The Beginning of a New Beginning

Over the past few weeks I have been in meetings at the school board office. I am trying to get better administration for my sons middle school. Not all of the administration. I just want to get rid of the principal. Don't get me wrong, she's a nice enough person, but I don't believe she makes a very good leader. We'll talk more about that in a later post. During all these meetings, I have become disenchanted with the way our schools are being run. Hence the reason for this blog. Don't worry, I am not the kind of person that just writes about something and hopes it does the job. I am the kind of person who will write thoughts down, and then I take them to the people in charge. I write, call, meet with, annoy, irritate, and when that doesn't work I gather like minded individuals and then eventually, get it done. It takes time, but I don't give up., no matter how much it hurts. So, with that in mind, let me share with you a few lessons from the past two weeks.
On Wednesday, I met with the Districts HR Administrator and the Secondary Education Administrator. (A lot of administration going on) During the meeting a comment was made to me. I can't quote it exactly, but I was told that I could not be  the "self appointed advocate" for the teachers and students at the school. There were people in place to do that sort of thing. At the time, there was so much more going on that I let it slide, but then, later on, in my moments of reflection (yes, I have moments like that all the time) I realized how wrong he was. I can be an advocate if I want. When I see an injustice being done, it is my responsibility to speak up. I don't answer to the school administrators, they answer to me, and to every parent, student, tax payer, and citizen in this town.  They have been entrusted with the education of our children, and they are failing.
I was told that the teachers will advocate for the children. I believe that the teachers are trying to do just that but they are being ignored by those in charge. The teachers are tested every day on how well the kids can TAKE tests. If the kids don't do well, the teachers are blamed. The Administration is supposed to advocate for the teachers, but they're too busy keeping their jobs, so they don't actually do their job. If the WHOLE school doesn't do well on tests, the administration has to answer to their bosses. Those bosses, the ones in the district office are trying to get money from the state, they don't have time to worry about individual schools. The school board is supposed to be advocates for the entire district, but they are busy doing God only knows what. Everyone answers to local government, who in turn answers to our states leaders who have no clue what is going on in schools because a majority of them no longer have children in the system. When all is said in done, the only people that can actually advocate for anyone, would be the parents...and I am a freaking AWESOME parent.
so that's what I am going to do. I am going to use all that I have to improve our education system. I know plenty of parents and teachers out there who feel the same as I do. I am calling upon all of them to come forward. Nothing is impossible. It is time that we take back the schools. Which leads me to me next point:
Our schools are being run like businesses. Not even a good business. If they were an actual business they would have already gone out of business. They are not delivering the goods that they have promised. Our kids are not ready for the real world. We've taken real education out of the schools and replaced it with test taking skills.
In the past, Home Economics was taught in the middle schools. It no longer exists. Administrators felt the money could be better used by purchasing more math books. What they didn't realize, was that Home ec actually TAUGHT math skills. We used what we learned in Math to sew and cook. It was real life experience. We not only learned how to cook, shop, iron, sew, and basic life skills, we learned what all that math was actually for. We understood it better! Want to know why math scores aren't the greatest? We don't actually do real world math anymore.
Understand, this is NOT the teachers fault. It's ours. We allow the School administrators to dictate what is taught. We allow them to govern what the kids should learn. We allow the administrators to drop whatever is not "cost effective." We, as parents have aloowed it because we have been taught that the School administrators and School Board  members are the bosses, and we should not question them. The School Administrators only want to hear from parents when money is needed. During budget months the parents are the most important people. The more parents they have asking for funding, the better the schools look. Money helps, but it's not the only solution.
No matter how much money we throw at the schools, it won't fix the problem. Our schools are sinking ships. The teachers are working hard to bail out the water, but the hole keeps getting bigger.
The administrators think that if they keep dropping classes, that the boat won't sink as fast. They don't fix the hole.
We need to get a new boat. We need to fund the schools, AND we need to put programs back that will ACTUALLY educate the kids. Imagine a school where the students are inspired. Where the teachers can teach real lessons without the fear of being sued by a parent because the parent doesn't agree with the lesson. Imagine an administrator who wants excitement back in the schools. We need to have open communication  between teachers and parents, so that the parents doesn't over react when their child learns something new. We need to do better for all of us!