As
a parent with two parents as public school teachers,
a brother who teaches at a middle school in Tigard, and grandparents on
both
sides of my family who were also teachers, this sometimes can be a
touchy
subject. But, you know what? I
believe what we are doing for our kids is the right thing.
Schools today try to teach to a test or to the dumbest kid in the class, so they don’t make certain kids feel bad about themselves. This basically makes our smart children dumber and does nothing for the kids who really need just some one on one help.
But, that isn’t really what this post is about. This post is about the budget cuts proposed by our state and how this could affect our kids in the public school system that already seems to be failing them.
Our government says they
need to cut teachers salaries,
or cut certain programs, in order to make the budget in the next two
years. This is where even my 10
year old daughter can do
math well enough to figure out something doesn’t sound right.
She wanted to
know where the money was going.
You see, in
Oregon, each school gets
approximately $10,000 per child per year.
That comes to $25,000 dollars a
month when you multiply that by a classroom of 25 kids and then divide
it by 12
months. The average teacher in Oregon, with benefits package, only
makes about
$51,000 on average, according to the Oregon School Board Association.
So, let’s do the math here….
25 kids x $12,000 = $300,000
$300,000 - $51,000 = $249,000
Now, I went to college and books cost a lot per year… So let us say each kid gets $1,000 worth of books per year.
$249,000 - $25,000 = $224,000
I’m even going to
add in $2,000 per student per year
for bus drivers, electricity and water.
$224,000 - $50,000 = $174,000
My 10 year old
- “Mom, Dad, doesn’t it
only cost you about $3000 to teach all of us, including the cost of
books per
year?”
Me - “Well, Yes, that is correct. It only costs us about $3,500 for all of you, and that includes memberships to things like OMSI, The Oregon Zoo, and the sports programs for you every year.”
Daughter – “So, where does the rest of that money go then?”
Me – “Well child, that
would be the
$64,000 question and the same
reason we keep you out of public schools. Do
I want people teaching you that can need more supervisors than they do
teachers
to do the same thing”
You see, my
attitude is my kids are very
well educated and I’ve
seen many public school kids that are also very well
educated. But what I’ve noticed is, it’s those kids
that have parent help and
interaction in their lives.
I would like to see the public school system go back to the days were they had 20 kids, one class room and one teacher who taught everything, like my wife does with my kids. We don’t need principals, we just need teachers that have the right to discipline kids when they misbehave and give them the freedom to teach instead of indoctrinate.
Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739
© 2009 Todd Clark - Beaverton Oregon Home Schooling – Where public and private don’t meet in the middle
Todd Clark and the Friendly Home Team
Knipe Realty
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739
I am a licensed Realtor who specializes in Washington County, Oregon and also work in both Clackamas and Multnomah Counties including the cities of Aloha, Beaverton, Canby, Clackamas, Gladstone, Gresham, Happy Valley, Hillsboro, Milwaukie, Oregon City, Sherwood and Tigard.
All information contained in these posts are copyrighted and cannot be used without prior written approval authorization from the author me Todd Clark. If you are looking for an outstanding agent please give me a call I would love to help you with all your real estate needs.
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TC,
We had 50 kids in a class...everybody learned...and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything...!!! :) Thanks, Fran
I agree with you 110%!!!!!
Todd- We have had many conversations about this and you know we are on the same page. The disgusting thing about the "No Child Left Behind" system is that more and more children are being left behind. It's just a fact that this system has not improved statistics on underachieving kids in any way shape or form. The only thing that has happened is that the schools have decreased the learning requirements. Let's get rid of the grading system and make it so that kids either pass or fail and if they pass it is because they have mastered the course work, not crammed for it!
Todd, as a homeschooling mom in a former life ;-), I totally agree with you. Things are way out of whack. In fact, I'm not sure they can be fixed. It would be best if they scrapped the whole system and started over. Even our homeschool co-ops were better than the best classroom.
Okay, I'll get down off my soapbox. Sorry!
I believe wholeheartedly in homeschooling. We're committed at this point, with a 7 yr old, 6 yr old, and 1.5 coming up fast!
Fran - That is because they had discipline, can't do that today for the fear of being sued!
Jeannette - YEAH! Somehow, I knew you would!
Seraina - I hope you and Oscar can work it out so you can have those few hours a day to be able to give your children a better education.
Heather - I think they could be fixed, but it would take privatizing them and taking them out of the governments hands. Please never get off that soapbox for two reasons, one we need to educate the public to what is really going on and 2nd it makes you look taller. (LOL)
Jeff - You are going to make a great Mayor!
Well, Todd, as you can tell, I feel strongly about it. My son is now in a private high school and it has given me a great appreciation for the obstacles that teacher face and the dedication they have to do what they do.
Todd - I grew up in Finland, we had one teacher, 20-25 kids, (later graders more teachers) and Finland has one of the best education in the world (according to some). I feel extremely frustrated with the schools in our area, which are ranking among the top in the state. Yet, I can see it's not working + now there are more budget cuts and I feel things are going downhill fast. I have a 2nd grader and a toddler and for the last 2-3 months I have been seriously considering home schooling. My gut tells me this is what I should do. ~Rita
Todd- Well you and everyone on AR already know what a homeschool advocate I am. I homeschooled 5 children all the way to college and through high school and now homeschooling our little 6 yr old. I am just too much of a rebel to behave for public school. I want my children to ask questions, learn in their own learning style- last week my 6 yr old was doing his spelling words while standing on this head- and to be thinkers. And also to learn a love for Jesus and the Bible. If you raise your children unto the Lord, the Lord will make sure they have everything else. I believe in teaching my children about being responsible, earning money, experiencing the entrepreneur lifestyle we have, support them in their dreams.
There was an experiment: they followed the same group of kids for the entire public school years. In Kindergarten they asked the kids if they liked to do art, if they liked to read, if they liked to sing and dance. ALL the hands go up! They are so excited.
In third grade the same questions were asked of the same children and only about 2/3 of the hands went up. They asked again in the 6th grade and less than half of the hands went up and then they asked at the end of 8th grade, and only 10% of the hands went up. Their dreams were killed, smashed, destroyed.
This is not what I wanted for my kids. They love their dreams and most of them live their dreams still to this day.
When they took God and Prayer out of school- that was the end of my support for public school. When they tell you that your child has to be on Ritalin, ( they did to my first born son in Kindergarten) or else he can't go back to the school, that was the end of my trying public school. My list goes on and on.
But as far as your math goes, you are right, there is so much wasteful spending and fraud in the public school systems, you know who gets the money? Not the teachers but the leaders of the Unions and school board politicians.
Todd, I homeschooled my older kids for 8 years and then made the decision I thought I'd never make - put my kids in public school. Worse yet, the oldest was entering public school as a junior-higher...what was I thinking! The truth is, it was a decision my husband and I made together believing it was the right decision, even though it didn't make sense to us. Being involved parents we knew it was our responsibility to remain involved, and that we weren't handing our kids over to someone else, or a system, to raise.
Seven years later I can look back and say I don't regret the decision. My kids have done great, live with purpose, are involved in extra-curricular activities, and are constantly challenged to excel. Maybe we're the exception, maybe our involvement has made the difference, maybe a little bit of both. My oldest is now a Freshman in college with the intent to major in International Affairs and the next 3 in line to graduate all know what they will do post-high school.
Being in the public school system has caused me see things differently than I had before. I've met some fantastic teachers who really care for my kids and kids in general...they really do want the best for them. I don't agree with everything and I understand better that I have a responsibility to speak my concerns. Not every parent will, can or wants to educate their own children. In fact, my opinion is it's the absence of parental involvement that has helped shaped the public school system. If parents would parent than teacher could teach, which most of them thoroughly enjoy doing.
Heather - With my family all being teachers I get to see both sides and I can tell you it sure helped in my decision.
Rita - My wife will be doing a guest post here soon to talk about the program she uses to teach our kids and the trials it brings. I'll e-mail the link to you once I post it.
Katerina - That is why I hated school. I had one teacher that just was called a dream smasher! But, she couldn't be fired because of the union. She technically didn't do anything wrong besides take kids that were happy and crush their dreams.
Joddie - I think it has a lot to do with parental involvement, but the problem is 95% of the parents don't get involved and the poor smart kids get punished for it.
I hope you're right. I'm not sure the local school teachers and administration will be jazzed to hear a (gasp) homeschooler is running for mayor!
Todd - excellent I will look forward to reading it. As I have no clue where I would even start. ~Rita
Jeff - You mean they don't want an intelligent non status que person in office?
Rita - I will certainly email it to you once I have it online!