If you haven’t read James T. Harris’ Shut It Down!, head on over there and check it out. Brilliant! But I’d go one step further….shut them ALL down, and start from scratch. Return education to what it was originally intended…..education, NOT indoctrination.
A snippet:
Here’s what it comes down to. Most parents who have the means to do otherwise don’t send their kids to Milwaukee Public middle schools. If they are true believers in M.P.S., they do all they can to get their kids to Rufus King High School or Riverside High, the lone outposts in a once great system.
Just about all the rest of M.P.S. is a train wreck. You’ve got five elementary and two high schools that are actually sound, but on the whole, M.P.S. has de-evolved into a system that exists solely for the purpose of sustaining itself. By that I mean teachers’ salaries and their Rolls-Royce benefits. There is power in the union.
An Ol' Broad's Ramblings 
You know contrary to popular conservative opinion not all teachers indoctrinate their students. Yes I am biased because my girlfriend teaches in MPS, but she also happens to be a damn good teacher. One who actually cares about her students, and wants them to succeed. She wants out of MPS because of the chaotic situation it is, but she promised her first class of freshman she would be there to see them graduate, and they will do just that this year. She has brought in courses, and subjects that MPS rarely would touch, because they figured the students would be bored. She gave them a chance and proved many people wrong. A lot of those kids are really good kids, who more often then not are easily given up on, simply because of the backgrounds they come from. I think too generalize all teachers as in it for nothing more then a pay check, or too force their views onto impressionable minds is a disservice to those who really do care. I will now step down from my soapbox
Comment by Sean — May 7, 2007 @ 7:04
Oh Sean, you know you can get on your soapbox around here any time. 🙂
I know there are good teachers. Sadly, the good ones are being over run by the bad ones and the unions. If they started from scratch, then teachers could actually teach again, and not be babysitters.
Comment by olbroad — May 7, 2007 @ 8:41
I can’t argue with what you said about the bad ones,but I will say this…The prinicipals in many of these schools are mostly to blame for the situations these schools are in. Where my girlfriend teaches, and it is a VERY prominent MPS Highschool, basketball is all the administration cares about…and it is at any cost to the other students. The baseketball program in fairness does bring in a lot of money, but the players being given the near free ride are not benefiting from academics. There have been several players who my g/f failed, only to have the principal change the grade to keep them academically eligible. During December the team was flown to Hawaii to play in a tournament, although the coach says it was privately funded, the players let slip otherwise. That money should have gone for textbooks, or the music program, instead the Basketball team was given a poor priority.
Comment by Sean — May 7, 2007 @ 8:54
Pathetic! That clown should be canned! What happened to the idea that the kids raise money for such trips? Wouldn’t it be better for the school in general to put academics first?
Comment by olbroad — May 7, 2007 @ 9:02
Vincent?
Comment by Jayce — May 8, 2007 @ 8:47
Shhhhhh
Comment by Sean — May 8, 2007 @ 10:34