Thread: The Future of Your Public Schools

Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... tml?sub=AR

Summer's Siren Call
School's Out, but the Worries Are Just Beginning for Elementary School Principal Sandi Jimenez

By Darragh Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 8, 2006

Spitballs flew on the school bus and sent both boys straight to the principal's office.

"He spit at me first!" the younger one bellows.

But Sandi Jimenez is staring, alarmed, at the red marker dotted on the older boy's hand.

"You can't come to school like that," Jimenez tells the sixth-grader. Wash the red dots off. Now.

"Why?" the boy asks. He stares at the floor.

"Es marca de pandilla," Jimenez answers, somber and saddened. A gang symbol. He is 12.

"Oh," she sighs later in a meeting with teachers, that boy "is just going crazy on us. He used to be such a charming young man. I'm afraid he's getting into the gangs."

And she's running out of time to intervene. The boy may clench his jaw tough, but when he's happy, two dimples punctuate his smile. He is also a recent arrival whose English still falters, whose academics lag and who is, Jimenez fears, ideal prey for the gangs of Langley Park.

"I'm worried about you," Jimenez tells him in a follow-up conference. "Do I have reason to be?" The boy whispers his answer, " No sé. " I don't know. The white shirt of his school uniform seems suddenly too big.

Tomorrow he graduates from Langley Park-McCormick Elementary and heads to middle school. With final dismissal at 1:55 p.m., Jimenez will have said goodbye to him and the rest of her 513 students, reluctantly ushering them into one of the school year's most brightly anticipated -- but also dreaded and worrisome -- seasons:

Summer.

I have a 12 year old son, and this is the exact reason we took him out to homeschool. This is a problem in the school he would have gone to.

Public school is a pox on this society. Ever since the nation's schools were remolded into the Dewey model, the educational level of Americans compared with the rest of the world has been in decline. I believe that the answer is a combination of private schooling, home schooling, community collective schooling, and trade and guild schooling paid for by apprentice and membership fees. The federal government needs to get out of the education business altogether, as should the states. Communities should be allowed to run public educational programs if they so desire, though they should not be funded by mandatory taxation.

Amen, crocketsghost.

I decided long ago my children would not step foot in the school system. They are and will be homeschooled.

You actually have the time to spend 6 hours a day teaching your child Reading, math, science, history...? And how do you do it? Do you have textbooks? Are you yourself a authority on all these subjects? What about physical education? What college will recognize the GPA from a parent with no credentials or certification?

Originally Posted by Skipp

You actually have the time to spend 6 hours a day teaching your child Reading, math, science, history...? And how do you do it? Do you have textbooks? Are you yourself a authority on all these subjects? What about physical education? What college will recognize the GPA from a parent with no credentials or certification?

I have no school aged children but yes, I am enough of an authority to teach most of the major subjects taught in the public schools and even some college curricula. I was invited five years ago to teach a special program at UC Irvine, which was a wonderful experience. I am certainly more qualified to teach than a large percentage of the teachers in the public schools. As for college recognition of that education, it's not a problem so long as you avoid the state schools. What do you think the SATs, ACTs and achievement tests are for? Many private institutions are more than willing to predicate admissions upon scores of standardized tests.

Textbooks per se are over-rated, particularly compared with source material. If you cannot afford a decent personal library, use your public library. It's an amazingly untapped resource. College libraries are another good resource, though you will have to confine your child's study of those texts to the library itself unless you are enrolled or an alumnus. Anecdotally, I was doing some extensive research in the SMU theological library some years ago and was able to locate some invaluable source material. Of the twenty-odd books used in my research, not one of them had a most recent check-out date beyond 1953, with most of them having not been checked out since before WWII.

For those who do not have time to teach their own children, there is always the option of group schooling with like-minded neighbors, private schooling, and parochial schools.

Actually yes I do, however it does not take 6 hours. When you are teaching 1-on-1 as opposed to 35-to-1 getting the point across does not take long.

Of course we have school books. I have a curriculum from a school that has been providing home schooling curriculum for over 100 years. I have been teaching my children since they first took a breath in this world why does that have to stop at the ripe old age of 5. Crocketsghost is correct most textbooks are garbage anyway. My 6 year old is now doing 2nd grade work when the public school system says she should be in kindergarten. She would be board to death. Physical education is not a problem, do you think just because a family home schools they never leave their house. Almost every evening my children are involved in some sort of physical activity. They take gymnastics, dancing, horse riding lessons, soccer, T-ball, going swimming, playgrounds, etc. They have friends and are very sociable and friendly.

I do not have to be an authority on all these subjects. I went through the school system and I am more than qualified to teach the crap they push on our children, I just choose not to. My children will have a well rounded and complete education and be able to think for themselves and form their own opinions. Schools have become indoctrination centers for the dumbing down of our children. They should be a place of learning which they are not.

Actually if you would like to look into colleges they are actively courting home schooled children.

Originally Posted by dlm1968

Schools have become indoctrination centers for the dumbing down of our children. They should be a place of learning which they are not.

Exactly!

Originally Posted by Skipp

You actually have the time to spend 6 hours a day teaching your child Reading, math, science, history...? And how do you do it? Do you have textbooks? Are you yourself a authority on all these subjects? What about physical education? What college will recognize the GPA from a parent with no credentials or certification?

1st of all, in most states the law requires the home-instructor to have a college degree. I dont know about the physical education part, but most happy and well adjusted kids WANT to participate in some kind of physical and team oriented activities.
Lets face it. Education is so DUMBED DOWN, that most kids from educated families will easily bring home straight A's, and if they dont apply themselves, maybe a B+.
With the unfortunate POPULATION EXPLOSION, home study schools by computer will become the norm.

Originally Posted by butterbean

1st of all, in most states the law requires the home-instructor to have a college degree. I dont know about the physical education part, but most happy and well adjusted kids WANT to participate in some kind of physical and team oriented activities.
Lets face it. Education is so DUMBED DOWN, that most kids from educated families will easily bring home straight A's, and if they dont apply themselves, maybe a B+.
With the unfortunate POPULATION EXPLOSION, home study schools by computer will become the norm.

I don't know about *most* states, but NC does not require a college degree for homeschoolers. Thank goodness, since parents are pulling their kids out in droves because the schools here are going downhill so fast! Maybe because we're pouring so much money into educating illegals?
I DO have a college degree, and I have been homeschooling my son for the past 5 years. He is MUCH more likely to succeed in life now than he was when we pulled him out. He has more friends now, and they're REALLY good kids, not juvenile delinquents! dlm1968's post was right on about homeschooling! Colleges actually WANT homeschooled students because they're better prepared and they're better students! Public education is just a way for society and our government to indoctrinate our kids to accept what they want them to accept, for example, illegal immigrants! AND homeschooled kids are more likely as adults to vote and be involved in civic responsibilities.

I only wish we had started homeschooling sooner!