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Elementary School
Rhee's Sisyphean Rock
December 09, 2008 12:00 PM
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Dear Dr. Fournier: I’m reading a lot about Washington, D.C. School Chancellor, Michelle Rhee, especially since Obama won the election. What do you think about her and what she is doing (or not doing)? I live in Hagerstown, Maryland, which is close to Washington. |
The Assessment: We’re in an economic period that three generations – Baby Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y – have never experienced. Only those left from the Greatest and Silent Generations know the despair and demise that came after a lavish, freewheeling, greedy period in this nation’s history called the Roaring Twenties. It was a time characterized by over-indebtedness and institutional malfeasance among other things. I’m of course referring to the ’29 Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression. Apparently, we have we learned nothing from history.
Here we are again. Over-indebtedness and government, institutional and business malfeasance have caused today’s economic crisis. Companies now must downsize if they are to survive. The repercussions of this new reality? Plenty of Americans are unemployed; more are soon-to-be unemployed. These people have lost or are about to lose their jobs, life savings, homes, plasma TVs, cars and everything else they worked so hard for, as we face this generation’s Great Depression.
What I think about Michelle Rhee is that with a looming Great Depression 2 on our hands, politicians are likely to not listen to the need to take a wrecking ball to the current education model. That means Ms. Rhee faces a near impossible battle to win, that of “fixing” the DC public school system.
What To Do: What worked at one time in this country’s history is an education model that not only transformed the United States, but it also brought about a completely different world. That model was created for the agricultural and industrial eras, ones we are far removed from yet we continue to educate our children based on the horse-and-buggy and the Model T mentality. This is the system Ms. Rhee is trying to fix and I want to bury it.
There are few of us in the battle for our children’s minds and hearts in hopes of educating them with new paradigms of thought. Instead, our children are growing up to become adults that shortly will end up at parents’ or someone’s doorstep cloaked in a pink slip.
Society is happy educating our children in these bling schools. I am not. Children educated in these schools will live a life of thin pockets carrying deadly plastic aplenty. Bling schools cannot fulfill parents’ and children’s hopes for an education that will make them competitive in the coming synergistic era.
This current economic meltdown has driven home one basic fact: greed and the bling life is a virus sapping at the economic foundation of this country. And our children come out of schools not knowing how to make change for a dollar without a machine’s help or an understanding of the value of that money, which, by the way, doesn’t buy happiness and can’t be earned by old paradigm educated children.
Ms. Rhee will not get far trying to fix bling schools. Instead, she must be bold and demand that we take the wrecking ball to our outdated education model, which is turning us into a nation of people with bankrupt minds, a bleak prospect for our future.
We must build a new education model, not try and resuscitate the dinosaur.
President-Elect Barack Obama has a mandate, if he desires to use it, to reinvent education in America so that we are assured of developing successful adults for 2020 and beyond. Ms. Rhee should demand he do so. Until she does, she will be no more than Sisyphus with her vouchers, charter schools and other band-aids.
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Bling is no solution
December 02, 2008 12:00 PM
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Dear Dr. Fournier: My seventh grader started this year in a brand-new school. As parents we felt, finally, that the school system had done something to better her education. Yet it took five weeks for her to receive worn-out textbooks. The teachers made do by assigning projects. Some did close to nothing because they don’t know the subject matter. The computers are not all set up yet. The science lab teacher has asked parents to pitch in with money. Only those with means, even modest, can comply. This leaves the rest to wonder if their children will receive a seventh grade education. Now school budgets are being cut! My daughter had all As and Bs on her first report card, which is meaningless. As a concerned parent, I know she learned almost nothing. I cannot afford a private school. Will my child be left out of the American dream because the public school she attends doesn’t have the money to educate her? |
The Assessment: There was a time when our public schools were a source of pride – the bedrock of American democracy. What has happened? Most Americans are right now wondering if their dream is vanishing before their eyes.
Approximately 23% of public school parents ask themselves if their children will be left out of an education, without which the American Dream is unattainable. It is not fair to surmise that the other 77 % are all that satisfied. The current economic decline has now refocused our attention on education yet I have been saying for years that we have a pointless attachment to an old model of teaching and until we are willing to let go of this attachment, the sad truth is that American education will continue to decline, even past the current crisis it is in. Yet, the mere idea of brand-new buildings enhances our expectations – just because they are new.
What To Do: Somehow, somewhere, someone decided that the shiny shell was more important than making sure – before it was built – that staffing the school with knowledgeable teachers was more important than the bling. We are in desperate need in this country of first having teachers who actually know what children need to learn without hamstringing them to textbooks. We should curtail construction spending while allotting precious budgeted monies to purchasing what is needed to educate children in a way that prepares them for the roles they will be playing fifteen years from now. What would that require? It would require reinventing school from the inside out.
Granted, your brand-new school is a disappointment, yet even if it came with all the bells and whistles money could buy, you would still be giving your daughter an education that will make her fit for employment in 1980 or thereabouts. Michelle Rhee, take notice.
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Breakdown large assignments to avoid anxiety
September 16, 2008 12:00 PM
My
son is having a hard time returning to school. Last
year he was in kindergarten and had homework. This
year, his homework has increased. Now when he sees a
full page of homework, he has a meltdown thinking it
will take him forever. He now brings home a math
sheet and a reading sheet as well as spelling for
Friday tests. My son did well last year but it took a
lot of tears and agony by the entire family. What can
I do? Read
more...
Reassess use of child labels
September 02, 2008 12:00 PM
I
recently graduated and have my first teaching
position at a school for socio-economically and
racially diverse gifted children. It is fourth grade,
one I loved when I did my student teaching. I have
followed your column and it has helped me rethink
some of my positions about children and teaching.
What advise would you give me to be someone who can
make difference in the lives of my students?
Read
more...
Examine block system to ensure benefits
August 26, 2008 12:00 PM
I
have a grandchild in the 5th grade that now goes to a
block scheduled school. He is in one classroom much
longer, but after the initial lesson, his teacher
answers any questions then supervises students while
they sit quietly and do their assigned
homework. Doesn’t this seem like a much better
idea than actually sending home hours of
homework?Read
more...
Take summer assignments into your own hands
July 08, 2008 12:00 PM
My
son is in public school, and his fifth grade teacher
did not assign any summer work. While my son is
delighted, I have concerns that this may put him at a
disadvantage. Many of our friends’ children are in
private schools, and their children have in-depth
assignments during the summer break. They read three
to five books and then answer packets of questions.
In math, some are required to practice problems on
computer programs or on worksheets. I have dreams for
my child just like parents who can afford private
school. Will my son always have less than everyone
else because I can’t afford more?Read
more...
Keep reading on par with TV & Internet
March 25, 2008 12:00 PM
My
fifth grade son hates to read. It is that simple.
This is extremely frustrating because he has a great
memory and loves to learn by watching TV. He doesn’t
miss a program about animals, and he knows more about
history than me. On top of that, he enjoys telling
people about all of the fascinating things he has
seen on television. I encourage his learning however
I can, but I know reading is really important to his
education and future. What can I do?
Read more...
Read more...
Advanced math success builds off matery of basics
March 11, 2008 12:00 PM
My
fifth grade daughter has always been an average to
above average student, but recently I noticed that
she is losing points for careless errors in math. She
works through the entire problem only to get the
wrong answer because of a multiplication mistake.
While her teacher is giving her credit on her
homework, her test grades are really dropping. How
can I help my daughter stay focused on the
details? Read
more...
Wait and watch before diagnosing a disorder
March 04, 2008 12:00 PM
Our daughter
is 5-years-old, and we are older parents who waited
to have a child until we were ready to devote
ourselves completely to her. She is in kindergarten,
and the teacher says that at times she does not pay
attention to directions or like to play with the
other children. She also sometimes has trouble with
verbal communication. We notice some of these things
at home, but believe much of it is because she is an
only child. We think everything is ok, but both of us
have histories of autism in our families. We
discussed these issues with our pediatrician, and the
doctor feels we are being obsessive. What do you
think? Read
more...
Don't rely on outdated intelligence tests
February 26, 2008 12:00 PM
My
first-grade son has difficulty finishing school
assignments in the required time. He seems to know
the answers, but just doesn’t finish in the same time
as other children. His teacher allows him to bring
some work home to finish, but his test grades are low
because he isn’t able to get through them. Because
his semester grades were low, his teacher suggested
we have him tested – now my husband and I are in
shock from the results. Our son was given the
Weschler (Intelligence Scales for Children, or WISC)
test and diagnosed with an extremely low IQ – we were
told he was a “slow learner.” But this is not the
child we know. Our son has always been able to figure
out things that amaze us – he does things with his
toys that are creative and extraordinary. What do we
do? Read
more...
