Platt, The kids are in bed now, and you have left a lot of questions to be answered.
Platt: If I thought I could make a difference I would. Unfortunately, the schools won't let me teach without meeting certain requirements. The local private schools are full staffed and lack openings for old codgers like me. Mati: Who said anything about being a formal teacher? Be a volunteer for an hour or two a week in an elementary school for a semester. This is one way. This evening I was reading ZZM for about the 20th time. Pirsig writes "But to tear down a factory or revolt against the government or to avoid repair of a motorcycle because it is a system is to attack the effects rather than the causes; and as long as the attack is upon the effects only, no change is possible." It is one thing to talk about change, I am talking about making a small change that could make a difference in the system. Platt: Changing the world is a big order. But, you have my ideas along that line for what they worth. Take what you want and leave the rest. But be assured I will never try to force my ideas on you or anyone else, unlike some in this forum. Mati: Ideas are ok, credibility of those idea I believe requires a bit of engagement. Not just talking but the action of experience to keep those ideas sharp and real. Platt: So what then are "special needs" children? Mati: They are so diverse I could not even start to describe them. The challenge is to create a system that meets the need of all children. Though I have been no supporter of Bush's educational policies I my admit No Child Left Behind was a stroke of political genius. It has forced educational systems to refocus efforts to not make any excuses about the need to educate all students to their potential. It doesn't let anyone say it is ok to let "Johnny be bad" or "Sammy be slow" slip through the cracks. But that being said as an educational policy it lack a willingness to invest in the solutions needed to meet this goal. Platt: Fair to the kids who would learn more if they weren't held back by the slow learners. Mati: Remember No Child Left Behind, this includes slow learners. There are only so many resources available and they must be focused where the need is the greatest. But agreed this must be done in such a way as not to overload the system with challenges that might be too great to sustain all at once. Platt: Any rules you think are holding you and others back from providing quality education. Mati: What is holding back education is all the burdens that have been heaped on it. Rules for the most part are not the problem with the exception of funding rules. I don't have a problem with doing a job well, but there are times I look at what is expected of school and I scratch my head and wonder how am I going to pull that off. Our systems in society like so many things become so complicated. There is a benefit in one sense but a burden in another. A tune up 20 years ago costed me $150 now it costs me $500 on a basic US vehicle. I am not asking for a barrel full of money but if you have an expectation for a service such as remedial education for every student that comes to us with deficits in their learning it is going to cost. This is where you as a volunteer might defray the overall burden to the system. Granted it is a drop in the bucket but I bet you still pick up a penny on the ground even if it is only worth a measly penny. Platt: What do good schools do that can't be made to happen everywhere? Mati: That could be said of the communities that those schools exist in as well. Platt: I take my hat off to your parents, and their parents. Many today don't realize that wealth comes from work, not redistributions of wealth from government. Mati: But that realization only comes from the reflection of experiences that lead to that conclusion. > Mati: Ahhh dear Platt there are times I can hear the echoes of my father in > your voice. Platt: A wise man, no doubt. :-) Mati: My fathers wisdom was overshadowed at times with his unwillingness in that he too talk the talk but failed to walk the walk anymore as a retired person. I loved him dearly, yet I failed to reach a sense of greater contribution and understanding in life recent years. In his retirement he felt a sense that he made his contribution and really owed no more and that was a personal disappointment for me. That is downside of setting high standards for your kids and in that they might set some for you. But that being said, the contribution he made in his lifetime was more than most and that is the consolation prize I accept with honor in his remembrance. Platt: Not sure what your point is. Are you suggesting we have to be compassionate because many parent's aren't? Mati: If not us, then who? Platt: Or that being rich is evil? Mati: Only when being rich is an excuse for not caring for those less fortunate and failing to make a difference when you can. Platt: Or the kids themselves aren't responsible for their behavior? Mati: It is hard to expect that for kids to be responsible for their behavior when we as a society/community fail to be responsible for them to begin with. You get what you give. Platt: Like you, I concentrate my efforts on my own kids, and my grandchildren. Mati: Now you are sounding too much like my father and I fear that might be the same cop out he gave me. Take care Mati moq_discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
