If there was one place where I would love to see dramatic change, it's in our schools -- how we treat and pay teachers, what kids are actually learning and how much individual attention each student receives. I want to see a school system where life skills are taught to kids of all ages, where they are exposed to a world-centric view of what's happening across the globe, where they are encouraged to pursue a dream and discover what they love to do and where they are taught to accept and even welcome change.
Dave Eggers started an amazing after school program to inspire and excite students--826 Valencia. It is a writing and tutoring lab for kids run by volunteers that began in San Francisco's Mission District. Today 826 chapters have opened in Brooklyn, Ann Arbor, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston and Chicago. The labs are held in non-traditional spaces like cafes and superhero supply stores -- places where kids actually go. He also instituted a monthly grant for stand out Bay Area teachers and co-authored Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America's Teachers.
Check out his web site at Onceuponaschool.org. This is the kind of education that today's kids deserve.
Ok, You're right. How about two more teachers and a 30% pay increase?
Thank you for your service to our youth.
GWW
But no one is willing to pay for it.
And politicians aren't willing to give up control to teachers. After all...what do *they* know about teaching? Most of them only have masters degrees in education.
Schools are built on archaic models. Teachers don't need a board of education to dictate to them how to teach. Funding systems are archaic. Even the organization and requirements of the curriculum isn't meeting the needs of 21st century students.
But it costs money to make the changes you propose on a grand scale. And no one is willing to foot the bill or give up the control.
And no one wants to give up standardized tests...which waste time and prove.....nothing.
Want to make this the greatest country in the world? Then praise teachers like you do soldiers, Give the profession the honor it deserves and triple their salaries. It’s the root solution to all our ills.
Unfortunately we live in a country where teachers are under attack from neo-cons and religious enablers. They attack science and critical thinking because they know that giving children critical thinking skills exposes them to critique and eventual extinction.
GWW
And....a librarian in every school. In fact....a librarian for every 500 students K-12. You put enough librarians in enough school libraries and you won't need NCLB or standardized testing. The difference will be dramatic and obvious.
(BTW California. 1 librarian for every 6,000 students. Do *that* math and you'll see why CA is 47th and falling fast.)
Middle and High school? 10 am - 5 pm. Watch literacy go up and crime go down. Put those after school programs in the morning before school. Students will be learning when their brains are awake. It's biology. It's the way they're wired. It's RESEARCH BASED!
School schedules should not be driven by the bus schedule, cafeteria schedule or to provide Mom and Dad free day care just because they have to be at work at 7:30 am.