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TPS Proud! Say What?
By Lafe Tolliver, Esq
Guest Column
Well, the "partial" results are in as to the grade
cards that are issued by the educational oversight committee
in Columbus regarding how well high schools are
accomplishing their mission of educating their students.
And for as Toledo, it ain't a proud thing to speak
about. I know...I know...everyone can read the stats in
their own way and they can issue public relations statements
touting their achievements in order to try to militate
against the report that has been issued. But.
The “but” is that in this case, the "numba's" tell the
tale and not some slogan about being, "TPS Proud!" (with all
apologies to Romules Durant, the super of TPS).
The initial report card grade was a glaring and eye popping
"F.” Not a lot of pride there, I daresay!
Listen, I am all for catchy phrases and whirlwind of
public appearances so as to try to showcase that TPS is on
the right track and that things are looking good! But.
The “but” is that things are not seemingly looking
good for the indefatigable Durant or for the now-chagrined
TPS teachers and administrators.
No, the chronic challenge for TPS as it has been for the
past few decades is that TPS has not been in the win column
(an A or B rating) since Noah built the Ark.
It does not take a genius for anyone to know that the
educational system in the public schools in Toledo is in a
chronically bad fix. If students cannot do math or science
or read at their grade level (and that has been happening
for decades), something is wrong in the Land of Oz and you
do not need a wizard hidden behind a smoking screen to
figure it out.
Let me give you my take on the problem and let's see
what happens and also what you think about it. I will
divide my musings into three easy to digest morsels:
Morsel One:
Teachers cannot teach and
administrators cannot administer. Note:
this is not an indictment of the serious and dedicated
teachers and administrators who do a Herculean job within
their job duties...so if someone chafes about this, it is
akin to the apothegm that when you throw a rock into a pack
of dogs, only the dog that is hit, howls.
I contend that since the system is in chronic fatigue,
that it invests in bringing in outside and proven trainers
who can help turn around an urban school system for the
good. In-house fixes have not worked and will not work. TPS
is a closed system and if they contend or believe that they
have the in-house resources to right the listing ship, that
is part of the problem. They are fooling themselves.
If the TPS system is assigning the majority of its
newly-minted teachers to the "inner city" schools and is
letting the seasoned teachers go elsewhere, that is a
problem.
If teachers whose first contact with minority children and
with poverty is only via a text book or watching BET or
Aspire, they are doomed to frustration and failure.
Class and culture are butting heads in the classroom. Both
pupil and teacher lose.
If administrators’ hands are being tied as to getting
rid of the tenured clock watcher teacher or the uninspired
teacher or the lazy teacher who thinks teaching is a breeze
job with great retirement and summer off benefits, that
needs to change...now.
If the board of education is populated by political has
beens or those who want to start a political career (or are
using a school board slot as a landing pad from a busted or
prior political career, or they just like seeing their name
in print), they need to go.
As a lawyer who for some 30 years has heard tales of woe
from teachers in the classroom about how they were
mistreated by administrators and from parents of students
who told stories of teachers not teaching or not even being
able to teach, TPS has a problem that will not go away with
slogans. Bring in outside help...now!
Morsel Two:
Parents who won't
parent.
What can be more frustrating to a teacher than having a
student in his or her class who is totally oblivious to the
educational setting and will not even try to learn and when
the parents or guardians are consulted about this student,
the parents clam up and blames the school.
To all parents and guardians out there: Take note. You
are the parents and you don't stop parenting when you come
out of the delivery room of the hospital with your child.
Parenting is 24/7 and that includes your active
participation and involvement in the learning process for
your Tan'neshekay or your De'Antwone.
You do not get a bye if you send your kid off to school
without his or her homework completed...or if the child has
not had breakfast or comes to school with a cold.
You do not get passing marks when you are not giving
constant discipline and encouragement at home to your child
so that he or she can enjoy learning and will respect the
classroom and the teacher in the classroom.
Although poverty can be a serious obstacle to the
learning experience, research has shown that family
expectations communicated to the child as to both her
positive self-esteem and imparting learning as a highly
valued goal, is a major factor in that child believing that
she can accomplish the task.
If the home environment does not set standards of
excellence (and accordingly less TV time and
computer/texting time), that message will be lost in the
shuffle.
If the parent does not speak with the child about the
importance of reading and Problem-solving skills, the child
may not take it to heart that education can be his ticket
out of a bleak situation. Good example? Dr. Ben Carson.
Don't be part of a system that trains your child to be
a flipper at a hamburger palace or to be placed on a
conveyor belt to a prison wearing fashionable orange
jumpsuits.
If the parent does not exhibit or model some standard to
their child that there are consequences for not learning,
the child will not transfer that value to the classroom and
understand that she or he must tow the line and be
affirmative in not "dropping out" or running with the pack
of kids that have no positive educational compass.
Morsel Three: A society that minimizes "geeks.”
When did learning and the love to learn become an
object of jokes and ridicule?
How stupid are the movies and TV programs that portray
people who learn and who acquire knowledge as being awkward
and buffoons and nerdy!
And then to hear some black kids say that if you learn, you
are trying to "be white!" What a devastating lie. Since when
are educational accomplishments now the exclusive domain of
whites?
If anyone buys into that sucker lie, they are on the
road to misfortune and misery because this society demands
and requires high school graduates who are accomplished and
erudite.
When companies chronically complain that they cannot
find enough high school graduates to fill basic
manufacturing and technical slots without enrolling them in
post high school tutorial programs, there is a problem in
the public school system in America.
In my opinion, competent and caring teachers should be
at the high end of the totem pole as to respect and honor
and pay. The high end. For it is they who have the training
and duty to pass on to future generations the spark of
learning that can stay with a child forever and when that
spark is not sparked, society pays for it, big time.
Don't believe me? Check the juvenile courts and jails
and prisons and dropouts to see how many were encouraged by
their parents to be academic achievers.
So, whenever you get a chance to assist a student in
learning, quickly and gladly do so because you are looking
into the face and eyes of your future.
Contact Lafe Tolliver at
Tolliver@Juno.com
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