Finally, Someone Has the Guts to Say It!

In past posts, I have commented on the laziness and sense of entitlement that I encounter in many of my students; but that's just me bloviating on my own private blog. Today, I ran across a guest column written for USAToday that was written by an AP English teacher at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia. You can go to the link to read the whole thing if you like, but here are some highlights from the column:

Politicians and education bureaucrats can talk all they want about reform, but until the work ethic of U.S. students changes, until they are willing to put in the time and effort to master their subjects, little will change...

"Kids have convinced parents that it is the teacher or the system that is the problem, not their own lack of effort," says Dave Roscher, a chemistry teacher at T.C. Williams in this Washington suburb. "In my day, parents didn't listen when kids complained about teachers. We are supposed to miraculously make kids learn even though they are not working."

As my colleague Ed Cannon puts it: "Today, the teacher is supposed to be responsible for motivating the kid. If they don't learn it is supposed to be our problem, not theirs..."

Maybe every generation of kids has wanted to take it easy, but until the past few decades students were not allowed to get away with it. "Nowadays, it's the kids who have the power. When they don't do the work and get lower grades, they scream and yell. Parents side with the kids who pressure teachers to lower standards," says Joel Kaplan, another chemistry teacher at T.C. Williams...

Every year, I have had parents come in to argue about the grades I have given in my AP English classes. To me, my grades are far too generous; to middle-class parents, they are often an affront to their sense of entitlement. If their kids do a modicum of work, many parents expect them to get at least a B. When I have given C's or D's to bright middle-class kids who have done poor or mediocre work, some parents have accused me of destroying their children's futures...

As a teacher, I don't object to the heightened standards required of educators in the No Child Left Behind law. Who among us would say we couldn't do a little better? Nonetheless, teachers have no control over student motivation and ambition, which have to come from the home — and from within each student....

I get so sick of hearing from administration and education gurus that if the student isn't learning, it is the teacher's fault. Hasn't anyone ever heard of the old cliche' "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink"? It might be a cliche' but there is a lot of truth to it. I teach quite a few students who will not study, who will not turn in their homework, who will not do anything you ask of them no matter what I do. You can plead, threaten, cajole, bribe, call their parents, try and make the lesson as interesting and relevant as possible - these students don't care. I am glad that a national newspaper has alerted people to the fact that this is so.

Good Day to You, Sir