As a teacher in Florida, I can't help but be offended by letters in the paper and comments from readers that our education system is broken and atrocious. The calls for privatization of the program and a move towards capitalism in teaching is both ridiculous and irresponsible.
Thomas Jefferson believed self governance required an educated populace. It therefore became the responsibility of the governed, the members of the community, to educate their children in order to take on the role of self governance as contributing members of the community. We are all responsible for the education of our young.
Now as the world has evolved and the nature of education has changed, the focus of our schools has come into question. I could raise the argument that Jefferson wasn't faced with our world globalization and worldwide competition for resources, but our government is designed to handle change and to grow to accommodate.
The very idea of handing off schools to private enterprise is just as irresponsible as the parent who doesn't go to school conferences or take an active role in their child's education. The call for vouchers is a direct threat to the nature of community. By removing oneself from the community and taking away your resources from the collective, you weaken the community as a whole and isolate yourself from society. Further, you take the position that you and your child are some how more important than the role we have for you in the community. I'm not suggesting that you not make yourself your first priority; however, I am suggesting that you have a duty to your community in the same way that you should vote, help your neighbors in need, take a role in community discourse, and lead by example.
People who can afford private education seek it out for two primary reasons; to provide a nonsecular environment for their children and/or the belief that their primary school is inadequate either due to class sizes, poor test scores, or the like. The cost of private education is high, and interesting enough the pay to the teachers and administrators at those schools is low. Except in some elite (translated as very high tuition schools) the resources are normally not any better than public schools as well.
Vouchers can be no more than the states contribution per child which is around $3000 dollars per year. This will not bring private school within the reach of most families. In fact, of the schools I've surveyed, this would not pay for even one semester of a private school tuition. So people who can already afford private school will get a tax break and a few people who were on the verge of sending their child to private schools may decide to move their child, but the vast majority of students in public education would not change. What would change however, is a permanent reduction of public school funding for all of those children who are currently in private schools who will have their tax money removed from the public school system. This a poor example to set and creates an even larger separation between the elite and the average.
If you wish to make a change in public education, then become a part of the solution. Take part in your community. We have school districts for a reason; to allow the community to take part in the discussion. The more we let state and federal laws into our schools the less control we have. By letting the state legislature decide the fate of your schools over the past 8 years you have let them dictate the terms of the debate. We now have nearly 5 weeks of testing in K-12 schools when you include all of the required local, state, and federal testing for all of the programs for which we are responsible. You must also remember that since you won't parent your children, we are asking the schools to take on that burden as well. Therefore, we teach sex education, look for signs of abuse, teach primary children where it is ok for people to touch them and when it is not, feed every student breakfast and many of them lunch, provide transportation to the school and back home again, create a well balanced and meaningful extracurricular program, and have an active sports and arts program. I challenge you to find one private school that will do all of these and still pay their people well and provide your student with transportation. Furthermore, you (and by you I mean the collective you) would have our legislature debate the merits of evolution vs. creationism and Tom Sawyer vs. Slaughterhouse 5 while you write letters to the editor decrying the downfall of our educational system.
You are responsible for the raising of your child. The public school system is a strong program that together with parents and the business community is here to provide and promote life long learning and a strong commitment to the advancement of our communities. As a teacher of 15 years I would challenge any one of you to come in my classroom and see what happens any day of the year before you write your letters to the editor and your legislator of the atrocities in our schools.
In closing, it is the communities responsibility to educate our children. I am proud to be an educator, and won't ask for more, but don't make me do my job with less. The cuts proposed and supported by community members should be felt by the community that supports it. I do not support any district leader who states that they will keep the cuts from the classroom. The cuts should be upfront and center so that every community member can feel the new burden placed on our schools. Our schools should not become the domain of a corporation who seeks profit; I want my schools to remain controlled by the public, by me. We are creating the community in which we choose to live, and I will continue to contribute to it.
- Just some teacher
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