I have not read every post, and perhaps my questions are already answered, I apologize for this.
I have recently been in public school system here in Seattle. Now I know very little of politics, or unions. I have no claim for wisdom in these subjects and I am not claiming to have such.
However there is a substantial problem. Well I guess technically speaking there are numerous problems that feed off of eachother.
I'm gearing toward tweny-one years of age, and I exited the public school system in my sophomore year of highschool in favor of local community college. I have never had any issue with any class. I have never scored less than an A on a test in my entire life. I have never scored anything short of exemplary on the WASL, yet I have failed numerous classes due to absences. That I will not get into specifics as it's irrelevant; I will note that the reasons for the absences were not for delinquent purposes, quite the opposite in fact. But I did show up on every test day.
I can not recall any piece of homework where I learned something I didn't learn form reviewing a textbook, that was common sense or that wasn't already covered in class (again pointing out I was hardly at a lot of these classes). An in-class it was not at all rare to spend weeks if not MONTHS on a single benign topic. In 8th grade for example at Madison Middle School we spent well over a month and a half on positive and negative integers. Which is disgustingly easy to understand. In order to figure them mathematically you only need to know a handful of rules.
In this environment with kids who do not take their education seriously, their disinterest grows ten-fold. They know what they're learning is easy; you do not need a high IQ to understand the numberline goes forwards and backwards. And in a way I think they resent that so much time is spent on such sophomoric things and I know from personally speaking with these people that they feel insulted and as a defense they think of school as a joke; so easy why bother trying?
I scored amazingly on the entry test at a local community college and was put into a trig review class for my math credit. I was totally knocked on my ass. We spent at tops, two days on a section in the book, and would spend a half-hour of a day reviewing what we learned that week. Keep in mind a section of a mathetics text book covers multiple things, and is broken into parts; we'd spend two days on what is actually 5-6 topics. I was grossly unprepared because I was never put in good habits. I managed a C with tutoring, barely. I loved that I was learning something; that I wasn't a child sitting with other children but I was a student paying money to be there and was treated as such. On the flip-side of that coin I was grossly dissapointed that I was so unprepared and underachieved so vastly.
At public school it feels like you're required to go to class simply because no one wants to do anything with you and you have to be somewhere, and no one wants us hoodlums running the streets! But the focus isn't on teaching, it's about giving you something to do. Not to challenge you. Not to educate you. Not to prepare you for the world. Just so you're not running around shooting eachother and consuming narcotics.
Now there are variables involved. Individual students, teachers, schools as a whole, communities etc. I acknowledge this and I am not pointing a blaming finger at any one thing in particular.
My girlfriend was at a catholic school, a rather expensive one. And the most popular and highly respected people (by students and staff)at her school would have been miserable at any public school. At every public school I've ever attended (from here, to Montana to New York) reading is "gay", "stupid", "pointless". Over-achieving or achieving at all is negative. "You study? Clearly you're a faggot." "You did the homework? Can I copy it?" That is the attitude young people have developed. And a lot of parents from my experience don't take this attitude seriously. "My kids are not like this." Yes, they probably are. I have never experienced such a gap in communication as I have with parents and children at public schools. The only group of parents I can think of that had a vested interest and a "no bull-sh*t" stance towards their children's education were immigrant parents. Funny enough they were also the only consolidated group of parents that did NOT have the "my children's sh*t doesn't smell" syndrome, and their children tended to succeed. Tended to get scholarships and go off to research schools where they also shone and didn't miss a beat. Even though they were suddenly thrust in a fast-paced environment where 1on1 time with the professor might as well be unheard of and they could only rely on themselves.
This was not at all present at my girlfriends school. Sure there were the delinquents. I remember a guy we knew got caught with the last of a joint in his pocket. He was instantly expelled permanently. I know kids from WSHS who have been caught in the act of selling narcotics from prescription pills to cocaine and were suspended for a week. And they were praised upon their return. For what reason I'm still not sure. But the worst scrutiny felt at this particular school as a junior/senior is elitism based on what college you plan on attending or are able to get into. Sure the rich kids would play the "I have this new high-fashion dress and you don't, and my skin is more orange then yours" card but it was pale in comparison to the college selection process. I can't remember a single person at any public school even mentioning they wanted to go to college. Ever. Keep this in mind as you read.
If you were to give anyone from a public school "The Brothers Karamazov", "The Man and the Sea", "The Alchemist". They would just stare at the first page blankly and then put the book down to go play xbox. And then plagiarize a "book report" from sparknotes later. Probably from their smart phone at the beginning of class.
In fact the last three English teachers I had at West Seattle Highschool weren't even qualified to teach English. Two of them had backgrounds in history and the other was a gym teacher. And asked me "What is 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' about?" As I was reading it before class.
Again I don't know anything about funding or lobbies or unions. But even in this ignorance I think the problem goes far deeper than something so shallow as adults playing politics.
Regardless of this does anyone have the time to explain, or give links to these funding/lobby/union issues? I have to admit, my curiosity is perked.
But there is a enormously startling gap between public and private schools.
Maybe it's the parents. Maybe it's the responsibility that private school is so amazingly expensive. Maybe it's because public schools cater to the lowest common denominator. Maybe it's funding. Maybe it's the unions. I do not know the answer but I wager it's a combination, a toxic, awful combination that is setting thousands of kids up for failure. Kids who don't know better or aren't clever enough to circumvent "the system".
And I don't think politicians are going to close the gap for us.
I rambled a bit. I apologize, sorry if this is disjointed and hard to read!
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West Seattle Blog
