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Re: [Phys-l] How Much Value is Added at Elite Institutions - Response to Haim #2



Try living the life for real !

I take that to mean that we have a certain situation and it can't change. I have never taught in an inner city or otherwise poor- socioeconomic school, but I have worked with teachers, and observed the goings on, in such schools. I recently visited a school in Nashville where there were feces in all the urinals. The students who helped me in setting up for my workshops (this was an honor position for the students) could not, for the most part, compose a grammatically correct sentence. I agree with most of what you said in your post, but that doesn't mean we should just sit back and say that's the way it is. Why should any teacher have to do his or her job in a "war zone"? If you don't want motivated students to receive vouchers to escape their situation, then why should we not work to clean up the schools they're in, so they can learn without major disruptions? Not only are schools pressured to accept students who have been expelled, it is almost unheard of for students to fail classes and have to repeat a grade. We end up "graduating" students who can't read and write. If students graduate without even being able to function in society, what's the point in keeping them in schools to the detriment of students who want to be there?

Bill



On Jan 27, 2011, at 2:57 PM, Marty Weiss wrote: