Thoughts on Public Education by a Public Teacher

I have so many thoughts running around in my head that I am not sure how cohesive or comprehensible this will be.

First, you should know that I am a part-time art teacher. I am not on what most people would consider the 'front lines' of education. I don't care if my students can read, write, or compute. I don't have to prep them for end of school tests. I don't even have to discipline them very often, because most kids absolutely love art.

Having said that, here are some of my observations about public education, and the role of teachers.

I know a lot of people who practically consider it a sport to bash on public education. They are quick to point out failings and ways it could be done better. I would like to invite the nay-sayers to come run a public school for a year and see if they can do it better.

Don't get me wrong. I know there are flaws in the system. There are holes in the curriculum. There are teachers failing to do their job. There are children who are falling through the cracks.

However, seeing the massive diversity of children day in and day out, I wonder how could we possibly get them all to succeed? Beside the privileged, well loved and cared for children, I see children in the dead of winter with no coat. Children hungry because free lunch is the only meal they get in a day. Children who tell me, in detail, why their mother is in jail for the FOURTH time. Or why their mom is getting divorced, again. Children with physical and mental handicaps. Children in behavior disorder units because they were born a crack baby, are on their 5th foster home, and have never known what unconditional love is. These children come to school with so many OTHER, outside issues that they can barely function in the classroom. Yet we take them in and try our best to teach them. Private schools don't take them in. These are the lost children.

And they are all in one middle class community public school. This is not the projects. I can't begin to comprehend the challenges faced there.

I have a fourth grade student right now who has bowel control problems. That's right. BOWEL, not bladder. She smells like a sewer ALL THE TIME. It is difficult to stand even 6 feet from her. I have no idea where she is academically. I worry about her social outlook. I worry that she will be ostracized. Her mother claims it is a medical condition.

Another fourth grade student hangs out in my classroom every free moment. He comes in before the bell. He comes in during lunch recess. He comes in during afternoon recess. I try to encourage him to go out to play with friends, but he'd rather scrub my tables. He is new in the school and is still trying to adjust, I guess. He is well liked in class, so I am not sure why he is reluctant to play.

I am rambling too much.

Bottom line. Children in stable, loving homes will succeed, no matter what. They will do well in public, private, or home school. It is the lost children that so desperately need the public schools. It is the lost children who drag down test scores. The lost children are the ones that need to feel the love of teachers because they have never known it anywhere else. It is the lost children who are the hardest to love.