EDUCATION REFORM

Education Reform

This past Friday morning, MSNBC had a panel of government and school officials talking about government reform. Two things were said that struck me and stuck out to me.

1. Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education, said “we need to better educate, to have better workers that pay taxes”.
2.Governor Dannel Malloy said “We have the model of what works, we just don’t replicate it!”

As a mother and as a product of the Chicago Public School system I agree with Governor Malloy 1000%. There is a model of what works and it is not replicated and it should be. I will start with the present day. My son is in the 1stgrade and he is in his 4thschool. His first Kindergarten, CPS Charter School, he was in the school for about 6 weeks, no homework. His 2ndKindergarten, CPS Charter School, he had homework every night, including weekends, and Christmas break, he also had spelling tests, and other tests to assess his progress and chances of advancing to 1stgrade. His 3rdKindergarten, a catholic/private school, barely any homework, no test. He stayed in the catholic/private school for the start of 1stgrade and the homework he received was less challenging than the homework he was getting in the 2ndKindergarten. He also wasn’t receiving math homework so I went to the trusty $1 aisle in Target and purchased some math workbooks. As a parent I could complain or I could fill in the gap! Now for his 2nd1stgrade class, in a regular CPS school, sometimes he gets homework sometimes he doesn’t, he has spelling tests but no real work is sent home for the me to help him study. He doesn’t have an assignment notebook nor is it clear to me as a parent what he has for homework. His teacher says, “they know what they are supposed to do I don’t write their homework done.” Excuse me! We are talking about 1stgraders. I had an assignment notebook until I graduated from high school that was provided by my school.

What is going on? There are different expectations and demands placed on our children depending on where they attend school. There is no reason why my child can get straight A’s at a school with homework every night and tests and then get C’s on his report card at a school that barely gives homework. Oh yes there is, the teacher doesn’t care whether he does his homework or not. The school he attended with straight A’s, we received a homework packet each week so the parents were aware of the homework and what the spelling words were for the upcoming test, I worked with him and he excelled. As a parent I have no problem doing my part, I need the school to do their part as well.

Admittedly the only reason why my son is in a regular CPS school is because of his behavior. That will soon be nipped in the bud through faith and reaching out to the proper support channels and come 3rdgrade he is out of there. It is the school in our neighborhood, my mother didn’t send my sister nor I there because frankly the education is subpar. A child’s ability to learn has nothing to do with their zip code or income level, it has everything to do with the expectations and demands that are placed on a child. Children are little sponges, fill them up with as much as you can and they just keep absorbing.

So what is my remedy for school reform? Gov. Malloy said it best, we have a system that works, replicate it. The students that attend the failing public schools are the same students attending thriving public, charter, and private schools. They are the same children. There is a saying about rising to the occasion, the majority of children no matter where they are placed will rise to the occasion and meet the expectations placed on them. Well let me be clear, most people are going to come right below your expectation or barely meet it. With that said and known the bar should be set as high as possible. Wherever the bar is set few will reach the bar, most will fall below so why set the bar at a subpar level to begin with?

Have the same resources, facilities, books, and educational experiences available to all children across the US despite their racial and/or socio economic background. We have high schools in Chicago with observatory and lap top computers for all students, and high schools with barely working computer labs. There is the problem right there.

I’m tired of the debates, meetings, and forums, first start with evening the playing field and exposing all children to the same things and see what happens. No every child isn’t going to excel but at least given the chance that everyone else has there is less of an opportunity to point the blame on the school, teachers, or administrators. Again this isn’t done, why is this not done?

Arne Duncan said it best, “we need to better educate, to have better workers that pay taxes”. Workers pay taxes, wealthy business owners figured out ways not to pay taxes. Whether they use write-offs or move their companies overseas anything to avoid Uncle Sam. Taxes are a huge debate/issue right now in America, asking the wealthy to pay their fair share. There is no reason that the working class pays more in taxes than the wealthy based on their income and percentages. No reason at all but the reason is, as my blog from Friday stated, create robots to pay taxes and work for those who do not.

So do I believe in Education Reform, NO! Why? As Gov. Malloy said its simple replicate the model, they aren’t replicating it because they don’t want to. The goal is not to educate everyone equally. The goal is to send some to prison, to create criminals, to keep the justice system going and people employed. The goal is to create employees that think inside the box, that think that getting a job is the only way to generate an income. Do I believe in educating my own child? Yes! Do I sympathize with those who don’t know nor have the desire to educate their children at home and depend on the system? Absolutely! Am I working on something to help the have nots? Yes! What do I need to do to make it happen? Start networking and rubbing elbows with the right people.

What is your take on Education Reform?

Be a blessing and be blessed,
Epiphany Essentials