Hitting a Brick Wall?

Pink Floyd - Premonition 

Discussion Summary:

Are we just a brick in the wall?  Are learners?  Has education hit a brick wall? 

From an article from the Huffington Post - Schools Fear Worst from Budget Cuts, there are many consequences to K-12 public schools across the country.   Cuts in technology, libraries, sports programs, arts, drama, and industrial arts are the first areas affected by cash shortages.

Jen sums up the cuts as a change in education, with "children at the core of these changes!"  She suggests that, as always, teachers "have a hidden agenda" and will guide students to live and work in the Information Age.  While a limit to free education should be initiated, who makes that call is a touchy issue.  Do teachers really need to "band together underground" to determine what students need to survive?

Kellie wants to rebel - "an educational revolution."  Chris and I are right with her.  Kellie also sees effects from these cuts in her own children who began in elementary school eager to learn and gradually lost motivation and interest as they reached high school.  The spark is gone.  She also expresses concern about complacently following testing policies, program cuts, and class size increases.

Brooke notes that the "state of a school...speaks volumes as to what the community is willing to invest."  Alternative school-wide fundraising efforts to continue supporting the CFF grant at her school include collecting aluminum from the community and cafeteria and maintaining a consultant staff who sell their gradebook and IEP information gathering applications.  Other solutions like early retirement and retirement incentives could bankrupt PSERS.  And as budgets keep getting cut and spending grows, Brooke urges "immediacy with reform".

Chris agrees with all of these responses to budget cuts.  He soundly responds with "Let's get rid of the tests!" that government officials couldn't pass.  How can educators differentiate and adapt to learning styles and personalities when high-stakes testing is standardized and students are expected to reach the same proficiency levels.  He also notes that districts are backed up into the [brick?] wall by legislators and have to make very tough decisions.  Or are they using the economic crisis as as excuse to make cuts?

Highlights of the discussion include:

• Jen K - "Our classrooms needs to be teaching 21st century skills to students whose jobs have not been developed yet!"
• Kellie D - "We are teaching kids to take tests...so far away from what they need."
• Chris L - Teachers, "YOU DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!"
•  Brooke W - "No longer are we able to sit by and watch out kids flounder..."

Great discussion, everyone!  

WE ARE NOT JUST ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL!