Austin public schools... fed up?

H

Hu_Fan

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I'm not even sure how to address this or what I'm asking or bitching about... so I'll make a few quick comments.

I have a daughter in Hill Elementary. It was okay fora year or two. Now, by the 4th grade, I'm completely fed up.

Maybe it's AISD (Austin Indp. School Dist), maybe it's the State of Texas, I'm not sure. But I am at my wits end over what somebody thinks is conducive to a modern education at this level.

I have never in my life seen as much fluff and over-selling of academics, in all my life. It's as if school has turned into a carnival, as if every subject has to be dolled up, packaged, marketed, fluffed up with designs, layouts, projects, and every imaginable twist and turn.

- The "Wednesday Folder" is sent home with the students, inundating the parents with enough material that I'm now in favor of polygomy. I need a wife to be a wife, which might include her own career, and one to handle elementary school social life and marketing/fund raising. Then another wife to supplement the teaching that apparently can't be done in seven hours a day at the school.

- Math is taught by some method imported from Mars or Uranus. Division is now done in a minimum of two ways, I'm told there are even four ways. Yet, the child can't even master one way. Go figure.

- I think by now my daughter knows more, or cares more about, Texas history than any other academic subject. But it's not significant history, it's more like focused on patriotism and falling in love with characters over time, and I think it has well-prepared her for theater or comic book writing. It's what I think the word "fodder" was invented for.

So... where am I going with this.. Okay... here.

Can anyone in the Austin area vouch that possibly the Dripping Springs or Lake Travis school systems are more advanced or reasonable or realistic than AISD? I have to think about moving pretty soon, because if Murchison and Anderson are no better, then we have to leave Austin or come up with another plan.

Private maybe, or home schooling. Is this "whatever" that they call public education actually a thing that comes from the State government imposed system? Or do the local schools just make all this up? I'm afraid to voice too much criticism now at the local level because my child's base of friends is important to her, and I don't want to rattle too many cages. This local school is a massive social gathering and is highly focused on the complete fluff of socializing more than anything. It's the closet thing I've seen to outright indoctrinating a child as I could have imagined. They could sell my daughter on just about anything on earth in the spirit of social bonding.

I'm thinking any day now she will come home wanting a uniform and a badge and to begin joining a special focus group that ... whatever.

Meanwhile, I'm working hard on math facts to teach her the basic foundations of mathematics. She's not too excited about that, though. She's mostly interested in ... well... socializing. And anything to do with crafts, art, fluff, happy, smiley, etc.

Maybe when she graduates from an AISD elementary school she'll be just about ready for kindegarten somewhere else?... She will definitely not need any more training in art. I believe we just about own half of Michaels by now and she's probably more ready to go to Los Angeles and go into theater, or to New York and get into marketing and public relations. Most of what she understands in the educational system is all about theater and marketing...

Hummm... she can always be a politician.

But in general, is there any place left in America where schools actually teach subjects? Where the school itself is... well, actually a school?
 
I think you've just described public schools. They're either doing the above, teaching how to take the TAKS, or giving up on kids and letting them drop out.
 
I have no advice except to say its funny to hear the other side. My wife teaches 4th grade on the East side. She cannot assume parents will help with homework. Frankly she cannot assume that there will even be one home, frequently its a single parent working two full time jobs. She cannot assume that there is a dollar for the annual library book sale, or for valentines cards. She cannot assume there is a dollar for crafts. She cannot assume that a parent has $2 to purchase shiny rocks for the field trip. She cannot assume a kid has a snack if they have the latest lunch, even though they get to school at 7am and don't eat til 12:45. There is no time for Texas history, science (except for the 5th grade), poetry, or art projects. Every minute of each day is focused strictly on writing, math, and reading. Her kids haven't had recess since August, since that is when there is another round of intensive math tutoring and drills. She has called CPS for suspected abuse more times than a parent has volunteered to help in class (this year 1 to 0). She won't use district practice writing prompts asking about parents, since too many of her kids parents are either aren't around, or in prison. One because he killed the other parent. She had a kid freeze on a writing prompt because it asked what their favorite toy was. They didn't have a toy. Not a single one. Lunch can be pretty rowdie, but it could be worse. Some of the kids eat for three, even the greasiest most disgusting sloppy joes the USDA surplus D meat around... because its possible that's the only meal they may have that day. Many parents cannot make it to parent teacher conferences... how do you take the bus from your day labor site to be there on time? Kids are always coming in sick, because there is no one home to take care of them, because their jobs don't allow time off. Sometimes her kids come in late, how do you punish a child for being late when they are 9 years old and they dress, feed, and get themselves to school entirely on their own? At the end of the year she gave out pencils with the kids name on them (online a 20 pack is like $1.99 a kid)... and many of the cried, and vowed to never use them.

In general I agree with you. You wouldn't want to send your child to my wife's school, although its heavy on the no-******** teaching, its also 95% remediation. Any up to par kids are bored. Surely there is a place for less frou frou teaching, but with a focus on achievement and advanced topics.

But speaking as a bored/gifted/lazy former elementary kid... I hated the busy work cutesy projects with a passion. Ironically that was half my graded work at the b-school, so maybe you could say I was well prepared.
 
Some RRISD schools have a reputation for pretty strict academics. The school my mom teaches at sends kids to resource if they are on grade level. Everybody else is working on work that is designed for the grade level ahead of them.
 
Eh. I wouldnt say that its truly a Lake Wobegon where they think they are smarter (or more above average) than everybody else. They just know that most of their kiddos come from a stable home situation and can do the work.

I teach in Pflugerville. The kids that I have that come from a good background are every bit as smart as RRISD kids. Unfortunately the % of kids that come from an ideal home is fewer here. The academics reflect that.
 
My understanding is that schools in Texas are ****** up.

I have a 20 month old and (-)3 month old. I already have the 20 month on in a private Presbyterian day care/school two days a week starting in Sept. (my wife is Catholic, I don't care what "sect" you claim). The (-3) month old will be on the list to go after a year or so, too.

All of my friends are looking to send their kids to additional programs like Kumon or private schools, and we teach our kids stuff we didn't learn until who knows when. (The other day, my 20 month old son said a word I didn't know until I was 10 or older... I forget what word... although it might as well be "computer" or "laptop" because he knows those, and they didn't really "exist" then... they did, but not like now.)

This is in the city and the burbs of Houston... Houston, Aldine, Humble, Pearland, Missouri City (the "good side"), Ft. Bend, Cy-Fair... I don't know anybody in Katy.

"Good schools" are only as good as the parents, usually. (Apple -> Tree). It seems parents are too busy trying to pay the mortgage on the McMansion and drive the Lexus and the kids are too busy in Little League, AAU, Pop Warner, and all of the stuff that is supposed to be fun, but is now WAAAAY out of whack in terms of priority.

Public schools, in general, are not so good any more, but public schools in Texas are pretty crappy - even the "good" ones.

Most teachers do not suck, but the system the have to teach in is not really conducive to teaching. Lots of teachers do suck, but not most.
 
My neighbor teaches 7th grade English in AISD and is fed up with it herself. She's planning to move out to Dripping Springs before her kids get to school age. I don't know much about it, but she claims it's a much better district.
 
If you are complaining about the Hill, Murchison, Anderson tract you likely won't be happy at any public school in the area.

Yes, they ask the parents to be involved to raise money so that they can have the best opportunities. And yes, they ask that you help put a little time into school. But you're going to have that in private school, at DISD or at LTISD. Parents just have to be involved to make a difference in the school environment. And coming from someone with a parent that taught in East Austin, they'd love to have the "problems" that you're complaining about.
 
Not if the teacher struggles to effectively differentiate the daily lessons. The ED kids get bored or lost, act out, and disrupt the flow for everybody else. If the teacher targets their time and attention to the ED segment of the class, then everybody else loses out, gets off task, and the value of the lesson/activity is diminished.

The theory is pretty, but the reality is that the low end ******* kids **** it up for all the others when they get mainstreamed.
 
When I was in HS, in the late 80s, we were grouped. Honors > Advanced > Remedial (I think)

The one non-Honors class I was in was awful. I can't imagine having every class like that.
 
Not to hijack, but have any major presidential candidates addressed our educational system? There's a huge problem in the US - we don't seem to place an emphasis on education like other countries and its already starting to hurt us.

I've taught for the last 3 years here and spent 1 summer teaching English in Europe. Both of my parents are life long educators. I'm no expert, but we have some huge effing issues in our educational system. Enough for me to be done after this year.

Some schools are great - no school can tailor it's programs to each student. The parents are the biggest factor in education - if a parent cares, a kid will turn out alright. Sadly, I deal with the opposite all to often. Our faulty educational system is a product of a dysfunctional society.
 
Yeah, Im a first year teacher. There are so many problems that I wont even get into it.

The reason that the presidential candidates dont talk about it is because people dont care. The same uninvolved parents are the majority of the voters out there.
 
I can't speak for the current state of Dripping Springs ISD but I'm a product of the system. I graduated DSHS in '04 and I would say it's a very good district overall in academics. It's very competitive at the higher level and for the most part I felt like I had very good teachers throughout. I believe the district has been exemplary (if that means anything anymore) for quite a few years running but I'm not positive. They also built a brand new elementary school much closer to Town (~5 minutes from Oak Hill) if that factors in.

My mother has been a teacher at Sunset Valley Elementary for about 30 years and I see the amount of total ******** she has to put up with, always makes me wonder how it gets worse and worse each year.
 
I spent an extra year in college getting certified and I was fired after one year for telling the truth about how ****** up the Texas system is.

My Dad was a teacher and my brother is a teacher on Long Island.

Parents have to go to the school supplies store (Burnet and 183) and buy materials for the next grades and get their kids the the advantage they will sorely need.

I'm now a parent of a 2nd grader and a 1st grader. If I could offer one bit of advice to all parents it is to get your children reading...steadily build a library...and talk to them what they are learning.
 
My fiance is a 4th grade teacher at a school with a similar demographic to Hill, and the original post allows me to see the type of issues she deals with and by which she is so frustrated. The only part i'll comment on is math, because that is where she experiences the most frustration and the original poster sounds just like the parents she has to deal with who just don't get that the way math is taught has evolved over the past 25-30 years since he was in the 4th grade.

Numerous parents think their children are getting a substandard math education due to the fact that long division is not in the 4th grade curriculum (set by the state, mind you, NOT the teachers). The parents don't see the relevance of teaching kids strategies that help them understand the math that explains why algorithms such as long division (which is in the 5th grade curriculum) actually work. They would rather their kids just be able to "plug and chug" with the method they learned 30 years ago. As an intelligent human being, I think it is great that kids are required to solve problems using at least 2 methods as it encourages their actually understanding what they are doing and hopefully will encourage them to think about whether or not their answers make sense. The teachers encourage parents to work with the kids at home, and if the kids are ready for it, go ahead and teach them long division. My fiance has several students who use long division as one of their methods, but not all the students are ready for it, so why confuse those students further.

Meanwhile the same parents who are complaining about the curriculum are sending their kids to school not knowing their math facts, which are absolutely necessary to correctly perform the algorithms they want the teachers to teach. Long division doesn't work if you don't have single digit multiplication tables memorized cold (kudos to the orig. poster for working with his daughter on this-my fiance's job would be so much easier if all parents did this).

Another reason parents are complaining is because they don't understand the homework the kids are bringing home (again, teaching strategies have changed) and they cannot help with (i.e complete) their homework. It would me far more helpful to the teachers if parents just made sure the kids attempt the homework to the best of their ability so the teachers know what each kid gets or doesn't get. Perfect homework (which doesn't even count towards grades) makes the teacher think the child understands the assignment so the child will miss out on extra attention from the teacher if there is an area where they need help. Furthermore, about half the parents are furious that the kids don't bring home enough homework while the rest are furious at the excessive amount of homework.

My fiance (and i suspect the teachers at Hill) works virtually every night of the week and several hours every weekend doing her best to provide the best education she can to kids that she adores (for $40k a year). The ungrateful attitudes from parents that she and other teachers get (like the one expressed in the original post) help explain why so many of the best teachers leave teaching. Half of the 4th grade teachers at my fiance's school (who are all excellent educators at one of the top public schools in the state) are contemplating quitting after this year due to such issues with parents. It isn't the kids, its the parents that makes it a nightmare.

By the way, the purpose of Wednesday Folders is to keep the insanely demanding parents aware of what is going on at school. Trust me, the teachers don't enjoy putting them together and their existence can be traced directly to the demands of parents. I sure as hell didn't take one home when I was a kid.

Sorry for the lengthy rant-I get to hear these rants several times a week so it feels good to finally let one go!
 
I've spent some time driving around Dripping Springs and visiting friends. All those people aren't moving out to Dripping Springs in droves because they love the long commute back to Austin every day. They move because the academics are excellent, standardized scores are high, parents are involved, the schools are new and clean, crime is very low, gangs are non-existent, and drug problems are at an acceptable minimum.

Dripping Springs is a "Stepford" community of smiling, normal-looking, predominantly-white, middle-class families, without the snootiness, pretension, or requisite Mercedez or BMWs of Westlake or Lake Travis, As another poster mentioned, the brand new elementary school out there, "Rooster Springs," is actually halfway between Dripping Springs and Austin. It's pretty impressive from the outside; I assume the inside is too.
 
Well, last year my 3rd-grader got the following note sent home, "Caylin ain't got no homework tonight."

Of course, I live in Knoxville so maybe I've set the bar too high to begin with....
 
I'm also frustrated by the state of public education. I have a 2nd grader and a kindergartener in AISD (Oak Hill Elementary). Too many hours of school and too much fluff. Really the US is at the forefront in economic development but sorely lacking in other areas, such as public education. I was educated in Argentina in the public school system. Mind you, I went to the good public schools (there are bad ones, too). Anyway, when I came to the USA for graduate school, I could easily kick my American classmates' asses in math. Elementary school in Argentina was 4 hours per day, and high school was 5 hours, and we learned everything we needed. My kids spend 7 hours per day in school, and it seems that all they do is field trip this, and project that, and cinco de mayo preparation this, and science fair that. I would consider private school if it weren't so expensive.
 
One last thing for this thread - the problem isn't a lack of great teachers. I work with a great group of people who literally sacrifice family and social lives to do all they can to be great teachers.

There is no easy solution to this problem. I honestly believe that our public education system reflects our society as a whole. I don't know what it will take, but we need an extreme overhaul of our public education system pronto.
 
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