Basically, the article explains that 4 of our middle schools have performed so poorly on the WASL (our state's student assessment test, like the CTBS, or the ITBS) over the last few years that one is being closed, two are changing their curriculum and their principals and 50% of their staff. This is so that Tacoma School District can receive federal education funding to make some drastic changes and get these students performing better on the WASL.
Here's why firing principals and replacing teachers and changing curriculum won't work: because the student demographic will remain THE SAME. You can have the best teachers and administrators in the world of education working with students that come from low-income families and neighborhoods, but those students will always underperform because being successful in school is not very high on their (or their parents') priority list.
Why is it that when people go to college they trade their common sense for a few letters after their names? Don't they learn about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs? I know I did in college. What Maslow figured out (and it doesn't take much thought), is that we all have basic needs, and when any one of those basic needs is unmet, not only can we not progress and reach our full potential, in some cases, our bodies cannot function properly.
So here we have a child who, because of whatever circumstances, only gets the food that the school serves. There's no food at home. The power is turned off because the money for the bill got smoked up, and there's no hot water to get clean in the morning or have clean clothes for school. This same child consistently doesn't get enough sleep, and may not even sleep in the same place every night, let alone have a bed of his or her own. "Mom" is in and out of jail, or prostituting herself for drug or alcohol money, and "Dad", if the child even knows who his or her biological father is, is serving a life sentence, or has babies all over town with countless other women, or is always drugged out or drunk. I don't even want to go into the abuse issue. It's too hard to think about.
Does this sound extreme? It does if that's not what you come from. But we have kids in this city, kids in this country, for whom this is normal, every day life. Take a look at all the needs that must be filled BEFORE a child can even possibly do well in school:
- breathing
- food and water
- sleep
- homeostasis
- security of body, morality, property, health, and family
- friendship and family (love and belonging)
- self-esteem
- confidence
- achievement
- respect of others
- respect by others
That's a lot of needs to be met in order to attain:
- morality
- creativity
- spontaneity
- problem solving
- lack of prejudice
- acceptance of facts
So why does anyone think that by trading out teachers and administrators, and closing a school (which, by the way, has a very high number of kids from impoverished homes AND a very high number of special education students--most of whom don't take the WASL (and the school takes a '0' score), or the SpEd students take the WASL but fail it, dragging down the school's total score) that they will be able to make academic change for the better? These students will still be coming to school from difficult situations. It's hard to focus on schoolwork and test preparation when you're not sure if you're going to a foster home at any time, or if one or both of your parents will be stoned or angry and itching to fight when you get home.
I guess what I'm trying to say here is that throwing more money into something that already doesn't work isn't going to solve the problem. It's like having a toaster that doesn't heat up and figuring that if you just keep putting bread into the slots, EVENTUALLY you should get toast, right? No, because that's just stupid. Until you have parents who are functional and healthy themselves who are motivated to better their situation and take an interest in educating themselves and their children, we will continue to have students who underperform in school and grow up to be the same dysfunctional, criminal, and abusive people as their parents and we will continue to pay for them to stay on welfare and food stamps and government health care.
Does anyone else see the insanity in all of this?
3 comments:
Amen!
I always listen to the politicians talking about our "failed schools" and shake my head with sadness. Sometimes the school takes a large share of the blame. Mostly, it is failed parents who are responsible. But the politicians and school boards can't say that, because those failed parents are heading to the polls in November, so we keep our heads in the sand and fix everything except the problem.
If you came into my ER with a heart attack and I gave you crutches and a knee immobilizer, you wouldn't be so happy, so why do we allow our pols to keep treating the wrong disease?
I worked in schools for 32 years. I agree that replacing teachers and administrators will not solve the problem of low-achievement. Kids attend school only 6 hours a day. What goes on the other 18 hours is up to the parents. I have worked in low income/low achieving schools. Many of the parents never went past the fourth grade and speak no English. My staff and I worked very hard providing English classes on site to the parents while their schoolage kids were in class. We provided free childcare, too. Unfortunately most parents did not come to class.
It is very frustrating to have a child come to kindergarten with no knowledge of colors, shapes, numerals or familiar objects even in their native language.
My school district does not bus kids from their neighborhood area in order to equalize the ethnicities or languages. There is no place for modeling by students who do speak English fluently. In the middle and high schools it is cheaper to have the "sage on the stage" lead classes with little technology and no applied learning such as vocational education. The excuse is that it costs too much for insurance to use machines (wood shop, auto shop, etc.)
Not all kids need to go to college. Some are skilled in hands-on vocational areas. Why do we not meet their needs. Just look at my autistic nephew. He is progressing and loves to work with his hands and his brain!
I could go on forever!
Good job Gina!
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