DeniseLawson

Mar 7 2008, 08:29 AM

Deacon Robert

Jan 4 2008, 08:36 PM

As I said before, I don't know where you live, the behavior you describe is the exception, not the rule. If you have read my previous post you will see that I have spent at least 8 years among students both during school hours and outside of school hours and have rarely seen the behavior you claim is prevalent. If an incident occurs there are also penalties imposed. Criminal acts are reported to the police. behavior problems are referred to the administration. possible outcomes range from detetion to expulsion. Please, there is no need to reply. You are intent on inferring that all school systems in the US and those employed by them as being either inferior, corrupt, or incompetent. If this is what you believe, feel free, you are welcome to your opinion.

I will reply because I have seen several different school systems in several different states. I have seen the very good, the very bad, and several in between. I suspect the vast majority are the in between.

While I agree with you that what Jen has described is not what goes on everywhere, I will also say I suspect it is far more widespread than you are claiming. I have seen very good school systems, and I was lucky to have attended good schools myself. That said, however, I have also been places where 75% of high school seniors are not prepared to start college when they graduate, much less make it in the real world with just a high school diploma. I have been in school districts where English-speaking students have been told they need to learn in a foreign language or go to private school, because the teachers are refusing to teach in English because it is not the native language of the dominant minority group in that school. I have been in school districts where students have been taught by teachers who were illiterate - literally, they could not read, and no, I'm not kidding.

On the flip side, I've also seen school districts at the opposite end of the spectrum - where not only are the teachers competent, but the students are prepared for life beyond high school - whether that's being ready to attend college, or being well-prepared to enter the work force. I've seen school districts that had programs available for kids to pursue career training for their interests beyond high school - either in a trade, or start their college education early, if that is the path they are going down. I've seen school districts - and sometimes very poorly-funded ones - that are consistently producing large numbers of merit scholars - sometimes many more per capital than some of the better funded districts around them.

My point? From what I've seen, you're both right. Also, from what I've seen, the defining difference in how good or bad a school seems to be is ultimately the parents. Stated simply, the more involved the parents in their child's education, the more likely that child will get a good education. Some of those "worst school districts" that I have seen have all had a common theme - high drop-out rates, high numbers of students who have poorly-educated or un-educated parents that do not value an education (as opposed to those who are not well educated but still realize the value of a good education, not necessarily as opposed to well-educated parents), students with parents who just don't care, or do care but just can't cope, or any other number of factors, students whose parents have taught them they can do no wrong, etc. Regardless, though, from what I've seen - the overall health of any given school district goes right back to the dominant attitude of the parents in that school district.