Comments on: Can schools make a difference for poor kids?

By: Tony G. Rocco

Tony G. Rocco — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:37:49 +0000

It might be interesting to see how a charter school in Manhattan does with a new program to bring in the best and brightest teachers, paying them six figure salaries, to see how it impacts academic achievement among low-achieving young people. The theory is that high salaries will attract the best quality people, just as high salaries attract the best and brightest to fields like medicine and law, and that these superior teachers will produce superior educations for young people.

For mor information, see:

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/education/2009/june/Manhattan-Charter-School-Will-Pay-Teachers-Six-Figures.html

By: Rex

Rex — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:32:57 +0000

Anyone trying to break up a fight should expect to receive a few wild punches. Doesn’t sound like a deliberate assault on the teacher to me, so it doesn’t rate expulsion. Suspension, maybe even for more than 5 days, might be warranted, but not expulsion.

By: Kevin W. Riley

Kevin W. Riley — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 07:38:04 +0000

These stories are always so overblown. I have been an educator for thirty years… including 5 years in the Juvenile Court and Community Schools of San Diego County. I’ve never been assaulted… and never known of a teacher who has been assaulted. Maybe it has to do with our core values… of how we treat children. I have always been convinced that the people that leave the profession as a result of one or two run-ins with kids… NEED to leave. Even the most violent kids that I have worked with– juvenile felons convicted of assault and even murder… conduct themselves in an appropriate way for adults that genuinely respect and appreciate them.

By: Lightly Seasoned

Lightly Seasoned — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 01:35:42 +0000

I don’t personally know all the solutions, but it doesn’t seem so far out of our reach to at least feed them, does it?

By: Jane

Jane — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:55:17 +0000

Lightly Seasoned, what would you propose as the solutions?

By: Lightly Seasoned

Lightly Seasoned — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:36:03 +0000

Being assaulted and threatened is just part of the job even idyllic suburbia.

As far as impoverished children and schools go, if, as a society, we really cared about children, we’d have had this all figured out long ago. Actually, I suspect we do have it figured out, but lack the will to implement the solutions. Americans are a hard people.

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:02:05 +0000

Still so much work to be done.

By: Margo/Mom

Margo/Mom — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:01:22 +0000

Kate–my reference to Rotary/Kiwanis mostly reflects my lack of social capital in the ways of the upper middle class. My one professional stint in the ‘burbs, however, was very revealing with regard to the potency of networking and the sense of entitlement and the ownership of publicly financed personnel. It may not be Rotary/Kiwanis in your area–although I am aware of at least one Rotary club locally that wields considerable financial clout. In addition, there is still a fairly well-established hierarchy of “clubs” a la Junior League and the Opera Supporters, etc (in fact, one step in that direction is through the PTA or various booster clubs in some areas).

I have never yet met a teacher who accepted the validity of my experience outside of their own particular classroom. This is why I so seldom bring it into discussions here. While it has been some years since I worked with that agency, I continue to work with kids of varying backgrounds–including a fine group of kids who attend public school whose parents are recovering addicts. Some are minimally housed (that means that they are in some kind of “shelter”). Some have various “offical” disabilities and attend “special” schools or go to “special” classrooms. I have not observed that there has been any great change in kids over time. But I am far better versed than I once was to recognize an environment with room to improve. Most (urban) schools that I set foot in fall into that category.

By: gbl3rd

gbl3rd — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:56:18 +0000

Miller Smith,

I would think the teacher’s union would do this automatically for its members. If not why bother having a union? A union that will not protect the safety of its members is worthless.

By: KateC

KateC — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:37:41 +0000

Margo/Mom–how long ago was your after-school experience? I ask because you reference Rotary/Kiwanis which are both dying from lack of new members. Running an after school program and teaching kids who’ve been passed along from year to year are rather different things.

I wouldn’t return to a job that refused to fire my assailant, and I wouldn’t expect any teacher to have to put up with a kid who hit him or her.

Yes, some urban parents are overwhelmed and too busy working bad jobs. Some are crackheads. Some don’t care. Involving parents who can’t/won’t work with the school seems a waste of time–better to work with the kids who do want to learn and salvage what they can.