Be-Think [Please visit BeThink.org]

Students, Schools, Society; When We Pass, We Fail the Whole

Please view Visual and Musical Ode: Whole Child Education

copyright © 2007 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org

Educators today learn more than they teach. However, often the lessons are as is the curriculum, limited in scope. A Math instructor tells his tale, and again the sum of the parts do not express the "whole". At the High School of Arts and Technology in Manhattan, instructor Austin Lampros received a lesson he never expected, poor, underperforming students can slide through the system more easily than a well-educated diligent instructor might. Indeed, the circumstances of pupils are perceived as special; mentors are incidental. This realization struck Mister Lampros as strange, or as the New York Times reported, A Teacher Grows Disillusioned After a ‘Fail’ Becomes a ‘Pass.’ Ultimately, this much esteemed Math guru left his position at the High School of Arts and Technology in Manhattan after a "disastrous year"

Schools, New York Offers Housing Subsidies, Bribing Educators ©

Sadly, our schools and districts mirror the shortsightedness that permeates our society. Solutions are simple and never novel. We, as a people, rarely learn from our mistakes. We repeat what was done, even if it did not work well in the past. New York City Schools are an example of this.

Today, the New York City School District offered “experienced” educators a gift; they are giving those that are willing to teach math or science in the inner city schools, a home, or at least the down payment on an abode. New York City schools are in crisis, and are taking action. Actually, they are reacting. For I believe that actions are expressions of love, we react when we fear. New York Schools, the Teachers Union, and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg are running scared. Thus, they seek solutions, shortsighted as these may be.