Re: Campaign Against Public Schools

maria judith sucupira costa lins (costlins who-is-at ism.com.br)
Thu, 20 May 1999 08:57:40 -0300

To Matvey an all,
I agree with you and we live in the same situation here in Brazil. I was =
a
student at a public school, and also my brothers and sisters, but they an=
d I
don't have our kids in public school. It is not possible anymore here to =
hope a
good education from a public school, with some exceptions, of course. My =
husband
and I have 4 children and they were in an excellent catholic private scho=
ol, but
we had to pay for more than the curriculum offered in this school. Three =
of them
went to the excellent public universities and the last one has two more y=
ears in
this school before she does the test to enter in the university. This is =
a
problem for all the families here, even when they don't have money enough=
, they
try to get a way to have their children in a good private school. maria l=
ins

Matvey Sokolovsky escreveu:

> At 05:35 PM 5/16/1999 -0700, Kenneth S. Goodman wrote:
>
> Today's North American teachers are the most
> >professional, the most knowledgeable, the most effective teachers the
> >world has ever known.
>
> It's pretty paradoxical that honoring North American teachers may sound
> extremely offensive, but it is for me. I graduated from the School # 57=
in
> Moscow, and I don't think there are many of its graduates who are not p=
roud
> of the school. I don't think that Iran's math high school team who are =
the
> strongest in the world now (as far as I know) think that they are train=
ed
> by second class teachers. It is hard to believe that Chinese students t=
hat
> are present in the US Universities in such high numbers were able to ma=
ster
> sciences and English from ineffective teachers (by the way, I was not a=
ble
> to find any school locally where Chinese is studied). Programmers from
> India that work in the US are probably unaware of the deficiencies of t=
heir
> school education. Etc.
>
> My emotional response against supporting the campaign for public school=
s
> was one of the messages that sparked this discussion. I send my kids to=
a
> private school, and I like the school a lot. I clearly prefer it to our
> local public school that is considered to be one of the best. I am unha=
ppy,
> however, that I have to pay 1/3 of my family income for their education
> when I also pay for education of other kids. Though I like the school, =
it
> doesn't cover all the areas of education I want for my kids, so I
> complement this with extra classes; plus I cover some areas myself with=
my
> kids.
>
> I do not think that my situation is unique. There are many parents who =
have
> an idea what they want their kids to be taught and who are doing simila=
r
> things as we do. There is no doubt that parents' visions are very diver=
se.
> Those who have close ideas could have organized schools provided the
> government gives back the tax money for this and provides support for
> independent school movement (like continuous training for the teachers,
> educational materials, etc). Who is against it?
>
> State bureaucracy is an easy target but probably a scapegoat -- they wi=
ll
> be needed anyway and will receive their salaries.
>
> Money managers? It looks like that 25,000 student schools may teach mat=
h
> price-effectively (though less efficiently than 25,000 student classes)=
but
> transportation, security, student funerals, and superintendent's salari=
es
> may be cut. Plus I hardly agree that education is about money (furtherm=
ore,
> private schools are hardly the bast way to get profit). I think money
> managers would not starve and find their way to survive. I am not afrai=
d
> for them.
>
> Professors in Schools of Education? Hardly. A more developed and
> diversified system of education would increase the need in teachers, ra=
ise
> requirements and allow more creativity for university training.
>
> Underprivileged students? This looks like a bad joke.
>
> I see only two possible answers.
>
> On a psychological level, the struggle against vouchers is a struggle f=
or
> power, opportunity to abuse it and dictate everyone around how to behav=
e.
>
> On a socio-economic level=85 I completely agree with Kenneth Goodman th=
at
> Today's North American teachers are the most professional, the most
> knowledgeable, the most effective teachers the world has ever known. In=
a
> different sense though (I guess). Unfortunately, many teachers are a pa=
rt
> of the reproduction of the society of mass consumption. I am positive t=
here
> are many people interested that kids are trained well to spend time in
> McDonalds, watch soap operas, browse malls, click buttons on computers,
> etc. these people place tremendous pressure on how education system sho=
uld
> work. And they do succeed. Honestly, their influence is the major threa=
t I
> try to avoid in the schools I visited before I found the one I liked. A=
nd I
> am really pessimistic that a struggle of several people has a realistic
> chance to change the society in the timeframe of my kids schooling.
>
> It is also interesting that the whole discussion has shifted to very
> general issues of social politics. I think it is a way to avoid a very
> local question that parent face summerly -- how to find a appropriate p=
lace
> for their kids.
>
> As for "the best in he world"=85 Well, I wish US would not use its mone=
y to
> starve Iraqi children and bomb Yugoslavia. There is a chance for the
> education system to improve because there are many devoted people invol=
ved.
>
> P.s. please note that I never said that I suggest eliminating public sc=
hools
>
> Matvey Sokolovsky