Okay, by walking out of class and being “unruly” the students may be in violation of the school rules, and thus subject to suspension. It’s too bad for the school that the students’ and parents’ complaints are legitimate, and that the attention and actions that they claim they have been demanding for months (and most likely years) are now being given as the national eye shifts embarrassingly on the Frederick Douglas Academy.
There are so many reasons that this story is troubling, but I’ll restrain myself to just a few.
Indifferent or incapable: The fact is that these students are not being given the opportunity, support, and academic knowledge to be successful in school now and in the future. These teachers seem to be failing their students, and
The teachers in the minority: The students are frustrated; the parents are frustrated; and the few “good” teachers who have gutted it out are frustrated. In addition to being frustrated, these good teachers are exhausted, embarrassed, and more than likely depressed. In the absence of the effort and presence of their fellow teachers, these good teachers have been asked/required/felt the responsibility to take on more students, more subjects (formally in class and informally through tutoring), and somehow more blame.
I bet the teachers who remain are there who really do care about their students and the brain product that they are growing are even more frustrated as they are being required or feel the responsibility to take up the slack. that these teachers seem to be failing their students, and the administration of the school and the school district itself seems to be either indifferent or incapable of taking action
Absent or escaped: A crucial question seems to be missing: why are these teachers not present at the school? Are they truly taking advantage of the system, or are they trying to escape? Are they burned out, displeased with their teaching environments or contracts? Are they protesting in their own way by not showing up to class?
Students who suffer: The students suffer, both now and in the long-term. A strong education and social foundation helps propel students towards becoming successful individuals, whether they continue on with formal education, enter a trade, or contribute in some other way. A high school education may not be a guaranteed ticket to a job (nowadays not even a masters degree is), but it certainly is a confidence booster to be able to say that you graduated high school and worked to the best of your abilities. By not getting this strong education, these students are being set up for failure. Their safety net of confidence in their education and friendships is shredded almost to the point of nonexistence, and they will certainly be lagging behind by miles in being academically successful in college. Playing catch-up is always hardest when you don’t have the skills necessary to even be in the race, and these students certainly aren’t getting these skills sitting in a room with no leader, no teacher, no encouragement to learn.
Expand courses or fix existing: The Detroit Public Schools spokesperson said some troubling things, indicating that he is either completely out of touch with what the true issues are or he’s saying what he thinks will get the parents, the students, the teachers, and the national spotlight off his district.
Detroit Public Schools spokesperson Steve Wasko noted that Frederick Douglass teachers who abuse sick time "will be reprimanded," and the district aims to keep the school open while adding new courses like debate and engineering.
Instead of investigating and then taking action to try to remedy the causes for the absences and/or lack of effort by the teachers, he automatically jumps to punitive action.
Instead of seeking to strengthen existing courses, addressing existing gaps, and looking to give these kids a strong basic education first before exploring debate and engineering, he states that they are instead seeking to expand their course offerings. Expanding these course offerings may have many consequences that make the situation worse instead of better. Here are just a few:
1. Adding courses may stretch existing teachers even more thinly.
2. Adding courses will most certainly result in stretching the budget to the point of complete breakage. New courses require teachers, new materials, new equipment, and new textbooks. They may also require more financially from the students and their parents.
3. Students who do not have a strong foundation in the basics may do less well in extracurricular activities that rely upon those basic skills, such as engineering relies upon math and science.
Please don’t misunderstand me – I am a huge proponent of extracurricular activities. I see astronomical value in allowing students to help tailor their education to what interests them. But I firmly believe that the basics (English, mathematics, science, and physical education) should be addressed, as they can then be applied in the extracurriculars.
No comments:
Post a Comment