Dear Editor,
Re: City Schools Shrinking; Big Cuts Looming
It breaks my heart to think that public education is dying, but it seems to be eminent if we continue to cut funding while ignoring the greater issues. The disparaging trend of substandard public schools is pushing more parents who are pro-active in their children's education,
and who have the financial means to pull their kids out of "dangerous" or "failing" public schools and sometimes sacrifice all they've got to put them in private schools. As much as I respect the right of a parent to choose a private education for their child, if too many people leave public schools then the entire public education system will not survive much longer.
The problems with public schools that are most cited: violence, drugs, lack of discipline, lack of family support and lack of academic achievement, are in fact merely the symptoms of a greater cancer. The root of these problems is the imbalance of the student population and
the lack of various socioeconomic and academic backgrounds. A public school is more than just the sum of its teachers and students, it is a microcosm of the surrounding community, and if half the community abandons the shared duty to support the right to an education, then the schools become under-funded and overwhelmed with students from one demographic.
If too many students from families with high academic expectations or high economic means leave a public school, then the students left find themselves in an environment where the majority of their peers come from difficult or apathetic family situations, and the struggle to
succeed becomes an uphill battle. Teachers are also overwhelmed with larger class sizes of more difficult students, which inevitably creates a losing combination, no matter how dedicated or well paid the teacher is.
Without a solid base of high performing students to inspire their peers and ease the burden on teachers, the quality and reputation of the school suffers; and with it, the self esteem of all students, who are ashamed to admit where they go to school.
Without students from academic families, who are not ashamed to admit to their friends that they do their homework and want to go to college, who is left to help those struggling with no support at home?
Without concerned parents to lead the PTA, get involved in after school activities and fund field trips and uniform purchases, who is left to carry on the school spirit once the exhausted teachers have gone home?
The solution is with every resident of our community. Those who choose not to care about public schools just because they don't have school-aged kids, or prefer private or religious schools, or think the taxes are too high and not worth it must admit that they are choosing to not care about the children in our community; those same children that we can later be proud of, or be afraid of.
Choosing to pay higher taxes, to send your kids to public schools or to be involved in that school elevates the whole community. Students who go to a balanced school learn earlier how to get along with people from all backgrounds. They feel they are a part of a community who cares about them and expects them to uphold the good reputation of their school. They have a real chance of continuing on to college with a diploma from that school, and the school contributes good things back to the community in many ways, including increased property values.
It's hard to be one of the few who chooses to support public schools by letting your children attend, when you have the choice to put them in private schools, but it will take bravery and action to solve this increasing problem. Only when the public schools get the support of the whole community, and when students who represent that whole community attend school together, will our public schools truly be a place where all citizens may seek their right to a free education.
Re: City Schools Shrinking; Big Cuts Looming
It breaks my heart to think that public education is dying, but it seems to be eminent if we continue to cut funding while ignoring the greater issues. The disparaging trend of substandard public schools is pushing more parents who are pro-active in their children's education,
and who have the financial means to pull their kids out of "dangerous" or "failing" public schools and sometimes sacrifice all they've got to put them in private schools. As much as I respect the right of a parent to choose a private education for their child, if too many people leave public schools then the entire public education system will not survive much longer.
The problems with public schools that are most cited: violence, drugs, lack of discipline, lack of family support and lack of academic achievement, are in fact merely the symptoms of a greater cancer. The root of these problems is the imbalance of the student population and
the lack of various socioeconomic and academic backgrounds. A public school is more than just the sum of its teachers and students, it is a microcosm of the surrounding community, and if half the community abandons the shared duty to support the right to an education, then the schools become under-funded and overwhelmed with students from one demographic.
If too many students from families with high academic expectations or high economic means leave a public school, then the students left find themselves in an environment where the majority of their peers come from difficult or apathetic family situations, and the struggle to
succeed becomes an uphill battle. Teachers are also overwhelmed with larger class sizes of more difficult students, which inevitably creates a losing combination, no matter how dedicated or well paid the teacher is.
Without a solid base of high performing students to inspire their peers and ease the burden on teachers, the quality and reputation of the school suffers; and with it, the self esteem of all students, who are ashamed to admit where they go to school.
Without students from academic families, who are not ashamed to admit to their friends that they do their homework and want to go to college, who is left to help those struggling with no support at home?
Without concerned parents to lead the PTA, get involved in after school activities and fund field trips and uniform purchases, who is left to carry on the school spirit once the exhausted teachers have gone home?
The solution is with every resident of our community. Those who choose not to care about public schools just because they don't have school-aged kids, or prefer private or religious schools, or think the taxes are too high and not worth it must admit that they are choosing to not care about the children in our community; those same children that we can later be proud of, or be afraid of.
Choosing to pay higher taxes, to send your kids to public schools or to be involved in that school elevates the whole community. Students who go to a balanced school learn earlier how to get along with people from all backgrounds. They feel they are a part of a community who cares about them and expects them to uphold the good reputation of their school. They have a real chance of continuing on to college with a diploma from that school, and the school contributes good things back to the community in many ways, including increased property values.
It's hard to be one of the few who chooses to support public schools by letting your children attend, when you have the choice to put them in private schools, but it will take bravery and action to solve this increasing problem. Only when the public schools get the support of the whole community, and when students who represent that whole community attend school together, will our public schools truly be a place where all citizens may seek their right to a free education.
