Criticize schools when you’re on the sidelines
It’s easy to
The June 11 Forum section had an article by Rachel Amankulor of PennCAN (described as a statewide educational advocacy organization, but I don’t know what its purpose is) putting down our public schools (“Still Flunking After All These Years”). What has she done to improve achievement, other than sit in her thinktank office and give advice on an institution she knows nothing about? How many kids has she tutored? How many kids has she mentored? How many teachers of our non-English speaking immigrant students has she offered to help?
She says how she is welloff financially. Did she ever find out how many of our families have to choose whether to pay the gas or electric bill this month? Who can they ask to drive them to the food bank this month? These concerns affect children and their ability to concentrate on schoolwork.
What do charters and private schools have for their kids who don’t want to go to college? We offer vocational classes where students can get started on good-paying indemand jobs. We also have programs for children with disabilities, some quite serious. Specialized programs like these are expensive, and government help is diminishing. Charters are eating into our budget more every year, without much difference in results. It’s a profitable business for the ones run by companies, and cyber charters are much worse.
I went to the Pittsburgh Public Schools, all my children did, and my grandchildren, too. We each got out of school what we put into it, and that is true for most students.
In all the years I was a school board member, many programs were tried to increase achievement. Some helped but others, like “Everyday Math,” just confused the kids and their parents. None however, were as educationally disastrous as “Initial Teaching Alphabet.”
There is no magic solution. It still comes down to classroom teachers letting the students know they care that they understand the lessons and are willing to help them if they don’t. Families play an important role in reinforcing educational concepts and encouraging their children to embrace learning. JEAN FINK Carrick