Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
As I reflect on last night's speech by Chris Christie, I cannot help but feel a bit unsettled in terms of his points about modern education. I have no disagreement with Christie over the need to take on the teacher unions or to raise expectations across the board. Do we need to identify underperforming and incompetent teachers in our schools and remove them from the system? Absolutely.
However, there are probably 10 good teachers for every poor teacher, and the good teachers are often unable to perform at their optimum level as a result of students who are the victim of poor parenting. Parents who fail to teach their children right from wrong, parents who fail to instill values in their children, and parents who fail to educate their children about respect make it impossible for teachers to teach.
Poor parenting is a far more significant problem in our schools than poor teaching. Too many parents think of public education as day care, and they drop off their children every morning without giving any thought as to whether or not they have truly provided them with the values necessary for the system to work. I find this to be true in both public and private institutions. Simply ridding our schools of bad teachers who don't belong in the classroom will overlook other more serious issues (such as the indoctrination of teachers-to-be at progressive teacher colleges.)
I know it has become fashionable in this country to mock teachers and to think of them as obstacles to the dreams parents have for their children, but my experience in education (public, private, elementary, middle, high school, and college) has revealed that the vast majority of teachers are good people who want to better prepare our children for a successful life. True, many of your children's teachers have been inculcated with progressive teaching methods, but even the robots who are produced by the progressive teacher colleges are competent and have the best interests of your children in their hearts and minds.
And so the rallying cry has been, "Fire the teachers!," but this is an oversimplification of the problem and ignores other causes of students who graduate from high school unable to write a complete sentence or solve a basic math equation. Both Democrats and Republicans are deflecting attention from the root cause of our country's education woes (as they tend to do with most issues that require tough solutions.) And American parents are contributing to the failure of our schools by not providing their children with a solid foundation of basic values.
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Mar '11
Re: Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
An interesting observation: 10-40% of students at most boarding schools are actually day students who live near the school and go home to their families every night. Day students, on average, are academically less advanced than their boarding counterparts when they start at the school, yet as a group they always outperform the boarders by graduation.
Having a family around makes a huge difference - even at the best schools with the smartest students.
Jun '11
Re: Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
I was raised to respect teachers and expected the same from my children, but.....it was hard, because there was such sheer idiocy sometimes. For instance, the kindergarten teacher refused to tell students how to spell a word when they asked, as the Whole Language philosophy advocated "free spelling." One child was upset because he wanted to spell it right! He was smart enough to be disappointed and confused with school. I did not want to pick a fight with his teacher, in kindergarten for heaven's sake, but it was sickening. I also recall that in seventh grade, an English assignment was graded on the quality of the cartoon drawing involved- (accommodating varied "learning styles"?)
By middle and high school it was clear that the teachers were looking out for themselves. I did drop the principal a note once suggesting that when an eighth grader brings home five different sets of classroom rules from five dofferent teachers on the first day of school, each to be reviewed and signed by student and parent and returned for the teacher's files, it takes some of the shine off the new school year.
Public schools are not working.
Oct '10
Re: Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
I know precisely the teachers I encountered in my life who were inadequate, and I knew it at the time, and further I already knew about them before I found myself in their dysfunctional classrooms through what passed for a social network in the 1960s.
The interesting thing is that what was so dysfunctional about them was so similar to authority figures in other abusive relationships: there was no correlation between a given behaviour and the response. I had a high school teacher who would give a failing grade on the term paper, which constituted 1/3 of the course grade, if it contained a single comma splice. Now there, you could at least vet your prose carefully. It was when when you were skewered and your career prospects limited due to a transgression you never anticipated that you adopted the mentality of the abused.
Aug '10
Re: Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
Hear, hear! As a teacher for ten years, I completely agree with you that for the most part, a student's success is more dependent on how his/her family respects the education process. Research has shown that one of the best indicators of student success in school is the number of words they have been exposed to before entering school. In other words... the best predictor of success for a student has nothing to do with the school, administrator, or teacher!
I wouldn't completely blame the parents, however. We live in a society that has a short attention span and finds hollywood gossip more newsworthy than troops dying for our country each day. We live in a world where technology makes socializing and games more prevalent in a child's life... thus making it hard for homework and thus good grades to compete for their time. Not all parents can be on top of their kids every moment of the day to make sure this is happening.
Aug '10
Re: Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
Finally, although I do think it is society and the family that matter most to a student's success, there is little that government can do about it. So, it's not a bad thing that states look to make sure they have the best people teaching. We can't blame the governor for wanting to tackle the things he could change rather than the things he can't.
Unless I am wrong. Does government have the ability to change the culture? Can the government do things to make us better parents and family? If a government could, would we want it to have the power to do so?
Mar '11
Re: Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
@Michael Hornback
You are correct sir. I do not completely blame the parents. There are some societal issues at play here including the fact that our children are immersed with images of pornography and violence on television and on computer screens, that technology has shortened our attention spans, etcetera. Parenting is a tough job and I think it is increasingly difficult to raise children with sound values because parents have to compete with other forces who are trying to influence their kids as well.
Mar '11
Re: Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
@Jo Jo
I always try to keep in mind that the work in my class is only part of what students will be assigned on any given day. I'm sure we've all had teachers who went too far with the rules. Unfortunately, the new learning styles you mention are now part of the private schools as well. Private schools were once an alternative, but no longer.
Mar '11
Re: Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
Mendel, very true. I do not mean to single out parents of public school students. Some wealthy parents will pay big bucks to send their children off to Exeter or some other school and expect the school to raise them. Unfortunately, private schools are no longer a viable option for parents. Private schools have become infiltrated with progressive administrators and teachers who are hellbent on undoing the good that parents have done. No wonder home schooling has become so popular.
Mendel: Excellent post, BMW. Most of my family works in secondary education and I hear the same sentiments almost daily.
One point of contention: many conservatives intuitively imagine that school choice and higher privitization of education might make parents more active in their childrens' education.
Having attended private school and with 3 immediate relatives who work in them, I can say for certain that many very hard-working, productive Americans also see teachers as replacements for parents and will gladly pay a premium to shirk their own responsibilities. Often the most sought-after private schools are those whose teachers are especially skilled at handling emotional and developmental issues - in other words, parental skills. · 51 minutes ago
Apr '11
Re: Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
Donald Todd
I think this is in error. The Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of New York had a nearly universal graduation for all the students, and about 80-percent of the black and Hispanic students qualified for either two- or four-year schools upon graduation.
The movie Stand and Deliver is about a Hispanic mathematician and computer scientist who decides to teach in the LA public high schools. Edited 1 hour ago
The students taught in the Stand and Deliver story were self-selected; they were the cream of the crop before they began taking classes with him. The same is true of Catholic schools and the various KIPP programs; they rigorously weed out everyone but the top talents before they even start.
What matters in education is IQ, above all else. IQ is strongly heritable. If your child was not born smart, there is nothing you as a parent can do to make your child smart.
Mar '11
Re: Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
You make some good points, but it's not a cop-out to blame bad parents because they are more prevalent today than twenty or thirty years ago. I agree that bad parents are not to blame for all of the failures of the system, but neither are bad teachers.
Mar '12
Re: Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
WMartin: "they were the cream of the crop."
Despite concerns and skepticism of other teachers, who feel that "you can't teach logarithms to illiterates," Escalante nonetheless develops a program in which his students can eventually take AP Calculus by their senior year, which will give them college credit. This intense math program requires that students take summer classes, including Saturdays from 7:00 AM to noon, taxing for even the most devoted among them.
They were willing to learn from him and he had the ability to teach them. Your contention that they were the cream of the crop before he got there is incorrect.
Mar '12
Re: Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
WMartin: The students taught in the Stand and Deliver story were self-selected; they were the cream of the crop before they began taking classes with him.
Cream of the crop? Not true.
Escalante is at first not well liked by students, receiving numerous taunts and threats. He is able to transform even the most troublesome teens into dedicated students. While Escalante teaches basic arithmetic and elementary and intermediate algebra, he realizes that his students have far more potential. He decides to teach them calculus. To do so, he holds a summer course of what is implied in the movie as pre-calculus material, such as advanced algebra, math analysis, and trigonometry. Calculus starts in the students' senior year. Despite concerns and skepticism of other teachers, who feel that "you can't teach logarithms to illiterates," Escalante nonetheless develops a program in which his students can eventually take AP Calculus by their senior year, which will give them college credit. This intense math program requires that students take summer classes, including Saturdays from 7:00 AM to noon, taxing for even the most devoted among them.
Apr '11
Re: Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
Donald Todd:
Escalante is at first not well liked by students, receiving numerous taunts and threats. He is able to transform even the most troublesome teens into dedicated students.
Stand and Deliver is only a movie, not real life. Escalante's high school was massive, and the logic of bell curves suggests that there should be a decent number of students with IQ's high enough to pass an AP calculus test after extremely rigorous preparation. Escalante went looking for those students, and paid a great deal of attention to preparatory pre-calc.
Escalante was a great teacher, certainly. How many truly great teachers do you think there are? Most teachers, like most people generally, are mediocre.
Mar '12
Re: Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
WMartin: Stand and Deliver is only a movie, not real life.
Really? Did you think that this movie was a work of fiction? Were the lists of Escalante's students getting the partial or full scholarships at the end of the movie fiction? Were those largely Hispanic names?
I think your last sentence indicates how you really feel: Most teachers, like most people generally, are mediocre. You present a real generous view of humanity.
Apr '11
Re: Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
Donald Todd: WMartin: Stand and Deliver is only a movie, not real life.
Really? Did you think that this movie was a work of fiction? Were the lists of Escalante's students getting the partial or full scholarships at the end of the movie fiction? Were those largely Hispanic names?
I think your last sentence indicates how you really feel: Most teachers, like most people generally, are mediocre. You present a real generous view of humanity. · 3 hours ago
You misunderstood me completely-I was saying that the movie was "based on a true story." Much of it is fictionalized and calculated for dramatic effect. There are large differences between what the movie presents and how Escalante's actual career went.
Oct '11
Re: Reflecting on Christie's Speech: Bad Teachers and Bad Parents
If you want parents to be responsible, then give them responsibility and don't undermine them. My sister never managed to get her hands on the sex Ed materials despite repeated requests and demands to teachers and principals. My sister in law was told that she would be informed about an STD, pregnancy or request for birth control at the school nurse's discretion. This was in middle school, by the way. I saw with my own eyes teachers with Obama buttons and posters, and lovely "no hate" propaganda referring to same sex marriage.
It's my experience that teachers are all about the parents only when there's blame to hand out.