.

You are correct as well. Many spend much less per pupil.

There are many reasons some private schools appear to do a better job.

1. They can be selective about who they admit. So many only accept bright kids with no learning or behavior problems. Those kids are not as expensive to teach as kids with disabilities.

2. Their expenses are completely different. Even the very expensive private schools usually pay their teachers less than public schools and more importantly, they don't have the transportation expenses that public schools have.

3. Private schools put more responsibility on parents for basic supplies. Some private schools even make the parents purchase textbooks.

[ebayfool]

10. What I find frightening - the new teachers coming into the system don't ...

have the experience to know what they're missing. In 10 or 15 years, when the turnover has the older teachers retiring out of the teaching community, NCLB will be the norm for those remaining. These new teachers are being handicapped, & they don't know it.

The new ones NOW seem to be clueless @ how to inspire & motivate a student! My grandson re-entered the public system after I homeschooled him (his school was taken over by fundie wackjobs) for @ 4 years. He needed to have what I could NOT provide by high school age (& we had relocated!), so back to school he went!

I hate to admit this ... my boy is very bright, but a genius he's not! But the newer teachers act like he's an oddity - they've never had a student that was eager to learn, able to present reasoned points in a lively debate, etc. You know ... the students that teachers used to be able to strive to create! The more experienced teachers, they know he's what they used to teach - & more than a few have told me that they miss being able to teach kids like that. The younger teachers that don't know ... they scare the hell out of me. They seem clueless that he is what would likely have been a 'bright, typical kid' not too many years ago! When they ask how I taught him at home, none are aware that they were methods that used to be common in the school system. That, I find disturbing! 'Teaching to the test' does not make for the best & brightest citizens that we can raise!

Good students are created by teachers that are allowed to excel - not teachers who are restrained to such narrow parameters as NCLB! Some of the teachers that I learned the most from were those that frequently slammed the book shut & went to where the flow took them. Others were those that did not stick to what they were told that we COULD learn, but pushed us to go farther, better than that what was expected. Today there isn't time, room or opportunity for those teachers to inspire, incite or mold those good students. And it's a great loss ... for the kids as well as the rest of us. Someday the reins of society will be taken by these students, and very few have been taught what they will need to hold them. Creative & critical thinking (in & outside of the box!) is the loss that I'm afraid will do the most harm, in the long run!

It takes someone special to teach (that's the big lesson that I learned from our venture into homeschooling!) - & it seems that those that have that 'special' quality are the ones that are most likely to turn from teaching under these conditions. To those that struggle on, I salute you!