The Real Problem with Public Schools

     Recently I have been listening to a lot of conversations about the problem with our public school system. I have been a teacher for over a decade and have seen much of the adversity that faces a teacher in today’s public schools.  I have seen the slow deterioration that No Child Left Behind has created, and I have heard administrators blame funding and poorly qualified teachers.  Parents as well want to blame teachers.  But let’s take a real and hard look at the truth behind the condition of today’s public schools.

     Administrators want to say that the problem is that they don’t receive enough funding to maintain beneficial programs.  But how many of you know schools that receive heavy funding and still have discipline and academic problems?   The richest school district I ever worked for also had the worst bullying problem I have ever seen!  And what, I ask you, happened when students were sent to the office?  Not much.  They would either get detention at lunch or have a day of in school suspension.  Real serious consequences for bullying, right?  And the teachers would be the ones in trouble for sending the students in!  Administrators also say that there is a lack of qualified school teachers.  Well, look at this example:  That same school district stopped hiring this year(2009) because they overhired in the last two years.  At that time they had 2000 applicants.  They only hired 600 to 700 new teachers that year.  Really sounds like a shortage, doesn’t it?  (Just a side note: President Obama wants to change No Child Left Behind to a competition that will tie teachers’ pay to performance.  I can guarantee that that truly will cause a teacher shortage, and probably some strikes.)

     Let’s take a look at another issue:  the accountability system of our schools.  But who is accountable when students fail or misbehave?  According to No Child Left Behind, it’s our  teachers.  That program in no way places responsibility on students or their parents.  But, I ask you this.  If a student refuses to go home and do their homework, whose fault is that?  Is the teacher in the room to stand over the child to make sure they do their work?  Where are the parents to check the work?  Think about that.  And on the subject of No Child Left Behind, do we really think our students are learning in a system where testing drives everything?  Is it really fair to gear a whole school year and the funding needed for that year to how students do on a test one day out of their lives.  Do we realize we are putting adult futures in the hands of children?  Think about it.