Educatin' New-Style

Of course I must say a few words about the President's speech on education.

Today's teleprompter recital brought us the following visions:

"Today’s system of fifty different sets of benchmarks for academic success means 4th grade readers in Mississippi are scoring nearly 70 points lower than students in Wyoming, and getting the same grade," he said. "That is inexcusable, and that is why I am calling on states that are setting their standards far below where they ought to be to stop low-balling expectations for our kids."

What about the Chicago schools? What about Illinois? Why doesn't he elaborate on the schools in the state where HE was in a position to do something about education? This, from the guy who had a hand in funneling $160,000,000 from the Annenberg Challenge into Chicago Public Schools, with negligible results. You have heard about the Chicago Public Schools, haven't you? And who is in charge at the U.S. Department of Education? The dude who has been in charge of the Chicago Public Schools. This is like putting Hillbilly Mom in charge of mapping the entire world. All 57 United States, and that tiny country of Iran that doesn't really count.

"The president said that children should spend more time in the classroom, adding that South Korean students spend more than a month longer in schools than those in the U.S. He joked that while longer school days may not be popular, especially with his own elementary school aged daughters, he said the extra time is needed to keep Americans competitive."

Do the regular people know that schools feed breakfast to the kids, teach them all day, and feed them supper during the 2-hour after-school program to avoid leaving any of them behind? Many kids are at school from 7:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. These are little kids, people. Elementary students. They need TLC, not cramming for standardized tests. Let's say optimistically that they get home by 5:30, get maybe an hour to wind down by playing outside or watching TV, spend a half-hour taking a bath, do their homework that is NOT a part of that after-school program, and voila! It is bedtime. Then they get up to do it all over again for the next four days of the week. That's like a full-time job, people. How are we going to lengthen that day? Oh, and the school year? Have we forgotten about summer school? Many kids are paid with a $100 gift card for attending, so you can bet they are there with bells on. That does not make for a very long summer vacation. All work and no play makes our children resentful of school, not wanting to be there, and acting up when forced to go, and of course the school can't punish them because they have rights, by cracky!

"In addition to raising expectations for students, the president also said he expects more from the nation's teachers. Bad teachers should be fired, and good ones should be rewarded with more money, the president explained, though he did not provide specifics on how or who would make such determinations."

Hmm...who fights to keep teachers from being fired? UNIONS! What schools have strong unions? The WORST schools. The schools who go on strike and keep kids out of the classroom, cutting into precious days of learning that need to be lengthened. The unions may pretend to go for this plan, but just try to fire a union teacher. Our rural Missouri schools don't have unions. No AFT or NEA for us. That's asking for trouble. At my first teaching job, two teachers dared to join NEA. They had to hold meeting off school property. They were persona non gratis with the administration. Troublemakers. Unions are for city folk, for rebels. We, on the other hand, have MSTA. They are kind of like backward lobbyists to me. They are the weak, sickly kittens of the union world. But we join to the tune of $199 per year. Just in case.

A real teacher does not teach for the pay. It's a calling. A real teacher wants what's best for the kids. A real teacher works together with colleagues for the common good of the school. Sometimes they do things they don't like or agree with, but they do it. If you pay the 'good ones' more, the others who might have the remedial classes, or teach on the less affluent side of town, will get their noses out of joint over the favoritism shown to those who have the bag of golden coins dropped into their laps, and they will up and quit. That's how they will say it, too. "I'm sick of this sh*t. I put up with more crap from teaching the more difficult students whose parents don't give a rat's patootie about their education, and you're going to pay those college prep track teachers MORE because their students score higher? Take this job and shove it. I'm going to up and quit. It's not worth it anymore." A real teacher does have limits. Battles have been fought over one group allegedly having 10 more minutes of plan time per week than others. Or one fewer game duty. A real teacher sticks up for his rights. It's all about perception of worth, of status, of THE MAN sticking it to one group over another. A real teacher will only sacrifice so many things for the students, and self-worth is not one of them.

"In addition, the White House says that even though the president is not laying out a blueprint for No Child Left Behind, this is enumerated and will be affected by his call to states to increase their standards and assessments."

Sweet Gummi Mary in a handbasket! Just what we need, more assessments to measure the teacher's performance for that merit pay, I suppose. Let's water down our curriculum to make sure we teach those items being tested. Forget about enrichment, producing a well-rounded individual, one who can think for himself. Let's teach the kids how to score well on a test. Excuse me: tests. That's sure to help them later in life.

The President is welcome to walk a year in my shoes. Then he can tell me what's best for education. In return, I promise not to advise him on the economy. Ever.