My mom has been teaching in schools for awhile now, especially with younger kids for as long as I can remember. She's a speech therapist, so she isn't in front of a white board teaching kids but she still gets to know a lot of the kids with speech problems. When i was younger i used to go with her on a pretty consistent basis with her to her head start building. It wasn't in the best area, but this didn't stop my mom. When i went into my moms office, i sat and watched the younger kids play speech games and such. I caught onto some things in particular: they didn't have much respect for the teacher compared to what I was used to seeing, they didn't speak proper english, which was also how the teachers talked in class. These two points made me think how my school differed from theirs.
My mom now teaches at a differnet school on the westbank, which i haven't been to yet. But, my mom has told me a couple of things about it: her boss, the head of the school, cannot speak english correctly. This may be such a huge deal partly because my mom is a speech therapist, but in general this shouldn't be happening. The head of a school in a private setting would have to first of all be able to speak correctly, have experience, etc...The public school system has lowered their standards for the people they hire, which effects the young people they teach. Therefore kids who go to public schools are put on a lower level from the start, and have to work 10 times harder to be on the same level as a private school kid.
When i drive home from school, or driving to school, i always pass the John F Kennedy school in lakeview. This school was public before Katrina, and is now shut down and has grafitti written all over the building. Seeing this building makes me realize that our public schools in New Orleans aren't considered much at all, compared to the private schools. This wouldn't happen at a private school, and if it did consequences would be given. Just driving by this closed school, you can see the opportunities that could of been there, and the fact that people just don't care. The state obviously hasn't done anything about this school, and I feel that this school will remain like this for years and years.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Wow--this is really thoughtful, Mattie. I have that same response when I go by Kennedy. I live uptown--as you know--and my son is the same age as two kids across the street. Josh goes to Newman. These kids go to public school. All of them are in 4th grade but the difference in their levels of education is really becoming apparent now. Is that fair? These three kids all started out at the same level but they are not there now and it's all because my mother in law has the funds to pay for my son's tuition. So I agree with you that as much as possible there should be a level playing field from the start.
ReplyDeleteAs you start your research, start with No Child Left Behind for the national level and then focus in on New Orleans education. I would like to see you start with the Scott Cowen Institute 's report on New Orleans education.
No Child Left Behind is a federalism issue because the national govt. in Washington, D.C. is mandating changes that the states have to meet. However, the federal govt. did not allocate enough money to the states to ensure that the program is successful. That's a perennial challenge for our country. The national govt. creates standards for the nation that the states are responsible for meeting but the states are often left to fund these initiatives on their own and that causes conflict and problems. What works for one state may not work for the others. Traditionally education has been seen as a local and state issue. President Johnson started to change that when he passed the first federal law regarding education. NCLB furthered the involvement of the federal govt. in education. It's highly controversial. Before you can start looking at the issue regarding NOLA's education system, you need to understand the relationship between the states and the federal govt. as defined by NCLB---that's the framework we're working within for change.
ReplyDeleteSo if you research hasn't taken you that far yet, keep at it.
Then there are a couple of interesting articles you can look at. The Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank. This is their overview of NCLB--they have a bias (against the federal govt.)--keep that in mind as you read.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2007/06/Reforming-No-Child-Left-Behind-by-Allowing-States-to-Opt-Out-An-A-PLUS-for-Federalism