What's Happening in Our Schools?

The end of the school year is a crazy time for teachers! Exams, final grades, trips and banquets make up the "millions" of details and events that must be attended to before that final bell.

The journalism department in my school just celebrated a year's worth of work with a banquet. It was a catered affair for which the students donned their prettiest clothes and best behavior. During the evening, I recognized the numerous awards that my students won on a national and state level with compliments, certificates, and encouragement to aspire to even higher levels of achievement for after graduation, if they were seniors, and for the coming year, if they were underclassmen.

It is easy for me to honor my students. For the most part, they are truly the cream of the crop--academically gifted, hardworking, self-motivated, ethical and respectful. They most certainly give me hope for the future, and they are really the reason why I still teach when I don't have to. My worry is that they are not representative. They are the exception.

America was once number one is the world with regard to educational achievement. We have dropped to 27th, well behind China and India. We are no longer the best and the brightest. In fact, we are struggling to stay in the race. The problem is even more magnified when I have foreign exchange students in my class; they speak and write ENGLISH better than my American born students. What has happened?

We have lost the middle class student--that strong B/C student who may or not have gone to college, but who would have become a strong, contributing part of society. We now have the exceptional student (and a far smaller group of them) and all the rest, who are disenchanted, discontented and disengaged.

They act out, choose badly, and don't have a clue what they are going to do in the future. They are disrespectful to the adults in their life. They are irresponsible, and they don't care about anything that's important, and the problem is terrifying to me both as a teacher and as a citizen who will be aged when these students will be making the decisions that impact me, my family and my country.

What makes the difference in kids? My fabulous students come from involved families that have very high expectations for their behavior and their achievements. Those students generally work in the real world too where they learn appropriate adult behavior and advanced skills, and they are busy with constructive school and church activities that encourage their talents, strengths and value systems. Even if these students wanted to engage in risky behavior, they don't have time, and they know that there would be severe consequences if they did.

There's the key--families that care and are involved in their children's lives; parents and grandparents who model and expect exceptional behavior and achievement, and activities that keep students accountable. All that should begin when children are born and be sustained throughout their lives. It's too late to fix substantive problems in high school or college. Prevention begins with good parenting.

The school system should not be adhering to the "No Child Left Behind" theory if we're passing students who haven't earned the right and appropriate education to move forward. It doesn't help them or our society to graduate students without the necessary skills to become productive. Not everyone should go to college, but all should have a skill set that can allow for success.

Parents shouldn't expect the school system to give their children a pass if they break the rules, and we should ALL be raising the bar, not lowering it, on expectations for our children to work harder, learn more, and behave in a way that makes us proud.

America needs this generation of students to do better and be better or we are in serious trouble.

To the exceptional students, whom I'm blessed to have, I thank you  for your moving tribute to me at the banquet, and for being my hope for the future. You have a greater burden than any generation before you, though. You have the lion's share of the job to put America back on the right road. I wish you strength and wisdom to accomplish the task.