Re: OT? American politics

"Ed Huntress" <huntres23@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"Wes" <clutch@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"Ed Huntress" <huntres23@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Well, my son is an NEA product. 'Want to take him on? I'll even give you
odds, on economics, American history, English, calculus, Latin, French,
and
statistics.

Wes, I won't take him on anymore myself, except in political science and
engineering. And engineering is vocational training, not education.

Would you like me to arrange a take-home test? <g>


Ed, your son's outcome is the result of your involvement in his
education. I doubt you
just handed him over to the public schools and said good luck.

I'd like to take more credit, and I do take some credit for his writing
and analysis skills. But the rest is all him and his teachers. I made sure
he never fell behind in math, I taught him how to criticize his own
writing and that of others, and I taught him some things about how to do
research. After that, he was on his own.

We've discussed this before, but I firmly believe that the problem is
primarily with parents and communities. The little town I live in has the
nickname "The Brainy Boro." One of our post offices is even called "Brainy
Boro Station." The education tradition is strong here, and people move
here just to get their kids into our schools. It's not that we have the
highest SAT scores or the highest percentage going on to four-year
colleges; we don't. It's just that education is taken seriously.

But it's an NEA school system. The problem, in my view, is not how the
teachers are organized. It's what the teachers have to work with -- not
the kids' naturally abilities, but the kind of environment and support
they have at home. Our schools attract good teachers because they know
they can really get things done here.

That's what's broken down. That's why we're floundering around with
desperate ideas about education, trying to compensate for something that
can't be compensated. Until we restore that parental attitude and the
community's respect for education, like Asian immigrants have here, we'll
get nowhere.

One man's opinion.

--
Ed Huntress



Ed,

I took the liberty of sending a copy of this post of yours to my sister
(a math teacher in Oklahoma) with a request for comment.

Here's her reply:
____________________________

Thank you so much for sending that post. It nearly made me cry. I've been
bombarded for several years now by emails from people who want to blame
public education for everything.... drugs, gangs, racial relations,
political apathy, the economy.... everything. It's all about blaming
somebody instead of doing something about the problems.

When I was in high school, we heard "horror" stories about how the Soviets
placed their young children in preschools and prepped them to pass
examinations all along the way until they produced superior workers. The
parents didn't marry, but turned their offspring over to the State for
education/training in whatever areas the State deemed appropriate. Sound
familiar?

When we have parents who choose not to participate in their children's
educations, our system becomes dangerously close to the Soviet objective.
What do I face in the classroom every day? Here in rural Oklahoma, I see
students whose parents become angry with the teachers if their offspring do
not make straight A's. They want the kids to be superstars in football or
cheerleading, but tell us that their kids are too busy to do homework after
school. We should be making better use of classtime so that the kids can
participate in extracurricular activities without hinderance. Or we have
students who complain that they cannot do their homework because they have
to go to work after school. Are they supporting their families? No,
they're making car payments for vehicles that I cannot afford to drive.

We have distanced ourselves from some friends in Dallas because they
continually send emails telling me how terrible public education is. I am
personally offended every single time. Nevermind he dropped out of high
school to become a professional bowler and spent the last years unemployed
before going on social security. When she lost her job, she drew
unemployment until her social security checks started.

These people are right about one thing: the public schools are no
substitute for effective parenting. We aren't supposed to be. So, I'm glad
when parents fulfill their responsibilities to teach their children about
drug abuse, sex, alcohol abuse, religion, morals, bullying, tobacco, and
multicultural issues. If they'd do their job, I could spend precious class
time teaching them math instead of having to worry about those issues. The
message I'd send to the parents? I'd tell them that there's more to being a
parent than giving birth and making orthodontist payments and piano lessons.

So, thank your friends on the blog for me. I need a tissue.

________________________________

Yes, I know that Usenet isn't a blog but SHE doesn't.


.

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