I also want to clear up something about the "myth" that the US is so far behind other countries. The US is one of the few countries that has COMMITTED itself to educating EVERY child. I am not sure that any other country does that.
When you take out those who can never achieve the "norm", it is much easier to appear more educated.
I understand that all situations are different and individual issues with administration exist - with any school regardless of public or private. I agree there are gaps in communication and learning, which is one reason that so much of our budget is focused on learning materials to help the kids.
Tammy,
We went through a very similar expereince, with a private school. I am still angry about the 2 years of tuition I paid for babysitting services. We were young and inexperienced parents. We trusted that our child was getting the highest education, because ... afterall... it cost a lot of money. That simply wasn't true. She was a straight A student when we were told that she wasn't ready for the next grade. This school suggested an intense summer school program, in order for her to advance to the next grade. I was shocked! This was a child that never brought home even a B. We made a decision to move her to another private school. We told the new school her situation and she attended the summer school program. Her first year there, she was very very behind. The new school wanted us to work with them, in getting her back on track. There was constent communication between the school, her tutors and us. It was the best decision we ever made. As far as her social life, she made new friends, and came to love the school as her own. She's in 7th grade now, and is doing very well. I see in her younger siblings that they don't have to work as hard for their grades. They were given a better start, they never went to the other school. I never once saw any of this coming, I thought that she was doing fine becasue her grades were high. I learned a hard lesson in life. Funny, but one year after we pulled her out, the old school closed. It's now a daycare facility. My point in all of this is that there are great public and private schools, as well as bad public and private schools. Finding one that meets your needs may take some time and effort, but it's worth it.
I agree with some and disagree with others. The whole situation comes down to two things- the education system of America is not current with modern trends and NCLB is severly flawed. You have to ask yourself why is the United States 14th in the world when it comes to education? Why is more money spent on non- education programs(Footbal for example) than on advanced educational programs? Why is NCLB failing our children and keeping our children behind the times?
Public schools are trying to do a hard job with the resources handed to them by goverment funding. I applaud those who are active in Parental involvement and trying to help their children to succeed. But, for others it is simply not enough when you have to deal with apathetic school staff. It used to be that most young people dreamed of being professors and teachers
by the droves, now it is "what's in it for me?"
I hear the pain of those who feel that it is not just our jobs to educate our children, but a working partnership between home and school without complications.
I am not one to bash the American education system, but fact is fact and that the only one that suffers is our children.
