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What Other Schools Say
"We
invite you to become involved in the life of school. We feel a
child's school life is enriched by a family that is active in school
affairs. Parent volunteers help in a variety of ways. We welcome
parents to work in classrooms." (Link)
"The
School Board encourages parents and other citizens of the district
to visit the schools and classrooms at any time to observe the
work of the students, teachers, and other employees. The board
believes that there is no better way for the public to learn what the
school is actually doing." (Link)
"Parents and patrons of
the school district may visit district schools and join the
Board in improving the instructional program." (Link)
"The School Board and
staff encourage parents, members of the community and other interested
persons to visit the schools at any time to observe and to assist
the work of students, teachers, and other employees." (Link)
"The Board of Education
encourages parents, the media, and other interested individuals to
visit the schools. The Board believes that there is no better way
for the public to learn what the schools are actually doing."
(Link)
Definitions
Commissar:
In the former Soviet Union, a Communist Party official, responsible for
providing political indoctrination.
Apparatchik:
A subordinate who is unquestioningly loyal to a powerful political
leader or organization.
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"It
has been a long standing policy at the high school that . . . requests
for observation [of study halls] are potentially disruptive to the
educational environment and are not granted."
Lynda Castronovo, Scotia-Glenville High School Principal, Letter
dated February 9, 2000.
This is the school's response to my
request for a visit to a high school study hall, made after a junior
high guidance counselor told our eighth graders that study halls in the
high school may be too noisy for working on assignments.
Similarly, when I raised several concerns about an eighth grade social
studies teacher, who covered fewer than 1.5 pages of text per class
compared to 2.4 pages for his peers, covering only 26% of the text in
48% of the school year and spending a substantial amount of class time
showing videos, I was told by the academic head that I could not visit
the classroom and, most importantly, that in this so-called partnership
between parents and teachers, the social studies teacher was
specifically told NOT to change one thing as a result of the issues I
raised. (Prior commentary on this issue is located
at 1,
2
and 3.)
It should surprise no one, then, that a mere 6 class days later, this
same social studies teacher gave an introduction to gambling by having
students write down their Super Bowl predictions. He later
rewarded the winner with a small prize. And teachers say they don't have
enough time to cover the curriculum?
Sometime between 1960 and 2000, parents got kicked out of public
classrooms and study halls in Schenectady County middle and high
schools.
I would say that this policy and attitude are more consistent with
totalitarian regimes, except at least some schools in China not only
permit, but encourage, parents to observe and participate in
classroom activities throughout the 9 years of compulsory education.
(See, for example, the quote in bold
in the adjacent column from an elementary school in Hong Kong.)
Exiling parents from classrooms contradicts core American values
recognized by many other school boards across our country. (See
the quotes from school board policy manuals in
the adjacent column. The policies apply to the entire school
district, not just elementary schools.)
Locally controlled public schools were established to help families
fulfill their responsibility to teach children basic skills, civic
responsibilities, and virtue. (For an introduction
to the history of public education, please see The
Encyclopedia Britannica, The
History of Education and Childhood, A
Short History of Education, Rousseau's
Emile or On Education, and a biography
of John Dewey.)
School districts in Upstate New York have redefined the role of teachers
from community helpers to near autocratic commissars,
where parents don't have even the
rights of mere customers, let alone partners,
but are relegated to the groveling of apparatchiks.
While ignoring the expertise and important information and opinions
parents have about skills, responsibilities, and virtues, school
boards--even our own school board--have written local control right out
of public education, delegating
the responsibility for the selection and use of all educational
materials to an aristocracy of certified employees.
In practice, if not in fact, school boards have retained only
superficial, ineffectual, rubber-stamp-authority over curriculum,
teaching materials, and instruction.
No freedom-loving people can delegate
the responsibility for deciding the essence of education without
sacrificing the essence of freedom.
Rosa Parks was at least able to get on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama,
even if she did have to sit in the back. Parents in many New York
school districts can’t even get a back row seat to the education of
their own children, unquestionably a far more important concern than
traveling across town.
The problems in our school district--in every school district--are substantially
more than just trivial. Parents, not schools, are ultimately
responsible for the education of their children. Parents have the
purest and strongest motivations to seek out excellence in education for
their children. Parents are the first, best teachers of their own
children.
So, in reply to Lynda Castronovo I say, "There has been a longer
standing tradition in our country of democracy, of freedom, and of
participation at every level of public education, and although parents
may never have a front row seat in the classroom, I'll be damn if they
won't have a back row seat, especially in a noisy study hall." |
