Public School Blues

wrong, wrong, wrong…

It’s all so wrong! The public school system has many faults. Sadly, it’s true. The thing is… it’s not the teachers. It’s not even the administrators. And it’s definitely NOT the students. Perhaps… the parents? Just kidding ;). I don’t believe the fault lies within individual professionals, not even within collective groups of professionals. It’s the system. Years of misguided policy, piece-meal iniatives, and misapropriated funds.

As a result of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, we are supposed to provide a free and appropriate education to all students. Albeit free, it’s hardly appropriate for a growing number of primary school students. To label or not to label? That is the question!

Many school districts are careful about not labeling students as having learning disabilities during the early years of the their education. Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? Of course it does! However, if we don’t label those children and they don’t receive special education services so that they CAN learn to read, write and develop early numeracy, then what happens?

The general education teacher is supposed to differentiate his/her instruction to accomodate for all of his/her student needs. Sounds reasonable, right? Sure, to a point. As a special education teacher myself, I can say that I’ve worked with some really great teachers. Teachers who do care. Teachers who have a high level of professionalism and who do everything they can to meet the needs of their students. The problem is that there are just too many students for them to do it well when they have a couple who just don’t seem to respond to any of their interventions.

So those 2-3 get “left behind.” Not intentionally. If they are lucky, they qualify for English as a Second Language (ESOL) services or maybe the reading specialist will read with them and they get a pull-out session once or twice a week. But that’s not going to cut it for these kids. So as the year comes to an end, their classroom teacher has to decide whether or not to retain them or to push them up to the next grade without having met the grade level benchmark.

This happens in kindergarten, and then again in first grade, and maybe again in second, until… the pressure of the high stakes test scores finally create some urgency and these kids all get tested and begin to receive services in the hopes that the third grade special education teacher can teach them all to read, write, and do math well enough to receive a passing score on the third grade exams.

If that’s really happening, “Why?” you ask, “are we holding out on testing for special education?” The answer to that is tricky. Age does play a role. Students between the ages of 5 and 8 respond to stress in very different ways. Some completely shut down, enough to convince an entire child study team over the course of months that he/she was mentally retarded! Some act out and might seem bipolar, even to the trained eye. Others respond more cooly to stress and are able to function fairly well. So the hesitancy to label is there for good reason. Furthermore, I’ve been told that it’s very easy to test “too high” for special education in kindergarten and first grade. And third, I’m sure that funding has something to do with it too… even though it doesn’t factor directly into the round table discussions at the local school level.   

What we are dealing with is a lack of early intervention for any student in need. Not just kids in Title 1 schools or who are limited English Proficient (LEP).

We shouldn’t simply push students on to the next grade without mastering basic competancies and we should equip/support general education teachers with intervention programs and staff!!!

Yes, these are costly propositions but there are ways to save money… I’ll save that for a post at a later date.

Confessions from an “Obamakin”

Technically, I am an “Obamakin”, a Republican supporting the Obama-Biden ticket. Was I ever really a Republican? Perhaps…

I grew up in suburban/rural Pennsylvania just outside of Erie. Pennsylvania is typically a blue state due to our two largest cities: Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. However, the rural areas are as red as they are in much of the country. Raised by evangelical Christians, I was highly influenced by hot button issues such as gay marriage and abortion. In those times I truly believed in voting a “Godly” person into leadership so that God would “bless” our nation. That was before I learned that  that theology doesn’t hold up in the New Testament and that Jesus actually taught the opposite.

Matt 16:24-25: Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

That doesn’t sound like the easy road, does it?

As I watch this last presidential debate, I am perplexed and saddened when I think about the perceptions my fellow rural citizens may have about the candidates and the issues and I am deeply troubled by some of their comments.

Uncle Joe, a savy small business owner, buys only American cars because he believes that we should support American industry. In the same breath he decries big government and spews confidence in the free market economy. Confused? I am. If you believe in the free market economy, buy the best car for the best value and allow the free market to send a message to the American auto industry: “Make better cars!”

Cousin Sue studies finance at Penn State University. In defending the GOP, she asked me if I would really vote for someone with the middle name “Hussein” ? She encourages me to vote based on the candidate’s plan for our country and then attacks Obama’s associations with Reverend Wright and Ayers.

Cousin Ann says that it seems “unwise to be allowing this man into power at this crucial point in time in our country. It all seems a little shady.” What does she mean by “this man” and the term “shady”?  

Another family member actually visited the Assembly of God church in Wasilla, Alaska. Sarah Palin’s old church. What is curious to me is the fact that Palin’s unwed daughter’s pregnancy doesn’t seem to be an issue. But Obama’s “dysfunctional” family is.

McCain is not such a bad guy. He is a hero and a patriot. He has taken a stand against his own party in the past. There was a time when I was an undecided voter. There was a window in which John McCain could have snagged my vote. It closed quickly and tightly. Although I can’t put my finger on the defining moment. Was it when he said the fundamentals of the economy were strong or when he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate?

I actually think that it was before that. I must admit that I am swept away by Obama’s retoric. But what is truly captivating is not the eloquence in the delivery but the combination of his demeanor and the actual content. He is a great orator. However, that would never have been enough, not even to win the democratic nomination as Hillary so fervently believed. What reaches me is his ability to remain calm and even keeled in the midst of the chaos of our time (and of the Republican campaign). The content of his answers in the debates make sense to me. 

Back to my initial question. Was I ever a Republican? The answer doesn’t matter today. What matters is how I see myself now.

I am for (in no partiular order):

• stricter gun control
• gay/lesbian union and legal rights equivalent to marriage
• more government regulation on Wall Street
• more financial support for improving public education
• mandatory health care for children
• affordable health care for all citizens
• the pursuit of alternative energies
• dialoging with our national enemies (Who was it that said we should keep our friends close and our enemies closer?)

Do I sound like a Republican or a Democrat? It’s a shame that we only have two parties… Honestly, my party affiliation doesn’t concern me if I can stand behind a candidate who I believe is straight with me and who represents me. I have found that candidate.