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October 30, 1996
This country boy avoids politics, but to make a point, I'm gonna cross
the line. If Ross Perot were to be elected President and could do to the
American public what he did to the public school system of Texas, I'd
move to Australia and hunt crocodiles.
The reason I'm not in the classroom today was Perot's idea of the Career
Ladder and teacher evaluation, which took only ten years to
self-destruct. How was I going to stand in front of the class and teach
while the administrator (who was an ex-coach whom I was having to tutor
after school so he could pass the TCAT test) graded me on my classroom
performance? And besides the pressure of being observed and graded a
couple thousand dollars of bonus was riding on his favoritism. From my
viewpoint, since I wasn't coaching, it would be like taking the civil
service exam without the veterans' points.
How did administrators of years past know which teachers were teachers
and which were professional babysitters? My first superintendent was a
tough boss who had education and discipline as priorities. He seemed to
know every move within his system, yet not once did he appear in my
classroom.
Once I slipped out after lunch to smoke a cigarette in the janitor's
cubby hole in the gym. The janitor said, "Don't come here getting me in
trouble. I think the Supt. has my chair wired - every time I sit down,
he walks in on me."
In those days we were in a three-story building with no air
conditioning, and an amusing episode solved the mystery of the
omnipresent superintendent.
The library, which was on the top floor, also served as the study hall.
One muggy September afternoon, the teacher keeping the study hall was
nodding, nearly napping, so that one mischievous sophomore pitched a
book out through the open window, falling on the head of a
superintendent who was quietly standing outside a classroom window
observing."
But remember, we're not talking about just any normal superintendent.
This one was very religious - Church of Christ, as were the majority of
a his faculty. And the book that fell - a King James version. Despite
the irony, education, prevailed.
The superintendent and principal's offices were on the second floor, and
the corporal punishment was administered in the open corridor and
resounded throughout the building for every student to hear - a sermon
in itself.
As crude as it may have been, Mr. Perot, education and discipline
prevailed in C.H.S. All the teachers were treated and paid equally, but
as with any good team, only those who produced were rehired for another
year.
Jerry Hulsey is a former school teacher who writes for fun.
A focal point in the campaign for president seems to be the stress
placed on kids getting a college education and their parents being able
to get a tax break to be able to afford it.
That sounds well and good but stop and think about it. To us, it seems
like more rheotoric, a bunch of nonsense that has politicians believing
they are fooling the public.
Government's tinkering with the education system has failed. Students
are having a difficult time getting out of high school so what makes
these jake legs in Washington believe that college assistance is going
to help improve our educational disaster. And once again, the stress on
college educations is being stressed at the expense of vocational
educations which most students are interested in and suited for.
Sure, such tax credits would help some but this is a treatment for the
symptoms, and not a cure for the disease.
The cure for the disease, as we see it, is somehow, someway to get
parents to be parents and work with their children, supervise them and
help them with their education.
For too long - and the situation is getting worse - this country has
relied on the school systems to educate our children. That is obviously
not going to work. Teachers and school systems are trying their best
although they are beset with government red tape.
But, until more parents get involved with their children, help them
with their education which includes morales, our crisis in education is
just going to get worse. And there will continue to be little need for
all this talk about college tax credits.
Some of the talk has included tax breaks for any advanced education
such as vocational schools which is obviously a plus. But, until we get
back to basics, getting students to be literate, no advanced education
is going to work. If you can't read and write and do math, it's a lost
cause.
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OPINION
October 30, 1996
BACKSIDE OF 40
By Jerry Hulsey
Revelations of
a Superintendent
This country boy avoids politics, but to make a point, I'm gonna cross
the line. If Ross Perot were to be elected President and could do to the
American public what he did to the public school system of Texas, I'd
move to Australia and hunt crocodiles.
The reason I'm not in the classroom today was Perot's idea of the Career
Ladder and teacher evaluation, which took only ten years to
self-destruct. How was I going to stand in front of the class and teach
while the administrator (who was an ex-coach whom I was having to tutor
after school so he could pass the TCAT test) graded me on my classroom
performance? And besides the pressure of being observed and graded a
couple thousand dollars of bonus was riding on his favoritism. From my
viewpoint, since I wasn't coaching, it would be like taking the civil
service exam without the veterans' points.
How did administrators of years past know which teachers were teachers
and which were professional babysitters? My first superintendent was a
tough boss who had education and discipline as priorities. He seemed to
know every move within his system, yet not once did he appear in my
classroom.
Once I slipped out after lunch to smoke a cigarette in the janitor's
cubby hole in the gym. The janitor said, "Don't come here getting me in
trouble. I think the Supt. has my chair wired - every time I sit down,
he walks in on me."
In those days we were in a three-story building with no air
conditioning, and an amusing episode solved the mystery of the
omnipresent superintendent.
The library, which was on the top floor, also served as the study hall.
One muggy September afternoon, the teacher keeping the study hall was
nodding, nearly napping, so that one mischievous sophomore pitched a
book out through the open window, falling on the head of a
superintendent who was quietly standing outside a classroom window
observing."
But remember, we're not talking about just any normal superintendent.
This one was very religious - Church of Christ, as were the majority of
a his faculty. And the book that fell - a King James version. Despite
the irony, education, prevailed.
The superintendent and principal's offices were on the second floor, and
the corporal punishment was administered in the open corridor and
resounded throughout the building for every student to hear - a sermon
in itself.
As crude as it may have been, Mr. Perot, education and discipline
prevailed in C.H.S. All the teachers were treated and paid equally, but
as with any good team, only those who produced were rehired for another
year.
Jerry Hulsey is a former school teacher who writes for fun.
OUR VIEW
Education needs a big improvement
A focal point in the campaign for president seems to be the stress
placed on kids getting a college education and their parents being able
to get a tax break to be able to afford it.
That sounds well and good but stop and think about it. To us, it seems
like more rheotoric, a bunch of nonsense that has politicians believing
they are fooling the public.
Government's tinkering with the education system has failed. Students
are having a difficult time getting out of high school so what makes
these jake legs in Washington believe that college assistance is going
to help improve our educational disaster. And once again, the stress on
college educations is being stressed at the expense of vocational
educations which most students are interested in and suited for.
Sure, such tax credits would help some but this is a treatment for the
symptoms, and not a cure for the disease.
The cure for the disease, as we see it, is somehow, someway to get
parents to be parents and work with their children, supervise them and
help them with their education.
For too long - and the situation is getting worse - this country has
relied on the school systems to educate our children. That is obviously
not going to work. Teachers and school systems are trying their best
although they are beset with government red tape.
But, until more parents get involved with their children, help them
with their education which includes morales, our crisis in education is
just going to get worse. And there will continue to be little need for
all this talk about college tax credits.
Some of the talk has included tax breaks for any advanced education
such as vocational schools which is obviously a plus. But, until we get
back to basics, getting students to be literate, no advanced education
is going to work. If you can't read and write and do math, it's a lost
cause.
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