re: #28 Bob Levin

Hmmm. How to explain this in vague terms and still get the point across.

Well, one of the issues with institutions or professions is that the representative (teacher, therapist, doctor, lawyer) must understand that their real client is the profession itself, not the student, patient, client.

If you want to be part of these professions, you have to understand that concept or you will be in deep trouble. That’s why it is rare to the point of never, to hear of a teacher completely releasing the student from the curriculum to pursue the course on their own. You rarely hear of doctors recommending to patients that an acupuncturist might be a better idea. I remember getting in a huge amount of trouble when I was a therapist working for an agency, after I recommended a patient take up Yoga to relieve stress rather than explore the inner psycho-dynamics of his tension.

So, the school tends to view my kids as servants to their curriculum, or in the case of the magnet school, servants to their productions to justify its existence in the coming fiscal year. My kids’ interests and talents be damned. Combine this with the watering down of content to the point of having the students be completely unprepared for college…wrecking ball (poetic expression of my feelings).

re: #27 Sionainn

That’s another set of problems. And that’s why pulling the thread of the problems with the school system quickly leads to the need for wholesale changes to the society. Deep problems.

I get what you are saying. I quit teaching when I had my kids and am now dealing with a child in first grade in a magnet school. I’m watching very closely and am very active in her education. If she isn’t getting what she needs, I talk to the teacher, make suggestions, provide appropriate materials, and I also supplement with our own thing at home. The teachers are either going to love me or hate me…I don’t really care just as long as my child receives an excellent education.