Re: School Closings

Disclaimers: statistics are courtesy of the Illinois State Board of Education website and their report cards on schools. Any news articles will be referenced accordingly.

So there's this uproar going on in Chicago right now. Frankly it goes on just about every year recently. The Chicago Board of Education decides that some schools will be closed and undergo a "turnaround". Parents, teachers, community leaders, etc. all protest and say that it's terrible to close these schools. Teachers will lose jobs, the destabilizes the children, etc.

I went through CPS both the good schools and the bad schools. I HATED elementary school for two main reasons, one I was socially discriminated against and two because I was always so bored. We always went over the same things over and over. I was one of those "smart kids" who was beyond grade level but there was nothing for me to do. The school had no resources and everything was dedicated to helping those who were not meeting grade level. As a child that annoyed me to no end. As an adult I understand why that's important. Especially in the climate of no child left behind and the constant pressure to get our children up to grade level in reading, math, and science. It's stressful to be a teacher. That is why I ended up not going for a teaching job. I knew myself well enough to understand that I would not have been able to deal with what teachers deal with. They have to be mother, father, teacher, and disciplinarian to these children. School closing only add to the stress, costing teachers their jobs and livelihoods. I respect teachers. I know teachers and their dedication is AMAZING!

If I'm so understanding then what's my problem? Well I have a big problem with much of the complaining coming from some parents and community leaders. Where is all this outrage before the announcement of the school closing? In fact how did we even get to the point that our schools are under-performing to the point that they need to be closed? Why do these schools closings take people by surprise every year?

I want to throw out some quick facts about one of the schools that is being slated for turnaround. Marshall Metropolitan High School is behind the elementary school that I attended. I've always known it was a bad school, so I wasn't surprised by the fact that it was listed as one of the schools being closed. Let's look at how the school is doing.

Graduation Percentage
2009: 41.1%
2008: 28.0%
2007: 46.9%

PSAE Scores (the Prairie Sates Achievement Exam is given in grade eleven to test students progress)
level 1 (academic warning)
level 2 (below grade level)
level 3 (meeting grade level)
level 4 (exceeding grade level)

Reading Math Science
2009
level 1 27.9% 42.7% 31.8%
level 2 63.9% 55.9% 65.9%
level 3 8.2% 1.4 % 2.3%
level 4 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

2008
level 1 34.0% 42.7% 29.3%
level 2 59.6% 54.1% 68.2%
level 3 5.8% 3.2% 2.5%
level 4 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

2007
level 1 31.6% 42.2% 36.2%
level 2 71.6% 55.6% 61.2%
level 3 6.9% 2.2% 2.6%
level 4 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

I should have looked at more than three years but to me this was enough to give me a quick snapshot. The graduation rate is below 50%. There is consistently less than 10% of these students meeting grade level and none are exceeding. Now if you just take twenty minutes and look at these figures and think about them then would it really surprise you that this school is slated for closure? I know it's kind of unfair to look only at figures and not take into account what the students will have to go through when their schools are closed and they are uprooted. But really what is the choice? Do we continue to let these students back slide? How can the US keep up in the world when we have such poorly educated students? We have to look at the figures because they are tangible proof of what is going on with the students.

But back to my irritant. Where are the parents? Where are the community leaders? Why aren't they doing something about this? I feel like they should be making a big deal every year. How can you possible not know that a school is doing this bad? 28% of students graduated from Marshall in 2008 yet I can't recall hearing anything huge in the news about it.

I don't want to be the villain and blame one person for everything. I blame our culture. We have an ingrained culture of sweeping problems under the rug. We don't deal with problems until it has gotten so terrible and that there is no other way around it. I hate to say this about black people (my people) but we accept these low standards. We accept our children dropping out of school. We don't encourage education but we sure do get angry if someone tries and take it away. Why are we allowing schools like Marshall to fail?

Let's take all this outrage over school closings and direct it into positivity. Let's be outraged over what we have done to ourselves. Let's encourage our kids to go to school, to pay attention to the teachers who have gone through so much training and education to service the schools. Let's participate more in the lives of our children. Maybe slowly we can reverse this terrible trend that we're in.

-L

Perspective

Perspective: the state of one's ideas, the facts known to one, etc., in having a meaningful interrelationship (Dictionary.Com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/perspective February 10, 2010, 8:33pm)

I love my country but I have to admit that we as a people are not the most observant group that ever did exist. There's nothing wrong with being concerned with what's going on in your immediate vicinity but it makes us ignorant to what is going on in other parts of the world. I got a really interesting reminder of that impression that we Americans make on other countries.

So I was talking to a friend of mine in India and some how we got into this conversation about movies and how they portray life in the settings these movies take place in. His thing was that life here must be pretty good, everyone can afford cars and homes, etc. That's not too far from the truth but me being me I had to stop him. Not everyone can afford a car. My own car was gifted to me, if it hadn't been then I would have no car. Just maintaining it is expensive. Not everyone can afford a house. That much is clear from the housing crisis that has contributed to the downfall of the American economy. There is an illusion that we can afford these things.

So why are these movies portraying American life this way when we all know that it isn't the reality? Well my personal theory is that we don't want to face the actual problems. I live in a part of Chicago where it is pretty evident that people don't live so well. I've seen prostitution and homelessness. I've been approached for money by peddlers. I watch drug deals go down on a daily basis. What I don't want to do is go to a movie and spend $8.75 to see these things on screen. I can see them for free.

The easiest and most dangerous way to deal with a problem is to pretend it doesn't exist. But what impression does that give to our fellow man outside of the US? That we are excessive, ignorant, spoiled...and that they too can come here and join our excess. At the same time we are lying to ourselves. We pretend that homelessness is a result of someone not doing their share of work. We say to ourselves that they deserve it. That they could do better if they really wanted to so they must not want to. Maybe sometimes this is the case, but sometimes it isn't.

It's a circle. It is endless. It leads to my pet peeve. The thing I can't stand the most is when a natural disaster happens in another country. Lord help us, it brings out the most arrogant attitudes of Americans. But it goes beyond the immediate superman mentality that we develop, that of "We have to help these poor people!" No, no, then we seep into the false humility. The "we must be grateful for what we have because we could have nothing". I mentioned how upset I was about something and a person I know brought up Haiti and how I shouldn't be so upset because I live in the US and we have so much here, more than we should. Isn't that true? Shouldn't I rethink my sadness? I say it is a pet peeve because it is comparing problems. I dislike when people do that because problems are problems no matter what country it's in. Should the woman who lives in the US that is 9 months pregnant and homeless be happy because after all she lives in the US. Should the people in Haiti who lost everything be happy because at least they aren't in the Sudan or Darfur being raped and murdered. All these situations are sad and all these problems are real. These people are looking at their problems from their own perspective, the perspective of the country they live in...as they should be.

Because I am annoyed by these types of issues I try and keep an open mind. I try and learn from different people so I can learn their perspective on how I live. It's not because I have an urge to show off but rather because I don't want to be ignorant to what is going on around me.