Alright I've had just about enough of this crap.
So - what's it going to be? Are we the parents a pain in the ass - or are we the parents not involved enough therefore it is OUR fault that the test scores are so awful in the government education system?! Huh?! Well?! C'mon - let's hear it?!
Grizzly Mama is growling.
Grizzly Mama is trying to recover from a discussion with a Teacher's Union Hack.
Oh sheesh - here's the gist of it. No matter what, the government educators will never be happy I fear.
First it was this: The bad school districts have poor scores because for one thing the parents are not involved in the child's education. This is probably true.
Then it was this: The teachers get the garlic out and start to hiss when they are stuck with a kid who has been homeschooled because the parents are such a pain in the ass.
Does this strike you as odd as it struck me? So I guess we're supposed to be involved but not be TOO much of a pain in the ass. Just where is this line that we are not supposed to step over?
I need help with this one as my thought processes are quickly degenerating into ANOTHER anti-government education rant. Save me!
Grizzly Mama is growling.
Grizzly Mama is trying to recover from a discussion with a Teacher's Union Hack.
Oh sheesh - here's the gist of it. No matter what, the government educators will never be happy I fear.
First it was this: The bad school districts have poor scores because for one thing the parents are not involved in the child's education. This is probably true.
Then it was this: The teachers get the garlic out and start to hiss when they are stuck with a kid who has been homeschooled because the parents are such a pain in the ass.
Does this strike you as odd as it struck me? So I guess we're supposed to be involved but not be TOO much of a pain in the ass. Just where is this line that we are not supposed to step over?
I need help with this one as my thought processes are quickly degenerating into ANOTHER anti-government education rant. Save me!
posted by Grizzly Mama | 22:54
13 Comments:
All "involved" means is that you're child has to meet a certain level of intelligence and make the teacher's job easier- not necessarily involved as you or I would think of it. Not proactive as far as the teacher is concerned- just supportive and NEVER questioning, because teacher knows best.
This is, of course, nonsense. Every time I meet someone undeniably stupid at college, I look up their major, and it is either "undeclared" or "education". That is not to say all teachers are dolts- but a good percentage are.
Go ahead- cathart. That's what blogs are for.
Steven - you hit the nail on the head my friend. You have defined the line at which we are expected to stay.
Thank you.
And yes - I know a fair number of government educators with high degrees who don't have a whole lot of sense between their ears.
Based on our experiences with two school systems (Norwalk, CT, and Lincoln, NE) I would say teachers unions are a barrier to good schooling. The union in Norwalk had all kinds of rules about what teachers could and could not do made it very difficult for the PTO to work with them.
Lincoln has no teachers union and the schools have plenty of competiton from private (especially parochial) schools and a large homeschooling community.
To be fair, Norwalk has also many "big city" problems to deal with that Lincoln doesn't face. Both poverty and crime are much lower here. In Norwalk there were kids at our elementary school who: had lost a parent to gun shots; lived in a homeless shelter; moved frequently. Those kinds of life experiences make it very hard for a child to do well in school.
This is OT, but it does involve your "neck of the woods." The Philadelphia Enquirer is painting Little Green Footballs as an evil place based on comments they quote from readers and pretend are the views of LGF.
I have to agree that there are kids out there who have terrible home lives and little or no support from parents who care and of course that WILL affect the choices they make in life and also how well they do in school. I'll throw the government educators a bone and say that dealing with these types of social problems is no walk in the park and to make the job even more difficult they are faced with laws that remove a lot of authority from the teachers and the principal. They have to jump through hoops to deal with a problem student.
So - there's the bone and let them gnaw at it with much gnashing of teeth and foaming at the mouth.
There are things that are done in public education that are unforgivable in my estimation. Just ONE of those things is viewing involved and caring parents as a 'pain in the ass'. I've heard first hand with my own ears and straight from the horses mouth the all knowing educators bitching and moaning that their jobs would be a lot easier if only the parents would just shut up and not question them.
Philadelphia is a nasty city with a lot of social problems - yet I've spoken in public schools in some of the nastiest neighborhoods that had a very disciplined, bright, positive and safe environment. You know the minute you walk in the door. So it is possible to provide that.
Hi again Abe! I can't STAND the Philadelphia Inquirer.
I like Little Green Footballs and as a matter of fact have been meaning to put a link to them on my sidebar. That is my job tonight after I put the girlies to bed.
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a left-wing Democratic RAG that has been so mired in Phildelphia one-sided politics for so many years that it seems it is the only side that it can see anymore.
As a matter of fact some poor high schooler came knocking at the door trying to sell the Inquirer (pronounced 'IN-quire') to earn points to go on a trip and I went off on that poor kid and told her to go BACK to her school and insist that they sell a better paper to earn their points. I wouldn't take that paper for FREE!
Parents should only be there to reinforce the notion in the childs mind that the teachers are the all seeing all knowing GODS of the universe All Hail The Indoctrination Halls of America (that is as long as your a commie socialist lefty)
Amen Brother
Troll
Understand, understand--I was homeschooled myself, then private and public schooled, so I've experienced all sides. I do agree with Steven than there is a broad tendency for "those who can't
DO to teach," or at least to study methods of teaching. Thanks, by the way, for visiting my blog--I shall have to tune in to yours more regularly to check out the happenings in Philly!
Christina
No, no - thank YOU Christina! For visiting and contributing to the discussion.
Home-schooled and public-Schooled; both my parents have Degrees in Education, and both are pretty-much Socialists. I was well indoctrinated for a long time.
The teacher's unions in California are as the Governator says, a Special Interest, and IMO a Special-Political-Interest; the Union$ are a direct-funding source that's been keeping the Democrats in power in the state Senate and Legislature.
And that "power" has resulted in an incredible gridlock and free-for-all of constant budget-crisis, energy-crisis, eco-crisis, regulatory-overload, and as y'all know: Circuit Court-crisis.
Under the banner of, "It's For The Children," the Teachers Unions have taken hundreds of millions of dollars and turned gold into lead. They keep saying they need even more money - all they are about is money.
They say it's about smaller class-size but scores are not improving with smaller classes (they're declining as far as I can tell). I was in much bigger classes at a time when our scores were much higher.
We went from #1 and bragging about the power of our Economy being on the order of the 5th largest in the world, to a Banana Dictatorship run by the Union Bosses. They're losers and fear-mongers, following a losing Socialist philosophy while using FUD (fear-uncertainty-doubt) to drum-up $S$upport.
Teachers Union Hack...isn't that an oxymoron?
Nah Dude - maybe a redundancy.
Union - Hack. Yeah - possibly redundant.
Dirtcrasher - that's the thing. No matter how much money we throw at this thing it won't work. It's broke.
Why continue to fund and fund and fund something that DOES NOT WORK?
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