A blog I regularly read (As I Was Saying....so freaking funny) led me to a "Blog Blast" today. It originated at the blog, It's All About Balance. After reading the posts at these sites, and all the others linked on the latter page, I thought I needed to participate.
First of all, I am a huge advocate for public education. I am against private school vouchers. I also am not a fan of most of No Child Left Behind. Now that that's out of the way, I think there are a few things that can really help our public schools.
1. Money, money, money. Stop spending money on stuff that doesn't even take place in our country. Save our children. Give them the education they deserve. Why are some schools rolling in dough and others have asbestos in the ceiling and no working toilets? If the federal government has the chutzpah to lay down the law, then show us the money.
2. Teachers. (I am one.) Get out there and keep learning yourself. How many teachers do we know that never try new methods, never share with their colleagues, and never go the extra mile. Take classes, get new certifications, go to workshops. Heck! Go to the art museum and pick up some pamphlets. Let's get some fresh ideas, some real-world experiences, and some new methods in our classrooms. Not everyone learns by rote memorization. The drone of your voice lulls some to sleep. Step it up.
3. Parents. Come on. You need to step it up, too. You should know where your kids are. The remote control to your TV has parental controls - use them. Monitor the internet. Be there for them. TALK to them, not at them.
4. Human beings. Speak up. If you see an injustice that involves a kid, DO SOMETHING. Don't wait for the next person. It might be too late.
5 comments:
All excellent points. It really should be that simple, shouldn't it?
I'm so glad you found the BlogBlast! Thank you for participating.
Hi Jane! Thanks for linking to me. Now that I know where to find you, I can regularly read your blog! Enough about me..okay, really, I can never get enough about me...
Anyhoodle, the BlogBlast was so informative. Some of the posts made me sad, some made me angry, and others made me realize how little I know about the state of education today. They all made me think.
I agree with every single one of your points. I am looking forward to reading more of your posts.
I wholeheartedly agree. Well said my dear.
I know you say you're against vouchers, but school choice has actually helped out a lot in certain areas --- I think the concept isn't bad, provided it's implemented the right way.
Check out this article about how school choice experiments in Oakland and Compton have fared. Interesting stuff:
http://www.reason.com/news/show/118868.html
Tripp- good article. I agree with school choice, just not with using taxpayer money to fund private school educations. The money is not enough to send kids to high performing private schools, and they are stuck in the same situation that they try to escape. That, and there have been no test score improvements in these situations. :) Thanks for the link....and now i must read every article on that site. :)
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