Every discussion of school reform includes the assumption that the public schools should be able to “educate every child to his full potential.”
What nonsense.
The only children who are going to develop to their “full potential” are those who have enough to eat and at least one adult who pays attention to them and monitors their school progress.
The best we can hope for from all public schools are high school graduates who can
- speak and write a standard form of English and
2. read well enough to avoid being manipulated by merchants and politicians.
So far even this minimal hope is not being realized.
Public schools are wonderful resources, but no matter what state or national laws are passed, some schools, teachers, and administrators are always going to be better than others. And some children are going to come to school better prepared to learn than others.
Parents and caretakers who want an educated child cannot afford to depend on the schools to do it all.
The school’s part in your child’s education begins when the child enters kindergarten.
Your part begins when the child is born.
The best elementary curriculum in the world cannot make up for what a child should have learned at home.
The five year old who begins school behind, stays behind. Education begins at birth.
A few reasons why it’s unrealistic to expect public schools to be able to “educate every child to his full potential”:
Children of incarcerated parents
[...] Schools Can’t Do It All [...]