Wag my finger in the face of the teacher(s) and accuse them of not doing a good enough job?
Stand before the school board and list my concerns and wishes?
Blame administration?
Insist on curriculum overhaul and disruption to the entire school community?
No.
I decided to homeschool.
TRUTH: Parents ARE their child's first teacher.
TRUTH: Not all parents are created equal.
TRUTH: There are some less than exemplary teachers.
TRUTH: There are some less than exemplary parents.
TRUTH: There is a law which allows parents to seize control of their child's failing public school.
TRUTH: Parents being legally allowed to seize a school will not always equate to a better education for the children at that school.
The Parent Trigger Law sounds like a supreme idea to the increasingly vitriolic debate regarding the present failings of our public education system. But, as the parents in the following article are learning, there are NO easy fixes.
If there were a "silver bullet", the first school at which I was employed, which seems to have many similarities in demographics to Desert Trails Elementary School, would be SOARING in the eyes of the public. But, alas, it is not.
Multiple principals have reigned. Thousands upon thousands of district dollars have been used to train staff and implement the latest "teaching gimmicks", year after year, ever-changing, to infinity.Teachers have been yanked from their positions when their scores or methodology have been deemed as "insufficient" or "noncompliant". Administrative behavior, on the border of bullying, has taken place to get teachers to do- do- do more -more -more.
And yet, the scores on state tests from this school have lagged behind those of schools within the neighboring town, which have many schools populated with students who do not live in poverty, whose primary language is English, whose parents have higher levels of education and who provide their children with opportunities for life-building experiences and exposure to literacy experiences at young ages. All these variables equate to HIGHER TEST SCORES and HIGHER STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.
So, yes, parents DO make a difference, especially when they are doing positive productive things AT HOME and IN THE LIVES of their children.
When the government makes litigation possible for any person for any cause, simply because they should have the "right" as a "parent", they have opened a heavy door to an abyss: a dark hole, with no perfect answers to be found within.
Before the grand take over, did the parents involved in this maneuver ever VOLUNTEER several hours a week, month after month, in the classrooms to get an idea of the day to day challenges an educator at their school might have had to surmount?
This volunteer requirement is often the pillar of CHARTER SCHOOLS. It's part of the formula for breeding success.
No.
Do they have brilliant untried solutions to the problems which they state are plaguing their young ones?
No.
Who are the accusatory "trigger happy" parents using to solve their problems?
They are calling upon private management companies, whose expertise is...what?...to help them create the kind of school they want.
And...what kind of school is that?
A school where children learn, where children are proficient?
We ALL want that.
Have the parents who called upon the PARENT TRIGGER LAW been involved with the very public happenings of the world of education for the last decade?
If they had been, they would know that it is EXTREMELY difficult for bad schools to "hide" any longer. There is increased, almost stifling, accountability!
I would be interested in how many teachers supported this move.
Who do the parents think will teach their children now?
They do not live in Honolulu. There is not exactly a draw of people to their town.
True, jobs are scarce, but would a teacher (knowing that a lack of appreciation for their efforts comes with the profession---and so would not be bothered by the evident lack of gratitude for their work displayed by the actions of the parents at this school) be willing to work at a school where they could be uprooted, due to the apparent ignorance of a parent population, as to what it takes to effectively educate and run a school site?
THROWING A SCHOOL INTO UPHEAVAL IS NOT THE WAY TO GET YOUR CHILDREN EDUCATED.
The parent who spearheaded this "revolt" was involved in the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and the School Site Council (SSC).
If you have never been to one of these meetings, especially at a small school, I suggest you attend. It will surprise you, how political they are and, indeed, how true ignorance can reign, as communication can be lost as the entire realm of educational vernacular and theory is inadequately "summed up" for parents, in ways which can perpetuate myths and deconstruct reality.
To government officials and pundits who are hailing the PARENT TRIGGER LAW as the new "savior" of the public school system, I say this as a TAX PAYER: " I want research. Data. Data. Data."
Let's see how much good these take overs will do schools, students, teachers, parents, and communities in the long run.
Let's just see.
Parents, good and bad, hear ye. Hear ye!
You must realize that the children in a school are the BEST their parents have to give it, and that a school's population and environment is a DIRECT reflection of the parents' homes from which they emerge.
If parents want to make REAL change, take Michael Jackson's advice, and start with the "man in the mirror".
Do not bite the hand that feeds you.
And, definitely do NOT bite the hand that teaches your children, or you will soon learn that the answers to the problems which plague public education, and it IS a PLAGUE, is MUCH more difficult than it looks on state test and media reports.
LINK TO THIS ARTICLE (video link of parent who spearheaded the effort):
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/07/27/latino-parents-use-california-trigger-law-to-fix-failing-school/
ARTICLE FROM Latino Fox News:
For the first time in the United States, a group of California parents have successfully used the state's 'Parent Trigger' Law to seize control of their kid's failing public school.
Last week, Superior Court Judge Steve Malone ruled that the parents gathered signatures from the legal guardians of at least half the students at Desert Trails Elementary School and have met all of the requirements under the trigger law.
Now, the public school will be a charter school. Though the school will continue to be publicly funded and open to all, the school would be free to write its own curriculum and disciplinary rules and hire and fire staff without the constraints of union contracts.
"There was a lot of kids that were not getting the basic needs in school," Cynthia Ramírez told Fox & Friends Friday. "We have sixth graders that still can't read or write."
Desert Trails is in the middle of impoverished Adelanto, California, a city of about 30,000 people with a 58% Latino population, has been struggling for years parents claim.
According to California State Records, 72 percent of the school's 6th graders are not at grade level in reading, while 70 percent of the schools 6th graders are not proficient in math.
Frustrated, Ramírez and others led parents to garner signatures for a petition campaign to present to the Adelanto school board.
The parents, backed by the nonprofit group "Parent Revolution," will immediately begin reviewing and requesting proposals from private management companies interested in running Desert Trails.
Carlos Mendoza, president of the district's Board of Trustees, told Reuters he plans to appeal the ruling. He said more than 100 parents who signed the petition later wanted their names removed because they were unclear about its intent. A judge later ruled they could not withdraw their names.
California was the first state to pass a parent trigger law, which allows parents to make changes to the school -- fire teachers or oust administrators -- if its performance is not up to par.
Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/07/27/latino-parents-use-california-trigger-law-to-fix-failing-school/#ixzz21xA5WAd5
