Function/Dysfunction: Two great tastes that go together?
Posted by Heather in School is for dummiesI’m wondering if there is anyone out there who would agree with the statement that public schools are a well-functioning system. Anyone? Don’t be shy. Anyone?
For years, long before I had school-age children, I heard others talk of how the schools are dysfunctional, and I’ll admit I rolled my eyes. Because I knew all about it even though I was in no way involved in schools. I knew because I was a product of public education, my sister was, my husband was and, I don’t know what is wrong with you complainers, but what was true about the education system 25 years ago is certainly still true now.
*ahem*
Well, slap my fanny and call it ironic because, boy oh, boy, have I had my eyes opened. With both of the boys in school now, I’ve gotten all involved at their school. I’ve been volunteering my little ass off in the classrooms and I’m seeing things I wouldn’t see by simply being a parent who goes to the holiday class parties and joins the PTA.
On top of that, I’m one of those parents – I ask the teacher and principal why are there 16 tests in the course of two weeks**, and then I take upper administration names and I call them too.
Being more involved this year, I’m seeing the layers beneath the facade that props up the system, and I have to say what an absolute crazy cluster fuck the education system is.* Which isn’t surprising. It’s government ran, of course it’s a cluster fuck.
In a recent post, a commenter said, more or less, why aren’t the teachers trying to figure out why Payton is having so many problems in the classroom.*** That seems like an obvious question, don’t you think? It did to me. If a child isn’t functioning in class, we should know why!
But then I wondered (because I always do) …
What does it mean to function in a dysfunctional environment?
Would that be the definition of insanity? Does it mean losing yourself as an individual as you mold to the status quo of dysfunction? Does it mean losing your mind to the mind of the masses?
I’m not really sure, but it makes me question whether the goal of complete functionality for my sons in a dysfunctional system is something to aim for.
My youngest son is having zero problems in school. If I’m going to spend my time worrying, maybe he’s the one I should really worry about.
*Of course, I speak of the education system that we attend. While no public school is perfect (because we all have to deal with NCLB), our system here takes the meaning of asinine to new heights.
**I asked the teacher about those 12 tests yesterday. She said she may not have entered a few from previous week until the following week, so the date could be off. So then I counted how many were in the past two weeks, which was sixteen and still an ungodly amount for 2nd graders.
***For the record, his current teacher and principal are working with us to figure out how to help Payton. These are good people trying to do the right thing in a fucked up system with 900+ other kids. The end.
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excellent summary point….
and, my head is still spinning about all of the different tests in one week. CRAP.
Functioning in a dysfunctional environment? Isn’t that kind of like being a functioning drunk? (I *hate* the word “alcoholic”) If so, we’re in this one together…
My husband and his 3 sibs all went to private school, even boarding schools. The thought of private school never entered my parents heads and they couldn’t have afforded it anyway- I went to a craptastic public school.
Hubs and I deliberately moved into a tiny, overpriced apartment so my daughter would be zoned for the best public school in Nashville, across the street from Vanderbilt University, where all the doctors and professors lived. What a fucking joke. She went to private school after only a couple years there (we kept thinking maybe this year is just a bad teacher).
If you can find a good public school, I’m all for it. But most of them suck. We are lucky in that we are Catholic and the Diocesean system is an excellent private but not too expensive education. As a matter of fact, there are a number of kids at my son’s school whose families are not Catholic, but they can’t afford “regular” private schools and the public system is completely unacceptable. And they are happy at our little school!
It’s exhausting to have to have your nose in the school all the time but that would be me. Neither of my kids has had any real trouble but I don’t want to let my guard down.
I might be able to agree that PUBIC schools are a well functioning system, if I knew what that was. I just found that typo funny, sorry.
It is sad that we pay our taxes and can’t get a good education for our children without, basically, selling our souls to the devil. Over here, in New Orleans, we could send our kids to a decent public school if we could convince someone they are gifted. What happened to just giving our kids a good education no matter where they fall on the intelligence scale?
Husband and I have been through the Orleans Parish School system and that was the biggest motivator to make sure our kids go to private school.
I just have to say, as a public school teacher, that it’s hard. My school is lucky to have small(ish) classes and I still have ninety students to keep track of. If one student has a series of bad days, I can usually catch it. But if a student has one bad day, it might slip by. It’s awful. Every kid deserves more. I know. But there are so many.
I love them. I want them to succeed. But it’s chaos frequently.
PUBIC schools? lol. ok, now I’m going to read your post
If you google John Taylor Gatto – former NY State teacher of the year – you’ll find some very thought-provoking articles about schools.
Here’s two:
http://www.spinninglobe.net/againstschool.htm
http://tinyurl.com/pnpay
I think even the best schools – public or private – operate on a faulty belief: that children can, and should, develop intelligence in exactly the same way at exactly the same time. The kids I’ve known who have been free to learn to read as they were able to, and had the desire to, have learned that skill at ages from 3 to 11. In school, not only would the later readers have been labeled “failures”, they would more than likely have believed they were failures. I can’t support any system that would allow a person to think that about themself just because they didn’t conform.
Not to mention – and I don’t know why I say that, because I’m sure mentioning it – at Sudbury Valley School, a free school where children take responsibility for their own lives and are allowed to learn what they want, when they want, not a single child has developed a reading “disorder”. This is over 40 years of students – reading disorders only occur when students are forced to read before they’re ready, or are not allowed to learn in their own way.
And, amazingly, most diagnoses of ADD or ADHD “disappear” when compulsory schooling is no longer in the picture, and kids are free to do what they want – to complete a project they’re interested in, or to go outside and play when they wish.
I try not to be anti-school – my sister is a teacher and I see how much she has changed her students’ lives for the better – but, Lord, school sure is screwing our kids up.
Somo: Weren’t you the one who commented in another post about calling public schools pubic schools isntead? Must have been someone else and now I don’t know which post or who it was. Darn!
I’d love to say I stole the word from that reader, but I’m just a dumb ass who didn’t catch the typo. ha!
Neurotic Grad: That is what I mean by seeing the layers behind the facade. I see the teachers and I know they want the best for their students, but for us, their hands are tied in a lot of ways by upper administration requirements.
Schools are great for the typical child, with typical and equal development across all areas. Schools are also great if you are a typical, too-busy parent who really doesn’t question the teacher or system. BUT, if you have a child who’s ahead of the curve in one area, and lagging behind in another, and if you DARE to give a #$%^ about your child, then you’re in for quite a shock. Nope, the system doesn’t like to be questioned. Nope, the system doesn’t like to work “extry” hard for your young’un. That’s why so many parents of typical, and therefore the majority, don’t see what the problem is. It’s the ones in the small corner over there, that have been given one of the biggest surpises of their lives. Schools like easy, no work students. Anything else, and they are not so happy. The truth as I’ve found it to be. Keep on trying, just think what would happen to Payton if you accepted everything they did, said, and thought about him. Persevere. You can do it without being a pain in the butt. Just make them think twice before they automatically pidgenhole Payton.
alex: I’ve really turned things around (in my mind mostly) with the teachers and administrators within the past year. I got to know them and they me, and we now have a work together attitude that I wasn’t sure was there a year ago.
I don’t think they are trying to pigeonhole him, though it’s still a fear in the back of my mind and that’s my problem. I’ve also realized when it comes to tests and homework, they don’t set the requirements, it comes from above the individual school.
I’m a public school administrator, so I’ll admit to having a pro-public school bias right up front. I have to say, though, that your stories amaze me. Your experience is not what is typical in our district. Is that to say that we never have any parents who are dissatisfied or that we meet every student’s needs perfectly? I’d be lying if I said that. But I do believe that there are public school systems out there which are well-run and produce well-educated students. Unfortunately, too often attending one of those schools depends on the ability of one’s parents to afford the “right” neighborhood.
lsm: that’s why I put the first disclaimer in this particular post. I wanted it to be clear that I was speaking for the system we are in and not every school out there.
And I do believe there is a difference between being well-educated and well-schooled.
Oh, definitely, there’s a difference between well-educated and well-schooled. And, 16 tests in two weeks for a second grader? I meant to comment on that in my earlier comment–it’s insane. When are they actually teaching. I know first-hand the pressures of NCLB, but constant testing is not the way to excel, good teaching is.
Two words: home school. Er…homeschool? Right. Anyway, I was homeschooled for most grades until high school (highschool?).
However, As one of your more recent posts points out, the real work is on YOUR part. Which is no damn fun. Just about killed my mom, though she sees history through the lens of roses.