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I was responding specifically to the "it IS because of bad parenting" statement. That was far too pejorative of a statement.
Dawn
[quote=toobusytoday;7022326]Just because a student has ADD or ADHD (or actually any kind of learning disability) should not mean that they can be disruptive or that the parents cannot teach them how to be respectful. As a parent, not a teacher, I agree that bad parenting is to blame for many problems in the schools. Many Parents don't seem to hold their kids accountable for their actions. The above statement does not apply to all kids or all parents.
QUOTE]
I do believe that parents have to be held accountable for their actions. I know a student in my school who is 10 years old and cannot spell his last name (which is not very long). As a parent, how can you let that be the case?
That same student should be taking medication every single day. Still, his mother does not give it to him if he says he does not want it. He cannot focus without it. From what I understand, he does no work at school (I am not his classroom teacher). BTW this behavior has been going on for years. Are the teachers to blame? Let's make the parents do some work too.
Really? So it is the parents' fault that a child has ADD, ADHD, or whatever? I think you are making far too generalized a statement here.
Dawn
I don't care what child has ADD, ADHD, ODD, OCD........whathaveyou.
My own child has ADHD. Been there, done that. Have taught plenty of children who have ADHD.
Have had parents who swear up and down that the only reason their angel misbehaves is all due to ADHD..and that is that.
So what. You still have to hold children responsible and accountable for their actions, no matter what. If a child with ADHD grows up and commits a crime, try telling the judge "oh, it's only because of his ADHD".
We work with children, and we help them learn to make the right choices.....but it's not an excuse.
Plus, I didn't say all parents......why would I........I'm a parent too. There are many children that misbehave because the parent allows it.
And.........I did mention that I didn't have time to post everything.
I also mean about holding parents accountable for more than just their child's behavior. Stop making your child tardy. Check the homework. Make him do homework. Ask for help. Stop always thinking your child is an angel when not. Work hand in hand with the school. Feed them breakfast. Don't think of school as a babysitter. Read with your child.
I also mean about holding parents accountable for more than just their child's behavior. Stop making your child tardy. Check the homework. Make him do homework. Ask for help. Stop always thinking your child is an angel when not. Work hand in hand with the school. Feed them breakfast. Don't think of school as a babysitter. Read with your child.
I agree 100%. If parents did these things, we would have fewer failing schools.
I agree can't fix the schools without fixing the homes first. Parents need to be more accountable for their child's actions in school.
Exactly!
As to the OP, charter schools, private schools, etc. have no bearing on the quality of the public schools what so ever. In MN the public schools for the most part are as good as or better than most of the private schools. Yes, often test scores are higher in private schools (and charter schools around here generally have horrible test scores) but in the private schools they don't generally have apathetic parents.
Equalized funding GREAT, our district will get DOUBLE what they spend per child and the inner city schools will get 1/2 of what they spend now. Our district is one of the top rated in the country and we are right at average per pupil spending for our state. The worst schools in the state get have the highest per pupil funding--why, they have more apathetic parents who don't prepare their children for school and don't care what their kids do in school.
As to the rest, tracking done right can be wonderful.
Here is my opinion on how we can make our public schools better.
Treat them exactly the way our universities are run. Have you ever wondered why our public schools are lacking, yet we have one of the best (if not THE best) university system in the World? The answer is simple, MONEY! The student has the money/funding and chooses where to spend it. The same should be done with public schools using vouchers.
Each parent gets a voucher for each child and chooses where to use it, regardless of where they live. The state holds on to the money and when the parent decides on a school, the money is simply sent there. Schools will have to attract students in order to stay open, or they will shut down. To keep the atmosphere even more competitive, let private schools stay open.
Schools can have the option of expelling any child who doesn't perform at the standards they have set. Certain schools will be run in military fashion for children who are disruptive/don't care about school. Their parents will loose the option of "choosing" schools and they will be forced to send them to one of these schools. If they show improvement in a span of two years, they can be allowed to choose a school again.
Instead of having state exams yearly, schools will administer one national entrance exam (like SATS) for each grade. Schools will set their bar on how high the score has to be in order to admit students. These exams will only be used when a parent wants to switch their child to another school for whatever reason.
Anyone who wants to become a teacher must major in education in college and pass a series of vigorous exams. Teacher salaries will have an increase of $15,000-$20,000. This will make the teaching field more competitive. Superindentents and anything else beyond the school principle will be eliminated in order to pay for these increases in salary. Teachers will have the right to design/choose their lesson plans and books. If they don't want to, they can use the books/lessons plans made by the school. Teacher's unions will be eliminated. Any teacher who underperforms for whatever reason will be dismissed. Depending on the severity of the cause of their dismissal, they can teach again after going through a 1 year probation status.
This is my plan!
Last edited by Busch Boy; 01-16-2009 at 07:57 PM..
Here is my opinion on how we can make our public schools better.
Treat them exactly the way our universities are run. Have you ever wondered why our public schools are lacking , yet we have one of the best (if not THE best) university system in the World?
The answer is simple, MONEY! The student has the money/funding and chooses where to spend it.
The same should be done with public schools using vouchers.
Each parent gets a voucher for each child and chooses where to use it, regardless of where they live. The state holds on to the money and when the parent decides on a school, the money is simply sent there. Schools will have to attract students in order to stay open, or they will shut down. To keep the atmosphere even more competitive, let private schools stay open.
Schools can have the option of expelling any child who doesn't perform at the standards they have set. Certain schools will be run in military fashion for children who are disruptive/don't care about school. Their parents will loose the option of "choosing" schools and they will be forced to send them to one of these schools. If they show improvement in a span of two years, they can be allowed to choose a school again.
Instead of having state exams yearly, schools will administer one national entrance exam (like SATS) for each grade. Schools will set their bar on how high the score has to be in order to admit students. These exams will only be used when a parent wants to switch their child to another school for whatever reason.
This is my plan!
I disagree about the university system approach. We have a very mixed bag of colleges and universities in this country. Private, pubic, church-run, some hybrids, for-profit, non-profit, etc. US News has, I believe four tiers of schools, based (loosely) on quality.
Expelling students would negate the purpose of universal education, though you have thought through these "reform schools".
Not really. You can major in anything and just take teacher's certification courses in some places and become a teacher. My plan states that anyone who wants to be a teacher MUST major in education. The exams at the end will be made harder, similiar to the exams professionals take in order to become board-certified.
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