"Someday, everyone, including Taxing Timmy, will come to realize our education system sucks. Big time. We could do SO MUCH better, just by expecting more and accepting nothing but the best."
Did you know there are some teachers in Minnesota who have not consumed gallons of Education Minnesota kool aide? I am married to a retired teacher who meets that criteria. Did you know what some of the enlightened teachers refer to summer vacations as? The "season of forgetting". Not an opinion - cold hard fact. Studies have proven it. Kids forget quite a bit over the summer, so much so, that the first part of September is booting them up to speed.
Problem number two. Years ago while serving in the Naval Reserve, one of my shipmates was a middle school science teacher in the heart of Minneapolis for his day job. He hated it, and could not wait until he had his "Rule of 90" under his belt, so he could "pull the plug". Why? The district was corrupt. Many of the kids were "throw away" kids, they knew all they had waiting for them was a life of poverty. Why is that? Because that is the way Mom had it - and Grandma had it - and so forth. Generational poverty as the Sociologists call it. School was a waste of time, and many could not wait until they were 16, so they could drop out.
My Navy friend told me after a while, he became so apathetic, at the beginning of each school year, he asked the class one simple question - "Who wants to learn?" Those who raised their hands were put in the front rows. Those who did not, were put in the back, so they could talk and joke or whatever. Just keep it quiet enough as not to disrupt the class. Once they got their "F" for the year, they just took something else the following year until they got to be 16. Then they were gone. Taxpayers - this is part of your ROI.
Flash forward to the school year of 2019-2020, which starts after Labor Day. I know, I know - why rush our summer away? School just got over for the year. It did - and we are now in the "season of forgetting". That has not changed. How about our failure factories in the heart of the city? Still up and failing, thank you. And the achievement gap remains unchanged.
Actually, even though we have a former educator like Taxing Timmy as our Governor, nothing is going to change. The white kids, who live in the better suburbs, will continue to do well. The ones in the city? Well, you know the answer to that one.
Here comes my Harvey Hard Ass part. Schools, be they in Wayzata or downtown Minneapolis - are not long enough, and not tough enough. Long enough? How about a school year of 220 days with no summer vacation? One extended time off from Thanksgiving to New Year, and another extended time off from Memorial Day to Independence Day. That is it - the rest of the days are school days.
No more snow days or "cold days". If school is called off, there will be mandatory "webinars" for all students. Learning will continue, be it in school, or at home. Sports will only be made available to "student athletes. In other words, if you are not a student first, you can forget about sports. We are in school primarily to learn, not to play.
There is much more, but I will leave it here. Someday, everyone, including Taxing Timmy, will come to realize our education system sucks. Big time. We could do SO MUCH better, just by expecting more and accepting nothing but the best. And going into the period of 2020 to 2025, we need to looking forward, now backward.
Our kids are tough - they can do it. But the gauntlet needs to be out there. No more short cuts. No more quitting. Only success. Why? Success begets success, and failure breeds failure.
Two things: first of all, like your comment, there are some schools that have year-round school, but only 3/4 of the kids are there at any one time. This allows smaller class sizes and almost eliminates the need for new schools or classrooms to be built.
ReplyDeleteSecond, the problem isn't how much seat time the kids get, but the quality. You can't tell me that 20 more days is going to boost Minneapolis schools from a 70% graduation rate to the state average 85%. And more money doesn't solve the problem, as the politicians and unions ALWAYS insist is the ONLY solution. Checking per-pupil spending versus the MCA tests, twice the spending generally gets you HALF the results. What matters obviously is not how much is spent, but HOW. Since many schools do it well, the State should be figuring out how, and demanding the rest of them do the same.