RE: [pf] public schools/ was we took...

by Fitzsimmons, Diane

12 December 2000 15:21 UTC

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Molly Williams [mailto:mmw@waveinter.com]
> Sent: Monday, December 11, 2000 9:26 PM
> To: Fitzsimmons, Diane
> Cc: positive-futures@igc.topica.com
> Subject: Re: [pf] public schools/ was we took...
> 
 
> More and more, schools are taking over the legitimate role of parents
> and of other community groups -- in providing meals, in nurturing
> children (like the "I love you!" principal!), in providing
> day/afterschool care, in observing children for behavioural 
> problems and
> suggesting remedies, in administering medications, etc. These are not,
> IMO, the primary functions of a school. It's true that children need
> these things, and that parents more and more seem less able or willing
> to provide them themselves, but that indicates to me that we should be
> educating parents on how to raise kids, not forcing schools to provide
> parenting. 
...
> If nurturing children and fostering community is such a great thing,
> then companies should be paying for this kind of program -- it will
> ensure better workers and a better working environment; and churches
> should be leading the way with programs for kids, to ensure that
> children grow up with strong values. Instead, we tend to rely on
> taxpayers and public programs to do the job of parents and private
> organisations. 


I don't know about Maine, but churches are doing a great deal here.  Maybe
that's because we're the buckle of the Bible belt, so to speak.  It's a
quite common sight in Oklahoma to see old school buses going around
neighborhoods picking up kids to take to church.  Several churches have
once-a-week after-school programs for neighborhood children; most have youth
programs on Sunday night.  Churches go to the shelters and provide programs
and tutoring for the children.  Naturally, these churches tend to deliver a
strong "Jesus loves you" message, and I will leave it to the individuals on
this list to decide if that disturbs them.

We have a strong Optimists program here that provides year-round sports
programs for children of all ages.  In basketball, for instance, for $25,
you get a shirt and a chance to play in every game.  If you don't have $25,
they find you a scholarship.  The program has been well-praised for its
stressing teamwork over winning.

We now have an after-school program for any child at my kids' middle school,
which is located in the section of our city that has the highest number of
"contacts" with Oklahoma's Department of Human Services.  The program is
finded through a variety of grants, and everything -- crafts, games,
parties, dinners, etc. -- is free.

I could go on and on.  I bet Molly knows of lots of other such programs in
her state.  On the one hand, I am impressed that there are numerous
volunteers who want to help kids -- like the principal at the football game
or the Scout leader who took my son and 15 others on a canoe trip -- and
that there are numerous foundations or organizations who want to help kids.

On the other hand, we live in a society where still too many children fall
through the cracks.  Be it neglect that comes from ignorance or from working
too much or substance abuse, our society seems to know only how to try to
Band-aid the kids instead of treating the entire illness.

I work as a secretary in a College of Education.  The first course education
majors take is "School and American Cultures."  Please note the plural; that
choice is deliberate.  The purpose of this course is to acquaint majors with
the full spectrum of the public school.  Although almost all of them have
been public school students for many years, most have not been there with an
adult's perspective.  Most of them have only a vague awareness of the
complexity of a teacher's job (or any other school staffer for that matter).

My job is to place these students for field experiences in a variety of
urban, suburban and rural classrooms.  They use these field experiences as a
foundation for a project they do for the class related to society and the
schools.  The idea is to teach them that you cannot teach in a vacuum: that
kids come to school from a variety of backgrounds and situations and that
these affect how a child learns.  Our students consider everything from
learning differences to cultural differences, from racism to homophobia.

So, while I agree that in a perfect world all teachers would have to worry
about is teaching ABCs, I'm not sure how they can do that.  How can they
teach without taking into account whether a kid has had breakfast, or has
head lice, or whether he is sniffing glue?  I guess, as a layperson, I
believe that academic work cannot be separated from the social services
work.

Now, I know Molly wants to help these kids; in fact, I know she does a lot
of volunteer work to fight illiteracy and poverty in her area.  Would that
more people follow the example she has set.  So I don't want my words to be
taken as a criticsm of her.

But of all the many things my tax dollars go for, the three I hold sacred
are schools, libraries and health departments.  To me they seem the most
egalitarian, providing direct services that do help, that do move our
society forward.  So I believe that people should be forced to pay for
these.

Now how do you force parents or corporations to do the right thing -- to
re-state Molly's query?  I don't know.

I have long pondered the issue of responsibility since I heard Jesse Ventura
at a press conference on the radio a couple of years ago.  He was announcing
cutbacks (I believe) to a social services program to help "welfare mothers."
A woman protested that she would no longer be able to attend college and get
the aid she needed to support her family while she bettered herself.
Ventura said, "Why should society pay for your mistakes?"

I've thought a lot about that.  Gosh, I don't know the answer.  If we let
people off "easy," it seems as if the problems mushroom.  But if we are
punitive, innocent lives are hurt and lost.  Heaven knows, I would hate to
have to pay for my mistakes, or, worse, that my children will.

As for corporations, it has been my experience (albeit limited) that most
seem to prefer to go through a series of less than satisfactory, low-paid
people than to hire on someone with real skils and paid for their actual
worth.

In closing, I worry that our public schools are in danger from (what appears
to be) the incoming administration.  As flawed as they may be, I believe
public schools are essential to our republican democracy (democratic
republic, or whatever we are :^)  ) and that I gladly pay for them, even as
I criticize.

Stepping down from her soapbox,
Diane Fitzsimmons
Norman, Okla.