What Pennsylvania educators are saying about ESEA

Even in a non-mandated grade like kindergarten we are feeling the effects of NCLB. At this level, my students require opportunities for growth, learning and develoment, however, this must be balanced in all areas. When I started teaching kindergarten my students had at least one hour per day for socialization, a necessity as they learn how to cooperate, solve problems, and interact with those who are different from them. Today, they have one hour per week in the classroom in which to develop and improve these skills. If we continue in this vein and place so much emphasis on testing and scores we will be raising generations of individuals who no longer know the meaning of getting along or cooperation. While reading, math, science, etc... are critical in a child's development, without socialization our students will not be successful as they leave our schools and continue their educations or enter the work force. There is an overwhelming need for balance right now.
- Susan Dunham, Cheltenham Educators' Association

NCLB is ineffective because the standards which rate each group and subgroup is unrealistic. They need to be relaxed and modified so that a school that is meeting the children's overall needs is not penalized by subgroups. All ratings need to be adjusted into the proper perspective according to its particular group. I hope you will considerable rational and reasonable change; anything radical would be disasterous to this country. Let's have some common sense!
- Karen Capone, AGEA

In the state of Pennsylvania the disparity in funding between the richest and poorest school districts is vast. It should come as no surprise to anyone that poorer school districts perform less well than richer ones. We cannot continue to penalize poor school districts for being poor. They need help, not punishment.
- Nancy Ranieri, Cheltenham Educators' Association

I really feel the administration is missing the mark on the reauthorization of ESEA. Making schools compete for funding is a bad idea unless the schools receive the basic funding that they need. Our schools need adequate funding. Teachers need to be able to teach, not prep for the tests. We need to be able to teach Social Studies and Science again instead of just reading and math. More than that, we need to hold parents accountable for getting their children to school and working with them at home. I am tired of the all of the responsibility being placed solely on the schools.
- Georgia Smee, Central Dauphin Education Association

Creating competition to improve education is a good idea. Taking local tax dollars to fund Charter and/or Cyber Schools (that are not help up to the same standards as the public schools) is a bad idea. Giving public funds to private institutions is wrong. Public schools with Professional Union employees give kids the best education period.
- Jeff Krecek, Sharon Teacher Association

ESEA, NCLB or whatever you want to call it is simply another glaring example of how our leaders in government just DON'T GET IT! Obviously, few if any of our elected officials have never been in the classroom in front of students. What's worse, did they even take the time to gather the professional opinions of our membership? I could prescribe medicine to patients too based on a hunch, but at the end of the day, I'm no more a doctor than these boneheads are educators. This mandate is a speeding train that will soon run out of track and then what? Do we just close up all of our schools because they can no longer reach AYP? Do we cut all funding as a form of punishment because they can no longer reach AYP? Do we fire all the staff at every school around the country because they can no longer reach AYP? What does the end of the track look like? Has anyone ever given any thought to these unrealistic goals? We have about as much chance of attaining the 2014 AYP as every member of congress does at running the mile in under seven minutes. I think congress needs a wake-up call so they realize just how ridiculous their plan is.
- Matthew Deller, Donegal Education Association

I strongly feel that the reauthorization of ESEA will do very little for what actually matters. What matters for our students is that they begin to perceive learning as a more positive experience, and a life-long process. This is not the case for many students in our schools. Standardized testing does not seem to influence this perception for those students who perform well on them. But for those who do not, the test is a barrier that divides, rather than improve. Schools are looking at data to try to determine how to increase odds of passing the test. This is yet a another way of dividing students into those with a chance to pass and those with little chance. Schools are making curriculum choices that center around passing tests rather engaging their learners in the process. I simply do not support the "rush" to make all students masters of Math, English, and now Science. The concept that all students need to achive at this same "minimum" level is political rhetoric and unrealistic. Wake up America, our schools are not failing. Our perception of what we think they need to be is flawed. I attended a high school theatre production last night that clearly showed me successful students. Was there any measurement tool? NO! The students performed their roles with passion and enthusiasm. Will this performance help their PSSA scores, NOT LIKELY. We need to be responsible to help learners discover their strengths, weaknesses, and passion for learning something. ESEA clearly does not accomplish this.
-Todd Breuer, BCTHSEA

Since 1977, I have been teaching elementary level children. Much of the curriculum that these tests require is developmentally inappropriate for the children we teach. It is simply too advanced and they are missing out on their basic skills (math facts, reading for fluency) because the teachers are trying to jam the "test curriculum" into them. I see children who haven't mastered their multiplication tables being asked to do algebra. That's crazy and not good for the long-term education of these children. Also, these children need more physical education and the arts and are now receiving less. We are not educating the whole child; their education has, sadly, become very fragmented and we are asking them to be little adults, which they are not. Many of these children are coming to us from home situations that are unstable and do not provide support in terms of encouragement and enrichment at home. Thus, our job is even more important and even more challenging. I wish we could get rid of the win-lose aspect of NCLB and work together for the good of all. Teachers are an easy target for the legislators, unfortunately.
- Gail P. Jones, Gettysburg Area Education Association

Obama will not get my vote again. This current educational proposal is a slap in the face to those teachers who supported Obama in this past presidential election. I think he and Arne Dunkin do not have a clue as to what's going on in our public schools. They do not understand what teachers deal with on a daily basis. When they decided to support the firing of all the teachers at a certain Rhode Island school district that was enough for me. Like the old cliche: fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
- Thomas E. Moran, Conemaugh Valley EA

I Am a Special Education Teacher! Our children are not being appropriately served. Standardized testing is absolutely ridiculous for these students. Testing them at grade level when my children (with severe disabilities)-even though they are included in most classes with tons of adaptations- do not read at grade level!!! they read independently several grades below. Does this even make sense???? Let's just throw them in the back yard and lock the door!!! they do not have a prayer(most of them) of being proficient on these tests--they are lucky if they are basic!! Is there no other way to assess their knowledge??? They are not college material- maybe a career-- but most likely a hourly wage job. There is no parent support-- education is not a prioriy. Why do you people assume every child will go to college or have a career???
- Carol Lach, North Hills EA

Currently, I teach 7th and 8th grade learning support students in a special education classroom within my junior high school. My students' difficulties are in reading and English. The PSSA does not adequately measure their abilities. My student 7th and 8th grade students are not reading on a 7th or 8th grade level. My students "cringe" when PSSA testing draws near. These tests will never truly indicate their capabilities if they must continue to take them on their chronological grade level. If the tests could be read to them, student scores would increase for the majority of my students. My students do not need the added stress of these tests. The PSSA tests are not truly reflective of my students' abilities. Preparing for the PSSA tests takes away from valuable instructional time.
- Lorraine Blanski, Exeter Township Education Association

It was very disappointing to see that the changes did not involve the addition of any responsibility placed upon parents. We cannot educate students without the help and support of the parents. How can you teach a child who is frequently absent? How can a child reinforce skills without completing homework assignments? It is very frustrating to work diligently each day to help children succeed and grow without parents reinforcing the importance of education.
- Helen M. Koblish, PMEA

Please do not support this bill that works to the detriment of our children!
- Mary L. Sharp-Ross, Ed.S., BEA

I am a life skills parafessional at our junior high. I absolutely LOVE my job - seeing what our students can accomplish in just the two years they are with us is just amazing - I love this time of year - they really love letting me know how they are taller than me!!! Unfortunately because of the NCLB, I feel that "Life Skills" have been placed on the "back burner" because now we have to "pass the standerized test" to "help" our school at least meet the requirements. How did we become a part of all this? Yes, Life Skills students should be included in the whole junior high environment, and I agree with inclusion, but to have them be responsible for "helping" their school be proficient in standardized testing? Who thought of this? Although we video tape our students testing, we are under pressure to have them "pass", otherwise they bring down the rest of the school. There must be a better way to make schools accountable for teaching their students - all of them - without an overall "test" that ends up just grouping them into categories... HELP!!!!!
- Karen Rychorcewicz, Butler Area ESP

All children are not alike nor should they be. Please let me meet the child where they are and let me lead them to better themselves. We are leaving all our children behind by reducing the value of an education to a standardized test score.
- Mary Catherine Knafelc, Ambridge Area School District

I am all for accountability. As a parent, tax payer and educator, I want to make sure that all students are earning a good education. Noticed that I said earning. One of the biggest problems with the current accountability assessments is that the teacher is held solely accountable for a student's success. This is not fair and nor is it reasonable. Education is like a wheel with three spokes, the student, the parent and the educator. When one of these spokes are broken, the wheel is broken and will not work. I have a child with learning disabilities and I do not think that it is fair to hold his teacher accountable for his performance on a standardized test. The reason for this is that my son's teacher works really hard with my son. My son has made strides but if the test day falls on a day when my son is having difficulty focusing, his teacher will be punished. This is not fair. I would also like to comment on the charter school issue. Currently, inner city public schools are being compared to charter schools and the "miracles" that they perform. While I believe that they do work wonders they are different from regular schools in that most students have to sign behavioral agreements in order to attend. Early in my career, I taught in an inner city school and my students did not have to agree to behave and I had to welcome each one of them into my classroom. The charter schools have choices that the public schools do not and it is not fair to compare them. The only way this would be fair is if the public schools had the same ability to discipline students and mandated that parents be active in their child's education. I can remember having to call my 50 students and finding out that only 25 phone numbers worked. This would not fly in a charter school. Sadly enough the child would be asked to leave and they would end up in their local neighborhood school that was already being punished for poor performance. If we really want education to get better, must make it better by listening to those on the ground and not to the thin tanks who go to schools for photo ops.
- Sandra Miller, NHEA

Although a retired educator, the continued governmental programs are still astounding in their lack of sound principles. For years, as a master teacher (along with the other master teachers on my five person team,) I have repeatedly been given a higher percentage of needy children (emotional support, learning delayed, non readers,etc.) My team had these students assigned to us because:1)some teachers would not or could not handle the extra responsibility/time; 2)my team had experience and had members on it with organized, structured, and well disciplined classrooms in which these students could prosper; and 3) my administrators knew that I and my team would do our best to make these students successful because we cared about them. Would all of these students make the required growth every year? Probably not, since at the sixth grade level, a non-reader cannot be expected to make up a five year deficit in one year; that is expecting below grade students to achieve more significant growth than the average or gifted students are expected to make in one year! Is it fair to evaluate teachers on the tested growth of their classes? No! Not when poorer teachers with less challenging classes can appear to be more successful! It is impossible to come up with a "normal" classroom makeup which makes the baseline equal. I am tired of reading about teacher competency; why won't anyone in administration at the highest level acknowledge that depending on the makeup of a class, the most gifted teacher cannot reverse 100% of the other factors which impede a child's learning, some of which are poverty, lack of motivation, family dynamics, lack of parental involvement/responsibility, lack of priority for education at home, emotional factors, and limited ability? If this continues, the best teachers, when given the most needy students, will, on paper, be considered poor teachers! I have yet to hear anyone present/discuss this issue when promoting teacher competency ratings! Yes, we need to remove poor teachers, and no, I never had a problem in my career with questions of competency which would make me defensive. But if the current focus continues, I am concerned that this test, test, test mentality will bring even more problems. I can only hope that a REAL educator somewhere in our government, with real knowledge of current classroom conditions, will propose constructive ideas, based on sound educational principals, to remedy our school situation Thank you for your time, Marge
- Marge, DAEA

I happen to work in a school that struggles to make AYP. Two factors that are beyond our control are parental involvement (we have little of it-we have a large percentage of parents who never show for conferences or return any contact made by the school) and move-ins (all who seem to come without any skills whatsoever). Why should we, who have put in extra time and worked hard on professional development and thinking out of the box to increase test scores (and we are increasing them)be penalized for the above two factors?
- Marla Freda, Carlisle Area Education Association

It's time we were given the freedom to use our talents, skills and experience to enalbe all students to reach their potential. Our hands have been tied and our spirits defeated by the constant onslaught of high-stakes tests, blame-game tactics, and totally inadequate funding of mandates. As a Special Education teacher for 30 years, I have seen students struggle to read and yet we insist that they be tested with gradelevel measures which rarely if ever show how much the student has actually improved. It is completely unrealistic to expect every child to achieve at the same rate and to the same degree. If that were possible, we would all be super athletes or child prodigies. Intelligence is not just a measure of verbal/linguisitic ability - why do legislators continue to insist that the only measure of a child's worth is obtained from high-stakes tests? We are doing a grave disservice to all of our students when we deprive them of creative outlets such as music, art, drama, etc. so that they can receive "double reading" or "math extension" courses in order to pass high-stakes testing. Districts should never have to COMPETE for funding - that is no better than a tank full of trained seals performing to get fish! And the firing of a whole school staff due to poor performance again places all the blame on the very people who have dedicated their lives to helping students and releases society, parents, the media, and circumstances such as poverty and abuse from any and all responsibility. This is absolutely counter-productive to success!It's time EDUCATORS made the important decisions that affect students' lives and time for ALL STUDENTS to receive EQUAL FUNDING FOR EVERY YEAR OF SCHOOL. Each child deserves the best our country can offer and they should never have to feel like a second-class citizen because they happen to live in a district with a small tax base. Legislators need to face facts- children don't fail, THE SYSTEM WE HAVE NOW FAILS CHILDREN!!!!!
- Jeanne Marchiondo, BTEA/PSEA

I am most concerned about the time and energy that is used to "teach to the test" I think it takes time away from other important subjects. Math and Science are important, but so is geography, civics and the arts. Our children need to be well rounded. The blueprint will not create the adults of tomorrow that I hope will run our country, care for me in my elder years and raise children of their own.
- Beth Miller, Hempfield Area Ed. Assoc. - Retired

The staff at my elementary school are so driven for students to perform well on the PSSA tests that it has become a pressure cooker. Placing so much emphasis on this one measure of what the students are learning is absurd! We need so much more in order to effectively educate children. First and foremost, we need the support of parents and the community. Without this support, school is an island which has few ties to the lives of our students. When students see the connection between an education and choices for their future livlihoods, they become more invested students. Parents and communities enable children to see the possibilities for the future. We also need to have teachers become part of the decision making process in the education of children. Teachers know intimately what works to enable students to learn and what does not work. We have considerable knowledge and expertise in the field of education and would be able to make more intelligent decisions than legislators and school board members in designing educational programs for our students. Quite often, unions are blamed for being part of the problem. Instead of villifying us, our vast knowledge should be utilized in developing school programs that work for students and families. We are told that we are greedy when we require additional pay for our efforts. We certainly would expect additional pay for our efforts just as any consultant would be paid for services rendered. Finally, there should be many tiers in evaluating the success or failure of schools. It is not sound practice to evaluate success and failure on one test. We need to consider lack of student progress in a multitude of areas before we should proclaim any school a failure. I was very disappointed that U.S. Secretary of Education Duncan was in favor of the firing the entire staff of a high school in Rhode Island by declaring the teachers to be the problem instead of allowing them to become part of the solution.
- Darlene Lengel, Allegheny Intermediate Unit Education Association

We need to stop writing new programs and policies without doing research. We should be asking: why other countries have passed us in graduation levels; why other countries have exceeded us in math and science; what is different in the last 50 years of teaching that is causing us to fail. There is no way we can succeed if parents and students aren't on-board with our goals. Do not blame teachers for not teaching our children, instead look at parents who don't care if their children do their homework; look at parents who take their kids out of school for family vacations to Disney World because the rates are cheaper during school; blame the parents for not supervising their children's time - leaving children to spend hours playing video games instead of reading or using their imaginations; blame our society for valuing sports over education. There is much that needs to be changed about our society before we can blame teachers for not achieving our goals and failing our country. If you look at some of the countries who have overtaken us, you will see tracked education, you will see total involvement and commitment to education from parents, you will see monies promised and delivered to schools without any strings attached. My generation is responsible for many of the modern innovations that we are blessed to have. I worry about the future of our country. Not for lack of teachers to create winning students, but for students who show negative attitudes and apathy towards learning as early as third or fourth grades. Part of this apathy is because of teaching to the test. Some of this apathy is because their parents don't care, so they don't care. Previous generations were immigrants who came here for a better life and knew they needed an education to get the life they wanted. Most of our current population was born here. They have grown up with all of the blessings of our country, and they assume it will all be handed to them when they grow up no matter what they do. The current generation of Americans believe that they are entitled to everything they want. They no longer understand the work that goes into being successful. This attitude begins and ends with there parents. We need to fix the family unit in our country if we hope to reach our goals.
- Georgine K. Hottle,NEA

IDEA and NCLB conflict within one another. On the one hand, a child with a disability is given an IEP and on their IEP they are to be instructed at their grade. On the other hand, NCLB insists that they be tested at the same grade level with their peers. For example, a 7th grade IEP student with a diagnosed reading disabilityn reading at a fourth grade level must take the state standardized test at grade level 7. This student's IEP also mandates that all his regular education teachers provide him with reading materials at grade level 4. I don't understand how this has happened? Where is the common sense?
- Alison Heiser, Central York

I need to express my concern about NCLB. As a teacher, I can only help each student learn to his or her potential. Unfortunately, not all of us are created equal, so each student has a different potential. Some students downright refuse to be helped. I deal with human beings, not products; therefore, I need not be judged by their outcomes. If I worked in Industry, a most commonly used analogy used to analyze educational productivity, I would have the option to reject my raw materials to make a good product. For example, a furniture maker would use the best wood he could get and also control the outcome of his product. As a teacher, I cannot pick my resources or control the outcome of my product. I deal with real human beings, not raw materials meant to create a product that can be used to objectively evaluate my performance. You see! I can teach, but I cannot learn for my students. If I cannot control the learning of each of my students, I cannot guarantee that each one of them will actually meet the criteria for PSSA. It is time to look at teacher accountability realistically.
- Keith Hausman, Daniel Boone Area Education Association

NEA and the PSEA must begin to change the public conversation about education. The majority of the public support reform efforts based on standardized testing and accountability. The appointment of Arne Duncan is clear evidence that the Obama Administration and the public are very misinformed about the real problems facing the system of education in the United States. Since the Obama administration appointed Arne Duncan to the position of Education Secretary, I have been extremely disappointed. When Arne Duncan was CEO of Chicago Public Schools there was a push to privatize education and close schools. Now, as the Education Secretary, he publically praised the superintendent at Central Falls School District in Rhode Island for firing all teachers in Central Falls High School. It appears that the approach Mr. Duncan took in Chicago is now being forced upon the entire system of education in the United States. His focus on using Standardized Tests to measure school success is completely unacceptable. Unfortunately, many citizens support this effort. There is a general conception in the United States that teachers are lazy and need to be held accountable. Teachers are being blamed for failing schools. They are the scapegoats for a failing system. Tragically, I do not see the NEA or PSEA doing much to change that conversation. The NEA and PSEA have done very little to educate the public on the real reasons that education is failing in the United States. The NEA and PSEA have the resources and ability to influence the public’s perception. Now is the time to act. I will be asking every teacher I know to write an e-mail to their representatives. NEA and PSEA must do their part. Stop the habit of only speaking to the quire. Most teachers get it. Instead, start going to the media. Please start a campaign to drive a new conversation about education. The future of our country and the ability of schools to change their environment to support the development of 21st Century Skills is dependent upon public support.
- Shane Cross, Hatboro-Horsham Education Association

Include administrators in the evaluation! No school I know of has improved attendance, test scores, etc. without strong, effective administrators. Plan consequences for them based on progress.
- Joyce S. Lammey, PSEA-Retired

High Stakes testing must be stopped as well as accountability testing. ALL students were not created equal thus tests should not be given equally. In particular the "exceptional" student should not be expected to perform at the same level as those without a disability or barrier to education such as a language. Test special education separately from regular education; implement value added assessment.
- Jackie Dudash, Reading Education Association

We need ensure that teachers are graduating from college prepared to be highly-effective teachers, and then we need to trust those teachers to make the decisions that are right for their students. There's nothing wrong with accountability, but we need to make all parties accountable - state lawmakers, administrators, parents, and teachers. Teachers are taking a beating for problems that we did not create and cannot fix on our own.
- Kerri Schegan, KATA

As most Americans, I am concerned about the future of education in this country. Many factors are at play. It is unfortunate that the "scapegoats" for the problems with our educational system are the teachers. Unfortunately there are poor teachers, but the majority are hard working people struggling to do a good job with many roadblocks. The schools are a reflection of the society, which means that there are serious problems within our society to be addressed. Many children attending school are coming from environments that are not supportive or even adequately meeting their basic needs. We are then asked to "fix" these children. Often the parents and community place little value on education, and as a result do not support the success of their children. Many students have little motivation to achieve. All can when given the support of the teachers, community, and parents. The funding for schools is a factor. Unfunded mandates are a burden on districts which have less of a tax base to provide adequate support for the children and the teachers. There is definitely a difference between communities with more educated and wealthier citizens who have more advantages and the rural and center city communities. All children should have the opportunity to the same resources and education in our nation, it should not depend on where they live. Test driven curriculum is not the answer to building life long learners. Recently we had an in-service day spent on "extending" learning opportunities. On the one hand we are asked to do this, which is better teaching, and on the other we are asked to follow a "pacing guide" to cover the material on the PSSA. It is impossible to meet both those goals. There are many innovative ideas that could be used to improve education in Pennsylvania and in the country. Most of those ideas come from the people in the trenches, not administrators and politicians or commentators who have no experience within the classroom. It is time to listen to the teachers on what are the concerns and suggested solutions to help improve education in our state and country.
- Sharron Watson, West Perry EA

I was very dissapointed to see that this new "blueprint" does not address the obstacles of the English Language Learners to become "proficient" in the eyes of the Federal and State governments. As an ESL teacher at Northeast Middle School in Reading PA, I see first hand the frustration the ESL students find with all the standardized testing. We just got finished with the ESL WIDA testing. Because we have about 150 ESL students in my building alone, it took over a month to complete this testing, pulling students over many weeks from some of their core subjects 2 or more hours each week during testing. Now, the state PSSA test is coming up in the 2nd week of April. All of our ESL students are required to take both the math and reading parts of the test, no matter how short a period of time they have in the USA. I have no problem with the math test because it is offered in both ENglish and Spanish. Now, my question to you is, how fair is it for limited English speakers to have to take the reading part of the test, the same as all the other 7th and 8th graders? They are not allowed any dictionaries to help them. They just completed the WIDA ESL test which tested them in Reading, Speaking, Writing, and Listening. The WIDA has these students reading at least 9 different reading passages, and now they have to take another reading test. The writing test on the WIDA requires much more writing than the students have to write on the constructed responses on the PSSA reading test. Why can't the WIDA count for the REading and Writing test on the PSSA? I always wanted to get a group of senators and representatives to take a similar test to the WIDA in a foreign language and see how well YOU do with a test that is written for a 7th or 8th grade level, when you are only beginning to learn a new language. Do you think you could pass a similar test in German or Russian after living in that country for a year or two?? I don't think so if your background was the same as my students (85% free lunch). It is very frustrating for instructional time to be lost to continually test the ESL students on 5 practice PSSA's a year, the WIDA, the PSSA itself, Star REading and Math tests to determine those levels 4 times a year. Its a miracle there is any time for quality instructin to take place!
- Katherine Igusky, Reading Educational Association

NCLB was flawed from the beginning. I worked under the program for several years before I retired. I saw how we were getting away from what we, as teachers, knew was important. We were forced to put too much emphasis on working to improve test scores. It has gotten worse each year. The emphasis is strictly on teaching to the tests. You, the politicians, have forced this on public educators. Many of the more talented and gifted students have been drafted and manipulated away from public education. Public schools are left with the lesser talented and the least motivated students and the ones lacking parental support. Yet public school teachers reputation, pay, merit, jobs, funding, etc. are based on test scores that most of the students taking the test could care less about. They don't give their best effort. Most special needs students are in public schools. The last time I checked - these students were all required to take the tests. It is no longer a level playing field. It is skewed to take the talented and gifted students away from the public schools and place them into charter schools and parochial schools. Then you will continue to bad mouth public schools and their teachers. The end result - decrease funding for public education. It is a sham and a shame.
- Allyn Hostetter, Retired - Interboro Education Association

I followed the lead of PASA and AASA in opposing NCLB before it was passed. I had a chance to see first hand how little good it did as well as a consequential damage. I continue to believe that a new law will be required for meaningful, sustained improvement.
- David A. Smith, PSEA-Retired Erie County

One area that is still being overlooked is the library - the one place where information is available without time constraints, as needed, whether to fulfill class assignments or provide background for individual investigation of careers, personal interest, recreational reading, database review and instruction.....addressing the needs of students when and where such needs arise... this component does not appear in the language of NCBL, nor in the points currently targeted for review - in a country that prizes intellectual freedom, many schools are choosing to cut staff, funding and facilities as cost-cutting measures... how intelligent is that?
- Anita L. Vance, CREA - Chestnut Ridge Education Association

I would like to see the people who make education laws be in schools, and not just for 'photo ops', so that they can see what students are like and how it is impossible for every student to master algebra, physics, etc. We are constantly bombarded by new laws telling us we have to have all students at the same level when it is impossible for students with low ability to accomplish the same things as students with high ability. It is also a waste of their time to sit in a class NOT learning something when they could be in a class learning a more appropriate subject. I would also like to see that every student in a school be provided with an education that costs the same amount instead of some students receiving multiple special services which - do to laws of our country and state - take much more than their share of school costs. The 'average' students are denied a proper education because so many resources are spent on children with special needs - any special needs - high, low, handicapped, accelerated, etc. Additionally, no school should be compared to another unless all schools are required to accept ALL students, handicapped in any way, and provide for them as public schools must. Private schools do not have this responsibility but are continually and favorably compared to public schools. Charter academies are allowed to force students to wear uniforms, go in early or stay after school if they are doing poorly, require many commitments from parents, etc. No public school can do this! If public schools are to take care of all the 'special' students then allow them to have the same rules and if parents choose not to abide by them, the parents should be responsible for having their children schooled elsewhere. We all know this will never happen which is one thing that makes teaching so frustrating. Teachers spend inordinate amounts of time on a very few children - who have 'rights' - and have to scrape together as many minutes as they can to help all the rest. We only have 24 hours in a day like everyone else, but are expected to be miracle workers! All the 'high stakes tests' deprive students of nearly a month of school yet students are expected to continually improve their skills and levels of understanding. Which is it??? It can't be both. Thank you, Patti Vargo
- Patricia Vargo, Brentwood Education Association