This is the state of our educational system

Without getting political at all I thought I'd share some insider information on the state of our public education system. I teach at a high school and it's really no wonder at all why we get beat by other nations at least as far as education goes.

In the past week I've been told by my supervisor to give a student a 65 (passing) no matter what he does or how bad the actual work is. The reasoning is that it's "easier" for all involved and that there's not any point in holding him responsible for anything.

Another incident that perfectly illustrates our current system's issues: a parent emails me asking how their kid is doing. I haven't had this kid in my class all year, he comes to school but stays in a special education room all day. I answer the parent honestly, saying I don't really know him and have very little I can evaluate him with. The next day I get called into my supervisors office and berated and blamed for "costing the school $100,00" because the parent is going to use my email as proof that the kid isn't getting the education he should be.

The system is severely broken and totally F'ed up. I have no answers for you, I'm just a small pawn in a large game that basically makes appearances and money more important than actually educating the kids.

rant over, feel free to comment but don't bring politics into it.

 

It doesn't end in school.
I work in manufacturing and the younger people that run CNC machines don't know the difference between. .02 and .002 . But their on their cellphones all day. But it's accepted and there is no accountability.

I guess what I wanted say is that letting kids go though school with no accountability will follow them through life.

OP, thank you for the work you do in education.

 

I think teachers like the op are the exception not the norm (meaning he sounds like one of the few good ones)

When I was in college I had to pick a liberal arts class as an elective, I recall I was literally the only male student and all the girls were liberal arts majors who were planning to be teachers. They weren't very smart and if it were 50 years ago they would have been housewives. A lot of teachers are like that and lack of STEM, no wonder we are behind as a nation in education

 

This system Is beyond broken.
My wife and I are going through the same sort of issues. We are just parents of a 4th grader. We have given everything to try to help. Teachers are not really allowed to talk to parents and parents are not suppose to talk to each other either. This is per the principal's rules. The school recently, like all LAUSD schools turned to magnet programs........ I have so much more on this it's not even funny anymore.

 

@kingston73
What does the teachers union say about this practice by the schools?

 

I completely understand everything you're saying. I've been a HS teacher for about 17 years now and I have definitely seen some very discouraging things. I could go on and on about so many different issues, but ultimately too many students today don't care whatsoever about learning. They are too concerned with things that don't matter. Taking selfies, getting likes, etc. IMHO, much of this comes from parents with similar values.

 

My daughter graduated high school in 2007 and she’s turned out pretty good, but no thanks to her public education. In her “history class” her only study of WWII was watching the movie Pearl Harbor in class. I wish back then I had been more proactive in her education. I have no idea how she turned into a productive young adult. I’m so proud of her and so disappointed in myself and her schools.

 

Our schools have switched over to common core BS. If we don't teach him, it turns out no one will. At the same time we are told if we can't teach him the common core way, then we are not to help at all wtf!!!! Obviously they can't or won't so I am going to do all I can to make sure he gets everything he needs to succeed in raising a family of his own one day.

 

Part of me has faith that there are individual students who value learning much more than likes and selfies ( I tend to agree they are perhaps a reflection of their parents ). It's really a decay of morality and general respect in our nation. We see it everywhere now. I don't use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc based purely on the fact that their developers KNEW the likes and little dopamine hits exploit the brain into a drug like 'keep coming back for more' reaction. It's manipulative and wrong. Those sites have become cancerous to society, just in my opinion (obviously there are great benefits as well, to be just).

I do fear for my two children, but leading as an example of the payoff of education and learning is perhaps your children's best bet. Nice post OP, we feel you.

 

My wife is a middle school science teacher (she has a biology degree with masters in education, and is nationally certified), the stuff she tells me makes my skin crawl. Schools have gotten to the point where they're more afraid of bad publicity, and prioritize avoiding it, above all else. Administrators are so scared that a parent will raise a stink on social media, or regular media, or sue the school, that they have developed policies that burden teachers with more and more work that is outside of educating kids. It seems like almost every kid nowadays has some kind of learning disability, and teachers are running around like chickens trying to keep up with meeting all of the specialized demands for these kids.

And the discipline issues are horrendous. Administrators won't back teachers up, parents always side with their kid, the kids know it, and call teachers out all the time. I've never heard of kids treating teachers like they're lesser human beings, but in the last few years it has been happening, a lot.

Education has become toxic, and although she was born for teaching (she's really good at it), she has been considering using her biology degree to go into a different field altogether because she can't take the hatred and disrespect from parents, kids, and administrators anymore. This is after 15 years of being an educator.

 

Don't worry, the government knows what's best for your kids.

Just follow the program.

 

It don't matter, I saw a commercial yesterday that showed a robotic arm giving a tattoo to a human being.

 

My wife is a retired middle school science teacher.
I can confirm everything said so far.

There are so many things wrong that I'll just mention one, and it's a biggie:
Administration.

Administration has become so bureaucratic and political that it needs to be burned down and reconstructed completely.
People get in there who either have no experience at all or who were lousy teachers.
And they make the big bucks.

You'd think their purpose should be to facilitate learning, but far too often that's not the case.
I can't tell you how many times a kid had to be taken away in handcuffs.
And next day the little bastard is back. No consequences.
Lack of discipline is unfair to students who want to learn, as it disrupts everything.
And unfair to the teachers.
The administrators don't want to rock the boat.
So they fail to do their jobs and continue to draw their paychecks.

It got so hard on my wife that I had to buy out her last 2 years so she could quit and still draw full retirement.
She damn well deserved it.

 

I feel bad for many teachers. Not all. I got my HS history teacher fired after she sent me to detention.
During our WW2 segment, she made the whole class give the Nazi salute. When I refused she went on about how most of my work had covered the war and the Nazi party. And because I was born in Gemany, I know more than most of the other students and shouldnt have an issue with it.
I calmly told her, infront of the class, that because I knew more than the others she could take her salute and shove it up her ***.

 

There are huge differences in public schools. When my grandson started 2nd grade the school wanted to jump him several years because he was so far in front of his peers.
My daughter said NO, he was still just a eight year old and putting in class with 10-11 year olds wasn't going to help him, just make life easier for his teachers.
She made appointments with school principals with transcripts in hand until she found a school that mirrored her beliefs. You may have to move or travel some but there are good schools out there.

 

home school

 

I've been teaching for 19 years now and there is a lot of bulls*** from the administration and the kids seem lazier now than ever before, but I remind myself of a few things:
1. The old timers when I was starting out made the same complaints about admin.
2. And all the same complaints about being lazy and stupid were made about my generation.
I find this job hard and frustrating and interesting and rewarding, and I really like the kids and most of them are going to turn out just fine...
Except for that one little a**hole in the back. He's definitely going to jail.

 

I have been a middle school teacher for 23 years. The number one issue with students today is their parents, or more specifically, their lack of parenting skills. Fully a third of my students are allowed to stay up as late as they want and play stupid video games until the wee hours of the morning, and then come to school obliterated. They can't focus or concentrate, have no empathy for others, create disruptions and distractions when the don't get their way and could care less about achievement. Every year it gets worse, with no end in sight. The top third work hard, act responsibly and understand cause and effect. The middle third are more easily swayed towards the troublesome bottom third, because they are intelligent enough to understand that even though the bottom third does not have to put in any effort, they still get pushed through.

 

This is why my personal trainer wants to start homeschooling her kids...

 

I stayed up until 4am playing Grand Theft Auto once, but I was 24 at the time...

My mom would never have let me get away with that shit when I was in school!