So, a warning for those of you who only visited for my pretty pictures and tales of foreign lands -this is my first attempt at writing something on here that isn't just a travel diary or update....I hope no one minds my attempt to expand my horizons.
A few comments on Edwards plan (see my last post)....First, I just need to say that I'm a little nervous about the idea of "SWAT teams" to repair schools, a "West Point" for teachers...I think its just the language he uses, but its throwing me a little bit. I can't get past the military/police state vibe its giving off....Let's try to avoid that in the future Johnny boy.
Once I got over the idea of men in black riot gear invading our schools, Edwards made some good points about ensuring that all students are prepared when they get to school, through universal preschool and healthcare. But, more importantly than students arriving in Kindergarten with this preparation, I think we need to look more closely at how these basic needs are accounted for throughout the entire K-12 system. I think sometimes people tend to forget that teenagers need healthcare, food programs, etc to make sure that they too are "Ready when they get to school". Also, I fully support his idea of incentivizing teachers to stay in city schools, but I think that it should be more of a performance scale rather than an automatic $15,000 salary bump. Let’s get them to stay AND get them to perform. Here's the thing: Bush didn't say how to fund his reforms...Edwards isn't showing the money....I'm sensing a theme here...I'm all for ideas, but I want to know how its actually going to happen (and this is a criticism of the other candidates as well).
Disappointed with the lack of "groundbreaking" advice that Edwards has to offer, I look to Hillary....who wants to respect professionalism by only testing and evaluating new teachers and not veterans. Here's my question: WHAT????? Don't get me wrong: I have met some veteran teachers that are amazing, but I have also seen my fair share of teachers who have been around for a while and well, maybe shouldn't be around anymore. They are tired, apathetic, and unwilling to change. Experience counts for something, but so does quality of performance. So, you might want to rethink this one Mrs. Clinton.... Where I do agree with Hil is on eliminating vouchers....I think its a good idea in theory...letting low income parents with children in failing schools select another school for their child, and in turn, all schools will be forced to improve blah blah blah. The truth is that many low income parents who care do not have the time, energy, understanding, resources, etc to navigate this system. And, then there are the parents who just don't care....what happens to those kids? Moving kids around isn't solving anything. Also (wow, I agree with H on two points in a row? Her pantsuits must be distracting me) Hillary is the only one who I have seen addressing the physical state of our schools in her plan and talking about construction goals. I think all of the candidates should make a visit to the bathrooms at University City High School and think about this a little more. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time concentrating on taking a test in an overcrowded classroom with a rat running around in the corner.
So my last hope at some new ideas...my boy, Obama who, like Edwards, strongly supports teacher incentives. I think the key to his plan is in supporting local innovation. He wants to select 20 districts to get grants to work on innovation at the local level. Give teachers and communities ownership and resources, and let them figure it out! If they succeed, they are rewarded. Then, see what works and replicate and/or provide other districts with similar grants to do the same. For now, this is the only idea that I can really say that I strongly support. Local, local, local....
A final note....We all know how I feel about education, and the disgusting amount of money that I currently owe to the University of Pennsylvania is proof of that...but, making sure that kids are "meeting academic standards" (and I'm still not clear on what those are) is based on a lot of other factors being in place, ie healthcare, support for parents, job opportunities, funding for higher education, etc. While the focus right now seems to be on No Child Left Behind and the “to renew or not to renew” question, the bottom line is, a "new and improved" version of NCLB or another national education plan cannot be a band aid for all of our other problems. Schools won't succeed until children and their families are prepared to succeed.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Education has always been your passion! Reading, writing. . . well maybe not arithmetic so much:). Books, books and more books! Your beliefs, values and opinions are solid and strong, you express them well. Others have different ideas which they feel strongly about also, but I know you would debate them quite nicely!
Your desire for knowledge and your compassion and caring have brought you to where you are in your life today! You are doing wonderfully important things for the betterment of society on a daily basis. Let's hope it is contagious and more people do the same! Remember to hang on to that great sense of humor of yours, it helps keep you grounded and not take life too seriously all the time.
Love You,
Mum
P.S.( H's pantsuits are to hide her not so attractive legs :)
Mooooooooom, you're embarassing me :) (I apologize to all of you who have to read the sappiness of my mothers comments...she can't help herself :))
Ok - since I orignally requested for you to share your thoughts, I guess I should share my thoughts on your thoughts (you had to know this was coming).
1) I actually really like the idea of a "West Point" for teachers. My spin on this would include an incorporation of the now-defunct AmeriCorps program and the still-up-and-running Teach for America. My idea would be for a government-sponsored, but independantly-run, ELITE master's program. Tuition would be free, but once graduating from the program, you would be obligated to teach at an "under-performing" school for two or three years (whatever is feasible). Obviously, you would receive a salary during these years, but after your initial servitude you would be given a large increase in salary as an incentive to stay in that district. If an agreement is reached, you would be obligated to remain at the school for another five years until the process begins again.
2) As you can see above, I absolutely agree with you that teachers need incentives to stay at non-elite schools. One of the bigger problems with our education system is that the best teachers have every incentive to drift towards less challenging environments. Essentially, their choice comes down to a) teach in a challenging environment for less money and more hassles or b) teach at an elite school for more money, more freedom, better hours, and less hassles. Most people are inherantly selfish, but even the selfless would have a hard time choosing option A.
3) I also agree with you that improvements need to be figured out at the local level. This also ties into your comments on infrastructure.
For a school to begin the uphill climb towards success, there needs to be a certain level of pride and commitment taken by the majority of people in the district. This is best illustrated in the movie "Lean on Me" (I know it's a movie, but it does a good job of demonstrating how to turn around a school). Everyone involved cared about the turn around because everyone cared about East High. That needs to happen more often. Students need to identify themselves with their high school and community. In order for something like that to occur, a lot of things need to happen (like reasonable class sizes, the continuity of teachers, the improvement of teachers, the improvement of the infrastructure).
Ok....this is really long so I'm going to cut myself off now. I liked the post a lot, you should continue to share your thoughts.
Brie,
You have a wonderful perspective on the important issues!Your writing is clear, consise, well thought out and witty(which is so important to keep people reading!)Your passion is evident! Keep up the wonderful work. I will thank Debbie Tonelli for introducing me to your site!
PS Your mom is right--H is covering not so nice legs!!
Patti Conzo
Post a Comment