Maybe "for the masses" doesn't mean "for everyone" ...?

Sometimes I want to shout things from the rooftops, or take out a billboard along a major highway, or post to social media. But I can't. So I don't. I don't live in a world where I get to say all the things I want to say, or do all the things I want to do, because of the life I live and the profession I've chosen. So I'll use this blog as a vent for the pressure cooker that is life when you have to choose kindness and professionalism in the face of crazy and mean and ugly every time. Because, while I can't say all the things, or even get to tell my side of the story or even the whole truth, others get to put me on blast with partial stories and half truths, and then the internet trolls get to jump in and say WHATEVER THEY WANT. Alas, in this particular post I want to say something that is unpopular, frowned upon, has even gotten me labeled as "anti-" and unprofessional... PUBLIC EDUCATION IS FOR THE MASSES. THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S FOR EVERYONE. There are things that the public school system CAN'T do. There are a plethora of things they shouldn't have to try to do. In a day and age where the social / emotional / behavioral / mental / academic needs of our kids are growing, Growing, GROWING, public educators are being asked to fill roles that they were never meant to fill. Academics? Yep. Check. Got that. Teaching is what we do. It's who we are. It's the name of the game, literally. The rest of it? It's beyond the scope of our training! Entertain this analogy with me: You take your kid to the doctor, perhaps for a checkup. Your good ol' regular family practioner. Super. And all is well until it isn't. When that family practioner sees something about your kid's health that is concerning, out of the ordinary, beyond the scope of their knowledge and expertise, they REFER you to another doctor. Maybe a pediatrician, who specializes in little kids. Maybe that pediatrician refers you on again, to a doctor who is more knowledgeable and skilled. Do any of these referrals mean that the original family practitioner isn't good at what they do? By no means! It means they are trained and skilled at treating the masses. That's not the same as being trained and skilled at treating ALL the things that could ever possibly be going on with the masses. In fact, I would argue that the referrals make them better at what they do, because knowledge and expertise also recognize when something extends beyond them. And yet. When this same scenario plays out in your local public school, when educators see something about your kid's academic health that is concerning, out of the ordinary, beyond the scope of their knowledge and expertise: teachers, administrators, paras, and counselors are SHAMED because they can't figure out how to be enough or do enough. They're accused of not caring. They're told to figure it out, accommodate and modify until EVERY kid achieves success at whatever level they define it. Throw standards out the window because every child is "unique" and so are their learning styles. And when a child can't, or more often WON'T, participate in their own learning - shame on you, school. What on earth are we doing?! Why isn't it OK for professionally trained educators to say "your child might need more than what we are equipped to provide." It doesn't make us bad at what we do. Sometimes the child needs more. And in today's educational climate, too many kids need too much more than what schools are adequately able to provide. When a parent says to me that two of their child's "triggers" are CORRECTION and INSTRUCTION... I'm not sure there's much else I can provide for you here, sir. Correcting and instructing is pretty much ALL we do. In fact, those two words can be summed up as one: TEACHING. So if those are things that set your kid off, make them feel unsupported, make them feel vulnerable and challenged and stretched and uncomfortable, and YOU DON'T THINK THAT'S FAIR, you're right: public school might not be able to meet your needs. When this same family then boasts that their kid is so much more successful being homeschooled because they're "finally able to get the accommodations" that they "begged and pleaded the school district for"... uh, Bueller? No kidding! If your kid needs 1:1 attention, nope to public school. Certainly if your kid needs 1:1 attention to complete every single task and their work:break ratio is also 1:1, big NOPE to public school. And that's fine! That's what's best for your kid. It doesn't mean that public schools have failed. It means they're doing what they were created to do: educate the MASSES. I can not and will not get started on the ratio of resources spent on kids who can't or won't compared to those who can and will and are. It's not even kind of close. Two of those major resources being TIME and ENERGY. Teachers are expected to engage and entertain and make kids like all the aspects of learning. Dance puppet dance! And if kids don't? Well, what's that teacher doing wrong? The answer: NOTHING. Sometimes learning is hard, and challenges aren't fun, and work isn't enjoyable. And that doesn't make it bad for us or wrong. When a parent tells me that their kid needs a 24-hour warning before facing any consequences, "so that they don't feel like punishment"... sometimes consequences ARE punishment! Sometimes we all need to experience a little pain in the moment so that the moments happen less frequently. That's how learning works. Parents, we need to do better! We need to have realistic expectations for what professional educators can and should do, and then where we STEP IN and fill in the gaps! When I was in 3rd grade I had to memorize my multiplication facts. Gasp! The horror! Memorization?! Wasn't that boring? and hard? and time consuming? YEP! And guess what else... my teacher just taught them to us and then expected us to work on them AT HOME, ON OUR OWN! And we were expected to do it. So you know what happened at my house? By George, we worked on them. My parents quizzed me and made me use flashcards and they joined as a team WITH MY TEACHER in their expectations for my learning. They didn't accuse my teacher of not making the content interesting enough, or expect my teacher to find just the right way to make me want to learn times tables. My teacher did her job, and then it was time for me to do mine. Parents don't get to ask for POWER when they want to assume zero of the ACCOUNTABILITY. The pendulum has swung WAY TOO FAR into safety land: where we don't want our kids to experience hard things or have to struggle, or heaven-forbid, have to do something they don't like! C'mon you guys. I have to believe we want better for our kids than fast, easy, fun, and comfortable. Travel back in time and say that to the "Greatest Generation"... I hope they punch you in the face. School Officials, we have to do better! We have to learn how to REFER families on to a more specialized education. I'm sorry you've been made to feel like saying you're not able to do something means that you're not enough. You can't be fully enough for every single one. We have to hand some of the responsibility back to families. Stop bringing the therapist and the doctor and the dentist and the food pantry into our schools. Schools are for teaching and learning. By taking on all of these responsibilities, in addition to feeding kids two meals a day and having a nurse to administer meds and dress wounds, we have taken all of the work away from parents. No wonder families are disengaged with their children's learning. We've let them be! Hand it back. Stick to what we're good at: teaching. And I know what you'll argue: what about the parents who can't or won't? They'll figure it out. Or they won't. That's how the world works. There's a whole other post, or several, on the needs of our kids and why are they increasing at such alarming rates and where should these resources be coming from? I'm sure you'll be on the edge of your seat for my thoughts on that one. In the meantime, things I want to post online but won't: 1. When you pull your kid to homeschool and want it to hurt the public school's feelings... 2. If you're going to start the story, tell the WHOLE thing 3. Me being the "bad guy" doesn't make me bad. It means I care. You should try it.