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Our children are older now, (youngest 25 yrs old) but coming back from 14 yrs overseas and in DoDDs schools, our kids did WONDERFULLY in what was the highest rated school district in the city at the time. We were a little taken back that they seemed to be a full grade level ahead of the classes being offered once we returned stateside.
I understand that since our kids have graduated, there is even MORE emphasis on "testing" vs teaching, and I really feel that the complaints I hear from both the parents and teachers sounds to me like things have become much worse in focus of "testing vs teaching".
I am also SHOCKED at some of the stories I have heard from teaching friends where the parents actually have told them "he is your problem from 9-3" when called about an issue at school....I can not even IMAGINE such.
We always attended "Orientations", "Parents/Teachers Conferences", "Meet the Teacher" and PTA meetings.....do they even HAVE PTA's anymore????
I also have noticed with all our grandkids (and friends grandchildren) that they should probably be earning a degree in marketing now, because these kids are sent home with something to sell it seems every other week....
Don't know how the discussion turned into a debate of negative influence in the good versus bad school district (basically affluent vs poor neighborhood). The have and have not faces life issues.
The question is about the public EDUCATION between these districts. We are not talking about private school here.
Probably because it's quite common to equate "bad schools/poverty-ridden districts" with negative social influences. The truth is that negative social influences are rampant across socioeconomic levels. They may look different, but the impact is no less negative. There is a root belief that your kids don't get exposed to "bad" things at "nice schools in the suburbs." It's a flawed belief. We have well-off suburban public schools locally that are very well-regarded, and have been recently rocked by things including suicide pacts, sexual assaults, there have been scandals of teachers being involved with students, etc. But, hey, if it's not inner city gangs, it's all good. It's where you want your kids to be, because bad things don't happen, there, like in inner city schools. Uh huh.
The topic of how a given public school district's economic situation (which is quite often largely determined by tax base and reflects the levels of poverty and affluence of the community served) affects the quality of education it is able to provide has been discussed from early on in the thread, I don't think it's been missing from the discussion at all.
But it's not that surprising that people have chimed in that they would send their kids to "better" (i.e. more affluent) school districts if given the choice, because the negative influences will be less. It's a commonly held conception.
We always attended "Orientations", "Parents/Teachers Conferences", "Meet the Teacher" and PTA meetings.....do they even HAVE PTA's anymore????
PTAs exist. They're not so common in communities where there are few stay-at-home parents, however.
At my last school, it could be like pulling teeth to get parents to show up for annual IEP review meetings, and they were mandated by federal law to be held within a specific time period, and could not by law be held without a parent present unless the meeting had ben attempted and parent had failed to show a set number of times after being notified.
So, yeah, PTA, not so much. Open House, not so much. Parent-teacher conferences, not so much.
PTAs exist. They're not so common in communities where there are few stay-at-home parents, however.
At my last school, it could be like pulling teeth to get parents to show up for annual IEP review meetings, and they were mandated by federal law to be held within a specific time period, and could not by law be held without a parent present unless the meeting had ben attempted and parent had failed to show a set number of times after being notified.
So, yeah, PTA, not so much. Open House, not so much. Parent-teacher conferences, not so much.
PTAs are here too, but they dwindle by the time kids reach high school between parents going back to work, letting their kid be independent, and booster clubs for other extracurricular activities taking up time. Then there's the fact that some parents just move onto other things. I guess you could say I was a super PTA mom with the first two and fairly involved with the third. The fourth kid? Well, let's just say some of his friend's parents think I'm the laziest, most disengaged parent ever.
I am a special education and language arts teacher. Years ago, I decided to begin working exclusively with students with severe behavioral issues, which led to working in specialized schools set up for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders, conduct disorders, emotional/behavioral disturbance, etc. I'm currently in graduate school full-time getting my master's degree in counseling psych to learn counseling therapy techniques for the same population. I've worked with kids all across the socioeconomic spectrum, from inner city to rural schools, and seen quite a bit.
It bothers me when people (particularly people who are not in the trenches themselves) paint various "types" of schools with a broad brush. I have known subpar educators at costly private schools, and I have known excellent teaching from dedicated individuals at very low income schools. Stereotyping and pigeonholing is common behavior - as humans, we make sense of things by categorizing. It's just simply not always that accurate.
PTAs are here too, but they dwindle by the time kids reach high school between parents going back to work, letting their kid be independent, and booster clubs for other extracurricular activities taking up time. Then there's the fact that some parents just move onto other things. I guess you could say I was a super PTA mom with the first two and fairly involved with the third. The fourth kid? Well, let's just say some of his friend's parents think I'm the laziest, most disengaged parent ever.
Yep, parent involvement is often minimal by high school, unless you count attending extracurriculars and doing, like being an athletic booster or band parent who does a lot of behind the scenes work, or similar. Even at that rate, it's far from all the parents who participate. It's usually the dedicated few.
PTAs exist. They're not so common in communities where there are few stay-at-home parents, however.
At my last school, it could be like pulling teeth to get parents to show up for annual IEP review meetings, and they were mandated by federal law to be held within a specific time period, and could not by law be held without a parent present unless the meeting had ben attempted and parent had failed to show a set number of times after being notified.
So, yeah, PTA, not so much. Open House, not so much. Parent-teacher conferences, not so much.
In our district, the PTO's monthly meetings rotate between morning and evening to accomodate parents with a variety of working hours. They are well attended.
I still think, though, that this all comes down to resources. Parents who have the income to do so will shell out for resources, whether it is a full spectrum of AP courses, award-winning athletics, or a nationally-ranked DI team. One or two outstanding teachers at a lackluster school is not enough for many parents. It has to be the whole package, and they'll pay to have access.
It's not free. The entry ticket is a $400k house and constant requests for additional funds.
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