Bob: I agree wholeheartedly!!! The state and federal constitutions state clearly that we are to provide an equal education for all. Well, I will have to say that this is not always happening, and in many of our schools today, the discipline of students that are just plain unmotivated to learn to their full potential become problems for those that are there wanting to learn to their full potential. I think that we need to meet the students where they are and challenge them to a higher standard and fast! I think that we many times set the bar way too low for those that seem to be behind the curve, and I am not talking about special ed here. There are a growing proportion of students that have no desire to apply themselves and do not fall into the special ed group, but are not up to snuff with basic standard skills and also cause behavioral problems in the classroom at a growing rate. This leaves the students that are relying on the teacher to teach in the dust while he or she tries to find a way to deal with the discipline issues. I think this has its roots in the social promotion of students that has gone on in education for years. And no one can say it does not happen. There are kids that are passed up the educational ladder to get them out of the hair of those that no longer have the solution to dealing with their grab bag of problems, be they social, disiplinary or scholastic.
When are the students that are achieving going to stand up and demand THEIR equal rights to education? It might be interesting to see what would happen if a group of students that are trying to learn and want to learn, sued the state for lack of an equal education, because the incorrigibles in their classrooms that don't want to achieve, have the teacher hamstrung to help the others while they are disrupting the classroom for everyone else. I know for a fact there are more and more teachers that are having to allow the good students to leave the classroom for the library with assignments while the teacher deals or shall I say( babysits) those that cannot behave in the classroom. Is this an equal education? For whom? And why do we invest so many precious resources into intervening in students lives, that could care less. In my day, if you didn't perform, you risked fllunking out and having to repeat a grade. Sometimes that threat was the only thing that stood between me and my DESIRE to do well in school. We need to let kids feel the consequences of their bad behavior, and I for one, am a proponent of allowing students to skip class all they want to and pay the price for their poor choices and delayed education. I think that if we allowed that to occur, the situation would soon turn itself around. We don't have parental involvement, because we have so little expectation of what parents SHOULD be doing. The education system has become a clearing house for social work issues, and intervening in problem home situations, that we are not getting to the business of teaching. We will never affect a change in the students motivation to learn, unless we allow them to fail and fail BIG!!! When they think they can go out there and become the next American Idol and wind up instead at a MacDonalds for a job, and they realize this is the best they have to hope for without a high school education and further education beyond that, they will be back. They will be back to get their GED, and they will have learned a good lesson that only the natural consequences of their behavior could teach them...effectively. So they delay their education by a few years, is that tragic? Avoidable perhaps, but is it tragic? I think I know of more successful adults that started out down that path, and ended up turning their lives around in the end, but did they listen at the time? No. I say if a kid doesn't want to be in high school, let them leave. Let the parent take the responsiblity for the child, as they should. We in the education system have just become too good at allowing parents to abdicate their responsibilities. It is time to stand up for those students that want to come every day and value what education they ARE getting. It is time that we support the side that is most likely to succeed and raise the bar higher for those that arent' achieving. They are capable of doing it, we just need to believe that. So many times we set the bar at mediocrity, and guess what, that is what we achieve. Please note, that there are exceptions to the rule, where out and out abuse is occurring, where intervention must happen, but for the most part, I think we need to allow parents the benefit of working out their child's problems in the way they see fit. Pamela Ellison Como Park Saint Paul " If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem. so lead, follow or get out of the way!" ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Thomas Conlon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 8:18 AM Subject: Re: [StPaul] Let the people speak-neighbrohood schools > > > "Raising Student achievement for all kids of all backgrounds." is an > important goal, as long as the limit of achievemnet is not set at some > arbitrary basic or even low level. As I understand it, this is objective > standard of "No Child left behind". Using a basic standard of > achievement as the goal for all kids is more appropriatly called "No child > gets ahead". > > I am repeating something I said earlier, but I want to emphasize that, > whether we have magnet or neighborhood schools, we should be teaching all > kids in an an environment that lets them stretch to their full potential. > This means that kids need to be separated into groups of higher > performing, and lower performing students. A well prepared, bright, > motivated kid should never have to sit through classes that are paced to > allow the slowest to keep up. We don't advance the prospects of the > slower learner by handicapping the faster learners. ALL kids deserve to > be challenged. > > > > Thomas Conlon said: > > > > > > I agree with Roxy about local control. I also believe that neighborhood > > schools are essential to rebuilding community, increasing parental > > involvement, pride in a local school and neighborhood, reducing (and in > > some > > cases eliminating) transportation costs and reinvesting those funds into > > classrooms, and, I believe, will yield higher student achievement for all > > groups of kids. Volunteer programs and mentoring from families, > > faith-based > > and other community organizations in then neighborhood are likely to > > increase when it is a school close by that people know. > > > > Like it or not, No Child Left Behind, state standards, and our own local > > accountability expectations have shifted us from the deseg issue of 1-2 > > generations ago to the 21st Century issue: Raising Student achievement for > > all kids of all backgrounds. To me, it makes sense to shift dollars from > > transportation costs to the classroom where we can make more impact in > > that > > area. > > > > > -- > Bob Treumann, Saint Paul > Please Note: Replies to this email address all go to the trash except > where the subject line contains a recognized mailing list identifier, such > as [TCMETRO] > > _____________________________________________ > NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul > > Archive Address: > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ > _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
