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Opinions expressed in articles posted to the "From our readers" section do not necessarily reflect those of WEAC. If you would like to contribute to this page, please send your e-mail to OnWEAC Editor Bill Hurley at hurleyb@weac.org. Not all articles submitted to OnWEAC will be posted, and some may be edited for length.
By Wendy Williams
Public school teacher
In a perfect America, all children really would be created equal and have the same opportunities in life. Children would come to school with their basic needs met, ready to learn. All kids would have two parents who love and care for them, are psychologically sound and have parenting skills intact.
In a perfect America, kids would have both parents living in the same house, sharing in the responsibility of child rearing. Kids wouldn't be beaten by their fathers or thrown down a flight of stairs by mom's latest boyfriend.
In a perfect America, there would be a high-paying, emotionally fulfilling job with full health insurance for every parent.
In a perfect America, parents would be home after school to raise their kids and be accountable for parenting. There would be no latch-key kids or need for before- and after-school day care.
In a perfect America, mothers wouldn't die from cancer, leaving small children and a husband behind.
In a perfect America, all kids would go to bed at an early hour and come to school well-rested, fed, willing and able to learn.
In a perfect America, our kids would not come to school wearing the same clothes for three consecutive days, proving to be little more than mere fixtures at home.
In a perfect America, homework would be completed at home and returned to school on time without errors. The quest for knowledge and higher learning would be made a priority in the home.
In a perfect America, teenagers wouldn't cut themselves with the hopes of numbing the intense emotional pains brought about by years of emotional neglect and abuse. All children would come to school feeling loved, feeling as though they belong to something important and feeling safe because their emotional needs would be met in the home.
In a perfect America, all children would excel on school exams because they would be ready to learn and their IQs would be above average. The brains of all children would develop at the same time, in the same way and at the same pace thereby allowing "No Child to be Left Behind."
In a perfect America, our society's obsession with guns, violence and sex would certainly not trickle into our public schools and classrooms. Children wouldn't hit, hurt or hate. Babies wouldn't have babies. Instead, kids would be allowed to experience childhood.
In a perfect America, the rules and measures surrounding "No Child Left Behind" make sense and are logical because, in a perfect world, all children would have the same life opportunities, there would be no obstacles to learning and there would be no achievement gap.
But we don't live in a perfect America. People aren't born perfect. Not all children have IQs in the triple digits. Parents make poor choices and fail to parent, fail to make education a family value or they displace their own dysfunctional baggage onto their children.
It is wrong to hold public schools and their employees solely accountable for every child's cognitive progress, especially in light of the encompassing variables impacting learning that are outside the realm of public schools. The most recent truancy rate of some students in Milwaukee Public Schools is a poignant example of such a variable. Teachers can't teach and kids can't learn if the students don't bother to show up for classes.
Numerous educational and sociological studies have been conducted to reveal what variables facilitate high achievement on standardized tests. Of the first 10 variables, schools and educators have control over only two. The first five variables are controlled entirely by the parents.
The problems plaguing American society are many. There are no quick fixes or easy answers to remedy these deeply ingrained social problems. It is not the role of schools to repair the many tears in our social fabric. A minimum wage that is too meager to support a family, teenage pregnancy, drugs and gangs, the prevalence and availability of guns, rising insensitivity to violence on television and in our communities, an emotionally crushing divorce rate all contribute to poor performance on standardized test scores. What is fair about holding public schools and their employees accountable for problems beyond their reach?
Teachers don't fail children. Public schools don't fail children. Poorly written and underfunded public policies fail children.
The "No Child Left Behind Act" – a misnomer for the federal Elementary and Secondary Educaton Act (ESEA) – insists that all children, regardless of the variables affecting their ability to acquire and retain knowledge, must grow, and learn at the same pace and at the same time. This is an impossible charge because the premise is flawed. The brain of a child develops and progresses at its own pace. Sameness is not fairness. Girls tend to be better at language, while boys tend to excel at math. Is it fair to expect both genders to do equally well at both disciplines?
After closer examination of the "No Child Left Behind Act" it becomes apparent that its shortcoming is in believing that we live in a perfect America.
And so, we teachers and administrators do what we have always done….the best we can with the student populations we inherit. With the children come their problems and the multitude of ills plaguing society. The school doors open wide to embrace our children with all of their imperfections and their never-ending need for love, understanding, acceptance and, of course, life strategies. Teachers communicate with parents, trying to impress upon them the importance of facilitating at home, the first-class education public schools deliver. We listen, sympathize and offer strategies for raising healthy, highly educated children in the 21st century. No, life isn't perfect. Systems aren't perfect. Teachers and kids aren't perfect. And parents aren't perfect.
What each and every one of us can do, however, is our very best. Teachers and administrators strive for continuous improvement. We feel this obligation not only to ourselves but, to the people with whom we share this country. By constantly striving to further evolve as individuals and as professionals, we too push the evolution of American education. It is the individual's interdependence that makes this inevitable.
We aren't meant to be perfect. Imperfection is the human condition.
Some of the greatest lessons learned come about from failure. Life,
with all of its problems and hardships, isn't meant to be ideal. It
is human to be fault-ridden and this adds to the struggles, the lessons
learned, the sweet victories and yes, the substance of life. For it
is by taking risks, struggling through life's challenges, both individual
and collective, that we strengthen and define our character and the
American public school experience.
Posted April 1, 2004