She must and shall go free

Today is better. New days (particularly new days that start with an F, an R, and and I) seem to alleviate the previous day's frustrations. The fact is, I can't change the system overnight. The fact is, schools don't want to lose their money. The fact is, test scores matter.

The problem, really, doesn't start with my school officials. It begins with the legislation. No child left behind is actually in many ways a good idea in theory because there IS a huge education gap and our educational system serves some well while shutting out others.

That said... it's not the middle- and high- class schools that are in danger of closing due to test scores. I wish I had statistics, but I have no doubt that many of the nation's most impoverished schools are those under the pressure. When I student taught (in a fairly wealthy Spokane suburban school district) the teachers were stressing that only about 75% of our students were passing the big test (in Washington it's called the WASL). Here, we don't even have 40% passing. I don't think the solution is to say, "Pass tests or else."

The solution is in equipping schools to provide quality educations to children. Getting quality teachers and administrators into the struggling schools. At the end of the day, while poverty is a factor in learning, it's mainly an excuse. Inner-city kids can still be high achievers despite the gangs, the drugs, the crime, etc. Same with rural students. But let's be honest- I am a decent teacher. Great? Not now, though I hope to be. But if the decent teachers get chased out of these schools, how do they ever expect to attract and keep great ones? And money isn't the only solution. Though we already make among the lowest starting teacher salaries in the nation where I am, the fact is that they could offer more money here but the system is so frustrating that it would be a lot easier to teach for less in a better district. The irony, though, is that those better districts probably pay better.

Anyway... I appreciate T*FA for their efforts, and I am glad to be a part of the movement. But there is a lot of work to be done. I am up to it, but there will probably be more days every bit as frustrating (if not more than) yesterday. Here's to the long haul.

And, for added emphasis, guess who came by at the end of first period? You guessed it. The curricu*lum speci*alist. Her question?

"So are you giving the History test Monday?"

I know. Ridiculous, right?

I just replied, "Yes." What else was there to say?

Oh, the irony.

Lessons learned, lessons learned.