You see, it's a lot easier to blame teachers (easy target because they don't vote), administrators, school board members, and even janitors, for the ills of our society. I can honestly tell you, from what I see daily, that public education is constantly making adjustments (some small, many huge) to better educate children. It ain't a union thing. People constantly piss and moan (and rightly so) on this board about their shithead neighbors...do you think that any of those shitheads have children who go to public schools in Berwyn?
Sometimes, it IS the teachers and administrators and school board members. CARES had a student panel discussion 2 years ago and I remember students talking about how they had to fight to get into the classes they wanted to get into and how they had a hard time getting counselors to give them time.
+ When a school district puts kids into Algrebra II even though they failed Algebra I just so the district can get the kids "through the system", then it is a teacher problem and an administrator problem and a school board problem.
+ When school board members blame the grammar school districts for the low test scores of the high school district, then it is a teacher problem and an administrator problem and a school board problem.
+ When school board members and administrators create an atmosphere in a school district that favors patronage and politics over the students, then it is a teacher problem and an administrator problem and a school board problem.
+ When people move away from a community in droves when their kids reach high school age (as evidenced in the last census) because of a school district's reputation, then it is a teacher problem and an administrator problem and a school board problem.
Here is the best rebuttal I can post to George's post:
I am a resident (and homeowner), but not a parent. I grew up in District 103, attending elementary school in Stickney and high school in Berwyn (Morton West, of course). I moved from the area to the West Coast in 1995 and returned in 2003. I have no relationship with the school administration and no inclination to defend it....
Frankly, as a Morton West student, I felt cheated. I did not learn all that I could have. I wasn't challenged enough and, worst of all, the lousy reputation of the school clung to me after I'd left. If you want to understand my motivation, consider the following:
I was an athlete at Morton, and I will never forget walking into Downers Grove South, being taunted by the opposing team, whose members were taking bets on which of us could read.
When I wanted to apply to U of I, there were no application packets in the MW guidance office. I asked for help, but the counselor told me I'd have to handle it on my own; they were too busy with students who were in peril of failing out. I don't begrudge those students help, but I could have used some guidance myself, particularly because my parents were borderline hostile to the idea of my going to college, especially away.
When I called U of I to get an application packet myself, the admissions woman began taking down my information. She asked for my ZIP code and high school. After I answered, she paused. Then she asked, "Do you think you could get in here? I mean, we don't get many kids from your school here. This is a tough school..." I applied, got in, and graduated in 3.5 years with highest honors. But getting to that point was another story.
When I moved into the dorms, I saw that some idorm adviser had plastered everybody's name, high school and home town on their doors. The idea was for people to have something to talk about because we would know something about each other from the start. In my case, it meant people assumed I was dumb and/or racist. It was a very long year of dorm life. I'm a pretty friendly person, but I made not one friend on that floor.
I did fine as a student at U of I. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I know I'm fairly good at school, smart in the way it takes to do that kind of work. I'm not one of those people who gets it instantly, but if I work at it, I can get reasonably good grades. Still, the other students I was around tended to be better educated, even if they weren't exactly smarter than me. They knew things and places, history and social theory and math that I never learned at Morton. It was as though we'd read the same books, but my copy had had some missing pages.
And keep in mind that when I was a high school student, I had parents who would go down to the school if I needed them to be my advocates. I was a smart kid and well liked by most teachers in high school. I wasn't afraid to ask for help. If this is the kind of experience I had at MW, what happened to the other kids? I used to feel especially bad for the smart Mexican-American kids, because no one seemed to recognize their potential.
My current next-door neighbor has a 13-year-old son who will be going off to high school next year. He's a nice kid, goes to Catholic school. I advised the neighbor to send his kid to private high school, telling him a little about my experience and that I thought it would be worse for his son, a dark-skinned Latino male. I don't think every teacher or administrator at Morton West fails to see potential in Latino students, but I couldn't advise my neighbor to take the risk with his great kid. He'll probably be at Fenwick next year. It makes me sad that that's the kind of advice I feel compelled to give. I'd like to be able to encourage people to put their kids in the local schools, all of them. If I have any agenda, that's it.
