NEA, Stop Race Baiting Public Education

Screen Shot 2014-05-14 at 2.57.18 PMRace Baiting from the liberals just prior to an election because they know the polls are showing their popularity is down significantly, surely not!

After reading the brilliant article from Latisha Grady on Politichicks.tv May 2nd, I paused and pondered the possibility of such a scenario.  Politics are known to be dirty and politicians are known to play dirty and make up the rules as they go to suit their perceived need.

Now, when I received a copy of the neaToday spring 2014 magazine, with the front cover showing a picture from 60 years ago of a black woman and a black child, holding a sign that reads, “High Court Bans Segregation in Public Schools.”  With a recent picture of a black boy next to the caption, Still Separate, Still Unequal?

Seeing that headline, I was quite livid!   As a public school teacher, I have first-hand knowledge and experience of this outlandish lie, yes, here in the south of the United States as well.

The students are treated equally and fairly in the vast majority of school districts across the country.  In fact, students who receive more of the benefits and opportunities in the schools are for minority children – fact!

The schools implement programs to assist minority students to help them to pass their classes and move on to earn their high-school diploma and beyond.

The problem has nothing to do with what teachers do not do, (seems to be the common theme these days to blame the teacher, yes, some should not be teaching a dog let alone a child, but not all teachers are terrible.)  The problem occurs when the students do not participate in class, do not complete the work, or disrupt the class with constant talking,   or getting up out of their seat “just because”.   Mouthing off at the teacher etc. etc.

“Call the parent’s” I hear you saying.  Great idea, now, what do think happens?

*Disclaimer here, the parents of my students are awesome, involved, and we are a team.  Every year I tell the parents I need their help and we are in this together, because I firmly believe that*

Parents of Mary, Susie, Aldo, Ben, Quando, or Marissa, are called and the responses vary.   When we can get a response it is generally one of the following:

Parent one: “I’ll be sure to talk with >>> for his/her misbehavior, this won’t happen again.”  Result, not a thing changes with the child’s behavior, nothing.

Parent two:  “I can’t believe that my child would do such a thing, I’ll take care of this.”  Result, not a thing changes.

Parent three: – nothing, zilch, because we can’t reach the parent at any of the numbers we call.

Parent four: “My child deserves a better grade than this “F” or “D” and he/she should be allowed to make it up, even though it’s one month or six months late…”

Parent five:  “Thank you for calling, we will take care of the misbehavior and he/she will get the work completed.”  Result, child has an attitude adjustment because of parental support.

The NEAtoday  article states that poverty is the number one reason minority children are not successful in the classroom.

I beg to differ.  Yes, poverty is a real live issue for many families.  However the education is free.  Teachers go above and beyond to help their students succeed academically.   Students from those from a low socioeconomic family will have free breakfast and lunch at school, and the family likely receives food stamps for meals at home.

So what is the problem?  Again, the students don’t succeed because they choose not to.  Someone should tell Condoleeza Rice she should not be successful because her family was financially poor!

How often have you seen mama coming to school all decked out with the latest designer clothes, freshly manicured nails, and the kids telling us, “my new shoes cost $100…”    What’s that about poverty?

NEAtoday continues with:

But the odds are stacked against them as the gulf between the rich and poor grows. Today, the number one predictor of a student’s academic achievement is not race but family income. In fact, achievement gaps between low-income and high-income students are wider than those between Black and White students.

“It’s not right that the richest, most powerful nation on earth is not dealing with the issues that are affecting this country’s youth,” says NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. “We’re on the cusp of a movement to address education opportunity gaps. These gaps are real. It depends on your ZIP code. It depends on the socioeconomic status of parents. It’s wrong and we need to build addressing this issue into everything we do.”…’

Bold references are mine.  Do you see what the Teachers union i.e. Democrats who love Obama, are doing?  Yes, they’re focusing on the difference between people who earn more money than others and how unfair it is for one group of people to have more money than others – see where it’s going?

Yes, I have a college degree, but I’ve been on food stamps, the electricity has been turned off, and I have worked three jobs to get to the place I am at, and that included with children, and a variety of other obstacles to face.  My jobs have included cleaning toilets and waitressing, so yes, I get what being poor is about.  However we cannot allow it to be an excuse like the liberals want us to believe!

NE today continues, “Today, schools in low-income, high-minority neighborhoods are being closed in record numbers, forcing children to travel to other schools, often many miles away….”

Why?  Why are the schools closing in record numbers?   The schools are closing because the students don’t care, teachers are not respected, and school districts don’t always provide the necessary supplies for teachers.  If the test scores are low, then STOP SOCIALLY PROMOTING THE KIDS!!

Social promotion does not help the student and sets him/her up to fail.

Why do schools socially promote students, because it’s easier to do that than deal with an angry parent or disruptive student.

The schools need parent involvement – get your kid to bed on time, see that the homework is done, spend TIME with your children.

Be a Parent!  Many parents are in jail, selling drugs, using drugs, so yes, it’s difficult for these kids.  But you see, that’s the real problem, society has let these people down, the drug culture has let these people down, lack of morals has let these people down – those are the real problems.

Folks, we need to inform voters of the truth and teach students a trade, be ready for college, and encourage them to better themselves and stop making excuses.  We do not need more government in our lives and the public schools!

 

 

Barbara Cook

Barbara J. Cook (Cookie) is enjoying living in the panhandle of Florida educating special needs children in a middle school (ask her about it sometime!). In order to de-stress, Barbara runs, reads, and writes, and yes, she cooks too: http://recipesbycooki.blogspot.com/ (that's another reason she runs!) She lives with her Mr. Cookie and chickens, dogs, cats and various others. Growing up in Europe as a child and spending several years as a military wife, Cookie learned to appreciate and respect diversity in people choosing to live by the phrase, agree to disagree. What is important to Cookie is family, faith, and fun. Cookie is involved in PolitiChicks because she says 'if we don't, who will?' Visit her website at: http://bjc.hubpages.com/ and https://www.asmileisallittakes.com

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