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Proviso Probe

Friday, January 12, 2007

ED, blaming the parents

Last night I attended a meeting of the Proviso Township Democratic Organization, the organization associated with Democratic Committeeman Karen Yarbrough. The meeting introduced the candidates the organization is supporting for District 88 (Bellwood and Stone Park elementary schools), District 89 (Maywood and Melrose Park elementary schools) and District 209 (Proviso Township High Schools), as well as some candidates for other local offices.

A common meme in discussing education is that parents aren't involved enough.

A recurring story among parents who are running for school board is that they tried to get involved, but they were discouraged by teachers or administrators.

Here's what I suspect is happening in schools that serve Black children.

Many of the schools serving large Black populations have problems. For example, Proviso Township High Schools recently ranked 90th of 90 high school districts in the Chicago area.

When high functioning parents get involved in these schools they want to fix problems. The schools have teachers, administrators, school board members, etc. who aren't doing right by the children.

The high functioning parents figure that since teachers and administrators are drawing healthy paychecks from the taxpayers that they ought to be held accountable.

When teachers and administrators lament the lack of parental involvement, they don't want more parents holding them accountable. They want parents to play a supporting role to the education. Teachers and administrators want parents to ensure the students come to school ready to learn (rested, fed and possessing a reasonably positive attitude toward the educational process). Teachers and administrators want the parents to help enforce disciplinary standards. And teachers and administrators want the parents to get the students to do their homework.

However, the first parents that try to get involved--the high functioning parents--tend to be doing all these things already. So the teachers and administrator complain that parents aren't involved while simultaneously trying to freeze out the parents who do get involved.

I'm not sure what the answer is, but I hypothesize this is the problem. The high-functioning parents who get involved are already doing what they are supposed to be doing. They want the teachers and administrators to be held accountable for doing the things they are paid to do. The teachers and administrator want the less than high functioning parents to do the things high functioning parents do to support education, but without criticizing the teachers and administrators.

8 Comments:

  • Carl,

    Please excuse me for taking this off the subject, but I feel this needs some attention.

    The consulting firm who gave the report that ranked District 209 90 out of 90 school districts has been awarded a contract by District 209 to design 8 websites. The total cost to the District per year for construction and maintenance totals over $500,000.00. Of course this vote passed by a 4 to 3 margin. Welch, Mattlock, Henry, Adams (with the blessings of Stan Fields)makes up the 4 and Kelly, Flowers and Marine making up the 3.

    How long are we going to allow this to continue?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:11 PM, January 12, 2007  

  • Hello Carl,

    I was at that meeting at the Proviso Township Dem.Org. I believe that the candidates really wanted to express getting more parents involved. There are a lot of parents involved in SD 88,89,&209 but there is certainly room for many more. I feel that Committeman Yarbrough has a dynamic team for our local schools and it appears to be not a team of rebel rousers but an educational team of collective ideas and energy that we need to take control of a system that has been acting not the interest of children but in the interest and well being of contracts and consultants who have been raping our system for the past 30+ years. Good job committeeman Yarbrough. you have my vote for the team of change masters.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:35 AM, January 13, 2007  

  • Ms. Coffee says: Have you seen the Proviso website? It's disgraceful! There are grade schools that have better websites. The administrators are all updated, but the teachers are from the 2002-2003 school year. There is no way to contact teachers, no emails or phone numbers are listed. I'm not saying that $500,000 should be spent to update it, but it certainly is in need of updating. By the way, I didn't see the vote on this in the board minutes. Where is it?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:06 AM, January 13, 2007  

  • PBS had a special on this and it made sense. There are parents that don't know how to be parents. It's not the teacher's responsibility to teach the parents but you know the old saying it "takes a Village"...

    There are faith based initiatives but many people do not feel the connection and are afraid of judgement so they do not seek the much needed counsel. So who's responsibility is it to teach parents how to become involved and take part of their child's education when some parent lack education themselves. You've heard Dr. Cosby use a hardliners approach...I don't think society can raise other people's children because the burden is overwhelming. I think we do need to see more community outreach for low income parents who need help.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:25 PM, January 13, 2007  

  • Hello again Carl,

    I think we all need to keep our issues here on the probe. There is no need for us to even visit the "outsider". the only thing that comes from that stupid blog are lies and untruths about people and thier personal life styles. why does Welch create such mass confusion in our community? He has enough family problems without trying to exploit other peoples business. The killing part about it is that the stuff is totally false. He creates these false anon`s and he keeps writting back and forwards to himself like peiople are really trying to post comments on the thing. thats why he wont post anything unless it comes from his circle, mainly him. Also it has been mentioned that a few people who have visited the "outsider' has come up with massive hard drive problems with thier pc. I for one dont visit it any more because my pc is from my job and i cant afford to have it infiltrated by bugs and virus from the welch blog.
    Carl, do you plan on posting the candidates from the Proviso township Democratic Organization ??? I hear that the educational ticket is on fire and very well represented for sd88,89, & 209.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:04 PM, January 13, 2007  

  • word has it that the supoporters of the insider are rounding up support for families and citizens not to attend the King breakfast. this is an all time low for those scum-bags...give it a break welch. why are you going through so much trouble to disrupt a train that is moving full speed ahead with a load full of issues that you and your slave based crew would never bring to the table. you cant begin to interupt what GOD has ordained welch. Dont you knwo that a blood covered soldier of GOD cant be touched. you need to take heed to the warning signs. the lost to yarbrough has a very significant meaning. It was a sign for you to first move out of the community which you continue to poison with your politricks.Secondly you need to pick up the telephone and appologize to Mrs. Yarbrough for all the visious verbal attacks on her and her family. third you must come clean about you back door deals with the Bellwood and Melrose park Mayors in order to keep political support for your slave tickets for 209. and last but not leat welch, find a place of worship, any local place of worship. perferablly The Broadview Baptist church on 25th and roosevelt road and run to the alter and fall flat on your face to GOD. He will forgive you Welch but you have to come before him . GOD aint no punk like you are use to . i know thats a shocker to you but we all need a little ajusting but you are long over due my friend. now you have just read the ordained message of what you need to do welch. Please dont disregard this for if you do, it will put you in a season of gutter depression and financial ruin until the ones who you have slandered calls on the the good grace of GOD to uplift it from your head....GOD BLESS YOU WELCH.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:20 PM, January 13, 2007  

  • who are the candidates?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:47 AM, January 14, 2007  

  • Here's the problem with D209. I went there several years ago and it was nowhere near as bad as it is now. The halls were quiet, the kids were respectful, and the teachers taught and enjoyed doing it. But the fundamental difference is this; kids are not getting theirs butts kicked at home like they should be. What ever happened to good old corporal punishment? When I messed up as a kid, I got my ass handed to me. One or two times of that and I learned. If a teacher called home about me, my parents woould ask "What did my kid do," as opposed to "What did you do to my kid" as happens today.

    Kids were afraid of the cops. They respected themselves, the family structure, and authority figures. That is all gone now. This generation with high school age kids doesn't respect anything except getting theirs. It sickens and disgusts me, that people teach their kids to curse out and blatantly disrespect adults. If it's ok for them, why isn't ok for their kids is the mentality.

    Look at it this way, maybe you have a bad time at a bank getting a loan, you get a ticket or arrested by the cops, or someone else does something you think is wrong. Instead of analyzing yourself and what the problem you may have is, you take it out of authority. The loan officer is prejudiced, the cop is racist, or someone else is out to get you. You perpetuate that idiocy by passing it on to your kids.

    Let's get back to basics, swat the kids on the butt early when they mess up. I got it, you probably did to, none have died from a spanking. It's not your world and we just live in it. This is supposed to be a place for everyone, especially in the schools here. The teachers need to teach, the kids need to learn, and the parents need to hold both accountable. Bottom line is it starts at home. Teach your kids right & wrong and things will work themselves out.

    It kills me that we have to pay all this tax money for these 209 schools and our kids will probably never set foot in there.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:36 PM, January 17, 2007  

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