Amy Prime teaches second grade in Iowa. She has some excellent ideas for billionaires, millionaires, heads of corporations, and politicians who want to reform schools.

If you really want to help, listen to Amy

Categories Childhood, Pre-K, K, Support for public schools, Teachers and Teaching

13 Comments Post your own or leave a trackback: Trackback URL

Uncle Bruno says:

August 16, 2013 at 8:11 am

If you really want to help, give your money to people who know what they’re doing (i.e., teachers). They’ll put it to good use.

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Deb Emerich Stahl says:

August 16, 2013 at 8:38 am

She nails it – this needs to go viral!

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first grade teacher says:

August 16, 2013 at 8:58 am

Amy, I like how you think. I would want you to teach my kids. I would want an articulate teacher. I would want a compassionate teacher. I would want a fighter for my children.

Since my kids are in college, you will not get the chance to teach them. But they had many teachers along the way just like you. And they had these teachers in a large, urban, public school district. If a teacher didn’t measure up, I was there, as a parent, to bridge the divide.

You are a hero for speaking out publicly. Well done!

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duckmonkeyman says:

August 16, 2013 at 8:59 am

We know corporations care more about educating our kids than teachers. That is why we have Happy Meals and iPods.

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jean sanders says:

August 16, 2013 at 10:05 am

This is not the best place to put my comment; but here it is, sorry
The MA state department of education evidently has the NCTQ (Kate Walsh) ratings of teacher preparations and they are making gross over generalizations. I will go back and see what postings there are on NCTQ but I need lots of help. Also, I am writing a FACT Sheet for some parents/taxpayers in Albany and I would like anyone to edit it for me who is willing thank you.
jeanhaverhill@aol.com

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Glo says:

August 16, 2013 at 11:02 am

My comment is probably misplaced as well… I am playing the devil’s advocate here and will pose a question: As a parent I know that fundamentally Amy is spot on; however, what options are available to parents whose local schools are failing and dangerous to boot? Charters may be the only pathway to a free and excellent education at this time. Some of these local schools have been neglected for decades… a 3rd grader doesn’t have even one decade to lose in terms of an elementary and high school education that will prepare him for higher education. How do you balance a family’s personal need to educate its young with a country’s need to turn a failing educational system around?

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- dianerav says:
  
  August 16, 2013 at 11:18 am
  
  maybe the charter you choose will be worse than your “failing” public school.
  
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  - Glo says:
    
    August 16, 2013 at 11:37 am
    
    Every charter isn’t a good fit for every child, nor is every traditional public school and you are correct, perhaps that will be the case for some. All charters are not well run. Some are certainly in a worse state than traditional district schools but parents are desperate, and many are willing to take a chance on an unknown charter than placing their children in a school that is known to be a failure. What are parents in lower income areas with failing schools to do while they wait for reform? I assure you I am not touting the accolades of charters… I’m looking for solutions that won’t take a decade to implement. I too am the parent of school aged children. I have one academically gifted child in a charter who is doing quite well and one entering a private school who is dyslexic and was failed by the same charter.
  - Bill says:
    
    August 16, 2013 at 4:33 pm
    
    Yes, maybe the charter will be worse than the public school, but it is different right now. Hundreds of frustrated parents are trying to send their children to charters because they are looking for an help. That alone should send a signal to all that there is a problem.
- Dienne says:
  
  August 16, 2013 at 11:56 am
  
  What do you mean by “failing school”?
  
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  - Glo says:
    
    August 16, 2013 at 12:39 pm
    
    Hi Dienne. By failing I mean a school where violence is rampant and children are regularly held over. Class sizes are large and teacher and student attrition rates are high. Speaking to neighbors whose children attend, they allege the teachers and administrators are mostly unprepared and unresponsive to parent requests. The school has consistently received failing grades, but I know how misleading the grading system is. However, due to the combined accounts of parents and students who attend, I would say there is a definite dearth of positive experiences happening in this local school. In my mind that would classify this school as a failure to the kids bound to it by virtue of sharing a zip code and geographic location with it. Kids deserve an environment where they are safe from harm and where they are encouraged to learn. They deserve a place where there are competent and seasoned educators who want to be there and enough resources to facilitate the process of learning. This local school falls short of all those things.
- crunchydeb says:
  
  August 16, 2013 at 12:28 pm
  
  Parents can show up en masse to school board meetings and make their voices heard, individually and collectively. Parents can write to papers, and to lawmakers and policymakers. Parents can get informed and make noise.
  
  Is this always successful? Well, no, it isn’t – but until it’s tried, ALL of it, that would be a guarantee of no change, pretty much.
  
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duckmonkeyman says:

August 16, 2013 at 1:50 pm

Interesting perspective:

http://progressive.org/alec-diary

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