This is so shocking

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in a city with a failing district. We are on year two or three of a state takeover, and sometimes I feel like they are deliberately trying to tank the district because it's only gotten worse. My kid is in a charter school that does a lot of things right, but I see many of the same dysfunctions. So for example when my child was struggling in reading, I was told "She won't get services because so many kids are doing worse than her". I know that's not how IDEA works, but many parents would not. My child got a 1 in reading (1-4) scale and no one reached out to us for a conference. In order to get services, we had to spend 3k on an eval and go in with strong evidence of her disability.

What I see schools needing from my conversations with parents, teachers, and admins:
-All teachers need significant training in evidence-based reading methods (not just 8 hours of PD)
-special ed designations are controversial because that's been used to put Black and Latino kids in restrictive environments, but kids need access to more services for their specific learning needs
-full time aid in every classroom (this was the number one thing a young teacher friend asked for, another adult who can deal with serious behavior so she can keep teaching)
-services for families in or near schools (benefits screening, community health centers for example)
-a full time community coordinator in every school who can connect potential volunteers to the schools and listen to and support families (so many free potential resources are left on the table because schools don't have the capacity to work with outside individuals and orgs)
-more programming for families on how to support kids academically and emotionally (with transport, childcare, food to reduce barriers)
-trauma-informed schools with much more access to mental health care in school and in the community. As a volunteer, I've seen way to many kids who have experienced extremely traumatic events ("Miss, I saw them shot my uncle" and then are just expected to go about their business, and are punished if they act out.

This is more controversial, and many people I know disagree with me. I think teachers should not have a pension for retirement. It keeps people who are completely burned out and don't want to teach anymore in the system, because if you only have x years left it makes sense to keep pushing. Some of the school vendors contracts are ridiculous, I was told community members could not go in and deep clean our filthy neighborhood school before the new school year because the janatorial contract prohibited it.

You seem very knowledgeable. Why are you choosing to stay in this district?

[Anonymous]

A large amount function at kindergarten level?

Stop social passing.

Have kids repeat grades if they don't know the basics of that grade.

Stick to the fundamentals. Reading. Writing. Arithmetic.

Toss out the kids with bad behavior.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Baltimore city. The public schools were already like this in the 1980s. There are and still are good magnet programs at the HS level and a few decent elementary-middle options but for the most part the city schools have always been abject failures.

Nothing has changed in the last 30-40 years. And nothing will change in the next 30-40 years either. No one has the political or cultural appetite and the same people keep getting elected who also can't/won't do anything.

[Anonymous]

Nothing will happen with this information. Nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The liberal use of the r-word in this thread really shows the low intelligence of the posters here. Damn.

Did you just call us retarded?

[Anonymous]

PPs have carefully avoided the Democrat "leadership" that has created this disaster. The sooner leftists take accountability for their failed policies and representatives, the sooner we can correct their deficiencies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many of those kids have spent at least some time in fneed. care or homeless? I bet many.

It's not just a failing of our educational system, but of safety nets.

This. Most of the kids have experienced multiple adverse childhood traumas and are surrounded by people who have also experienced severe trauma. Trauma really interrupts the child's ability to learn and process information

[Anonymous]

Admin pressure teachers into passing students who have literally never showed up and have turned in two assignments.

Teachers have to step in line or face consequences. We hate it. We hate passing kids who can’t read. There’s only so much we can do when an administrator tells you to pass them.

[Anonymous]

You cannot put a 16 year old in 2nd grade.

[Anonymous]

You have to pass them or the entire reputation of the school goes down. then the neighborhood. Then an entire race of kids. It is all a chain reaction.

[Anonymous]

When the mothers are only 16 years older than the kids...

[Anonymous]

Yes the children are somewhat retarded.

have you never been around poor uneducated families??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is more a failure of parenting than it is of schooling. Also, I suspect a significant number of these kids who are failing miserably are partially retarded, and I mean that in the clinical sense.

Lol, no. These are normal kids in a failing public school system that is just essentially a place for kids to be during the day. No learning is taking place.

I’m a Baltimore City resident, and this is why anyone who can afford it is in private school.

are you kidding? it starts at home with parents living in chaos, having kids they can't handle or afford, no education or job skills and generational poverty. No school is going to fix that. until schools demand more from parents and have the ability to hold kids back, this isn't going to change. Liiberal school districts can't hold kids back becuase they think it hurts them more, its called social promotion and happens in DC too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PPs have carefully avoided the Democrat "leadership" that has created this disaster. The sooner leftists take accountability for their failed policies and representatives, the sooner we can correct their deficiencies.

Now do the whole state of West Virginia or Kentucky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is more a failure of parenting than it is of schooling. Also, I suspect a significant number of these kids who are failing miserably are partially retarded, and I mean that in the clinical sense.

This is something that has become taboo to talk about. But intelligence is 70-80% heritable. Children of a community that has been in poverty for generations are much more likely to have low intelligence. Those with higher intelligence pursued their opportunities and moved out.