Does Anyone Think They Got A Bad Public School Education? Inspired by Voucher Thread

[catherine]

Well, in Virginia they are supposed to be "stopping" all of that with the Standards of Learning (SOL) tests. But I'm sure there is a way around it.

My cousin graduated and can barely read. I know he has some type of learning disability that was never explored/diagnosed, etc. Fortunately, he was able to overcome this and went the "mechanical/trade" way of life. He is a mechanic, a master electrician, and a home builder and makes millions of dollars. Unfortunately he still cannot read well and this is an embarrassment for him. It made it very hard for him to pass the tests he needed for his career. I'm not sure that I can blame the schools for his reading problem, but they definitely had a part in it--and to think he NEVER failed a grade.

What I don't understand is why would his teachers pass him if he wasn't able to do the work? It must've been obvious to them that he was failing! It doesn't make any sense to me at all.

 

[bcvillastwo]

I went to public schools in Fairfax County, Virginia from 1966 to 1970. I have to be honest, I didn't care about school at all when I was in high school so I didn't put forth much effort. However, based on my SAT scores, I must have acquired some knowledge but you would never have known it based on my grades.

Ihe knowledge I acquired came primarily from the elmentary schools I attended. In those schools I leared to read, write, and do basic arithmetic. I also benefited from the Virginia school systems emphasis on history and government.

However, things changed during the summer between my sophomore and junior years (1969). In hindsight I characterize the change as going from a ridgid to a permissive culture. One of the most notable changes was the dress code--it was essentially thrown out the window. At the time, I thought the changes I was witnessing were great but now I realize that those changes were just the start of a long, gradual, slippery slope. Of course I was still very wet behind the ears and had no idea what the implications of these changes would eventually come to mean.

To conclude, I know I managed to acquire the basic things necessary to function in our society but it was acquired before I went to high school. After barely excaping high school I went on to 4 years in the Marine Corps and from there to college where I did very well and graduated with a degree in accounting.

 

[Christine]

What I don't understand is why would his teachers pass him if he wasn't able to do the work? It must've been obvious to them that he was failing! It doesn't make any sense to me at all.

Makes no sense to me either. We all knew it was a problem, no one discussed it, and he passed every grade fine. Now, there is no doubt in my mind that my cousin is as smart as anything, but he cannot read well for some reason. Maybe they just kind of ignored the reading part and looked at his other strengths?

 

[Christine]

Interesting about the dress code. In what way did it slip?

I remember being in elementary school from 1967-1975-ish and having to wear dresses for the most part. It then relaxed to pants for girls. Even when I was at my "bad" high school, we were NEVER allowed to wear shorts to school, never (and we had not air conditioning). At some point, the dress code drastically changed.

 

[Karel]

Makes no sense to me either. We all knew it was a problem, no one discussed it, and he passed every grade fine. Now, there is no doubt in my mind that my cousin is as smart as anything, but he cannot read well for some reason. Maybe they just kind of ignored the reading part and looked at his other strengths?

On the other hand, how long do you hold him back? My son is in 8th grade but only reads on a third grade reading level. Should the school fail him because of his reading disability? Should he be in third grade still?

Now, I'm not saying he shouldn't get help and maybe he did. Just because you can't read, it doesn't mean that you can't do math, or social studies or science. At some point, you teach skills to function and move on.

Also, sometimes it's easy to look back and forget certain things about the past.

Could I have gotten a better eduction? Probably.

Could I have been a better student? Most certainly.

 

[castleview]

Could I have gotten a better eduction? Probably.

Could I have been a better student? Most certainly.

Oops! I forgot about that...then again I was perfect. Me take responsibility, please!

 

[mickeyfan2]

I was lucky to go to a great school. We use college text books and did not know it. With that said, I still could have been pushed a little harder. We did get homework, but only English was difficult for me.

 

[mickeyfan2]

On the other hand, how long do you hold him back? My son is in 8th grade but only reads on a third grade reading level. Should the school fail him because of his reading disability? Should he be in third grade still?

No he should not be in 3rd grade but how can he be considerd a full 8th grader if he reads at a 3rd grade level? There needs to be some sort of program for him to help bring up his reading. How can he do history without the needed reading level? I am not making fun of your son, just wanting to understand how this happens (as it happens all the time) and how to fix it.

 

[nordkin]

I think I got a very sub-par public high school education.

I went to high school from 1979-1981 in the Prince Georges County (Maryland) public school system. I remember back then that very few parents were ever even involved in the school or helping their kids make choices. I know mine didn't. I was an only child and my parents lavished lots of attention on me, but it never occurred to them to be involved in my schooling or question anything that did or did not happen.

All throughout high school, I rarely had homework, never had to study, and always made As and Bs.

I never was assigned one "classic" piece of literature to read. We spent the bulk of English Literature watching filmstrips of Shakespeare and having our heads on our desks.

I was never prompted to take a math course higher than Algebra 1. When it was over, I was told I could take more electives.

When it comes to World History, I know nothing. In fact, I just got finished reading a fiction book (based on non-fiction) about Cleopatra. I was *stunned* at the outcome. When discussing it at work today, I realized that I was the only person who really knew nothing about Cleopatra, Marc Antony, Julius Caesar except that they existed. This is not the first time.

Fortunately, my elementary and middle school education gave me a good base and when I got to college I ended up being able to "overcome" this. Plus, I consider myself to be an avid reader so I think I compensated for a lot of stuff on my own.

But when I think back to my high school days, it just makes me shudder.

I remember meeting with my guidance counselor about college and he was encouraging some of my choices because they were "good party schools."

I would have to say that my experience with my own children in public school has, fortunately, been much different. But I was wondering if anyone had a crummy experience also?

I too was in the Prince Georges County Maryland school system for my junior and senior years of high school. 1973-1975 Potomac High I went to that school system from New York state and when I signed up for the advanced science and history classes, I got what I had already had in the basic classes in New York. I feel like my last two years of high school were a waste academically, but were wonderful socially. Even today all 3 of my kids have gone through Montgomery County Maryland schools in one of the top rated high schools in the country and they too were not prepared for college. It is my opinion that the high schools are not doing what is necassary to prepare the kids for college and that is why so many colleges are having to add remedial non credit math and English classes to bring the kids up to where they need to be. We having to pay the colleges to do what the high schools should be doing. I could go on forever on this subject as we have sued the school system the last three years to cover tuition in a private school for my youngest because he was not getting an education in the public school. The sad thing is we have won every year and the school system still says they can educate him. I am just glad he is due to graduate in June.

 

[bcvillastwo]

Interesting about the dress code. In what way did it slip?

The first think I remember is being allowed to wear blue jeans which was followed shortly by being allowed to wear tee shirts. We staged a protest in front of the school because people were being sent home if they were wearing jeans. (James Madison High, Vienna Virginia).

A year and 1/2 afer I graduated I was visiting my younger brother during lunch at James Madison and things had changed even more. The girls were wearing extremely short dresses, jeans, tee shirts, see through blouses (sometimes with no bra underneath). As a young fella I had no problems with the way they were dressing but even then I could tell it was undermining the learning environment. Even now I can't believe what I saw that day when I was visiting the school.

 

[kydisneyfans]

I graduated in 1991 from a school in Ohio--I would say that my education was overall good, but could have been better. I had straight A's my first 2 years of college as everything was learned in high school.

We were forced to read certain books, most of which I did not like--when someone is forced to do something- it turns them off for life. I have not read any book, other than the bible, since high school because I grew to dislike reading.

I also wish we had learned more "real world" things-we had to learn the table of elements and county seat of each county in the state--but did not learn real life things like how to balance a checkbook and computer technology. I have not used calculus since high school.

We have since moved and I feel our DS is receiving a much better education in KY (imagine that) than Ohio. It's not all rednecks here.

 

[Microcell]

I went to Royal Oak MI Public schools, and they were okay in the early 80's, now the population is not voting for schools often in the polls.

I also went to Dearborn MI schools, and they are not accredited right now I believe. They were awful. Really bad. Bring on the vouchers!

Also went the last two years to Shawnee Mission (KS) schools, and at the time they were the best in the nation. They face problems now due to the baby boomers aging and not having kids to vote for important measures, and of course causing the population to decline at schools.

 

[jonestavern]

I have a catch as catch can education
DDad was in the military, between that & having a redistricting, for me, kindergarten through high school I attended to 13 schools!
While in grade school, (in Warwick, RI. in the 1960's) I had one teacher say, in front of the class, that the Navy kids weren't going to be here long enough to make a difference & there was not much point in counting our test results!
To yet some other teachers, from southern TX, up & down CA, etc the military kids were invisible--well, unless Dad was base commander!
At the same time we had many wonderful teachers who really worked with us, I mean, they spent time with us after school each & every day until we caught up
Hats off to Mrs Brown of TX who taught DSis how to read--in the 2nd grade, she had an excellent memory & fooled everyone else--she spent every day after school for weeks. Mr St Jacques of Potowomut School in Warwick, RI for seeing to it that I caught up & chastising another teacher for ridiculing my accent--
I could go on
what saved us is that Mom & Dad were readers, we were not well off, but always had time to visit the library & money to buy books. We had newspapers & were expected to discuss the editorials & news stories at meal times. we were avid museum goers & the more difficult the crosswords were, the better. We played Scabble, chess, brainteaser games etc. We had music & dance lessons
I took the GED & passed with a perfect score in everything but math--that I did only average on--
I loved learning & would have loved to have had a challenging, classical education--

Jean

 

[punkin]

My grade school education was in private schools. I went to a public magnet high school. My education was exceptional.

 

[olena]

I had very few good things to say about my high school, and my father moved us to that district because he was seduced by high test scores and other acclaim. I faced so many obstacles with them as a legally-blind student....lack of accommodations, prejudiced and hostile faculty and harassment from classmates. It was worse for my brother, who had low vision and a learning disability to boot. He actually dropped out and my parents had to fight with the county to allow him to enroll in a nearby high school, where he eventually graduated. I later learned that my Alma Mater was sued by parents of other special needs kids over these issues just to force them to comply with Federal laws. After that period, I returned there to complete my student teaching, where I really had my eyes opened. I heard so many teachers complaining at lunch and saying horrible things about their students, especially ones with disabilities. I was also asked into the principal's office, so he could inform me that there are no teaching jobs for people like me and that the best I could hope for was to be a para-pro. Then I learned the Dean of my college visited the school with my professors to persuade my Alma Mater to accept me as a student teacher, since they didn't want me there.

I have no use for my high school and will probably send any kids I may have to private school or educate them myself.

 

[clarabelle]

I went to a poor rural school in GA.
Football was more important than teaching us - many of my teachers in HS were coaches that would do stuff like get the guys to help them lime the fields while the girls just sat around on the bleachers.
No way will I let my girls have the poor school experience that I did.
My senior year of HS I wanted to take classes for the entire day -but there wasn't much for me to take so they encouraged me to leave early and go to work everyday.

 

[dturner]

I think I got a very sub-par public high school education.

I went to high school from 1979-1981 in the Prince Georges County (Maryland) public school system. I remember back then that very few parents were ever even involved in the school or helping their kids make choices. I know mine didn't. I was an only child and my parents lavished lots of attention on me, but it never occurred to them to be involved in my schooling or question anything that did or did not happen.

All throughout high school, I rarely had homework, never had to study, and always made As and Bs.

I never was assigned one "classic" piece of literature to read. We spent the bulk of English Literature watching filmstrips of Shakespeare and having our heads on our desks.

I was never prompted to take a math course higher than Algebra 1. When it was over, I was told I could take more electives.

When it comes to World History, I know nothing. In fact, I just got finished reading a fiction book (based on non-fiction) about Cleopatra. I was *stunned* at the outcome. When discussing it at work today, I realized that I was the only person who really knew nothing about Cleopatra, Marc Antony, Julius Caesar except that they existed. This is not the first time.

Fortunately, my elementary and middle school education gave me a good base and when I got to college I ended up being able to "overcome" this. Plus, I consider myself to be an avid reader so I think I compensated for a lot of stuff on my own.

But when I think back to my high school days, it just makes me shudder.

I remember meeting with my guidance counselor about college and he was encouraging some of my choices because they were "good party schools."

I would have to say that my experience with my own children in public school has, fortunately, been much different. But I was wondering if anyone had a crummy experience also?

Sounds like my experience also - I graduated in 1980 - back then, you could graduate early and since I had enough credits I only spend 1/2 my senior year in school.

I only took 1 Science class in high school (freshman year) after that you didn't need any more Science;

I only took up to Algebra 1 because after that you didn't need any more Math;

I never ever read any literature classics in high school English, guess I was lucky, I don't know;

History - I had a football coach for History during football season - he spent the entire class every day outside in the hall talking to the other coaches, I don't think he taught us anything;

Now that I think about it, what did I do for 3-1/2 years in high school?????? I remember daydreaming looking out the window alot.

Parents: my parents never ever looked at any of my report cards, never asked about homework or anything I was doing in school, guess they didn't care, good thing I was an ok, average student.

Homework: what's that??? I remember doing very little homework.

 

[Christine]

Sounds like my experience also - I graduated in 1980 - back then, you could graduate early and since I had enough credits I only spend 1/2 my senior year in school.

I only took 1 Science class in high school (freshman year) after that you didn't need any more Science;

I only took up to Algebra 1 because after that you didn't need any more Math;

I never ever read any literature classics in high school English, guess I was lucky, I don't know;

History - I had a football coach for History during football season - he spent the entire class every day outside in the hall talking to the other coaches, I don't think he taught us anything;

Now that I think about it, what did I do for 3-1/2 years in high school?????? I remember daydreaming looking out the window alot.

Parents: my parents never ever looked at any of my report cards, never asked about homework or anything I was doing in school, guess they didn't care, good thing I was an ok, average student.

Homework: what's that??? I remember doing very little homework.

dturner: WOW! Sounds JUST LIKE my experience. I just shake my head thinking about it. There was absolutely NO encouragement to push past the required classes. If I finished Algebra in 10th grade, why wouldn't they offer me the option of another math in my junior year? I know the higher classes were offered, but I still haven't quite figured out HOW those kids got in the other classes? Believe me, I was no dummy--but I keep thinking somewhere along the line, someone must have given me a "secret IQ test" and I must have failed miserably.

 

[Philadisney]

all public schools are different. i grew up in the suburbs of CT, and went to public school there through 9th grade. i hated it. i didn't get along well with the other students, there weren't very many activies or classes that went beyond the traditional "math, english, science" etc, and i was always getting into trouble. in tenth grade my parents considered sending me to boarding school, then decided to give the local public city school a try. what a difference! i had amazing teachers who inspired me to take art classes that ended up leading me to become a film major in college, i had wonderful oppourtunities in the school's theater & music programs, and was able to work with a huge variety of students from all different backgrounds. the classes were much more challenging on the whole (there are always a few negative experiences) and i absolutely loved my last three years of high school.

 

[monsterkitty]

I received an excellent education in the public school system.

No he should not be in 3rd grade but how can he be considerd a full 8th grader if he reads at a 3rd grade level? There needs to be some sort of program for him to help bring up his reading. How can he do history without the needed reading level? I am not making fun of your son, just wanting to understand how this happens (as it happens all the time) and how to fix it.

Schools cannot hold students back because of learning disabilities unless there is an extreme circumstance. This is the law and schools must follow it.

Not every child is going to read a grade level because some do have disabilites. We can teach them to read to their abilityand hopefully even beyond it. However, no program is going to take a child with a severe or even moderate disability to grade level in reading if reading is what is affected with the disability. A child should not be punished for something they cannot control and to these kids holding them back because of a disability is beyond punishment. The same goes for all other subjects as well.