Start the New Year right with constructive, common sense ideas from Nancy Bailey. Nancy is a retired teacher with more knowledge in the smallest digit of her smallest finger than the average “reformer.” Unlike the reform sloganeers, she truly puts children first.
Nancy starts with a few sensible suggestions of things you can do, then proceeds to identify what matters most in building good schools that meet the needs of children.
She opens:
As we approach 2023, let’s make this the year to unite for the common good to reestablish and promote public education for all our children.
A public school system relies on a country that values education for all its children no matter family religious beliefs, the color of one’s skin, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability. Americans collectively fund public education because those schools belong to us. They reflect the never-ending societal changes that make us better people.
In your community, look to see how you can serve the students in your public school. Get to know your local schools and their difficulties by attending school boards. Seek to support not break down the school.
- Volunteer to help a teacher
- Tutor a child
- Attend a school function like a school play or sports event
- Ask what skills you might have that could be useful for the school or children
- Be a part of career day and explain your work
- See if you can support sports, the band, or other extracurricular activities
- Seek to shore up your local school by helping fund a school initiative if possible
- Attend school board meetings seeking to show support
- Brainstorm ways you and others can get behind your public schools
We care about everybody’s child through public education. We know that the annoying teen next door may grow up to discover a cure for diseases, or they could be the plumber who fixes our pipes during a winter freeze. As a nation, we believe that all our children matter, not just for what they will someday do for us, but because they are our children!
There are many reasons for Americans from both political parties to hold hands regarding their public schools because we all want our children to get the best education possible.
Open the link to read her list of the necessities of a good school.
If crazy extremists are showing up at your local school board meetings, participate and protect your local schools. Consider running for the board yourself.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Happy New Year, Nancy!
We can always count on Nancy Bailey for sound suggestions and advice. Parents should take an interest in what is happening at school board meetings. Parents and concerned members of the community should try to be informed and know that it is fine to question, but not to make unfounded attacks or allegations. Parents like staff members should try to follow the chain of command in resolving issues. A classroom issue should start with the teacher, then the principal. Unresolved issues should go to the central office, and policy matters should end up with the school board.
I would urge parents to keep track of how school districts are using the technology in the classroom. Computers are useful tools whose use is best left up to teacher discretion and curricular goals. Any attempts to require students to spend hours a day sitting in front of a screen should be met with skepticism as there are physical, mental, academic and privacy concerns about the overuse of computer technology, all of which Nancy Bailey has documented on her blog. The pandemic proved the shortcomings of online instruction. Parents should understand that expanding technology generates a lot of money for wealthy special interest groups that would like to eliminate teachers from teaching in order to reduce the costs of education. Replacing human teachers with machines is not in the best interest of the nation’s young people.
Nancy is always making good suggestions. The “Nancy list” is a regular perusal for me.
In other news from the new year, check out Ivanka Trump’s looks for recess in the prison yard.
Sorry to have introduced such frivolous matters as fashion in a thread of such importance!
Fact of the Day
It isn’t widely known that Donald Trump is actually the afterbirth of The Beast of the Apocalypse.
It’s so important to have sane people show up at school board meetings, too. Don’t let the nutcases on the right be the only voices!!!