In the news

Obama promises children better teachers and schools.  There is a new plan to overhaul No Child Left Behind, YEAH I say, but let's not make the same mistake twice.  The first paragraph opens with the statement that President Obama is promising parents and their children that they will have better teachers in improved schools so U.S. students can make up for academic ground lost against youngsters in other countries.  We have to stop comparing ourselves to other countries.  A collective gasp has just been heard I know, but we are not other countries, we are the good ol' U. S. of A. and we educate all of our children in the same public school system.  We do not test them at age nine, ten or eleven, and begin to separate them by ability and then place them into the different schools where they will study the courses that will allow them to pursue the careers the test has determined that they should pursue.  Perhaps we should, but we don't.  A few paragraphs down, this statement; "The proposed changes call for states to adopt standards that ensure students are ready for college or a career rather than stress grade-level proficiency - the focus of the current law."  The good news is that there is the realization that many good and lucrative careers do not require a very expensive four, five,or six year degree, but perhaps Vocational  Ed in high school, then trade school, an apprenticeship, an internship, or a combination upon graduation.  The bad news is schools are still being asked to fulfill the role of parent.  Schools can provide the instruction necessary to ready individuals for study beyond high school, but schools can not produce responsible, accountable adults ready to take on the enormous responsibility of living life after leaving high school, that is the job of family.  I think schools should have a role in this and at one time did, but now telling students what they can or can't do brings in advocates, lawyers, the NAACP, and THE PARENTS!  Administration can deal with the advocates, lawyers, the NAACP, but do not want to deal with the parents!  Kids know they do not have to tow the line, learn the lesson, produce the product, or give a damn, so they don't.  Not pretty I know, but true.  Next paragraph in the article speaks to the math requirements, and if I was a parent of a student due to graduate in 2011, I would have my lawyer on speed dial, enough said about that.  And I love that Arne Duncan says the name No Child Left Behind will be dropped because it is associated with a harsh law that punishes schools for not reaching benchmarks even if they've made other gains.  It is being dropped because it was an inane name and concept to begin with.  If you as a parent do not expect your child to follow rules that YOU have for them, like when they can go out and when they must be home, what chores they will do around the house, when homework hours will take place, how they can dress, how they will speak to adults, how they will treat their peers, and what they can watch on TV; if you don't help them navigate their world by helping them problem solve, expecting them to reach solutions, or suffer the consequences when they don't, THEY WILL BE LEFT BEHIND and there is nothing the school they attend can do about it.  And enough said about that!
Rosemary