The Injustice of Preschool

Politics. Politics are a necessary part of our world. Local politics, state politics, national politics, like it or not, it runs our lives. Those in the political arena might tell you that politics are a means to providing fair and equitable treatment to citizens. What they will not tell you is that politics often provides biased and unequal treatment of citizens. What does this have to do with education? Unfortunately, everything!



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This past week, Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning declared our recent state budget unconstitutional in relation to the cuts and changes it places on the former More at Four Program and the state’s Smart  Start early childhood initiative. Smart Start and More at Four are both programs created and implemented under the direction of former Democratic governors, Jim Hunt and Mike Easley.  According to Judge Manning, “This case is about the right of every child to have equal opportunity to obtain a sound basic education.” Before these two programs emerged, the only preschool education available for typically developing preschool children was through private and costly programs. Children that lived in families that could not afford to pay for preschool were the children that appeared at the schoolhouse door unprepared for the school environment. These deficiencies were not only academic, but also social. In 2000, More at Four became the answer to the Leandro case ruling. This case highlighted the inability of poor parents to provide their children with a good, sound preschool experience before kindergarten and thus prevented these children from receiving their constitutional right to a basic education in order to compete for a job and to be a functional citizen. This past spring, for the first time in eighteen years, North Carolina has a Democratic Governor and a Republican controlled Senate and House of Representatives. At the top of their agenda was dissolving both more at Four and Smart Start. The NC Civitas group reported unclear and untrue “facts” to support their agenda to eliminate these two early education programs. Some of the half-truths they published were:

  Ø  Early childhood initiatives did nothing to increase the reading scores of third graders

  Ø  Smart Start staff received exorbitant salaries

  Ø  More at Four and Smart Start did not serve at-risk children

  Ø  No children would lose services from the 60 million budget cut proposed by the General Assembly

These statements are grossly false. Most obvious is the statement that Early childhood programs do not raise third grade test scores when in fact Duke University recently released a study directly contradicting this statement.

How sad that our most vulnerable citizens are the greatest losers in this political war. In the end, both early childhood programs lost millions of dollars and thousands of children will lose the opportunity to attend a preschool program before kindergarten. Kudos to Judge Manning for publically taking a stand in support of children. Unfortunately, our esteemed legislators can and will delay this case in the courts so long that many children will lose out this year. When will our society recognize that those with the smallest voice will one day take care of all of us? Don’t they deserve the best possible start in life regardless of their parents’ income level?

Tenure: Justice or Judge

Teacher tenure is a subject that exhibits many differing opinions and emotions. Teacher tenure has a long history of debate. It first appeared in the late 1800’s and the discussion continues over a hundred years later.  Initially, tenure was a type of insurance for educators that they would not lose their job or position due to political or personal reasons. There was fear that long standing teachers could be replaced by younger, less costly teachers. With our ever changing political climate and tough economic times, there may be some real validity to this train of thought.  There are controversial pros and cons on both sides of this issue.

Some of the “pros” are:

      Prevents teachers from losing their jobs for non-work related (personal differences with administration) reasons.

      Prohibits school districts from firing experienced teachers to hire teachers with less experience and that are less costly.

      Protects teachers from losing their jobs for teaching unpopular or controversial curriculum.

      It is a form of job security that is provided for a profession that is typically under paid for their years of education.

      Provides security to innovative teachers to try new things without the fear of negative repercussions.

Some of the “cons” are:

      Creates complacency among teachers. There is no incentive to work harder or try new things.

      Makes it difficult to remove under performing teachers because of the long legal process.

      Places seniority as the main factor in dismissal decisions that are not performance related.

      There are now other systems in place to protect teachers in the event they may face unfair dismissal practices.

There is more and more discussion among states to abolish the tenure laws. The debate is both political and economic. It is very costly to fire a tenured teacher. And states are looking for ways to hold teachers accountable for poor test scores. Abolishing the tenure laws would make it much easier to dismiss a teacher for her under performing students. That discussion could be a whole other blog! The grounds for dismissing a tenured teacher are detailed and specific. In many situations, administrators and principals choose to not pursue dismissal of a teacher because of the amount of paperwork and effort that it requires. It is much easier to turn their head and overlook the situation. Unfortunately, the students are the ones that are the losers. It is also very discouraging to other educators who work hard and continually look for ways to improve their own performance.

If tenure were to disappear, it would be much easier to dismiss a teacher for a variety of reasons. Once upon a time, teachers could be fired for becoming pregnant! Hopefully, our society today would not allow that type of prejudice. Regardless, the debate continues and there is growing opposition to providing tenure to educators. For the time being, in order to fire an ineffective teacher, they practically have to do something illegal or immoral and you have to have positive proof. There is simply no other profession with that kind of job security.

Parent Involvement

The Importance of Parent Involvement

Parents are a child’s first and most important teacher. Children who have parents that are actively involved in their child’s life and education are more likely to:

Ø  Attend school regularly

Ø  Have fewer behavior problems

Ø  Participate in extra-curricular activities

Ø  Create positive social connections

Ø  Graduate from High School

Ø  Pursue a higher education

Creating a Welcoming School Environment

It is important for parents to feel welcome in the school environment.  Teachers and administrators should be willing to provide opportunities for parents to become involved.  Teachers should keep parents informed about things happening in the classroom. Parents should strive to maintain open communication with teachers.  Some teachers and administrators discourage parental involvement because of the fear that parents will become too involved.  Open and respectful communication with parents is necessary to establish a positive relationship. There is sometimes a perception that parents do not want to be involved. In reality, parents are often intimidated by teachers and therefore do not try to help in the school. These same parents are often the first to blame the teacher if their child has academic problems. Consequently, parents do not attend school functions as regularly as they should. When children see their parents actively involved and feeling positive about the school, the child benefits academically and socially.  

Ways Parents Can Be Involved

Parents can volunteer to participate on committees in the school. They can provide classroom teachers with supplies that are not provided. Parents can help with fund raising activities and in some situations they can volunteer to tutor struggling students.  Reading with their child at home is an important way for parents to be involved. There are many ways parents can participate in their child’s academic life that are not intrusive in the classroom. 

Smart teachers embrace the parent that wants to be involved with their student. These teachers recognize the benefit to them and to their students.  Teachers can facilitate good communication between parents and the classroom by providing a newsletter for parents. They can enlist their help with some classroom activities. The benefits of this union far outweigh any possible negatives that arise.                

The fireworks are popping more tonight than on the 4th!!