I'm going to retry this. The tiny URL worked when I tested it, but =
didn't in my post. This article is really good.
The first post read:
Frosty Troy, editor of the Oklahoma Observer, wrote this editorial some =
time back. It was recently reprinted. I find it inspirational and worth =
sharing.
For those of us public school educators who face more=20
funding cuts, less help and larger class size with more challenging =
students, this article is a reminder to us that we are important and we =
do make a difference.
=20
I Am Your Public School: Embracing All Of God's Children=20
By Frosty Troy, Editor
The Oklahoma Observer
I am your public school, a 200 year-old experiment giving America the =
strongest economy in world history. We are 88,000 buildings in more than =
15,000 districts. And we are as diverse as this great country.
This fall I embrace more than 46 million children; for most of them, I =
am their only hope for future success.
When the buses roll up, my doors are flung open to children of all =
shapes, sizes, levels of ability, some in wheel chairs, geniuses and the =
retarded, average and the developmentally disabled. They speak more than =
100 languages, including Mong-the Cambodian highland children who came =
here with no written alphabet.
I represent "home schooling" at its best for I am the "home school" of =
10 million latchkey children.
Some of you would judge me by test scores but I would remind you that a =
test only measures one dimension of a student's development-only in that =
subject on that day depending on whether the student tests well.
Although my SAT math and science test scores are at a 33 year high, and =
my ACT scores are up for 11 consecutive years, I remind you that those =
tests don't include foreign language, music, art, drama and other vital =
extracurriculars.
If some of the children fail, it isn't for lack of trying by the faculty =
and staff-among the most dedicated and least paid among the industrial =
democracies of the world.
My dirty little secret is that many of the 11% of children who drop out =
are the products of sorry parenting-parents who send me children who are =
undisciplined, unwanted, unwashed, unloved; some strung out on drugs and =
alcohol; some abused and neglected; and few who have ever been taken to =
a church, synagogue, or mosque.
The miracle is that my doors are open to all of them and many are =
reached-not by textbooks alone but by teachers who know there is more to =
a child's life than rote learning.
For thousands of kids, the only hug they ever get they get in school.
It is painful to be accused of failing African American children. That's =
a calumny. Our greatest hurdle is that half of African American children =
are born to single moms, creating a whole new set of problems for the =
schools.
My plea for more early childhood education goes unheeded, yet there are =
hundreds of millions of dollars for more tests.
I grieve when I hear critics say I am "secular" because no specific =
beliefs are taught in this pluralistic system. But when it comes to =
doing God's work-we're on duty every day.
Last year more than 30% of the students got their only hot meal in our =
cafeterias. Thousands of poor children find decent clothing and =
underwear in the school clothing closet filled by faculty, staff, and =
PTA moms.
Teachers spend nearly $600 of their own money for things like workbooks =
and pencils for needy children.
Role modeling, not mantras and Hail Marys, come from a teaching =
profession that provides more Sunday school teachers than any other =
profession or occupation in America.
Aren't feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and nurturing the little =
ones spiritual injunctions in all the great religions of the world?
No school prayer? I wish you could hear the thousands of reverent, =
whispered entreaties sent heavenward from students and faculty every =
day. God's presence is palpable.
One of the prayers I overhear most often is, "Please God, give me the =
patience to get through just one more day with these kids!"
Some would mock our athletic programs, yet for many of the boys, coaches =
are often their only male role models. Teamwork and sportsmanship are =
enduring principles that millions of our graduates have translated into =
successful careers and successful families.
Some say I should prepare more students for college, as though college =
is for everyone. We are the only education system that educates the =
student to the level of his or her ability-doctor, mechanic, engineer, =
nurse, computer manager, or carpenter.
America is third in the world in college graduation rates-nearly 25% =
with a four-year degree or more.
Who says there are no heroes today? Did you see the biographies of those =
rescuers who died in the World Trade Center tragedy? Firemen, policemen, =
union members, emergency workers-90% of them public school graduates.
I am passionately committed to the belief that God gives children =
different gifts, and we alone address all children whatever their gifts. =
We play no favorites, taking all of God's children.
My most precious possession is more than five million special education =
youngsters-we alone address their needs. If your heart ever needs a =
lift, visit with a Downs Syndrome child happily employed, thanks to =
public education.
I suffer the slings and arrows from those who stress my shortcomings in =
order to defund public education. Yet my students outscore students in =
the average charter school.
Repeated studies show that when students are matched in family =
structure, family income and family education attainment, public school =
students do as well or better than parochial school students.
Defaming public education in order to promote vouchers for religious =
schools is an egregious miscarriage of education's mission. I am held =
accountable by my school board-every dollar spent. Vouchers require zero =
accountability.
Yes, my corridors have known random acts of violence, yet the FBI says a =
child is safer in my arms at school than in his or her own home.
Thanks to the vision of our forebears. America had a 100-year head start =
on every other nation in creating universal free public education. =
Today, with all its flaws, it is the finest system in the industrial =
world.
I leave no child behind but some of you would dim my lights, leaving in =
the shadows the poor, the halt, the blind, the lame and the special =
education student.
You would use public school dollars to construct new forms of theocratic =
education, yet the U.S. General Accounting Office national survey showed =
that one-third of my buildings are dangerous and unsafe-yet no help is =
forthcoming.
Do as you will, but for me, I will stand proudly in my neighborhood. =
America's last egalitarian institution, my arms embracing the finest =
educators, administrators, and support personnel in the world-dedicated =
to helping our children realize the American dream.
=A9Reprinted by permission from The Oklahoma Observer [P.O. Box 53371, =
Oklahoma City, OK73152], August 25, 2002.
To Cite this article copy and paste the following URL and add article =
name:=20
www.ChristianEthicsToday.com/Issue/041/Issue_041_October_2002.htm =
"Article Name"
Jan Cole
LMS=3D20
Horace Mann Elem
Duncan, OK.
N2books@cableone.net
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