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Lesson Plans


re: charter schools

From: Teri Mason (terily)
Date: Wed Jan 19 2000 - 13:53:04 PST

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    I don't have any personal experience with charter schools, so I may be
    out of line here. But my opinion is that we, the schools, are trying to
    change what we cannot change. What I mean is that many MANY of the
    problems come to us from the home and have little or nothing to do with
    how we are doing things. So many kids have never been told NO, or
    given any limits. Both parents work and they don't want to spend the
    precious little time with their kids being "parents." They treat their
    kids like equals, like adults, and so when they come to school and are
    expected to function within a group, with rules to benefit the common
    good, they freak out. Not to mention the other problems, like
    abuse/neglect, etc. I teach in a small district (that is rapidly
    growing, unfortunately) and we still have our share of "spoiled" kids
    who can't function. Luckily, in a class of 14 - 18 kids, it's easier to
    help those kids transition and be able to get the others to model good
    behavior. When you get 25 - 30 kids in a class and 10 of them are not
    already "socialized" (for lack of a better word), you have a problem on
    your hands. So I guess, bottom line, is that the only (or best) way to
    improve schools, whether charter or public, would be to reduce class
    size. Unfortunately, that costs money and that seems to be the hardest
    thing to come by in this business...

    teri 

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