I just sat through the film "Waiting For Superman" and it caused me to reflect on how terrible my own experience of being funneled through America's public educational system was. Not to mention realizing just how awful many of my educators actually were.
As an adult in the workforce who is critiqued on a regular basis and always one bad decision or lay-off away from my next unemployment check, I find it ridiculously unfair that an educator can be horrifyingly bad at their craft and still recieve a somewhat decent salary along with a very generous benefits package.
Sure, there was the occassional good teacher and a few decent ones sprinkled throughout. But for the most part my twelve years were spent doing crossword puzzles and word searches. Or worse, simply copying notes off of a projector and being told to learn the material on my own. Besides mathematics, I can hardly recall a time in those twelve years when a text book was anything more then a weight in my backpack. That is ofcourse when a text book was available or not in such mangled conditions that it was virtually unreadable.
During the sixth grade I even had a math teacher who would spend the entire class period telling stories about his ex girlfriends, hijinks at high school jobs or griping about the intelligence gap between his American students and the class of foreign kids he'd teach during first period. Looking back on it, how were we ever supposed to catch up with those kids when we were busy being a test audience for his stand up comedy routine?
That is just the tip of the ice burg that doesn't even begin to cover the many teachers given cushy jobs based upon their value to various athletic programs. One of the worst teachers I ever had was a wrestling coach who taught drivers ed. His job mainly consisted of popping in a video and goofying around with his pal the varsity football coach who he shared a portable room with (At the time the school was being remodled and classrooms were forced into trailors). That same guy is now a big wig on the city council! He wasn't a real teacher, although he could put on his resume that he had been. His main claim to fame was that he was a decent wrestling coach. I can't even fathom being paid a middle class salary with benefits for doing virtually nothing beyond glorified baby sitting for eight hours a day.
As a matter of fact, I am wondering where the hell peoples parents were during all of this madness? If I had a child and they were coming home with folders filled with crossword puzzles and word searches I'd probably be at the school the next day demanding an explanation. Looking back on it now I have to wonder to myself if I ever really stood a chance.
That's not to say that I avoid all personal responsibility in the matter (my life's fine. I'm just saying), but from the time I entered pre-school my path was aimed in the direction of mediocracy. Kids like me who just hovered in between failing and excelling are just sort of tolerated and forgotten about. Come to think of it there were very few times I can ever remember being personally encouraged or congratulated for anything besides my jump shot.
Not trying to get to deep with all of this. Just thought I'd jot it all down while it was on my mind. It boggles my mind though, how in a country with an endless budget for warfare and imprisonment how the one system that should be the envy of the industrialized world can fail so miserably. Oh wait, maybe that does explain it.
No comments:
Post a Comment