Fight or Flight: No Child Left Behind

Just trying to consolidate blogs. Here is a older one of mine that I just wanted to link to this page but could not figure out how to do it. Previously posted in July of 2006:

During his address to the NAACP, President Bush made the following statement. “There's an achievement gap in America that's wrong for America, an achievement gap that says we're not fulfilling the promise. One of the barriers to opportunity, one of the obstacles to success is the fact that too many of our children aren't reading at grade level. And we know that because we measure, and we're doing something about it. Actually, the achievement gap is beginning to close. There's more work to be done. Measuring allows parents to see how the school that their child is going to is doing. It lets the parents determine whether or not they should be satisfied with the education their child is getting.

I strongly believe that parental involvement is important for our school systems. And I believe, and I strongly believe a parent knows what's best for his or her child. That's what I believe. And therefore, when we find schools that are not teaching and will not change, our parents should have a different option. If you want quality education you've got to trust the parents.
You know, an amazing thing about our society today is wealthier white families have got the capacity to defeat mediocrity by moving. That is not the case for lower-income families. And so, therefore, I strongly believe in charter schools, and public school choice. I believe in opportunity scholarships to be able to enable parents to move their child out of a school that's not teaching, for the benefit of the United States of America.”

It is unfortunate that the answer to the question is not fight where you are but move elsewhere. I suggest that often times the problems reflected by the students are those of the parents. Yes, some of them want a better education for their children, but they do not expect to have to work for it. They are not members nor do they attend PTA meetings. They do not respond to requests to attend parent/teacher meetings or open houses. They ignore requests to come to school to talk about the educational progress or lack thereof of their children. They expect the teachers and school personnel to handle everything. They become hostile when asked to check homework or read to/with children. Sometimes the parent is not much older than the child. Sometimes the problem is the lack of skill on the part of the parent. On many levels, a system based upon the family unit is doomed to fail. The divorce rate shares the same percentage of the odds that the parent is sufficiently educated to help their child. There are a lot of excuses for this behavior, but the bottom line is, parents have a real role to play in the education of their children. It does not start at age 5. It starts before birth.

Flight away from inner-city schools is not the answer. There are many dedicated teachers, support personnel and principals in these schools who would love to have parental support. These are people who are trained and dedicated to teaching.Along with No Child Left Behind we need a different educational model. People are not machines, they are uniquely different, and as such we cannot have a rote program and hope that it will cultivate individual personalities and successes. We tend to believe everyone should learn the same thing at the same time and therefore must learn everything they need to know by the time they reach the age of 18. So what about the children who can absorb twelve years of classroom knowledge in six years? What about those that may need fourteen or sixteen years to learn? Stigmas, like racism and other isms, related to intelligence must be eliminated so that more people are not left behind. We need everyone, who can, to get “it”.

We need teachers in the classrooms not instructors. We need students to feel less pressure to learn things by a certain time so that their energies can be focused on learning and retaining knowledge, and then understanding how to apply that knowledge. Maybe we need to migrate from needing X number of clock hours in the classroom to a system that says you have completed the requirements for primary and secondary learning when you can show you understand these basic knowledges – age at understanding is not important. School should be year round. I am sure there are many creative ways to make sure everyone gets enough time off, and a reasonable amount of time to learn.

I believe parents have the option to make sure the schools in their neighborhoods are having a positive effect on their children.

I believe that by working with the local schools and the unions that education in America can become the best in the world.

I believe that in some communities, education must be done at a time that is convenient to the majority of the people in the community. Maybe parents and children should go to school together – children to get it right the first time, parents to enhance or refresh their skills so that they can be productive in supporting their children’s education and the family financially. Then maybe we would have a system in which parents are the role models and teachers are the educators.

I believe that with some creativity, rule bending and hard work, no child would be left behind.

In Open Letter: Star Jones Checks Bill O'Reilly's Racist Remark, Star Jones-Reynolds (for those of you who are not familiar with this issue) responds to the following:

"O'Reilly, ...was talking to a caller who was angry that [Michelle] Obama had said on C-Span that "for the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country." The 58-year-old television commentator..... responded to the caller by offering that of course they'd have to check the facts first. He said: "I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels. If that's how she really feels - that is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever - then that's legit. We'll track it down."

I was intrigued that Ms. Jones picked up on the lynch party and tracking down comments as being racist. Actually, I missed that until she brought it up. I was taken aback by the obvious lack of support for free speech - something that O'Reilly depends on. I though how hypocritical this was as a journalist, he did not defend her or everyone's right to their opinions, and the right and freedom to express them.

I was glad, though, that he said he would look in to it instead of just reacting, however I was intrigued by the line, "we'll track it down". Track it down and do what?

Granted, she is right in the public eye, and she had the audacity to say what many people have felt for some time. Let's hone in on this attitude - that of we must support our government right or wrong or otherwise we are not patriots.

One of the things that made this country great was the courage many people exhibited when they stood up and spoke change into existence.

But speaking of speaking change into existence, why must we have a conversation like this about racism and the negative effects of words at this point in time? How can we speak change into existence? When will lynch party be a page in history, one that we can read about, look back on and marvel about how that and the issues related to it have been solved? When will someone be able to use that expression without drawing fire? And, by ignoring it, are we certainly opening the door for more, or for escalated racism? How can we solve this problem?