I work in a small alternative school; it is actually two small schools in one building. Our kids do really well but I think the key is parent involvement. Perhaps if you are the kind of person to take the time to put your kids in an alternative school and volunteer you are more likely to care about if your kids have home work and when the tests are coming and study to them. A great teacher can only do so much in a large school with kids who may or may not have parents who care.
I get irritated when I hear from schools that if its mostly poor kids they will do badly compared to the schools where kids have money, as though money is the key. I think if you look at it from another angle you could see as I do that people with money, meaning secure jobs and homes not on dope and partying every night usually are people who are more responsible and put education first in their family lives. There are poor people who are the same and those people will probably be better off than poor a few years down the road.
In another thread someone took issue with me talking about character. They might want to take issue with me again because I think its personal character that is the main driving factor in if your kids are doing well. Though not everyone with character will raise a kid the same as them and not every parent without good character will raise someone like themselves.
Poor parents can take the time to find out if their child has homework or a test coming up they need to study for just as easily as a middle class or upper middle class parent can. It is just a matter of if they are willing to take the time. But realistically if they never took the time in their own lives to do this (being possibly why they are in the situation they are in) the chances are slim that they will take the time with their kids school life that they didn’t take with their own. They may not even know how or where to begin.
I think we should have a program where people can volunteer at schools and for so many hours that you volunteer you get a certain $$ you can deduct from your taxes, if you volunteer in a poor area school your deduction is higher if you volunteer in an affluent school the deduction is less, but still enough to make it worth doing.
This would save millions on the money that currently has to be spent on teacher’s aids. It would also bring more affluent people into the poor community and help the kids who either have parents who don’t care or don’t know how to help them.
The key to good schools is parent involvement. But not every parent can do it. I worked 2 full time jobs when my son was in school and couldn’t be a parent volunteer or have much at all to do with the schools. But working for the largest school district in my area for over 22 years now I have seen what schools do well and what schools are doing poorly and though I would have to say it’s the poor schools doing poorly. But it is due to lack of parents involvement not funds. The school I currently work at is smack dab in the middle of our poorest area and is still one of the best schools because it’s an alternative small school with more parent volunteers than even staff members.
also, getting rid of the unions would be a big help
Agreed, the unions are a big part of the problem. For example
