jeffmiller:bowlingalleylawyer:

I’d like to chime in on this argument. I think I have a pretty good perspective on things, for a few reasons. 1. I have a Kindergartner and a 2nd grader. 2. I have special needs, school age, neices and nephews. 3. I’m an adult, non-trad student at a private university. 4. I went to elementary & high school in New York and Texas. 5. I’m a Big Sister (with BBBS.org), and supervise several dozen elementary school kids a week, along with their high school thru college age Big Bros/Sisters.

1. Parental involvement is the single greatest issue in education of children in this country. Hands down, no arguments. Every public school in this country could be systematically perfect and we’d still have drop-outs, illiteracy, etc. This I can promise you. We currently live in a beautiful, upper middle class, conservative community in rural Texas. My jaw is perpetually on the floor with the things I deal with thru volunteering I do, the things going on at home, not at school. The moral and family breakdown in this country is so great, of such epic proportions, that I’m not sure any amount of “fixing” the public school system will ever change these kids lives.

2. Some teachers need to be fired. There’s really no way around that. It’s not mean, it’s just fact of matter. I wish it didn’t have to be this way. I hate to say it, but most of the unsuccessful teachers around here are elderly. Unsympathetic, out of touch, low energy, bitter, whatever you want to call it, but they need to retire already.

3. Very often… I repeat, VERY OFTEN… the problems which occur in school are based in ADMINISTRATION, and not teachers. School boards, principals, vice principals, office secretaries, etc, have given me more grief and bullshit to deal with than any amount of teachers combined. I almost NEVER hear any discussion about administrative staff when I hear about school reform.

4. “Thousands, millions of parents are unhappy with their kid’s education and want something better.” I recently heard this during an education debate. Thousands and millions of parents are IDIOTS. As a society we are spoiled, self-involved, lazy, and entitled. The second our child faces a hurdle, “we” jump to arms to tear apart whoever crossed our child’s path and can be pinpointed as “involved” in the hurdle.