Craig wrote:
"I'm not a big fan of no child left behind, but I do think our schools should be accountable, and I think teachers fall too easily into a pattern of blaming parents, neighborhoods, the media, and so on, and not their own teaching."
DD responded:
"So true. But the schools seem to have no clearly assigned missions. Who is to blame? All of the above."
I'm not sure what DD means, but every school I've worked in has had a mission statement, and mostly good ones. My present school's mission (and I hope to stay here for the rest of my career) is as follows: "The mission of Pomperaug Regional High School, a caring community committed to excellence, is to educate each student to become a productive, responsible, enlightened citizen and a creative life-long learner through high quality, dynamic, innovative learning experiences in collaboration with the Region 15 community." It seems a pretty "clearly assigned mission" to me, and one that drives our curriculum; it's well worth supporting. We are constantly asked to hold our students accountable to a high standard. We also try to keep the community involved (it's easy for me, running a theatre program that depends on parents and local businesses being involved).
I often wonder where people get their ideas about public schools and what goes on inside them Certainly, having taught both in the inner cities and in a blue collar town, I have seen some of the failings that have been mentioned in this thread, but mostly, I've seen good teaching and very little "dumbing down." I have also seen very little of the kinds of blaming Craig mentions, but I suspect it does occur. Now that I teach in a rural school that is rated in the top 5% nationally, I still see good, sometimes even great teaching all around me. What really causes problems for education are often those things that are out of our control: Budget cuts, large classes (usually a result of budget restraints), unfunded government mandates (like Craig, I am "not a fan" of NCLB -- actually, I hate the thing), standardized testing interrupting the process, consumerism, materialism, technological
distractions (TV was just the beginning), and the drive to focus on the goal of creating a work force rather than creating "good citizens" in a Jeffersonian sense. Add to this that since the 1940s, 12 years of public education has become the minimal requirement for every American; there is a greater percentage of people who are expected to graduate from high school than ever in history -- and the stigma of not graduating is immense, both socially and economically.
I'm starting to ramble, sorry. This topic does get me going. Anyway, we should probably stop this thread and get back to grammar. Sorry if I sound like I'm ranting.
Paul D.