Get Schooled

By lynn

January 26, 2005 09:19 AM | Link to this

I think that this really reflects the challenges that Georgia faces and ties in nicely to the discussion of school funding. Too many Georgia students start off behind, have few to no resources at home, are poor and have parents ill equipped to help enough.

I believe that to really fix education in Georgia we need to look at some fundamentals, including a longer school day for those who need it and high calibre summer programs again for those who need it.

The CRCT cannot be the test that measures need. It needs to be some kind of highly respected nationally normed test.

Of course, this is an expensive proposition, but by targeting it to those who need it, Georgia will save some money. In the long run, fewer and fewer students should need such programs and the costs may actually go down.

By Jewlz

January 26, 2005 02:15 PM | Link to this

I agree that in order to change Georgia educational programs that we do need to start at the fundamentals.

First of all, what students need are smaller classroom sizes and properly trained teachers actually teaching the subject they have a degree in. Going to a charter school in Cobb County, I can tell you that while there were a handful of really wonderful teachers, the rest had no idea what they were talking about. I had a teacher who’s degree was in history and she was teaching Alebra 2. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but in order to understand math, shouldn’t the teacher understand it and have a degree in it also? She made more mistakes going through homework and notes that I eventually just got a tutor and stopped paying attention.

Secondly, we need teachers who are enthusiastic about their jobs, who really love what they teach. The problem is you get students who think they are ADD so they don’t pay attention, or they are just so bored by the teacher and the material they zone out. By making the school days longer you’re basically just punishing them. I’m in college now, and I’m taking a subject I don’t particular enjoy taking at an early morning, but because my teacher loves her job and loves the material, she’s making me love it. Plus she’s qualified with a Ph.D in 19th century art history.

Thirdly, yes, the school calender has got to change. It needs to be broken up into quarters (12 week quarters I believe), a few more breaks through out the school year, and possibly going ahead and starting a year round school. I got so bored over the summer that all I wanted to do was go back to school. Classes need to be fewer but longer (ie 4 classes per quarter, but each class be 90 minutes long). There is less stress because there aren’t multiple subjects, and the material can be more thoroughly examined and taught, thus a better understanding. 50 minutes to cover homework, notes, questions, and announcements is not a way to give a child a proper education.

lastly, school has to be fun, and students should want to go to school. Too many rules and too many regulations are just waiting to be broken because they are so assinine. Perhaps by having a more favorable learning enviornment, students would be less likely to drop out and thus, be more qualified when its time to go to college.

By Katie

January 27, 2005 10:29 AM | Link to this

I’m sure you’ll find an abudnance of PhD’s who will work for 25,000 a year in a public school. I know some teachers are there drawing a check. However, the vast majority I’ve come into contact with were hard working people who loved their job. Part of the problem with education is that kids are raised to think everything they do should be “fun”. They have never been made to do anything that’s the least bit uncomfortable. They come to school and expect MTV. It’s not going to happen.

By Amy Henry

January 27, 2005 11:03 AM | Link to this

Actually, I’m not sure there’s a way to “fix” education without “fixing” our culture. Our culture reflects a lack of concern about becoming educated, period. Kids who are raised in homes where education is not considered important are probably not going to be encouraged to graduate. In fact, many parents that I myself have encountered have encouraged their kids to drop out because they don’t want to be bothered with school themselves. For lower-class people, education does very little; most can only secure the most menial types of jobs anyway. Education really only helps the middle to upper class set of people; that’s the reason so many private schools are flourishing.

Today’s public schools reflect the demographics; most of these students come from lower-income homes where higher education is not affordable. The only way to “fix” education is to “fix” the culture, and I think we’ve probably gone too far to turn back now.

By Ernest

January 27, 2005 12:50 PM | Link to this

Regretfully, I agree with the gist of what Amy is saying. As a parent, I seek an school environment in which the other parents have a similar ‘education value system’ as myself. I enjoy PTA meetings that are SRO not those in which the teachers outnumber the parents. While smaller class sizes would be nice, you can succeed in larger class sizes and schools there is a strong mindset for achievement. Qualified teachers are a must, especially for math and science.

Will our children be able to successfully compete in this growing global economy? Only time will tell.

By sharon

January 27, 2005 04:01 PM | Link to this

The problem that I have with the tests that are given is the politians that make the rules and regulations mandetory to take these test place their children in private schools, which speaks volumes about what they are made of. They should come up with a better solution to help the kids in public shcools, than to test them and hold them back. The test that are given should be used for the next 3, 4 to 5 years for improvement in the future.