Kids

In my apartment complex, we have a wide array of kids, most from the lower middle class/poverty section. Many of these kids come from broken homes, or have parents that work full time, or who have parents who work double shifts to make ends meet.

One of our old neighbors, who moved, was in my son's first grade class. He knocked on the door one evening, looking to play. "Can your son come out?" When I explained we were preparing to have dinner, the boy replied "We body cooy." I had to ask him to repeat what he said several times before I parsed out "barbequeing" from the sentence. His mother works full time as an hourly employee, and he is one of five siblings. I think he's the fourth, but I'm not sure. At any rate, he's obviously not gotten much one-on one parent-child time that can be so painfully beneficial to the educational process. I saw one of the class projects when I picked up the boy one day, and noticed that this particular child had trouble stringing together more than two letters, let alone making sentences. His mother moved apartments so that they can be in a different school district, because ours "doesn't do enough" to teach the kids. I don't think the school district is at fault here.

I also submit that this child would be turned down by any private school to which he applied. He can't meet the bare minimum expectations, and his mother can't/won't put in the time necessary to help him catch up. Vouchers won't get this child educated, as the private schools are blessed with the right of refusal.

Another boy in my son's class had a habit of pouring yogurt on the other children, and has been suspended more than once for fighting. He's got problems with anger, and is a disciplinary problem. The teachers at the school can't discipline him - that is a parent's job here. His parents don't discipline him, and won't let the school do anything to punish (detention?! Then you had better find a way for him to get home, because I'm not getting him!) the bad behavior. If his parents used vouchers to get him into another school, a private school, one that has a right of refusal, do you think they would accept such a child? Would you, if you didn't have to? How many private schools are there? There aren't enough seats in all the private schools in the country. They don't have to take this child, and they won't.

These are but two examples of what public schools are saddled with. They are required to take all students, by law - even illegal immigrants. However, when these problem children perform poorly, it's not their fault, it's the teachers'. Thus, the school boards suffer at the hands of No Child Left Behind and other such programs. The students who are accepted by private schools through voucher programs (in the places that have them) are not the ones who need the help. Indeed, it strips the school districts of the students who can improve the scores, or who keep the scores (that the private schools aren't required to reach) and leaves only the ones that are most in need of help. No Child Left Behind, vouchers, they don't address the problems, they provide blame and flashy "solutions." Something different, something better, is necessary.