RESPONSE TO THE JUNE 1, 2011 NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE :
At Elite School, Longer Classes to Go
Deeper<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/education/02calhoun.html>
The Calhoun School, a Manhattan private school, has opted for longer classes
in five short terms, a block schedule that has waned in popularity in public
schools.
dc lambert
nj
June 1st, 2011
2:10 pm
What exactly is the point of this article? That wealthy students enjoy an
in-depth, air conditioned, expensive education complete with expensive field
trips not beholden to top down bullying 'standards' from the state and
untouched by political sound bites? How on earth does that transfer to the
experience of the majority of public school students?
My own school, a high school in a low income district, has no
air-conditioning. My room was over 100 degrees today. There is absolutely no
way we could have a class over 45 minutes. As it is, we had one student
faint from the heat today. We sit in half broken desks with no computers and
very few books; many are covered in mold. We have rat, mice and cockroach
infestation and mold grows from the ceiling panels.
Many of our students come from highly dysfunctional homes and don't read at
all; they arrive having had no breakfast, no health care for their illnesses
- we have tons of asthma and migraines and mental health issues - and often
from violence (documented). Many have fetal alcohol syndrome or were crack
babies. Lest you think I am talking about race I am not--I am talking
economics; most of my own students are white. They come in having had 3
hours of sleep because they don't live with their parents; they live alone,
or on a couch because mom kicked them out; or mom is in jail and dad
abandoned them. ANd so on.
A two hour philosophical discussion on a book on the 17th century would be
physically impossible in our school, and far beyond the abilities of our
student population as it stands. Not only is this far, far beyond the
abilities of most of our population (private schools pick and choose thier
student body), but, even if it were, yOu can't have a two hour discussion in
a 100 degree classroom on 3 hours of sleep and no breakfast, and your dad
beat you, and you have bipolar disorder, but are not medicated because your
parents have no health insurance.
Our teachers are regularly attacked by the NJ governor as being 'fat' and
'lazy' and we are subjected to countless idiotic state sponsored tests with
draconion punishments and threats. The last one was a Biology test that was
different from last year and which isn't continuing, apparently, next year,
and which has no apparent meaning. Some private corporation got a lot of
money for it, though--we couldn't help noticing that as we unwrapped the
stacks of testing papers, supplies, etc.
Meanwhile here is this completely irrelevant article on a wealthy private
school with cherry picked students that has the ample resources to do
whatever it wants, and does. If students are violent or refuse to take thier
medication, they kick them out just so everyone else can have two hours
discussions. I am quite sure everyone has health insurance and no one sleeps
on a couch.
Why should I be interested in this article? So I can read it and covet? Or
weep for our children?
