So, 80 percent of New York City High School graduates can't read. 80 Percent. I'll let that sink in for a minute...
My wife and I went out for drinks last night with my best friend and his wife. Along with us was a good friend of all of ours, and he and my friend's wife are both teachers. Politically, my best friend and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum, and his wife, although somewhat pragmatic, is a pretty big liberal too. When together, we rarely talk politics, at least when we are couples. The friend, who doesn't go out with us very much, just started a job at Muskegon Heights school. A charter school in Michigan.
He began telling us stories about his first 4 months at the high school, and honestly, I can relate to what he's going through from my time working in the department of corrections. He said there are fights weekly, the kids are very disrespectful, there have been numerous teacher assaults, and attendance is right around 58% on any given day. Total population for the high school is around 350 kids from grades 9-12.
He said that he doesn't teach the kids. He can't. He presents a lesson, and kids who are actually paying attention are outnumbered 3-1 in class. The majority of the kids don't care. The majority of the kids' parents don't care.
He told a story of one of his female students, age 15, who missed school repeatedly over a 2 week period. He reported her truancy, and called her mother. The mother stated that her daughter had been out of school because she had to testify in court against her father in a domestic abuse case, as well as a divorce case. She wouldn't be at school due to complications with her (the child/student's) pregnancy, and her mom (also a single mother) would do what she could to communicate with the school to let them know.
His stories were non-stop. One after the other about the lives of the kids, their upbringings, the parents... It was something that pissed me off more than made me feel sorry for them. I asked the resident educators at the table what can be done. One of the two said "nothing", and the other said "if we can come up with the answer, then we will solve our society's ills." Although I agree with the first answer, it was the 2nd which gave me pause. This really isn't an issue with our education system; it is a societal issue.
Our education system is such a shit hole, I just can't grasp it. 80% of the kids who graduate school in NYC can't effing read! Small little Muskegon Heights High School has an average attendance rate of 58%. The teachers want more money. The unions demand more from the taxpayers. The school budgets are astronomical. I just don't get it.
What is the answer? Standardized testing? Yeah, right. School choice? How do the kids get from home to a better school when their parents don't even know where they are to begin with? More charter schools? Muskegon Heights IS a charter school, and it's pretty symbolic of how the charter schools are in MI.
Society doesn't care, evidently, that our kids are growing up not knowing a thing, that the majority of the parents look at school as a free daycare, and the teachers cannot control the kids. The administrators can't administrate because of union interference, and the unions just demand more and more without impunity. I'm going to think on this one. However, reading about NYC and having dinner last night just shows me what kind of state we're in. It ain't good...
No comments:
Post a Comment