Quote:Let me give you an actual example.  I am a teacher.  I assign 3 homework assignments per week to my 8th graders because our short classes do not allow the time necessary for students to read as much as they need to in order to keep their skills sharp.  They are expected to read 2.5 hours each week outside of class, find and define 2 vocabulary words they didn't know previously, and write 2-4 pages of responses to their reading.  

 

These assignments are designed to make sure they are reading (they are held accountable by their parents signing off on a log, and the only way to improve at reading is to, you know, read), thinking about their reading rather than just checking out and word calling for a while, and developing their vocabulary and their use of dictionary skills.

 

Probably 1/3 of my students consistently do not turn in homework.  I call parents, send home grade sheets, and stay up to 2 hours after the school day for tutorials and make up sessions, which probably 1/3 of the 1/3 take advantage of.  I still have tons of failing grades due to the fact that a great many of students just do not try.

 

As a result, most of these students will likely fail their state assessments in 8 weeks.  They will have shown no progress because they refuse to work and do what I ask.  At the end of the year, my school with be graded down because these students and parents did not take care of their end of things.

 

But that doesn't show up in public accountability.  It'll just have a C or lower as a letter grade for performance.  Once vouchers are initiated, those SAME PARENTS will looks at our accountability ratings and say, "Oh, little Johnny has been attending an awful school!  I'll send him across town!"  And so eventually, schools are left with the children and parents who are checked out, performance across the board decreases as "good" (i.e., wealthy) schools become overcrowded and "bad" (i.e., impoverished) schools report only data from students whose parents don't even care enough to know what their kid's school ranks as.  Eventually, these "bad" schools will be shut down because NCLB is still a thing (in spirit; I know the actual act has been replaced, but you're crazy if you think the federal government isn't willing to step in and play white knight to "save students"), and teachers are out of work and struggle to get jobs because their names are linked to a school that was consistently low performing.

 

Our system needs SEVERE overhaul, but vouchers are just going to exacerbate the problem.  I know that Trump, who only ever wins, appointed DeVos, but this woman is woefully unqualified to comment on just about anything in relation to the public school system.

 

First of all let me say this.  I appreciate what you do.  I know that teaching is difficult, I somewhat did it myself while in the Navy as an Instructor.  Also while I was in the Navy I volunteered for mentoring/tutoring at a local elementary school.

 

What you describe is not a failure of teachers or the system, it's a failure of society.  Clearly what you describe is a failure of students as well as parents.  The problem reflects on teachers and schools, but that's not what the problem is.  Throwing more money at the school doesn't solve the problem.

 

Let me make a guess here.  Assuming that you live here in Jacksonville, I'll bet that the school that you work at is in a "less prosperous" part of town.

 

The real problem is the lack of "the family unit" and lack of parenting.  Just taking a guess here, but I would bet that the 1/3 of students that don't consistently turn in homework are probably in the majority when it comes to single parent homes.

 

The problem isn't the education system (in your case), the problem is society.  Throwing more dollars at a school isn't going to make children do their homework.

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