Do you think NYC public schools will get better in the future? (New York: insurance, lawyer)

[TeaJay]

Originally Posted by scatman

I have some questions for teachers on this board which may seem uncomfortable........

Based on your experiences......

1) How many students are from single-parent households?

2) What percentage of teachers are men?

3) What percentage of teachers are men of color?

1) Maybe 75%? It's hard to say. Interestingly, I have one group of kids where most of them are on grade level and do pretty well in school. Most of those kids come from homes with two parents- maybe 20 kids live with both parents. My other class has kids who are behind, and more of those kids come from homes with one parent. If I had to guess, I'd say maybe 8-10 of those kids live with both parents.

2) I'd guess that almost half our staff is men- I think middle school and high school are more likely to have men, as opposed to elementary.

3) Of them, only 3 or 4 are white (we have a small staff- about 45 total faculty). My current grade team consists of three African American men, one A.A. woman and two white women.

[Alan B 718]

Originally Posted by scatman

I have some questions for teachers on this board which may seem uncomfortable........

Based on your experiences......

1) How many students are from single-parent households?

2) What percentage of teachers are men?

3) What percentage of teachers are men of color?

Im not a Teacher.. but i understand the pussification of america.

1) at last count almost 1/2 the children in america today are in a single parent household. NYC has always been on the high end of bad averages. At last census count, single parent households numbered 350,000 in nyc alone. Thats not counting illegals. Its almost always a women run household (not that its bad, just tying it in to the question posed above).

2) i have 3 kids, 8th grade, 7th grade, 6th grade. In all that time, the only male teacher is my son's 8th grade science teacher. I dont count P.E teachers cause all they do is joke around anyways.

3) My son's 8th grade science teacher is black (colorful ).

The breakdown of familial values, the degradation of the value that men/fathers have on their children and those of society, all the groups that want to EMPOWER their faction by subjugating all others (empowerment is not equality), the list is endless.

America is gonna be a scary place in 25 years. If course in 25 years it will be callled Amexicanada

[TwiloMike]

Originally Posted by roseba

Don't believe the hype. It is a fallacy that NYC schools are bad. Some are bad, some are good. Some are GREAT. Remember, there are over 1500 public schools in NYC. They aren't all the same.

Absolutely. The specialized public high schools are a prime example of excellence in NYC: Styvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, LaGuardia, etc. Fantastic high schools.

[Morningside_gal]

You know, every place I've live in the past 6 years has had "bad schools". The places range from major metro areas to a mid-sized city of 100,000 or so. However when you really take a look at the schools individually, they are NOT all bad and many many have great things to offer. I think it's just the vogue thing to talk about how bad the schools are without knowing anything about them.
Paying the teachers more won't help...if it's MONEY that motivates instead of a LOVE for teaching, then the teacher is in the WRONG job! Teacher need to love the job and PARENTS need to be PARENTS and actually take responsibility for their child's education. I had many "bad" teachers over the years but my parents made up for it at home. You can't expect the public school system to be teacher and mom and dad!

[roseba]

Originally Posted by Morningside_gal

You know, every place I've live in the past 6 years has had "bad schools". The places range from major metro areas to a mid-sized city of 100,000 or so. However when you really take a look at the schools individually, they are NOT all bad and many many have great things to offer. I think it's just the vogue thing to talk about how bad the schools are without knowing anything about them.
Paying the teachers more won't help...if it's MONEY that motivates instead of a LOVE for teaching, then the teacher is in the WRONG job! Teacher need to love the job and PARENTS need to be PARENTS and actually take responsibility for their child's education. I had many "bad" teachers over the years but my parents made up for it at home. You can't expect the public school system to be teacher and mom and dad!

Anyone who gets into teaching doesn't do so for the money since they aren't paid particularly well for the level of education they have.

However, that said, it doesn't mean wages don't need to be better for them. Many school districts (and they are very different) do not give teachers enough latitude to actually teach. They are told what to do, how to do it, even on levels such as how many staples you can use on a bulletin board display.

But yes, a lot of problems come from home. You can't wonder why Johnny doesn't read well when Mom & Dad don't have a single book in their home.

[TeaJay]

Originally Posted by roseba

But yes, a lot of problems come from home. You can't wonder why Johnny doesn't read well when Mom & Dad don't have a single book in their home.

This is a huge challenge- I do a reading survey with my kids every year (and if I was smart, I'd keep them handy for parent-teacher conferences to support why these kids can't read) and I always ask them how many books they own. Along with the other questions, it gives me a sense about their interest and motivation. Most of them own only one or two books. And while I'm in a high-poverty area, lots of kids have iPods and pricey cell phones, so it's not like a paperback book or two is too expensive.

[009]

Originally Posted by TwiloMike

Absolutely. The specialized public high schools are a prime example of excellence in NYC: Styvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, LaGuardia, etc. Fantastic high schools.

Specialized public high schools aren't the only ones in the system that are great. Townsend Harris, Cardozo, Kingsborough(renamed Leon Goldstein) and others are just as good, both academically and safety.

[DonnaReed]

Originally Posted by TwiloMike

Absolutely. The specialized public high schools are a prime example of excellence in NYC: Styvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, LaGuardia, etc. Fantastic high schools.

It's not about good and bad schools.

It's about a system that's not working, overall, for the students it serves.

Those schools are better than many. I would not classify them as fantastic.

LaGuardia has deteriorated significantly as some of the others.

And the system needs to work for more students than the relatively few who attend those schools.

[DonnaReed]

Originally Posted by roseba

Anyone who gets into teaching doesn't do so for the money since they aren't paid particularly well for the level of education they have.

However, that said, it doesn't mean wages don't need to be better for them. Many school districts (and they are very different) do not give teachers enough latitude to actually teach. They are told what to do, how to do it, even on levels such as how many staples you can use on a bulletin board display.

But yes, a lot of problems come from home. You can't wonder why Johnny doesn't read well when Mom & Dad don't have a single book in their home.

Teachers don't go into teaching for the money, but teachers do need to eat

and more money would be helpful and appropriate for the commitment, time and work that teachers do.

[DonnaReed]

Originally Posted by 009

Specialized public high schools aren't the only ones in the system that are great. Townsend Harris, Cardozo, Kingsborough(renamed Leon Goldstein) and others are just as good, both academically and safety.

Townsend Harris is a great school.

Cardozo is still good, but it's ridiculously overcrowded as a result.
Safety is an issue.