Rod Watson must be reading the blog

I have to give credit to Buffalo News reporter Rod Watson. He's clearly been reading the blog in an effort to make himself more informed on the topic of the Buffalo Public Schools. His article today basically is the same article I've been writing for the last two years. I give him credit for tackling some tough topics, but he continues to place most of the blame on the district/teachers and continues to make excuses for an entire community. From today's column...

Whatever assets a parent brings will be tapped to help teachers improve education. It’s the kind of help that parents in suburban schools and the elite city schools routinely provide. But you may not even know you’re supposed to do that if you grow up in a neighborhood where you’ve never been asked.

Never been asked? The low performing schools hold parent teacher conferences every quarter, where only a handful of parents bother to show up. And they were asked. Never been asked? Teachers routinely call student's homes to find out why they haven't been showing up to class or to inform the parents that they've been causing disturbances in class. Upon being called into a school for her daughter's misbehavior a few years back, one mother at Burgard High School told the principal, "nobody disciplines my child!"

A few years ago, parents from a Buffalo Public School in South Buffalo called the Metro Community News to complain that the principal was making their children be quiet in the halls and on the way to classes. ??? As if the principal was in the wrong for this. This is the mentality we're dealing with. How about the parent(s) from Lorraine Academy who dressed their six year old son up as a pimp for Halloween? And the two parents from School #17 arrested a few weeks ago for fighting with the assistant principal? I hope they never do get asked.
http://mikeblake-myopinions.blogspot.com/2011/11/school-17.html

I wish the parents' group success. It is important part of the process. But the bottom line is that education starts at home. The parents need to read to their kids, monitor their classroom behavior, and stop blaming the adults in the buildings for their shortcomings.
Kids succeed when boost is given at home


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