Money Won't Solve the Prolems in Our Public Schools

Money Won't Solve the Prolems in Our Public Schools

"Our Public Schools are the worst in the state," I heard someone say. Last year's results of the State Mastery Tests were the lowest ever. Some parents even went as far as calling on the mayor to declare the education system a state of emergency. They complain that the schools in the suburbs have more money to spend on resources than they do. At meetings I hear community members appluad when administrators say that the Board of Education will be getting extra funds to spend per student, but they are all looking in the wrong direction. Money will not change the test scores. Computers will not change students' abilities. Additional books will not suddenly improve mathematics or language skills, but a change in behavior will.

It is the attitude of students, mainly their behavior, that results in poor achievement. Too much valuable time is wasted with classroom control. It is difficult trying to teach children who are constantly talking and laughing as if the teacher is not in the room. When they are supposed to be working, some students walk around the room and when scolded by the teacher they pout with ugly looks on their faces and stomp back to their seats. Others purposely rock their chairs disturbing the ones who are trying to work quietly. When teachers have to spend half of the morning trying to control and discipline students, they are then too exhausted and mentally tired to teach with the same enthusiasm they had at the beginning of the day. Therefore students miss out on a high quality lesson and instead receive a watered-down version.

Another result of their disruptive behavior is low morale. I once saw two third-grade teachers line up their entire class on the playground and scold them for at least ten minutes. I stood in the distance watching the students squirming, some hanging their heads and some looking as if it was all going in one ear and passing out the other, and I wondered what could have driven those teachers to this point. Sometimes I pass a line of students in the hallway being yelled at because they cannot walk in a neat line from the classroom to the gym without talking loudly or at least two kids ending up in a dispute.

The behavior is worse at lunch time. I entered the cafeteria one day and heard a loud banging noise.