Lamenting the dysfunctional state of many of our nation's public schools has been a perennial refrain for decades. However, to fix what is wrong will require courageous decisions implemented by communities across the country, despite strong resistance.
Fortunately, some public schools are producing students who demonstrate high academic achievement, and can compete not only with peers here in America but with those across the globe. However, those schools that demonstrate consistent academic excellence, unfortunately, are not the norm.
Why do we continue to tolerate schools graduating generation after generation of children who are ill-equipped to perform the most basic jobs, let alone perform at a level that protects and advances their household, community or nation? Expecting these same children to be able to compete on the global stage is a foreign, if not ludicrous, notion.
With such a vacuous disparity in the educational preparedness of the majority of our children, and this preparedness is not related to race or ethnicity, what does it mean for the future well-being of our communities, our nation?
Irrespective of our opinions, one thing is certain: If we are to have a proliferation of what works in those schools of excellence, it is going to require bold significant changes in our thinking, and in the way that the school administration conducts its business as it relates to students, teachers and parents.
First, we must stop placing blame for educational failure with the students. The current dysfunction of schools is not the kids fault. Even though when you talk with many teachers, administrators and bystanders, you can easily get that impression.
There is a lot of talk about how disinterested, disrespectful and undisciplined students are, how their behavior is disruptive rather than conducive to learning in the classroom. It appears that we readily dismiss that those students were not born that way. So it begs the question, how did they become so hapless and hopeless?
Perhaps they have spent or are spending too much time around inattentive, indifferent and uncaring adults—whether parents or teachers—who for one reason or the other have relinquished their responsibility to play a meaningful role in their lives, and, even worse, have chosen not to become re-engaged.
A bold step would be to stop blaming the kids, and, instead, figure out how to intervene in their lives to motivate them and improve their undisciplined behavior. It is our duty.
In terms of teachers, we know several things. First, there are dedicated, hard-working teachers who are doing a great job. They deserve our appreciation, commendation and a pay raise.
However, there are too many teachers who have lost the passion for teaching, if they ever had it, and they are just babysitting both interested and disinterested students alike, hiding behind their tenure, abiding time until retirement. These teachers are a detriment to education and should do themselves and everyone else, especially the students, a favor and find some other type of employment.
We know that many teachers are not very qualified. According to the U.S. Dept. of Education, our urban schools attract a disproportionate number of teachers who themselves perform in the lowest quartile on their college entrance exams and meet the minimum requirements of the teacher education programs offered in colleges and universities. Again, the quality of these teachers is not related to racial and ethnic backgrounds, this is one arena where their lack of training and desire to improve our educational system is equal to all races. These less qualified teachers end up in elementary schools often teaching subjects they are not trained to teach. Our children begin their education on an educational deficit from which many never recover. And, we wonder why they are not learning and performing well on standardized tests.
A bold new step would include the administration, along with parents, demanding more accountability of teachers through the teachers' union, requiring the dismissal of ineffective teachers, while recruiting and retaining effective teachers through appropriate compensation and other needed support.
Just as critically, colleges and universities should be held accountable for producing quality teachers and suffer consequences when they do not. We require qualifying/screening exams for students interested in becoming doctors and lawyers. Should not the same be required of those interested in becoming teachers?
Parents. Their involvement is a critical component to educational success. There is a common perception among principals and teachers that many parents, based on their economic status, do not care about their children's education as evidenced by incomplete homework and non-participation in parent-teacher conferences. Parents are the enemy not an ally.
Parents, on the other hand, often feel unwelcome, intimidated, and inadequate to work with teachers and schools. Some parents may be unable to help in their child's schooling due to their economic or educational circumstance. They feel helpless, powerless.
A bold step would involve requiring parents and teachers to work together to address negative perceptions, removing barriers, and implementing action steps on an ongoing basis to foster the best educational environment and support for the child.
Until those in a position of leadership are willing to take the necessary actions to clarify expectations and make accountability from students, teachers, and parents alike, mandatory, educational achievement will continue to elude most schools in our communities and across our nation.
Our unwillingness to take these requisite actions now, will no doubt, portend to measures that are more drastic in the future. Less our well-being here at home and on the world stage is foretold.