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Published on Friday, December 5, 2008 by CommonDreams.org
'I'm Changing the School's Name to Chrysler'
I am going down to Washington, D.C. to ask for a handout.
My industry is falling on hard times and needs at least $34 billion to cover basic operating costs—but I assure you the emergency aid isn't just for me and my associates. The truth is my industry is too big to fail, and if it were to go under it would have disastrous effects for the economy and millions of Americans lives.
No, I am not an automaker executive from one of the Big Three (General Motors, Chrysler, Ford)—I teach social studies to 13-year-olds and the Public Schools are my trade.
And if "letting GM go is a terrible idea"—as General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Rick Wagoner recently warned Congress in his plea for a bailout of his failing company—then letting our schools fail in the wake of free-falling state budgets would be catastrophic.
The vast majority of school funds come from state budgets and already more than half the states have cut spending or used reserves, according to The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The downturn in the housing market has led to a drop in state revenue from sales taxes associated with construction materials and other goods. Economists are now certain that local revenues will drop over the next few years as real estate values decline, generating less in local property taxes for school budgets.
In Seattle, where I teach, there is a projected school budget shortfall for the coming year of at least $24 million—an amount that could grow significantly in the face of the recently announced $5.1 billion Washington State budget deficit. The ailing economy has prompted Seattle schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson to propose closing at least 9 schools in the District, the second round of school closures in the past few years. But the bitter reality is that the closing of schools will only save an estimated $3.6 million—nowhere near the tens of millions of dollars we need—and will only serve to create turmoil for the many communities that will loose their neighborhood school.
The argument for letting kids cut to the front of the funding line—ahead of bankers and auto industry executives—is clear: kids are more valuable than Cadillacs.
While spinning rims and glossy chrome on an Escalade embody the image of wealth, America's pupils are far more valuable. Allowing our schools to be de-funded state-by-state would have a catastrophic effect on our economy and our society.
According to Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington, D.C. based policy and advocacy organization, if the nation's students who dropped out of the class of 2008 had graduated, the US economy would have benefited from an additional $319 billion in income over the course of their lives.
As the Alliance further explains, "In addition to earning higher wages, which results in attendant benefits to local, state, and national economic conditions, high school graduates live longer, are less likely to be teen parents, and are more likely to raise healthier, better-educated children."
"The children are the future" should be clichéd common sense—but with a free market system enslaved to short term balance ledgers, we have seen immediate gain outweigh any planning for tomorrow.
GM, Chrysler and Ford, for example, resisted the pressure to make cars with higher standards on fuel efficiency and continued producing flashy SUVs and pickup trucks that were so profitable in the 1990s.
Now that lack of foresight has thrust American auto manufacturers into crisis, they have warmed up to the idea of a government directed economy—as long as it's directed toward saving their own "backseats."
With the public experiencing "bailout fatigue," corporate America is attempting to repackage its image as some kind of militant student leader taking on the powers that be.
In a virtual Chevy Corvette turns Stokely Carmichael, General Motors declared, "Mobilize Now!" on its website, GMfactsandfiction.com. "Tell your U.S. Senators and Representatives that support for the U.S. auto industry is in America 's best economic interest."
This appeal to mobilize masses has the shrill tone of a teacher yelling at a disinterested class, given that the Big Three just cut back health care benefits for some 2 million employees.
If we can keep the funding for the music program, students across America should be taught the old Tom Paxton song that goes,
"I'm changing my name to Chrysler/I am leaving for that great receiving line/When they hand a million grand out, I'll be standing with my hand out/Yes sir, I'll get mine!"
My industry is falling on hard times and needs at least $34 billion to cover basic operating costs—but I assure you the emergency aid isn't just for me and my associates. The truth is my industry is too big to fail, and if it were to go under it would have disastrous effects for the economy and millions of Americans lives.
No, I am not an automaker executive from one of the Big Three (General Motors, Chrysler, Ford)—I teach social studies to 13-year-olds and the Public Schools are my trade.
And if "letting GM go is a terrible idea"—as General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Rick Wagoner recently warned Congress in his plea for a bailout of his failing company—then letting our schools fail in the wake of free-falling state budgets would be catastrophic.
The vast majority of school funds come from state budgets and already more than half the states have cut spending or used reserves, according to The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The downturn in the housing market has led to a drop in state revenue from sales taxes associated with construction materials and other goods. Economists are now certain that local revenues will drop over the next few years as real estate values decline, generating less in local property taxes for school budgets.
In Seattle, where I teach, there is a projected school budget shortfall for the coming year of at least $24 million—an amount that could grow significantly in the face of the recently announced $5.1 billion Washington State budget deficit. The ailing economy has prompted Seattle schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson to propose closing at least 9 schools in the District, the second round of school closures in the past few years. But the bitter reality is that the closing of schools will only save an estimated $3.6 million—nowhere near the tens of millions of dollars we need—and will only serve to create turmoil for the many communities that will loose their neighborhood school.
The argument for letting kids cut to the front of the funding line—ahead of bankers and auto industry executives—is clear: kids are more valuable than Cadillacs.
While spinning rims and glossy chrome on an Escalade embody the image of wealth, America's pupils are far more valuable. Allowing our schools to be de-funded state-by-state would have a catastrophic effect on our economy and our society.
According to Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington, D.C. based policy and advocacy organization, if the nation's students who dropped out of the class of 2008 had graduated, the US economy would have benefited from an additional $319 billion in income over the course of their lives.
As the Alliance further explains, "In addition to earning higher wages, which results in attendant benefits to local, state, and national economic conditions, high school graduates live longer, are less likely to be teen parents, and are more likely to raise healthier, better-educated children."
"The children are the future" should be clichéd common sense—but with a free market system enslaved to short term balance ledgers, we have seen immediate gain outweigh any planning for tomorrow.
GM, Chrysler and Ford, for example, resisted the pressure to make cars with higher standards on fuel efficiency and continued producing flashy SUVs and pickup trucks that were so profitable in the 1990s.
Now that lack of foresight has thrust American auto manufacturers into crisis, they have warmed up to the idea of a government directed economy—as long as it's directed toward saving their own "backseats."
With the public experiencing "bailout fatigue," corporate America is attempting to repackage its image as some kind of militant student leader taking on the powers that be.
In a virtual Chevy Corvette turns Stokely Carmichael, General Motors declared, "Mobilize Now!" on its website, GMfactsandfiction.com. "Tell your U.S. Senators and Representatives that support for the U.S. auto industry is in America 's best economic interest."
This appeal to mobilize masses has the shrill tone of a teacher yelling at a disinterested class, given that the Big Three just cut back health care benefits for some 2 million employees.
If we can keep the funding for the music program, students across America should be taught the old Tom Paxton song that goes,
"I'm changing my name to Chrysler/I am leaving for that great receiving line/When they hand a million grand out, I'll be standing with my hand out/Yes sir, I'll get mine!"
- Posted in
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28 Comments so far
Show All"Kids are more valuable than Cadillacs"
I love how this statement gets you to really think about what we place value on in our society. At first glance you say to yourself, "yeah of course I get that", at second glance you recognize that we place more emphasis on material gain than on human needs, and finally your whole outlook shifts. Statements like this I think are very important for that reason. Suddenly nothing our system makes sense.
I'll admit though, another reaction I had was to assume that the economy would probably benefit more from people buying things they don't need than from funding the education of children. I'm so glad you went on to explain that in fact, taking care of people in this case can actually help our economy (although even if it didn't I would argue for it).
Powerful thoughts, thanks so much for writing this. I hope the campaign goes well! I wonder if the ED in 08 people would be able to help at all?
Steve Leigh
Excellent article ! Jesse hits the nail on the head---its time to get the priorities straight!---Kids are far more important than cars---and especially more important than the financial industry. The auto industry should be taken over by the government and used to produce what we really need---"green" cars, mass transit, windmills, solar panels etc.----and the auto workers who are now having their pensions stolen and being laid off could produce those needed items at good union wages. Working people in the U.S. and around the world have already sacrificed enough---Its time to make the rich pay and re-direct the money we now spend on the military and corporate bailouts.
Thalia
Thank you for a well-done article that effectively (and humorously) exposes the damage done by this country's leadership's misplaced priorities. Time and again our government has chosen to penalize our most vulnerable in order to reward the most greedy. One wonders if it will ever stop.
I work in Seattle Schools with Jesse and I can confirm everything he is saying. He is an asset to our students and our school district as a whole.
The fact is, Seattle Schools is one of the better off urban school districts. Yet, we are in dire straits at this time. It is a crime that we are discussing building a new jail in the City of Seattle yet we closed 7 schools last year and are proposing to close 9 more.
States have different budget restraints than the federal government- they are required to have balanced budgets. As revenues decrease due the economy (our state has a very unsustainable tax structure- no income tax- which makes our revenues dependent on property taxes and sales tax) social services are being cut across the board.
Students, parents and communities suffer because of this. I encourage everyone to support Jesse and all of us trying to get some sanity to this crazy system. If you would like to tell the Seattle School Board what you think directly please do- http://www.seattleschools.org/area/board/index.dxml
Noam Gundle
Unfortunately, income tax disproportionately affects the working poor of society, who are more likely to need to draw upon the social programs of public schools and public health insurance than folks who are property owners and can afford to send their kids to private schools... Although not all homeowners can afford to or would want to send their kids to private schools, I don't agree that the reason for the budget shortfall is due to a lack of state income tax, but due to a mismanagement of the state's priorities, especially when it comes to public schools...
Think of the multi million dollar astro-turf sports fields and programs that have been built at the competitive schools in the region... think of the loss of federal grants and intentional underfunding for education over the last thirty years...
I would argue that ANY income tax (which is a tax on Labor/wages) is unsustainable, State or Federal... and tax revenues should be generated by property tax, sales tax, capital gains tax, and tariffs...
It's just plain stupid - and unfair - for schools to be funded by property taxes in the first place. All children deserve decent schools - and all of society benefits from a good education. But a good education is exactly what the wealthy criminals DO NOT WANT. Educated citizens make socially beneficial choices - which is why Dewey tried so hard to eliminate education and substitute 'job training' instead - only teach them what they need to know to serve the Corporate State !!!!
like the financial system the education system is broke..now might be a good time to fix it..the idea of the same education for all is crazy..in germany (as armybrat probably knows) all children are exposed to the same education for only a short while..at a fairly early age they are tested and split: one group studies for university and the other group studies for the trades..as our one size fits all the teachers will fail..it's a shame..power politics rules education..let's use this opportunity to change it..let's power the teacher and let the administration find something else to do..
ken
Sioux Rose
I agree. Some students are NOT academic types, and some are geniuses with their hands. I was the advanced classes student in just about anything, but have trouble getting my computer printer to work; the guy I date can fix anything on sight, but hates academics and was turned off to reading. There are different species of intelligence and our society would be wise to groom and cultivate those.
This is a really interesting point and I was just discussing the same thing with my spouse. I teach computer skills in free classes for mostly unemployed people who have lost jobs because of layoffs or disabilities. Some of my students had jobs like home attendant or handyman (handyperson?) and now are older and simply cannot do the heavy lifting or standing. But they still UNDERSTAND what it takes to care for the weak or do construction.
I am struck by the variety of ability constellations, including intellectual ability, strength and coordination, technical ability, artistic talent or imagination and the least valued - compassion and human understanding. Many have wonderful work ethic, judgement and character.
The educational mindset that more or less says you are "college material" or "a loser" has to go. We could benefit by having people like my students in all kinds of jobs.
We look for jobs on the internet, but jobs are not there. I can give them the skills to look for jobs, the encouragement and ideas, but it is not worth much if the jobs are not there.
Joe
"This appeal to mobilize masses has the shrill tone of a teacher yelling at a disinterested class" LOL - but thank goodness for teachers who keep trying!
And for your entertainment - here is the song. I still love it. But now it should be about banks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daBx_PBrvSE
Joe
Now it is about banks. Tom Paxton updated it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etUq7IY_7Mc&feature=related
Thank you Jesse, for raising this (should be obvious) point.
Dan Goldstein
www.dangoldstein.blogspot.com
What an amazing article!
Mr. Hagopian really cuts right to the heart of the issue around the decline of our standard of living and the thread of a "civilization" (I use this word lightly) we hang onto as a society.
I urge you all to contact national/local press to try to get this letter published and out into the mainstream far and wide.
I have been a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District for the last four years (at a "low-performing" school serving a lower socioeconomic populous), spent some time substituting in the Seattle and Bellevue School Districts, and feel fairly confident now that I can speak with authority about that which Mr. Hagopian speaks.
Here's the short list of some of my experiences/observations in note form:
-Worked at Bert Corona Charter School-Middle School in the LAUSD when first started teaching. We were relegated to a very suspect recreation park center gym for 3 months before I was released because their enrollment didn't pan out the way they had predicted it would. The shabby nature of the park center was a disgrace to our kids. The park had an unhealthy anxiety to it from the unkempt nature of it and the toughness of the park visitors. Two classes were in the Gym. Partitions betweens us would not stand. I cannot believe I actually taught there looking back at it. So sad. One charter school was in a hotel in Los Angeles.
-Learned in New Orleans that some students are not potty-trained in first grade, but are required to learn how to bubble in scantrons for testing. Some classrooms without books, according to Dr. Gillman. She wrote, "Have tales of KINDERGARTNERS in SCHOOL from 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM with NO NAP!!!!!!! 22 year old SENIORS with 13 year old FRESHMEN at Frederick Douglas High School. The NORM is 8/9th graders who CANNOT IDENTIFY LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET!!!!!!!"
-In LAUSD we are wedded to periodic assessments, testing once a quarter. 6th Grade. Rolling out Social Studies periodic assessments next year. We are constantly teaching to the test--all year. Bellevue School District in Washington State went on strike this summer over this very issue among other NCLB-related top-down directives. I scheduled (Aug/08) to take my kids to the Doctors Without Borders Mock Refugee Camp at Griffith Park (Oct/08) on a field trip and was told by my immediate supervisor (new admin. staff this year, for most part---person who supported great field trips before is gone) that it was not "age-appropriate" nor did it "meet the standards". This is questioning my judgment, did not look at my record of three years of "meet" marks for teacher assessments, nor did she not care about my previous successfully facilitated field trips (one to Manzanar to visit Japanese Internment Camp; funded by the city; 3 class reps.--6th graders--addressed City Council and requested funding). Cannot believe they would not allow 80 kids to go meet some incredible and professional doctors. Still fuming, can you tell? Of course it met the standards; it just did not meet the "essential English standards" that were going to be on the test, I have a hunch. I was going to have the kids write journal entries pretending to be refugees going to camp, being there, and leaving camp. That is not a worthwhile experience for the kids? Nope, the experience will go "over their heads". It will be better for "high-school students".
Also since we have tests to teach to, I cannot take the kids to the computer lab to acquire emails and use them to email professionals and community leaders to ask questions about the Feb. 2008 Meat Recall (including school meals, particularly at our school which is on the free and reduced list), about the fact that meat at our school was not sold for a couple weeks, without feeling guilty that the kids are not being drilled-and-killed for the test...I am weaving in test topics such as the development of "assertions" and other topics, but we're also learning "codes of powers" (Delpit, "Teaching Other Peoples' Children") in context, which is, of course, not on the test. It is great. One child wrote an agressive email and I put up on the screen for the whol
SORRY HAD TO CUT SOME WORDS OUT..TOO LONG
-Former Headmaster at Crossroads Private School, Mr. Cummins, (prestigious private school in Santa Monica, CA--Jack Black went there) recently reported that Private Schools afford $26,000 per student and LAUSD public schools are at $6,000, or so. He wrote a book on it "Two Americas, Two Educations..." And McCain said you don't just throw money at schools??
-Supplies are limited and cheap. I got a box of paper clips to start out the year and they couldn't hold a stack of kleenex. They were cheap, like tin and would jump off a stack of homework like a frog. The staplers broke easily, the pencil sharpener plugs into the wall and runs automatically.
It is really quite sad what the kids and teachers have to endure.
-60 to P.E. class.
-California 8th largest economy in world. 49th/50th lowest state in student funding.
I could go on.
I agree with Ben from Ben & Jerry: cut the nuclear arsenal funding to a budget that makes for a reasonable deterrent and rebuild our schools.
Thanks to you for all you do. People who work in schools and who care about the students cannot be fooled by the lip service we pay to children and education. The penny pinching and dollar pinching are really awful. The political posturing that interferes with education is infuriating.
Fund the schools and let the Pentagon have a bake sale.
Joe
I ask this from a Canadian perspective. In assessments mad eof our schools as comapred to other nations it found that schools in poor neighborhoods have as good outcomes as those in wealthier neighborhoods. (obviously this not an absolute just an overall measurement).
The AMOUNT of funding does not necessarily mean a better outcome.
One question for US educators. I note a huge emphasis on Athletics in US schools as compared to Canadian schools. This not a question of physical fitness but one wherein schools invest resources that are directed towards a small number of athletes who excel at various sports.
This emphasis on athletics is no where near as great in the Canadian schools.
Is there too much in the way of resources spent on athletics and sports in the US system?
I also notice that most schools in the US have a heavy emphasis on security with guards, metal detecteors and the like. Are too many of the schools resources used to combat crime and drugs rather then to educate?
PK
Funding counts. I suggest reading "Savage Inequalities". It is two decades old, but still has validity. It demonstrates the difference between poorly funded Camden NJ schools and well-funded neighboring Cherry Hill PA schools
Beside inequalities from locality to locality, based on the wealth of the local population, school funding in the US is UNPREDICTABLE. The budget is allocated or cut every year shortly before school opens, making rational long term planning difficult. In the place of a rational pedagogically based program, there is a parade of gimmicks and fads created to cover up the fact that education is suffering from lack of funding, attention and support for dedicated teachers.
Regarding athletics: In High Schools there is a lot of emphasis on conspicuous competitive athletics like football or basketball involving a squad of a few talented students. We like our steroid gladiators. We spend lots of taxpayer money in NYC subsidizing profitable professional sports and their stadia.
On the other hand, opportunities to increase health, coordination and build a lifelong recreational interest in sports is lacking in many communites in elementary, middle and high schools. The idea of a well-rounded education, sound mind in a sound body, has been lost in the testing craze, addiction to buzzwords, unpredictable and chintzy budgeting, and emphasis from above on controlling rather than developing students.
Not only arts and enrichment are short changed, but physical exercise and plain old running around and having fun are often cut. The recess is cut because the schoolyards are unsafe or used as parking lots. As bdrugge says, PE classes can be 60 students, and often in a room with an 8 foot ceiling. School pools are closed because of disrepair. Poor New York children cannot swim, for the most part. The gym, auditorium and cafeteria are often used for overflow classes. A lot of schools in New York are re-purposed factories that lack a real gym. Gym teachers are teaching language, etc. It is a mess of gimmicks, incompetence, testing, sleight of hand, poor planning and, in my view, some outright fraud.
I believe that physical activity builds health, fights depression and wards off alcoholism, smoking and illegal drug use. Health and fitness help a child to look better and feel better about him or her self. It helps people become overall stronger. But we would rather use commercial psychotropic drugs and armed guards, as those two things fit in with a repressive controlling view of society.
Joe
Sioux Rose
J CLIENTELE: Excellent post, points well stated and important.
Well, thanks to Joe for the youTube...I would have missed the allusion.
Jesse is solidly in the Hagopian tradition of redemptive critique in sardonic clothing. Nice.
Since the Reagan Devolution, U.S. Corporation's strategy has been to import college students educated at foreign government's expense (most graduate schools in science and engineering have been dominated by foreign students for decades), thereby saving the cost of K12 education and simultaneously keeping the electorate hopped up on religion, abortion and guns (RAGs) so you can have uranium cake and eat it too. Thus the populace has been groomed to be consumers who will kill for that last Talking Elmo Doll, as happened at the TOYS R US up the street from me last week. The article here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/28/socal-toys-r-us-shooting_n_147032.html sites a sheriff who claims it wasn't over a toy, but I have it from an eye witness that the women were fighting over the last available Talking Elmo, which purportedly will sometimes ask, "Who wants to die?" http://www.explodingcigar.com/article1873.html
Like Wile E. Coyote, the scam has run over the dam and is now staring down into the precipice. It could be a long fall...
"Tell your U.S. Senators and Representatives that support for the U.S. auto industry is in America 's best economic interest."
That is in the best economic interest of those who subscribe to the authoritarian leader/follower paradigm, where a handful of greed-stricken capitalists "lead" and an army of mindless cogs in the machine follow.
The author is indeed correct but he forgot to mention one thing. It's time for people to pay attention to their local elections for a change. The current folks in Washington do not support public schools and have in fact defunded them purposely to pay for Donald Trump's taxes and funding the Iraq war. Until we reform politicians starting from the local level, Washington will never listen.
Tis the way to go.
Joe
i disagree with the bailout of the banks and the big 3 but i also disagree with this article. we spend more than enough on our schools right now, especially when you consider that most teachers get quite a good clip for a job that lets them get summers off. in most states, the teacher and govt worker pensions are running the states dry. some administrators put in their time and then consult on the side, drawing 80 percent of their check in pension money. teacher salaries are way off mark, with some as high as $80,000 to $90,000 a year. stop complaining. your predecessors never made anywhere near that kind of money. at the same time, school systems can't get rid of the bad teachers unless they are caught molesting kids or something. lastly, kids learn more at home than they do at school. and while things that go on at home are not all good, preserving the home front is the most important thing to a child's education.
If that's how you feel, you must be REEEEEALY mad at CEO's who make millions and have run the country into the ground. You try teaching some day and you will see that a good teacher earns every penny.
As for home learning, this country has relied on school to give an opportunity to children of immigrants and uneducated parents. It is the first rung on any ladder of social mobility. Otherwise we would have an even more frozen class system than we already have.
Joe
jc:it's that crooked/bent mindset about teachers and schools that indicates how much education the public still needs about schools. Sadly, most people only know based on their having been in schools years before. Then, there's the "talking points". Conservatives really do not want equal opportunity via equal education for all kids. Much like those folks who don't want equal health care for all. Plus: If you keep a lot of kids poor, you can fill the military and, illiterate, fill the prisons. More prisons are built and filled. I vote for free education from cradle to grave.
extratime:
As jclientelle recommends, read "Savage Inequalities" by Kozol. I have not read "Two Americas, Two Educations..." by a Mr. Cummins, but I heard him speak the other day on the topic--he was a former prestigious private school headmaster-and he is appalled at the inequalities that exist in education. $26,000 for private school students vs. $6,000 per student in public. He stresses that this number should be equal.
I substituted in a gifted public school classroom, 6th grade, in the backyard of Microsoft in Washington a couple of years back and the kids all read Harrison Bergeron in 10 minutes and answered challenging questions about the text. All were on task. Now I teach in an urban city school, in LA, in a mainstream 6th grade classroom, and my kids are struggling to read at all. Gifted class 20 students. My class 37. School in Washington comfortable, clean, cafeteria indoors, classes indoors, principal would do yoga with the behavior-disorder kids. My school dumpy, old, many bungalows, rats, a lot of blacktop, no showers for the kids after P.E. 4,000 students year-round, principals stress testing, testing, testing. When I went to junior high we had showers. No after-school athletics for the kids. We had all sports when I went to junior high. Our principal last year apparently got frustrated and berated the after-school program for not properly setting up our annual Maroon-Gold 8th grade football game. The after-school program was volunteering their time to set this up. There are just so many systemic problems.. and yes, money would take care of it.
The disparities even in public schools are appalling.
And, yes!, money is the solution. Kozol talks about that. A rich friend of his says, "Kozol, really, money isn't solving the problem.. it's the families, community, bad teachers, right?" Kozol looks at him in disbelief as he notes that his friend sends his kids to prestigious private schools that cost $30,000/year. Excelsior and some others.
Harvard Westlake, a private school in Los Angeles has on the average, something like, 13 students per teacher. 8 faculty members per student. Many counselors.
Mr. Cummins mentioned in his book talk that he spent some time at Jordan High School, I think, and he noted that there is only 1 college counselor for the entire school. You start out with something like 2,000 students Freshman year, and by 12th grade you end up with a graduating class of 700.
Not to mention the fact that a lot of the kids who come in angry, uneducated and starved for attention and have been fed a whitewashed history since day one cannot even count on an inspirational teacher who can challenge the kids to think about the issues that are relevant to the kids' lives being in the classroom. A teacher was fired at Jordan High School recently because her teaching was too "Afro-centric". She was teaching the kids about Malcolm X and getting the kids to challenge their assumptions. Apparently she had received passing marks on her teacher assessment, but it was then reversed. 5th grade teacher fired in Indiana for talking about the Iraq war. Indiana courts claim that teachers do not have freedom of speech in the classroom; correct me if I am wrong but they consider teachers to be commodities. They have the rights over what we say in the classroom. Another teacher pushed out because she chose to read "Freedom Writers Diary" with her class.
The testing mania/lack of resources/lack of intellectual, creative freedom for our kids and teachers will make for a populous that is sick. As Dr. King said, "Our nation is sick."
Our leaders, government and business, control our destiny to a degree, one that is integrated into an international playing field. Why is it not a requirement to have our kids (5th grade-12th grade) understand this, the strategies and ethical and unethical decisions that are made, at a very young age so that they are prepared to ensure that everyone's human rights are protected when they become full-fledged adults? There are international high schools, programs and so on, but who takes these courses? the wealthy? the powerful? Are the teachers in these programs discouraged from taking their kids on a field trip to a mock refugee camp set up by Doctors with Borders, as I was? The message is: If you are wealthy and powerful you can give yourself any intellectual challenge as you see fit, but if you are a public school teacher in the inner-city, you have teach to the test.
Forgot. Forward this article on to:
editor@washingtonpost.com
executive-editor@nytimes.com
get it out there
I would just like to answer some of the questions brought up by the person from Canada who was wondering if U.S. schools suffered from their emphasis on athletics. (Sorry this is so long--I kind of got on a roll here :-)
I grew up in Seattle as the oldest of four kids. Although we all went to Catholic grade school, my three siblings went to public HS. Two of them, my sisters, were avid soccer players for their schools. They loved playing the sport, and they also pulled down good grades. I myself played three sports in grade school. I was no great athlete, but I managed to make the high school varsity tennis team. I wasn't a very social or confident kid in high school, but being a varsity athlete and wearing that lettermen's jacket was a real boost for me and changed my image both internally and externally. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything (even though our team was pretty terrible).
The experience of playing on a school team is something that can't be replicated. You get to know kids that you normally wouldn't even talk to (often they're not in your classes) and you get to bond with them on team trips, practices, etc. Both my sisters went on to play soccer in college, one on a partial athletic scholarship. If you asked them, they'd say playing school sports is one of the highlights of their lives.
Sports also teaches valuable life lessons about hard work, commitment, supporting each other, competitiveness, dealing with adversity, and losing (which, let's face it, happens to all of us in life at one point or another). The coaches are often teachers or community members who mentor their players, at most levels emphasizing teamwork and learning/getting better rather than winning and losing. I have coached both my kids in soccer and baseball for more than 10 years combined, and it was never about the playoffs. It was about having fun, working hard to develop your skills, and coming together as a team. I know I benefited from the experience as much as the kids, even though it never paid a dime.
My daughter has played basketball competitively for both school and community league teams since she was about 7 years old. Probably the most influential person in her life outside her relatives was not a friend or teacher--it was her high school basketball coach. When this coach took over the team for Kayla's sophomore year, Kayla was very casual in tryouts. Even though she had played some varsity the year before, the coach put her on the junior varsity. Kayla suddenly realized that she had better start working hard if she wanted to play! That coach pushed my daughter every step of the way, making sure she competed as hard as she could. Weekend practices at 8 am were routine. If you were late (which Kayla was several times), you ran laps. This incredible coach turned around a team that hadn't won a playoff game in decades and took them to the state tournament my daughter's senior year (they finished fourth in the top division in Washington, and Kayla made second-team all tournament). Along the way the coach became one of my daughter's closest confidantes and friends, and they remain close as Kayla now plays Division II college basketball in California.
My ex-wife is an eighth-grade math teacher in Seattle's public schools. She also coaches the basketball team at her middle school (she coached my daughter). Ask her about school sports and she'll tell you how important it was for her and her siblings growing up in Montana, and how great it is for her to work with students from different grades outside the classroom. Again, it's not about winning or earning college scholarships. When she guided her team to the city championship game a few years ago, she played every single player on the team in that game even though it might have cost them a victory (they lost by three or four points). There's an important lesson in that approach that the kids (and the adults) notice.
There are hundreds of thousands of high school and college athletes across the country--it's not just an opportunity for the gifted few. Most high schools have at least 6-10 sports for both boys and girls, often with multiple levels of teams in each sport. Also, sports can keep kids in school--there are minimum academic standards at all grade levels that students must meet to play a sport. It's been proven that kids who play sports are less likely to let their grades slip and/or drop out of school, because they want to continue playing on the team. It's a win-win.
Finally, attending sporting events is a big part of school pride and the teenage social scene in the United States. Just ask anyone their memories of attending high school football and basketball games--even if they could have cared less about the outcome. The school experience would be poorer without it.
In short, I don't think our public schools are hurt by having sports teams. I think they make it a better experience, helping kids learn and grow while developing new talents and improving their self-esteem. Like art and music, they are sometimes seen as peripheral and are the first to have their funding cut in a tough economic climate such as we have now. I think that's unfortunate--it hurts our young people almost or equally as much as closing schools or cutting academic programs. We can have both, and we should.
Thanks,
David
Nothing against organized sports per se.
You have experienced a close to ideal situation - many sports teams not just a star system. Sounds like your schools encourage broad participation. I assume there was also phys ed curriculum in the schools and indoor and outdoor areas to play these sports. It sounds good.
It should become a model for our crowded city schools. Unfortunately what you describe takes space, organization a little bit of cash and some will.
Joe
jc:sports are OK, but they get all the glory and most of the money goes to boys' teams (and girls on still getting trashed on sports radio for wanting parity of teams, equipment,etc) in schools. Art and music programs are the first slashed and last replaced, if ever.