Duh! Are We THAT Stupid?!

Sigh. Well, I know I got a pretty good education through the 70s and 80s. Not the best by far, but I learned a lot and scored well on test scores. I learned how to read, write, type, draw, play drums, sing, and do some bamboo jumping dance. Yes, I can write a sentence, and I'm a pro at diagramming them (it was a form of entire class punishment for individuals misbehaving).

I am concerned for my children's education and future wellbeing. Articles like this one from ABC News confirms my concerns. I am sickened when I read and hear about parents who have to medicate their children just so they can go to school, and threatened by the school to take their children away if they don't comply. Then, the schools wonder why the kids don't learn and score poorly on standardized tests.

I have two very happy, and very active boys. I am fairly sure that the older one will be an issue in public school if the teacher doesn't know how to deal with a child who has difficulty transitioning between activities. Unfortunately, it seems teachers have a lot more skill in their own knowledge of subjects than they do in teaching and working with a variety of children's behaviors. In my opinion, no kindergartener should be forced to take medication because they are overactive and the teacher does not have the skills required to work with young children.

It also seems that schools are turning to larger class sizes to save on costs, but are unwilling to let go of other costs, like expanding their gymnasiums and auditoriums. It is frustrating to see in our own town a school board that would rather close the middle school and push classes together in the high school to save costs. In such an effort, they would have to build more classrooms, an extra gymnasium and an auditorium in the 1960s era high school that has just as many negative structural issues as the 1920s era middle school. Of course, they would have to raise the money through public bonds. Sigh.

I thought about taking my children to the Catholic school in town so they would be in a smaller class size, but I just read an article in the Catholic paper that they are going to standardize the tuition in our diocese, so every school will have the same tuition rate. It used to cost $1,000/year to send a kid to our Catholic school (in 2002), now it will cost over $4,000. (It is either 7% of a family's income or the full cost per student.) So, if we don't have good paying jobs to pay for their education, there's no way they will go to school there.

We've also thought about homeschooling, but that would mean that we would have to be super organized parents. I've heard that two-thirds of the day in a public school is wasted because the teacher is trying to gain control of the class, or there is some type of disruption in the classroom. Thus, homeschooling would be one way our kids could learn without interruption.

So, after reading the ABC News article, you think you have no choice? Well, then check out the fact sheet from the US Department of Education. They are throwing millions of dollars to benefit thousands of kids. Will this force our public schools to become creative with their offerings and opportunities they give to our children? I'm not holding my breath.