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Jun. 26th, 2009 01:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
somedaybitchJerry Pournelle snarked, and not necessarily unfairly, these kids, and yet reading the entire article, I left it nodding in approval at the small steps and the raw courage of both the students and Green Dot.
asbexxa is fond of saying recently, to which i both cling to and agree with wholeheartedly, chop wood, carry water.
i went to catholic school 1-12. i am deeply indebted to my parents for that choice. sure, from their point of view, there was no choice; they were staunch catholics - personal issues and demons aside - and we needed educating. my dad viewed public school as a punishment, should my brother or i misbehave - being the utter snob that Dad was - but at the same time neither he, nor my mother, ever disparaged the public school system to us. we even got sent to go to summer school, which were only at the local public schools, and there was never any looking down upon either the teachers or fellow students. it was simply a logical choice to them of sending their kids to parochial school because the family was practicing religious. i appreciate that from them as well; especially from my mom when we were kids, we weren't "better" than other kids, we simply went to the schools of our faith.
i can, thus, wholeheartedly empathize and relate to Pournelle's point. on many levels, as a taxpayer, what comes out of public schools - and what goes on in public schools - makes me want my money back....and yet...i find myself irritated with him for so simplistic, or maybe reductive, an argument. teachers shouldn't have to be responsible for teaching students proper manners, mores and decorum. that's what parents are for. teachers can only do the best they can with what they're given.
we have choices, then, as a society; we can recognize that not everyone coming into the public school system - and honestly, the private school system isn't exempt either - is going to be properly prepared for school and our schools will try and do the best they can, or we can "blame" the public school system for its imperfections and argue against continued funding. Green Dot looks like they're showing progress at schools like Locke. i call that a win.
chop wood. carry water.
as
bexxa is fond of saying recently, to which i both cling to and agree with wholeheartedly, chop wood, carry water.i went to catholic school 1-12. i am deeply indebted to my parents for that choice. sure, from their point of view, there was no choice; they were staunch catholics - personal issues and demons aside - and we needed educating. my dad viewed public school as a punishment, should my brother or i misbehave - being the utter snob that Dad was - but at the same time neither he, nor my mother, ever disparaged the public school system to us. we even got sent to go to summer school, which were only at the local public schools, and there was never any looking down upon either the teachers or fellow students. it was simply a logical choice to them of sending their kids to parochial school because the family was practicing religious. i appreciate that from them as well; especially from my mom when we were kids, we weren't "better" than other kids, we simply went to the schools of our faith.
i can, thus, wholeheartedly empathize and relate to Pournelle's point. on many levels, as a taxpayer, what comes out of public schools - and what goes on in public schools - makes me want my money back....and yet...i find myself irritated with him for so simplistic, or maybe reductive, an argument. teachers shouldn't have to be responsible for teaching students proper manners, mores and decorum. that's what parents are for. teachers can only do the best they can with what they're given.
we have choices, then, as a society; we can recognize that not everyone coming into the public school system - and honestly, the private school system isn't exempt either - is going to be properly prepared for school and our schools will try and do the best they can, or we can "blame" the public school system for its imperfections and argue against continued funding. Green Dot looks like they're showing progress at schools like Locke. i call that a win.
chop wood. carry water.
