There are far too many things about public education that bother me and most of them I tend to keep to myself. Some of the reasons for this are:
1. I want to keep my job.
2. I want to keep my job.
and
3. I really really want to keep my job.
Sometimes, however, the Soap Box just seems to call my name.
Kelly? Oh, Kelly? Yes, it’s me. Soap Box. Come on over here and step up, would you?
I like to oblige.
Over the summer there were whisperings of a group of men who wanted to come in to our school and “help” us. They wanted to take a select group of our students out of our building and put them in an academy-type setting elsewhere. These students have commonalities: they are low performers on our state test, they are NOT special education students, and they are all males. African-American males.
I have done enough reading and research and have enough experience to know that African-American males are not performing well across our district. Across the state. Across the nation. So, I have no problem with that. There needs to be some targeted intervention on their behalf.
The men, whom I’ve dubbed Carte Blanche, have just that. Unconditional authority. They have found a place to hold this academy, they will start at semester, and they will need at least two teachers. What they also get to choose is the curriculum and my real question as to that is why would they have chosen one that homeschoolers use? Does it fit the state standards? Of that, I’m not certain, but if WE are held to that standard, then they should be as well.
So, at semester our numbers will change which, in turn, affects the staff allocation we have. Since we’ll be down 40 students (oh, and they are ONLY taking them from our school and not from the other 4 middle schools in the district) then our district will probably end up taking some of our staff away.
None of this pisses me off more, however, than the fact that they haven’t ONCE bothered to come into our school and visit classrooms. They haven’t ONCE taken the time to visit our faculty meetings or staff inservices to find out what we are doing. They haven’t ONCE come to seek our expertise.
If they had, they would see that we have been increasing student achievement and that our scores in math nearly doubled from our efforts over the past two years. They would see how our reading scores improved and our writing scores outshined that of some of the other priveleged schools in the city. They would hear the read-alouds we implemented, the classroom libraries we’ve bought, the after school programs we have, the interim measures we created to simply look at the data about what students know, the essential vocabulary lists we’ve spent two years working on.
Not ONCE have they even bothered.
And in all my ranting about this I can succinctly sum it up this way: Bring your asses into our school and trust that we might just know what the hell we’re doing.
That’s what bothers me more than anything else.
September 6, 2006 @ 6:34 am | Filed under Education | Permalink |
NursePam Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 7:07 am
This one deserves a rant Kelly. I too would be very curious as to why they chose a homeschooling curriculum. And it sounds suspiciously as though they did some homework and are taking students from a school that shows improvements. Thus, they will be more likely to piggy back onto your successes and take credit where credit is not due.
fizzle Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 7:11 am
I’m concerned that they’re segregating these students. I see the need to give them direct attention (more for their sakes than for NCLB crap), but what starts out as a good idea can metamorphosize in to something else. Sounds like continuation school to me….
juli Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 7:37 am
Mocha, have you applied to be one of their teachers? It may be your “in” to voice your opinions. And if that is not possible, if they downsize your staff, can those downsized be brought to the academy?
I read the article of the 3 and what they intend to do. It sounded good, but you’re right to question why the home school curriculum. Is it because they don’t think the students can do all that the state requires of them? Are they just hoping they can tie their shoes and then teach them to walk later? I don’t get it either. Good rant sister. Give ‘em hell.
Jennifer Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 8:00 am
You tell them! It sounds very odd to do that to one school only!
Jennifer
QofS Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 8:11 am
Hmmm…….interesting.
Want me to beat them up?
tanilan Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 9:04 am
Kelly, that is so insane! I have to agree with NursePam. I think they will end up trying to ride the glory of all the work that you and your staff have accomplished. It is so unsettling to see people use and munipulate our children in order to get their own agendas across. And that is what I think these people may be doing.
You have every right in the world to be mad!
Kim Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 9:21 am
I will have to agree that is does seem a little odd for them to only choose kids from your school, when yours are showing improvement. A definite reason to get on your soap box.
I do need to point out that the majority of homeschooling curiculum is very good and comes up to or exceeds state requirements. Having graduated as a homeschooler and continued on to college, I had no difficulty staying at the top of my classes in college.
If the curriculum does not meet state standards, then I agree that they (Carte Blanche) should also have to meet the standards that your school is required to meet. They should not be able to get by with something inferior if these children are expected to succeed.
Dana Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 10:04 am
How can this “Carte Blanche” be so ingnorant? Why do they just assume that they can provide a better setting for this group of students than anyone else? And why do they have to remove these students from the school to teach them? That doesn’t seem right to me. Won’t there be some predisposed notion that these kids are intellectually inferior? Might that affect how they learn and their self-confidence?
There just has to be a way to step-in without making these students worry that they don’t possess the skills necessary to learn as well as other kids.
Granted, I’m not an educator and I don’t have the same knowledge and expertise as a teacher, but if I were the parent of one of these students I think that’s one worry that would cross my mind.
I sure hope these Authoritarians realize the good work you do before making snap decisions.
Cheryl Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 2:51 pm
HI,
What seems odd to me is they think something is wrong with the black males or boys in general in public schools. The homeschool curriculum is not the problem, as one poster wrote, homeschool curriculum exceeds states standards, homeschool boys do well in education. That is what they are testing. They are isolating them to see if they would learn better given a different curriculum and a different setting.
group with each other “all boys” I know black boys are in trouble, This is interesting. I got to look into this. Are they being taught by males? Great! They will do fine. If that’s not it, you better get on that soap box!
Sue Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 4:48 pm
I have so many complaints with public school system and administrations… but I have no more kids in school. So sorry you have to deal with this crap. It has to be so frustrating, especially if you have to be careful so you don’t lose your job! grrr…
JJ Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 6:06 pm
This is pretty darn scary if you ask me. It smacks of so many questionable tactics I don’t even know where to begin. Never mind the obvious segregational aspects of this plan. A home-school plan? What the heck?
Not only will your school lose State and Federal funding for the loss of these students, but you will lose staff as well.
Then, programs will be cut.
This is just insane.
willowtree Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 6:09 pm
Wow, this sounds a bit like 1930’s Germany to me.
Caffeinated Librarian Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 6:48 pm
This may or may not have anything to do with your situation, but when my mom was teaching she always used to complain about the school officials (always male) who wanted to take all the books out of the library and replace them with computers. Books weren’t sexy enough, she said. They weren’t fast or flashy enough, and very few parents were impressed when the papers reported the number of books a school has.
But those officials were never there to see the computers crash or the network slow down to a crawl; they never spent any time supervising a room full of hormonal pre-teens to make sure they weren’t finding ways around the filters; weren’t there, in short, to deal with the long haul. It’s easy to ride in with the White Hat and the Brand New Flashy Idea - but teaching is about being there when the cameras and the papers and the parents are gone. It’s about sticking it out with kids when they aren’t getting it and not giving up on them.
The real test for this program won’t be in the first year - the cameras will all be focused on them then. It will be in the second and the third year, when they aren’t the brand new thing.
*sigh* Sorry. End rant.
Geeky Dior Girl Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 7:35 pm
I too have soooooo many complaints with public education. Not to begin with the fact that my daughter got promoted to the 3rd grade ( I was very surprised by this) and now with the beginning of the school year I realize that she does not know her addition facts, cannot put together a proper sentence, handwritting is atrocious, and spelling skills are lacking. I am very upset and plan a meeting with the teacher. The fact that the school houses 700 kids and is only built for 400 makes me want to cry. I am wondering if I should request that she go back to the 2nd grade because I think a lot of her problem is her maturity level. I feel like maybe I am failing her and the school is failing her. I honestly don’t know what to do. I don’t know if I can request that she be sent to a school with fewer children and less children in a class. I am just reading on homeschooling although I am a single parent and that doesn’t sound like a plausible avenue.
Okay. I’m breathing. This isn’t all about me. So about the situation at your school.
If something good comes out of it such as the students that are in the academy excel then I say great, regardless of where the credit is due. It maybe some type of experiment on class size or curriculum. I don’t know. But the fact that they are all african american doesn’t bother me. I would worry about how they reintegrate into the school population.
deannie Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 7:39 pm
I wish, once and for all, you would just tell us how you feel. What you didn’t tell us is what sort of credentials ‘Carte Blanche’ has…are they educators? What is their background? What makes them qualified to pick and choose the kids, the teachers, the curriculum? And honestly, no program can stop after 3pm when the bell rings…which is why organized sports has been the savior of many a young boy. What are they putting in place to tend to THOSE needs? Oh, and should I ask THAT question…that nasty question? Why yes I will…are the members of ‘Carte Blanche’ also African-American?
Yes, this is not a pleasant situation. Get off that soap box, we can’t both be up there at the same time!
EricAtRandom Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 8:00 pm
Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but I would worry that this isn’t about the kids’ benefit at all. It could be some experiment to *see* if this will benefit this demographic. I think people are entitled to the occasional “why” behind these activities.
I hope something good comes of this, but I’m not “feelin’ the love” right now.
Julie Ann Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 8:00 pm
This style of decision making process may be the reason I leave my position as a special education teacher. Frustrating beyond words…
jeankfl Said,
September 6, 2006 @ 11:32 pm
It’s always bad when the “suits” come in and tell the professionals what they are going to do! I can relate…when the suits come into the hospitals, etc..I can feel the care sliding downhill. Frustration doesn’t even begin to cover it.
hugs,
Jeankfl
GeekyDiorGirl Said,
September 7, 2006 @ 12:25 pm
It may not be about the kids benefit, I’m just naturally inclined to believe the best in people even when the odds are stacked against things turning out good, which I am hoping that they do. It would restore my faith in the idea of education reform
Yolanda Said,
September 8, 2006 @ 10:46 am
This is fascinating to me and I too am curious about the background of who and why this program is being started. That being said I too am trying to assume the best of this program. As a mother of two african american males, and a sister to one who went through a variety of trials in the public school system, I applaud them for trying to at least address how the school system has repeatedly failed black males.
Mocha Momma » I’m Not Quite Done With This Said,
September 11, 2006 @ 8:13 am
[...] I got a lot of great comments and questions from my post on my disgust with this “new academy” that is being put together. First, I loved how Deannie asked That Question about the race of the gentlemen who want to take our students from us for this school. Yes. In fact, they are African-American men. Some are educators who spent time on our district’s school board, some are PhD’s, some are businessmen. All, however, are concerned about achievement from our African-American males. [...]
Mocha Momma » You Should Go Visit A Classroom Said,
November 10, 2006 @ 8:04 am
[...] While working on this project of having a school-within-a-school we are having meetings left and right. Here’s a brief update of what is going on: [...]
Mocha Momma » You Should Have Stopped Me. Why Didn’t You? Said,
November 29, 2006 @ 4:02 am
[...] Not too long ago I wrote about this school-within-a-school that three African American men are trying to implement. I made mention of it here, here, and here. Since then, the program has changed from taking approximately 50 of our AA male students and relocating them to another building where two teachers would be responsible for them to identifying 28 AA males who will remain in our building with the support of these 2 extra teachers. The best part of this stems from the fact that the ball is back in our court and we will be responsible for creating this program with additional staff members. [...]