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Re: [Phys-L] Private schools



We who taught and worked out butts off for so many years are
tired of being maligned by these advocates of differential
education. We took ALL kids, regardless of race or color or
religion, taught them, sent many on to college or gainful
employment and tolerated such behaviors that would have made
some of you cower and retreat back to the safety of your
beloved selective schools where misbehavior is not tolerated
(unless the misbehaving child is the son, daughter, or cousin
of the local school board member or politician).

It is easy to deprecate the schools and teachers, and if that is done too
much we will find that nobody will want to go into teaching. It is already
getting to that point.

Remember that the standardized high-stakes tests that so many of us
loathe were written almost entirely by committees of content-area
teachers from their respective states. The tests were written to assess
specific items from the state frameworks, and the frameworks were also
written almost entirely by committees of content-area teachers from
their respective states. We may have career politicians to thank for
the laws that mandate standardized tests, but we have ourselves to thank
for the tests.

In the immortal words of Walt Kelly, "We have met the enemy and he is us."
--
Jeff Bigler
Lynn English HS; Lynn, MA, USA
"Magic" is what we call Science before we understand it.