[deronette97]

Do you think it's necessary to extend the school year? Personally I think the only way to increase there learning is to hire MUCH better experienced and educated men and women, and less men and women who just expect to get paid. Because surely I have heard of many teachers who don't even care much about the students and because of it the school is known to be a C school. When the new school begins, Parents are worried of bringing there children into that school.

[cdad]

Here is part of the problem with extending the school year that you may not have thought of. Its an unfortunate reality that parents get divorced. And if they live apart (like different states) then many visitation orders are written so the entire summer can be spent with the parent having the least amount of time during the school year. If there were no summer breaks then visitation could end completely. Also it would tie up the courts trying to decide who the child should be with when before they were OK with where things were at.

[DoulaLC]

Do you think it's necessary to extend the school year? personally i think the only way to increase there learning is to hire MUCH better experienced and educated men and women, and less men and women who just expect to get paid. Because surely I have heard of many teachers who don't even care much about the students and because of it the school is known to be a C school. When the new school begins, Parents are worried of bringing there children into that school.

Do you know why the school received a C grade? Are you familiar with how the grading is done? In what areas did they not show enough progress? Do you know what their FCAT scores were like for math and reading? Is this an elementary, middle, or high school? What is the parent involvement like at the school? Do you know if many attend Open House, PTA meetings, school programs, are able to volunteer in classrooms? Are there many discipline concerns at the school that you are aware of?

The school grade comes down to one test. Surprising isn't it? Want to know an interesting tidbit... a third grader could, in essence, provide below quality work all year long, pass the FCAT and go onto fourth grade. Another student, even being an honor roll student throughout the year, may not pass the FCAT and be held back. Surprised yet? Parents should be outraged.

Years ago it was considered awful to "teach to the test". Now you are doomed if you don't! Text book companies even have FCAT practice sections in the resource material they provide. Of course no one asks the teachers how this effects learning in the classroom. Yet, they continue to take the brunt of the blame when little Johnny doesn't do well.

On a national level, the grading is whether a school made AYP, or adequate yearly progress. What most people don't realize is that it was left up to the individual states to determine the areas they would be "graded" in. Some states are given credit, in part, simply because one of the areas they chose was attendance. Whereas Florida happened to set the bar higher. Once again, unless someone was aware of how these "grades" are handed out, they would naturally assume everyone was on an even playing field.

In reality, the school grade means very little in how well the teachers do their job.

There are a great many factors that come into play in regard to how students perform in the classroom. Some students come to school ready to learn, with wonderful parental support, and others don't want to be there and make it quite obvious. Often you are lucky if you even see a glimpse of their parent at some point in the school year.

I know several teachers that have had students who throw chairs, turn over desks, get up and wander the room, crawl on the floor, yell out, when they get upset or want attention during lessons... and these are not special ed classes! Extreme, yes, thankfully most disruptions are not of that magnitude, but disruptions are plentiful. The majority of the public have no idea how much learning time can be lost to misbehavior in too many classrooms. It is unfortunate, but the children who do want to learn, sometimes miss out on some of what could be going on simply because the teacher has to deal with misbehaviors.

I can't think of a single teacher who goes into teaching for the pay! When you read about the average income a teacher makes, they are usually talking about the pay of someone who has taught for close to 20 years already and many never see that. Salary also varies from state to state. Almost half of new teachers leave the profession within the first five years due to salary, work load, and student behavior concerns.

If most of the teachers didn't care about the students they would leave teaching. It is the love of teaching and our students, the joy of seeing a student "get it", students becoming excited about learning, and knowing that, for many, school is likely the only stable situation in their young lives, that we stay and put up with all the politics that have tarnished the profession. There are much easier ways to earn a living... I've done them, but teaching is a passion.

Sure there are some bad apples; you will have that in any profession. Yes, some teachers should not be in the classroom, that has always been the case. Sadly, more and more teachers are simply demoralized at this point, but want to know the biggest change in education in the last 15 years or so? The increase in the number of families who do not take their child's education seriously... who do not make the time to involve themselves. Schools teach character development, sex education, bullying prevention, etc. things that should come from the home. I've had parents of 8 year olds tell me that their child acts up at home as well and they don't know what to do about it... good luck when they are 15! Kids know when there won't be any follow-through at home... if parents don't care, why should the child? Yes, some will have that drive to do well regardless, but most young children are greatly influenced by what goes on at home.

Too often kids are running the house because mommy and daddy don't have time, don't want to put forth the effort, find it easier to just give in so their child is quiet and out of the way, or are so wrapped up in their own lives. In about the last five years, more and more kids have told me that they don't get help at home because mom or dad are always working or are on the computer. I've made any homework easier because I know some children will not have any supervision with it at home and will need to be able to do it all on their own. I provide extra for those parents who request it. Teachers can usually tell very clearly which students have involved parents and which do not. In some cases, it is painfully obvious.

Thankfully most parents do take their child's education seriously and will support the teachers, but it has been getting worse and worse over the last years. Without substantial changes in expectations of FAMILIES, these children grow up and continue the cycle of education not being very important with their own children.

Schools get blamed when large numbers of kids don't graduate high school as well, but no one stops to consider why those kids are not graduating. They get the same education and opportunities as the kids who do graduate. Biggest difference is that they don't care. They skip school, don't bother to do the work, have no one from home who follows up on their work because school has not been made important, so they don't get the credits they need to graduate. In some areas of Florida, some kids leave school early in order to take jobs to help out financially at home. While this is a necessary situation for their family, they still count as not graduating.

Want to see students and schools improve? Allow teachers to get back to authentic teaching. Allow the very people who have been educated and trained to do the job make the decisions... not the bureaucrats who sit at the state capitol deciding how kids learn best. There is a place and time for testing to be sure, but certainly not how they are being used today. They have become detrimental to students, to teachers, to schools, to education.

All the new programs, new requirements, new mandates, serve little more than keeping someone in a job. If they didn't keep coming of with something "bigger" and "better" they would be out of work. I call it "old wine...new bottle". Fancy buzz words, catchy phrases and grapics, but kids learn pretty much as they always have.

Forget looking at family involvement and holding parents accountable as well... who do you think votes? You won't hear a single politician go down that road. Teachers and schools will continue to take the fall.

Am I angry? I sure am, and I know a great many other teachers who are tired of being the punching bag as well. Our hands are tied in many ways, and we become frustrated when we find it difficult to do what we know needs to be done and how best to do it. If we didn't care about our kids, we won't be bothered by it all.

More than you probably wanted to know, and I apologize for getting on my soapbox, but the general public doesn't often get to hear from the teachers who are actually working with the children every day.