U.S. Education

Hello All,

There is something that has been on my mind and as usual I can't seem to stop thinking about it. What I have learned since starting this blog is that writing about it will put it to rest.

The great Oprah did a show about education in these United States. There is a new film out called "Waiting for Superman" that caught her attention. She invited the director on to talk about it. Bill Gates was also providing commentary and so was John Legend. The director talked about how he decided to make this movie because he had to pass two public schools to drive his children to a private school and how he as a child was bused from DC 45 minutes into Virginia to go to school. They taked about how public schools are failing our children, talked about bad teachers, etc.

It was also mentioned how the United States is so far behind other developed nations in terms of education. The panel talked about the high drop out rates particularly in the black community. As in anything in this country, my community is always hit hardest and the last to recover.

Michele Rhee was also a guest. For those who don't know she is the head bitch in charge of the DC public school system. This bitch fired thousands of teachers and school administrators all in the blink of an eye. The city was in an uproar. It was like she wanted a clean slate to tackle the education problems in this city. The mayor stood behind all her decisions and this is what cost him re-election.

What I basically got out of the Oprah show and from Michele Rhee is that teachers and school administrators are the reason our education system is so bad. Of course this is something I totally disagree with. I think they have forgotten that each teacher has a college education at the least. Obtaining a degree is not easy at all. You can major in English, a language we all practice, and still have a hard time in college. There are state requirements you have to comply with before enterning a classroom. I know that every teacher is not the best and there are some out there who don't give a damn but I think it is unfair to blame teachers.

Education starts at home. This is where the problem lies. Parents!!!! As someone with two college degrees, I have attended the public school system up until my last degree which I earned at a private university. As long as I can remember, my mother was firmly involved in my education. She spent endless nights quizzing me on spelling words, going over homework, etc. She knew all my teachers who not only had our home number but her work number also. She came to meeting, and watched my grades like a hawk. If the grades were 85 and above she was happy. If they were between 80 and 84 she wanted to know why. If they were less than 80, then sound the alarm because she was in bitch mood until that next report card.

I've had bad teachers but even when I did, I still feel that I learned something. For example, my high school history teached didn't teach a thing. He gave us the questions to the tests and all we had to do was look up the answers, memorize them and take the exam. He didn't change any questions. They were always word for word. So what could I learn from him? That class increased my memory capacity. When it comes to holding mundane and unusable facts I'm a pro.

My whole point is that I believe our public schools are not as bad as they tried to make them out to be. For a school to be a success, there must be parent involvement. Teachers can't do it alone and as soon as the citizens of this country realize this, our education system will begin to strenghthen.