76- PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION..."FACTORIES"?...INSIDE A SCHOOL THAT DOESN'T WORK!

I'll set the standards first...most persons think and analyze in terms of empirical knowledge...what they see, hear and read around them. That's normal. This examination will explore why the direction, generally, of public education is headed for a factory near you, with too much individualism thinking and creativity gone awry. Every school is different, and one cannot, by far, speak for all. Some of us can speak only from the schools closest to us. There are, of course, plenty of schools, administrators and educators who do not fit into the coming empirical situations but other situations will be brought out. Any hasty generalizations are definitely not included.
1) SOLs: the rush for "accountibility" of teachers has been a farce over the past ten years, especially via the SOLs. The 'tests' were mysteriously composed by 'committees' of those who should have known all of the skills necessary to compose them in the first place. I know in particular about the World Geography SOL. At first teachers had no guidelines, really, about the perimeters or extent of World Geo material. Teachers were left, if lucky, up to their own instincts as to what should be taught in their classes. Eventually, guidelines were created somewhat.
And that World Geo 'test" had come down to 70+ questions...out of thousands and thousands of World Geo possible facts that should be studied in a good World Geo class! So, over these short years, all of this comes down to a hit or miss test for 70+ questions that determine whether a fresman in Virginia passes or not. And we're still not sure exactly how the pass-fail line works when the test is graded and returned. For some time, too, the SOLs have been returned late, past, often, the time that schools were given the option of students not having to take the final exam, like a carrot dangled in front of them, if they passed that SOL.
No where on the SOL "test was there an opportunity for a student to use his or her native intelligence or learned skills to solve posers and advanced problems on the total scope of World Geography! Those mystery commitee persons practiced for years on our children trying to figure out how to make and grade the SOLs. And, by the way, the public still doesn't understand what has transpired in full! A "factory" is what some of us call the entire process.
It's called TEACHING TO THE TEST!...it's called a "factory'.
2) Hiding the real state of the union message within your local school!
The public and parents do not see what actually happens behind closed doors, only what administrations want you to see...that's what is called a conspiracy, meaning two or more collude to elude the truth. Over the years at a local school, "who is in charge here" cropped up with consistency...a pattern of major concern for the safety and health of students and staff. Once, the electricity for the entire building went off...for hours. it was discovered that there was NO plan on what to do and the emergency power was not operational! Candles were passed out for use as all sat in darkness for all of that time. Finally, the school administration and powers at the central office of the school system called for buses to bus everyone home.
Happened again...and again over time!!
Another period of time bomb threats were called in, and everyone was sent out into frigid weather...no time nor mention of how to secure freezing weather clothing. No plan again. Students wandered around the campus, trying to keep warm. Some even started a campfire. And finally many gravitated to cars to sit in to keep warm. Immediately, they were told to "get out" of the cars. Buses eventually came. No one was allowed, on a Friday, to retrieve clothing or books before being home!
Another time, another bomb threat.... Students congregated on the parking lot, with a group grabbing one small boy, with many others watching, and beating him. A brave girl squeezed in and shielded the pumelled boy from kicks and hits. No adminsitrators around but one teacher who protected both the both and girl, dispersed the MOB. Not one 'thansks' was given to that teacher by any administrator in any form!
Another incident after a school day...one teacher came outside, leaving for the day, and came upon two boys beating a lone boy. Not one helped at that point, just standing around watching...mob rule. The teacher moved in between the two beaters and lone beaten boy and called over and over for help. No adminstrators nor teachers came. One teacher was seen leaving quickly. The teacher who did get involed was covered with blood...no administrator afterwards thanked that teacher for helping with that mob rule!
Another time...and still another bomb threat. Students and staff were sent outside...warm weather. It was discovered that ALL of the administrators were off campus, and one secretary had to figure out how to handle the immediate threating safety concern for all. Nothing, no decision came forward for some time, except NO bathrooms!...NO returning to the building!
3) Working my way through high school and college at a small grocery chain, I was excited to finally get to teach and get away from persons who often were petty and vindictive, etc. WRONG...those kinds of people are in every part of the world where we work for a living. And education is no exception by far.....
4) The Peter Principle!..."...an employee within an organization will advance to his or her level of incompetence and remain there." Boy, do I think of a few known over the years! And this type of declared PP is a menace who undermines a school when entrenched. One would head up to the principal's office checking out the latest, and make a special trip to the main division's office compound poking for what the rest of us called the "nasties". Didn't matter one iota whether any "nasty" was the truth or not. Anyway, think about what kind of person would do that to a fellow educator...see? And even worse, if an administrator had any semblance of smarts, the PP would be reprimanded for what he/she was! Not the case in any of the cases of a PP. They were allowed to perpetuate their nasty actions...just like in a factory.
5) Administrators as Peter Principles!..."I can think of only one administrator who stood high above, with excellent principles and adminstrative skills, since beginning teaching over 25 years ago," a Business teacher admitted in a private interview, for fear of retribution.
6) Retribution!...sneakily getting revenge by an administrator on an educator who speaks out or disagrees with dubious policy is a common practice under the table inside enough schools. The administrators who have done it, do practice it, are as unethical as society gets. The unethical dirty tricks are all practiced below the table, cleverly and out of the public's view.
Ethics?...cleverly kept away from the public's knowledge?
7) Are you beginning to recognize a pattern here in just one school system? Maybe it's time to clean house a bit, starting at the top and working through the ranks of some administrators who have forgotten, or never knew what creative and inspirational teaching was all about...maybe.