Get your kids out of government schools

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I never said it was superior and the point of my comment went way over your head. My point was that my kids provide the Catholic perspective to their school. Or are we not supposed to care about others any more?
 
I worship God and no other. I don’t cling to ideologies, including isolationism.
 
Also, I never said our school was better. Academic superiority is also not something I worship.
 
Yeah, my children are going to the school where I teach, which is currently considered the 2nd most ethnically diverse elementary school in the state. I fully believe that is one of our greatest strengths. Not only will my kids meet and play with wonderful kids from other races, nationalities, and religions, they will also get to discover that not even all Catholics are white and rich!
 
It’s the nature and design of institutional learning that it works well for most people. The model we inherited, that is used in nearly all brink and mortar schools was designed mostly during the industrial age, when the purpose was to prepare children for a lifetime career in a factory, making a living wage, and if they were bright, maybe ascending to management. This isn’t the world we live in and the model of schools in general isn’t changing fast enough to accommodate that. When our kids are adults, possibly half or more of the jobs that are available today will be replaced by technological advances. The truth is, we don’t really know yet what we are preparing kids for. So schools are refocusing, teaching students how to learn, design, research, communicate, and problem solve rather than focus on specific content. In the past decade, nearly all resources were used for trying to prod that bottom 25% of students into the “basic skills” category, so they could get a living-wage union job in a factory that doesn’t exist any more. Now schools are aiming for personalized, mastery-based learning. All students and all levels are getting more attention and appropriate work for the level they are on. Instead of a teacher standing in the front of the room regurgitating the same information for everyone who happened to be nine years old that year, regardless of where they are academically, lessons are designed around the individual student and what skills they need to develop next in each separate subject area.
 
A diverse school is superior for several reason. From a practical standpoint, a school that is set up expecting diversity will have a teaching staff with a more diverse set of skills for handling all the needs of a diverse population. If you have a child that requires services for a disability, for language needs, for advanced instruction, or for medical needs, a school that is set up for a diverse population will be able to assist your child reach their fullest potential while that Catholic school will gently tell you that they “aren’t a good fit” for your deaf child, your ADHD child, your gifted child, and the child you just adopted from Guatemala. That brings us around to your claim that your Catholic school is “out preforming” all other schools. Is it really? How are you measuring that? Do they only accept and work with students who would do well with little specialized instruction at any school they attended? You are going to have a hard time convincing a teacher who helped two students who came in with no English move up three grade levels in language and a child that hated school because they were bored stiff get excited about math because they are working at a higher level that’s more appropriate for them that another teacher is “superior” to them because the same kids that came in privileged, learned what was expected for privileged children to learn that year, and left more or less the way they came in. The true measure of the quality of a school is GROWTH. A school set up for diversity is going to show a greater level of growth than a school that caters to only one group of people. The school where I work has a very high level of growth. Last year we got 100% AYP for the second year in a row, which is practically unheard of. All of our subgroups showed a high level growth in all subject areas, including those with IEPs and those on free and reduced lunch plans. (notoriously the hardest groups to move up) 95% of our ELL students graduated to middle school at their grade level in communication arts. In our district, we have the highest graduation rate for black students and student in the free and reduced lunch category. We have some of the highest numbers of students who get over a 30 on the ACT and who receive college credit in high school. We are in the top 10% of schools in the country for minority students going on to college and graduating with a four year degree. We have almost a 90% placement rate for our seniors in some sort of college or vocational training program. Last year, we received a reward for our work with students who are registered as homeless with the state. Not a single one dropped out this year. And we have two homeless shelters within our district boundaries. Frankly, only an idiot would try to argue that a Catholic high school full of privileged white students who would most certainly be graduating and going off to college regardless of what school they went to is “out performing” us.
 
Now, you might say, “But my kids are “normal”. What’s in it for us?” I would say, “a lot”, particularly if you want them to be practicing Catholics. The benefits of being included in a group of diverse students are tremendous, even to Average Andy. Students in a diverse school learn to be comfortable around those who look, speak, dress, and believe differently than they do. This is an advantage to them when they become an adult member of the community, employees, and potential employers. Fear or discomfort around people who are different often leads to discrimination, hate, and racism, which aren’t going to get anyone anywhere in this day and age. Students who work along side students with academic and social difficulties learn compassion, gratitude, and problem solving skills. Students who work with those of different faiths learn to discuss and defend their beliefs respectfully. Students who work in an environment where individual students’ strengths are encouraged and allowed to excel learn new skills and ideas from those students and learn how to build others up, rather than tear them down. In short, exclusive schools prepare students for an exclusive world, while diverse schools prepare students for a diverse world. Only one of those worlds is reality.
 
But according to some on this thread, somehow I have to fix it for every person in my neighborhood (or possibly the country) before I look to my own family.
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I think the issue is that no one else should be “left behind” if you know what I mean. Pensmama, I know you can’t fix the world (and others in the thread, please forgive me) but what ideas (if you could) implement to help fix education for others who are not as fortunate?
 
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Have you watched “Race to Nowhere”? It was on Netflix when I watched it. Every single “more tech more competition” supporter needs to be sat down and shown this documentary.

http://www.racetonowhere.com/
 
My son spent his entire education in “government schools”. He was a little nerd, from Jr High on carried a paperback sized Catechism in his backpack (because he frequently entered debates in our heavily Baptist area).

He was never questioned when he came to school late because a Holy Day of Obligation Mass was at 8 AM, he wore his ashes on Ash Wednesday.

He wore pro-life T shirts and participated in the day of silence. He made the SOTC and prayed before meals.

He wrote his AP English final paper on “Anti Catholicism in America”. He took on the school system when he was still in Jr High and the anti-Catholic “Left Behind” series were part of the A. R. reading program. Ended up with them adding some Catholic books into the library. He stood up when non-Catholic programs (Gideon Bibles were given away free yet Catholic Bibles were not) where pushed, had spirited but respectful debates with to his AP History teacher over how the Catholic Church was portrayed.

He was well liked and popular even though he chose not to date (he did not want the drama). Played sports until high school when the very proudly Baptist coach kept calling his best friend a slur three letter/six letter word that begins with “f”.

On the positive side, I have had teachers pray with me during parent/teacher conferences. They knew I was a person of faith, they were as well.
 
Planned Parenthood works to get in to every school district (often under a different name, so, one has to be very aware of them). We parents were able to keep them out of our local school system by saying “no” and outing them as the supporters of the “educational program” that wanted in.
 
Allegra said:
Students in a diverse school learn to be comfortable around those who look, speak, dress, and believe differently than they do
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This! It’s one of the (many) issues I have with my kids’ Catholic school. They (the school) are super proud of how all the kids there are Catholic. There may be a handful that are a minority but the majority are white. There is hardly ANY diversity. How are these kids going to learn to deal with anyone who is different from them? They live in a bubble and they’re proud of it…it’s quite concerning. For the record, I had no idea what this school would become when we enrolled them 3 years ago. It was a new school and they’re currently on their third principal…problems abound. The only way we can afford it is b/c our state has a voucher program. The current tuition is about $5400 per student per year.
 
Angel_Gabriel said:
They (the school) are super proud of how all the kids there are Catholic.
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That’s really not typical for a Catholic school. I don’t think its anything to be proud of, that all the children are Catholic, but most Catholic schools have sizable numbers of non-Catholic students in attendance. They had a story in the local paper a few years ago, talking about 3 local catholic elementary schools, and how they are all more than 80% non-catholic
 
The Schools here (both public and Catholic) have the “Accelerated Reader” program. Kids select books from a wide assortment and each book has a certain point value. After they read the book, they take a test to verify that they did read and comprehend the book. It is an ongoing competition between classes and between students who earn prizes and awards for accumulating AR points.

It instills a love of reading and grows livelong readers! Kids can still earn points if they are reading below their grade level and are not capped by a certain grade level.

Check to see if your school participates in A R because then your kids can select their own books!
 
I agree that it’s not always typical but it’s also not uncommon especially depending on the area. Our old school had more non Catholics in it but not by many. The catholic high schools have non Catholics but again, they’re in the minority. Most of the catholic schools in my city are filled with catholic kids. Their parents often belong to the parish. We are an exception as we’re Eastern Catholic and have our own parish we attend.
 
Your local Catholic School has a financial disclosure sheet. Go to their office and ask to review a copy.
 
Allegra said:
A diverse school is superior for several reason.
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It is. However, it is also inferior for several reasons. One, there is a tendency to teach to the lowest denominator, which can hurt the more gifted students. Also, “diversity” often includes a diversity of sin, or some criminal element that can offer negative role models for children susceptible to following the bad kids. Third, diversity does not allow for a school to offer daily Mass for the benefit of the students.

I wish both sides would get over this “my side is better.” There are pros and cons for each alternative.
 
Angel_Gabriel said:
They live in a bubble and they’re proud of it…it’s quite concerning
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If it is concerning, then do not use that type of school. We really need to get past the busy-body mentality that makes us “concerned” about the choices other parents make that never will affect us.
 
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