I recently read an article on CNN coming out in favor of the mass firings in Central Falls. This isn't really a pro- or anti-teacher rant. I can understand where both sides are coming from on the issue.
That being said, I'm amazed nobody is using the c-word here.
Community.
I find it confusing that nobody is suggesting that in addition to the teachers, the parents need to have some responsibility regarding the education of their children. As someone who works in a community in an educational setting with a high drop-out rate and a less-than-stellar high school that nearly lost its accreditation, I can say without a doubt that a lack of parental attention can often make a huge difference--not just in their individual child's education--but towards the school as a whole.
The town next to mine is practically worlds away in terms of schooling. They don't have more money than my town. They don't have a more affluent population. There's seemingly no advantage to living there as opposed to where I live. The only difference is that when there's a meeting at the school, the parents in the neighboring town fill the entire school auditorium and then some. In my town, they barely fill the first two rows.
It makes a difference. A big one.
How is it you can hold a teacher and a school accountable for a child failing every subject but not their parents/guardians? Theoretically, those are the people spending more time with these kids than anyone, and if that's not the case, maybe it needs to be. I know that many parents work, but my mother worked, and if I had been failing five subjects, you better believe she would have had something to say about it.
I'm sure there are teachers in Central Falls who were ineffective at their jobs, but couldn't part of that be attributed to a feeling of having the deck stacked against you? If you're slaving away with students every day only to send them to a disruptive atmosphere, or one not conducive to learning, wouldn't you feel discouraged knowing most of that hard work you did was being undone constantly?
Saying that the solution is to have students spend more time with their teachers seems to be a roundabout way of saying--"It'll get them away from their homes."
Well, it's not a school's job to be a daycare. If a student is doing poorly in school as a result of their home environment, then the home needs to be looked into, not the school.
I don't see any problem with asking teachers to put in more work, but they should be compensated for it. You don't get to ask doctors and lawyers to work more for less pay--why should it be any different for teachers? If they're just opposed to doing any extra work, then yes, maybe they need to be relocated to a community where the challenges aren't as great.
When all that is said and done, however, there needs to be something asked of the community itself. It's ridiculous to expect any kind of turnaround when just one element of the students' lives are changed. After all, if firing all the teachers doesn't work, then what?
Do they plan on firing all the parents?
That being said, I'm amazed nobody is using the c-word here.
Community.
I find it confusing that nobody is suggesting that in addition to the teachers, the parents need to have some responsibility regarding the education of their children. As someone who works in a community in an educational setting with a high drop-out rate and a less-than-stellar high school that nearly lost its accreditation, I can say without a doubt that a lack of parental attention can often make a huge difference--not just in their individual child's education--but towards the school as a whole.
The town next to mine is practically worlds away in terms of schooling. They don't have more money than my town. They don't have a more affluent population. There's seemingly no advantage to living there as opposed to where I live. The only difference is that when there's a meeting at the school, the parents in the neighboring town fill the entire school auditorium and then some. In my town, they barely fill the first two rows.
It makes a difference. A big one.
How is it you can hold a teacher and a school accountable for a child failing every subject but not their parents/guardians? Theoretically, those are the people spending more time with these kids than anyone, and if that's not the case, maybe it needs to be. I know that many parents work, but my mother worked, and if I had been failing five subjects, you better believe she would have had something to say about it.
I'm sure there are teachers in Central Falls who were ineffective at their jobs, but couldn't part of that be attributed to a feeling of having the deck stacked against you? If you're slaving away with students every day only to send them to a disruptive atmosphere, or one not conducive to learning, wouldn't you feel discouraged knowing most of that hard work you did was being undone constantly?
Saying that the solution is to have students spend more time with their teachers seems to be a roundabout way of saying--"It'll get them away from their homes."
Well, it's not a school's job to be a daycare. If a student is doing poorly in school as a result of their home environment, then the home needs to be looked into, not the school.
I don't see any problem with asking teachers to put in more work, but they should be compensated for it. You don't get to ask doctors and lawyers to work more for less pay--why should it be any different for teachers? If they're just opposed to doing any extra work, then yes, maybe they need to be relocated to a community where the challenges aren't as great.
When all that is said and done, however, there needs to be something asked of the community itself. It's ridiculous to expect any kind of turnaround when just one element of the students' lives are changed. After all, if firing all the teachers doesn't work, then what?
Do they plan on firing all the parents?
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