I was reading the Village Voice (I will warn the reader here that some content in the Voice is not child friendly) today because the cover story caught my eye. I like to read the Voice because I think the Social and Political writing is usually very good. The honesty of the voice and the transparency of the research involved generally make for an interesting read. That said, I started reading because the article was about home-schooling in New York City in the African-American community. I was a little disappointed, though, that the article didn’t really delve into complexities of home-schooling, both in terms of its affect on the students and the commentary on the public school system. Draw your own conclusions.
Yes, parents home school their kids because of religious views, concerns about quality and safety, and personal convictions about how their children are to be raised, I’m well aware. Home schooling is not a solution, though. It may work well for educated parents with time and resources to provide their students with a base of learning that will prepare them for the professional and social world outside their doors. But, to be honest, I don’t trust any parent I don’t personally know to be able to do that, and I don’t trust a lot of them that I do know to be able to do it. Sorry friends. The one thing I’ve learned at Peabody is that teaching is a complex profession, and doing it well is hard for the professionals. To teach my own future children everything I think they should know about everything would require more time than I could ever give them.
As an M.Ed student I can understand how I might seem probably somewhat biased in my views. I do want to be a teacher at an evil, corrupting Public School (wringing hands maniacally). Let me explain away why I’m not. I’ve had a lot of terrible teachers in my life. Terrible. Lots of them. I was bullied in school. I consider myself Christian (and I hope others do too). I think there is a lot wrong with public schools. Yet, here I am, with a bachelor’s degree and honors from a major university and getting a master’s degree from a prestigious ed. program. I have four brothers and sisters who would all be excellent poster children for surviving in spite of the system. I attribute all that success to our parents and our upbringing. All five of us have been in school since we were old enough to be sent to daycare/pre-school because my parent’s were relatively young and working long hours to support us. Home schooling was never an option, and even when they had the resources to offer my youngest brother private school he turned the offer down, much to their consternation.
Why all the rambling, I hear those of you still reading asking yourselves? I believe public schools are dying for the very same reason our politicians rush into things like wars or the open arms of lobbyists, because we are letting them. What is the largest factor determining a student’s success and the improvement of neighborhood schools? Parental and community involvement. Everything else like funding, spending, and environment depend on what the taxpayers and voters of our democracy demand. Lacking the funds to chose the best schools for my siblings and I, my parents taught us to love knowledge and be responsible independent people. Lacking the parents to guide and raise their children with all the money in the world we get citizens like the Spears family or the Jacksons (of Michael, Latoya, Jermaine etc…). There are exceptions. There are shades of gray. There are no rules. There is only motivation, understanding, and kindness.
Teach your own children if you want, that’s your prerogative. I don’t think there are enough lifeboats for all of us. Maybe we should fix the whole instead.
–Luke Webb
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