I have two thoughts that are always subdivided in my head. The mom and the teacher. And they rarely line up!
I have to say though that I greatly appreciate this board. I learned here that it is okay to advocate and DEMAND that my son receive an appropriate education. I felt much braver in meetings and had more research than anyone else in the room. THIS board gave me the strength to realize that my son's private gifted school was a big shiny pamphlet with nothing inside it...
We pulled him and he's in a public charter school now. It is a completely different universe and I cannot shout enough from the rooftops about how fantastic it's been so far. I know that our situation isn't for everyone but it's been amazing. I was expecting to fight... instead I got a "well OF COURSE we'll give your 1st grader 4th grade level books, why would we want to bore him?" I stood dumbfounded. Then I asked if I could substitute his math homework for something more challenging. I got an note from his teacher (different than reading) that she'd be getting a higher level workbook for him soon and she'd also use that in class. When you read stories about public education in many places, NONE of this is supposed to happen. But we somehow found it... and it's free.
Now the teacher in me- I have to defend teachers here only because of one thing- I spent two years in school for my credential and I received ONE HOUR of gifted education training. Just one. I received about 80 hours, plus one full separate class on special education needs. Most teachers do not have a clue that there are kids starting in their kindergarten class that have already mastered the 1st grade curriculum, let alone the K curriculum. Once they figure it out, the good ones make changes if they can. But there are so many levels of bureaucracy, meetings, paperwork and crap on top of that that sometimes you just give up and forget about it.
The system is broken. Most teachers know it. The unions are too powerful, the administration is bogged down in paperwork, the tests are too plentiful and not useful. And it's not the teachers' fault... but the teachers have to bear some responsibility for not insisting on change, for not forcing the issues of ability grouping and not demanding higher expectations of their colleagues and students.
I can say that from the inside, the charter school system works. I've taught and been an adminstrator in two different schools and my son attends a completely different one. I'd like to see more individualized education for all students- one that takes into account their strengths and weaknesses as people, not just their bar graph post-testing.
