The parents can only do so much.
Now, many are able to participate in their children's education and be sure they do what they should.
But there're a lot of single parents out there trying to do the best they can, but sometimes that's not enough.
Then there are the parents who shouldn't be, but are. Their kids get no parental guidance.
I'm sure we could come up with many examples of children who are marginalized in our society.
And they go to school. And they get drugged and passed along because no one wants to deal with the facts.
Politicians pass laws so they can say they are doing something about it, but all they're doing is exacerbating the problem by creating unrealistic standards that the teachers (already overwhelmed with regulations) have to meet.
No child left behind. What a joke. Teachers have to teach the children how to pass the tests, doesn't matter if they learn anything.
Merit pay for teachers. How do you compare the accomplishments between teachers in a well to do school with those of a teacher in a class where no student who starts the year is there at the end of the year? In fact, some teachers have had up to three complete changes of students during one school year. Many students are there for only a few weeks before their family moves somewhere else.
I don't know if there are any full solutions, but those that will help cost money. A teacher with fifty children in one classroom simply cannot teach them all, so one step is more schools and more teachers.
People learn differently. One child who seems to be distracted and restless gets labeled ADHD because it's easy (Not saying ADHD doesn't exist, it does. It's just overdiagnosed), when in fact the child may be bored because what's being taught is too simple for bright children. So we need to identify the abilities of children and get them in programs that can keep them interested and teach them. More money.
These are the things that most teachers want. But most education budgets are spent on management frills (they're not union by the way). Just like the private sector, those in management seem to feel that they are a privileged elite and will resist any attempts to change their comfort level.
And so they dismiss any calls for positive change as "throwing money at it". That way they can avoid facing the fact that they are the problem.
