Is buying for the school system overrated???

[bluedevilz]

Originally Posted by MrsSteel

Let's just remember that even excellent schools can have a couple of bad teachers. I went to some very highly-rated schools in my youth. However, I still had a few teachers with whom I just couldn't quite communicate. I was never the sort to get in trouble in school so I never had disciplinary issues with these teachers, but the teacher's attitude and delivery style could have a dramatic affect on my grades.

Exactly....

Teachers don't roll off an assembly line. To think all teachers are "the same", even in a highly rated school/district is foolish.

Even the most highly motivated student will struggle in a classroom where the teacher has "lost control of the room" or doesn't challenge the student.

We had friends in Chapel Hill that pulled their kids out of school and put them in private school based on teacher assignments....extreme....but in the case of one teacher in that school at least understandable.

[ALT-X]

Originally Posted by bluedevilz

Very naive post by someone who obviously does not have kids and has no idea what actually goes on in the schools....

If and when you actually have kids come back and tell us about your "theories"

All schools in the same district are not the same.....teachers in the same school are not the same....

If you don't think having a "bad" teacher, or being in a school without a strong principal will have a negative impact on your child's educational experience you are sadly mistaken.

I don't have to have kids to know about the local school system. I went to schools in the area (carnage, enloe) and interact with students, teachers and parents at many others (as a Raleigh Police Officer). All of the schools in Wake County are basically the same and offer the same things. Like I said the only difference is the students themselves and their individual motivation to succeed. Every school has bad teachers (even the ones with good test scores) and every school has good teachers (even the ones with bad test scores).

Some people want to blame teachers, principals or even the school system when children don't do well academically on tests and the school gets labeled as being a "poor performing school". I don't, especially not here in Wake County. I blame the kids themselves and I blame the parents. Education starts at home and people succeed because they have parents who encourage and stress to them the importance of learning.

I have a different philosophy I guess and that is why I enjoy my profession immensely. Instead of placing the blame on the system (whether it be school system, the government,etc...) I place the blame on the individual. Everyone I arrest tries to blame the system in some way and it seems like many parents want to blame the school system for any little thing they feel is less than ideal. If you have that many concerns about the public school system (which is free) then send your kids to private school ($$$). As a black male I did great in what many would now consider subpar inner city schools (carnage, enloe) always making the honor roll,etc... I went on to NC state university and now I'm a cop. I've had to overcome many obstacles in my life so it is amusing to see others complain and worry about small differences in schools. This is not East LA where the best teachers might not want to work in certain schools/areas and the school system doesn't care about trying to ensure each school has an equal representation of low income students. The system is fine here in Wake County and the onus is squarely on each individual student to succeed or fail. Test scores are dropping in schools all over the country and this isn't indicative of a lack of quality teachers, etc... Unfortunately kids today have a lot more things they concern themselves with than school and education simply isn't valued like it was in the past for some members of our society.

[NewUser]

Originally Posted by ALT-X

I have a different philosophy I guess and that is why I enjoy my profession immensely. Instead of placing the blame on the system (whether it be school system, the government,etc...) I place the blame on the individual. Everyone I arrest tries to blame the system in some way and it seems like many parents want to blame the school system for any little thing they feel is less than ideal.

Good comment. Our society has devolved into one in which nobody holds themselves accountable for their own actions.

[brightmidnight]

I agree that it is up to the kid to succeed-- I didn't have a "good school system" , I just went to the only school in my town. I enjoyed my learning-- and I actually have found that most of my friends or relatives that chose private school over "the horrible public school system" had a terrible time and learned nothing, even at schools they were paying huge bucks for.

(I found out on a Citydata board recently that one of my friends had his state's best high school right next to him-- but his parents chose to send him to an all-boys' private school that he hated for four years instead.... because they thought the public school system wasn't good enough. He says he learned nothing.)

For No Child Left Behind, if a few years go by and a school still doesn't bring up test scores, students can choose a different school. I would like to see studies on what happened to the test scores at the students' new schools-- were they brought up or did they bring the average down at the new school?

The Economist actually had an article in this week's edition praising the Wake County school system for its fairness at desegregating and its overall success. That's pretty high praise from one of the world's leading magazines.

[ALT-X]

Originally Posted by brightmidnight

The Economist actually had an article in this week's edition praising the Wake County school system for its fairness at desegregating and its overall success. That's pretty high praise from one of the world's leading magazines.

I missed that article but that is good praise for Wake's school system. Not all counties/school systems do what the Wake County school system does. I think it's important to keep all the schools balanced and equal as far as income levels of students, racial diversity, etc... and they do a good job at doing it.