Today was interesting. I went to work expecting to have a full load but I didn't. I was in coast mode. After I realized that there wasn't much to do besides the normal, I started a heated discussion with my co-workers. What started as a mother's concern, ended with everyone in the office discussing the infamous public school system.
My co-worker, Shannon, is a mother of two. She's an attorney and her daughter attends a "top-tier" public school in Maryland. She attended her daughter's classroom to observe and to her surprise, the students were all over the place. In a class of about 25 kids, a majority of them were special needs so they required something extra. Meaning, most of them had ADD or ADHD so they were just roaming around while the teacher was trying to teach.
When the class was over, Shannon had a conference with the teacher to discuss her child's grade. When Shannon asked what her daughter had in the class, the teacher responded by saying that her daughter would receive a B. Where as any other parent would be happy with their child receiving a B in a math class, Shannon was highly pissed. She was upset because her daughter scored in the 50th percentile on her standardized tests. She knew that her daughter lacked the basic fundamentals of mathematics. So how in the world could she get a B in her math class?
The answer is very simple. Since she was well-behaved, her teacher gave her a B, which was a highly inflated grade. In Shannon's mind, this was setting her daughter up for failure because she understands that when her daughter is forced to compete with students outside her school district, she will be far behind.
As a student that has always been well-behaved, I understand completely what this girl is going through. I know what it is like to have grades that reflect your behavior and not necessarily your ability or your progress.
Grade inflation is a serious problem in schools. Often times, students are leaving high school, and even college, ill-prepared to complete their next level of study. It's hard to play catch-up when you lack basic fundamentals that you should have learned years ago.
I also understand that it is hard for students to learn in an unstable setting. How can teachers teach if they don't even have the authority to control their classes?
Furthermore, why is that now, black students are below the educational standards, but 50 years ago when we were 0oppressed, we were doing so much better?
As we were discussing education, I quickly realized that the quality of teachers is being substituted for quantity. Now days, who's teaching? What is their background? 10 years ago would you have trusted them, your kid's teachers, to do your homework for your class? If not, why should you trust them now to teach your child?
With that beign said, I hope we can start repealing laws that are crippling our education system. And who knows, maybe one day I can lead the revolution.
FYI: Did you know that teachers cannot hug student anymore? WOW!!! I think I'm getting old.
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