The primary educators in a child's life.

I am going to save my commentary for after the following piece written by my fabulous and intelligent husband.

"At our last meeting, we discussed the issue of class size on academic performance. A woman in the audience commented that I was “lucky”, having endured large classes without undue personal harm. I took this veiled complement in stride, but the word “lucky” stuck in my mind.

If I felt that I had fared well in life, was it the result of luck? Not a chance! I had fantastic teachers for whom “luck” was not part of the program. These teachers not only provided the knowledge to carry me through life, but taught me values, gave me a sense of purpose, and the life skills I depend upon to this day.

I remember one teacher who took time after school to teach me how triangles worked. He taught me this when I was only 11, avoiding the scary term “trigonometry” so I would accept this as something I could understand. Less than a year later, another teacher lent me her Calculus book, not revealing that it was a college level text, paving the way for years of fruitful learning through my college years.

The greatest teachers in my school years went out of their way to impart their knowledge to a rather unappreciative adolescent. Beyond the scope of the standard school texts, they taught me music, thermodynamics, relativity, metallurgy, anything else that I was able and willing to absorb.

These teachers didn’t stop with mere academics. They taught self-reliance, and that “impossible” is a dirty word. It would be a grave disservice to allow such teachers, to whom I owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude, to remain anonymous.



So mom and dad, thanks for all you’ve done. You provided an environment in which one could not help but grow. Tell my mom I was lucky, and she’ll tell you it was years of dedication and duty as a mother. Tell my dad I was lucky, and he’ll show you the years of planning and sacrifice that went into the personal and scholastic financial planning that made our education possible."

Jim Peschke


In response to the budget cuts some people stated "You are ruining my child's education." I am sorry this is hogwash, as a parent you are responsible for a child's education. There is no more important teacher in a child's life than a parent. Your child will take from the current situation in Croydon what you present to them. The cuts in the budget are not the end of the world. There is no correlation between per pupil spending and academic performance. Want further proof look at all the homeschoolers who educate their children for fractions of pennies on the dollar when compared to public schooled children. Homeschoolers also out perform their public schooled counterparts.

Yes we need public schools but educators must remember that schools exist to serve the children, schools do not exist to serve the educators who have hijacked the system as their own entitlement program. Public education dollars should follow the child and not the system. Those on food stamps, medicare or medicaid are not forced to pick one institution to get their service in the town in which they live, those being served by public education should not be held hostage by one institution.

When I went to school we did not have para educators and teacher's assistance, we had room mothers. If as a parent you are concerned about the teacher load volunteer as tens of thousands of mothers have done in the past. Educators complain they want more parental involvement well parents get involved. If both spouses work maybe it is time to put your children first and learn to live on one income so you can be more involved in your child's life.



Cathy
Spelling and grammar errors as well as typos are left as an exercise for my readers.