Mr. Atherton asks if he's deluded. The answer is yes. Public schools are only part of a child's education and if parents (like Mr. Atherton?) believe they're not at least as responsible as schools for their kids' learning, starting a hell of a lot earlier in their lives than the schools get them, then my sense is the whole idea of parenting, let alone schooling, has eluded them.
Mr. Atherton suggests that only the schools are responsible, then asks how many parents are knowledgeable in reading methods, etc. (Phonics is a commercial enterprise in my view, not merely a method.) We would have many more parents prepared to teach their children reading as they grow to pre-school and elementary age if we actually taught tomorrow's parents the importance of preparing their children and guiding them through the fundamentals of their education. In fact, if we don't get back to educated parents rearing educated children, we'll continue to retreat into Neanderthal ignorance, matriculating young people who not only cannot read, write, speak or compute properly, but who will have nothing to offer their children but support for their children's misbehaviors and lack of learning as they blame schools for their children's under- or non-achievement. You try, Mr. Atherton, to hold back a kid in this day and age. If parents did their part, few children would have to be. Schools who attempt to crack down on promoting ill-educated youngsters find themselves on a political skewer because parents, embarrassed as they are and should be, have been in denial over their babies' lack of effort and skills and raise all holy hell about their failing child. Is Lynnell Mickelsen a former school board member? It's her column that spawned this thread, not Ann Berget's post(s). The comments of a former board member have nothing to do with failure of the institutions. You're scapegoating with circular logic. My suggestion is that you start taking responsibility for your own children before laying the blame for failure at the feet of your educational partner: the schools. Andy Driscoll Saint Paul ------ "The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who, in times of moral crisis, remain neutral" --Dante > Have I been deluded, or is education the function of the public schools? How > many parents are knowledgeable in methods of reading and phonics instruction? > And why should they be? Teachers go to college for five years to learn how to > teach. We should no sooner expect parents to teach their own children as to > fix their own electronic equipment. If you took your TV in to be fixed, would > you expect it to come back with a note that said that it was 50% repaired and > you could finish the other half? Sure parental support is important, but that > doesn't let the public schools off the hook for lousy management. > > As to summer school programs, why would I want to send my children back to an > institution that had already failed them? The have schools repeatedly failed > to support effective instructional methods; which is one reason they need > remedial summer programs. Secondly, they promote students who don't have the > skills necessary to succeed at the next level. Third, they don't have the > wisdom or the guts to make students repeat courses they don't master during > the school year. There is no need for summer programs if you administer the > schools effectively. > > The fact that these rationalizations are voiced by a former school board > member illustrates why we have failing schools and failing students. > > Michael Atherton > Prospect Park > > > _______________________________________ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls > _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
