Detroit parents call for teachers to be jailed

December 16, 2009 by Anonymous

Date: 12/15/2009 9:58:29 AM
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Matt Friedeman, InTheFight.com

Public education as a whole is a sorry excuse for a good a education. And Detroit public schools are about as bad as they come. So bad, in fact, that the parents are calling for whoever is responsible for their kids' education to go to jail. Sure, it's hyperbole, but the parents do have a valid point: millions of tax dollars go into schools, and what is there to show for it?

After a report showed that fourth- and eighth-grade students in Detroit posted the worst math scores in the nation, some parents rallied for jail time for those responsible with educating the city's youth.

The Detroit News reported that Sharlonda Buckman of the Detroit Parent Network called for jailing and civil lawsuits against anyone in the city's educational system that is not doing his or her share to help properly educate children.

"Somebody needs to go to jail," Buckman said in an address to 500 parents gathered Saturday for the organization's annual breakfast forum reported the newspaper. "Somebody needs to pay for this. Somebody needs to go to jail, and it shouldn't be the kids."

Detroit students took the National Assessment of Educational Progress test this year and 69 percent of fourth-graders scored below the basic level in math and 77 percent of eighth-graders scored below basic.

"This is an abysmal failure," Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb told the gathering. Bobb said he would announce Monday that he is calling for 100,000 volunteer hours to help children with reading.

Now, after hearig about one of the biggest failures in education today, how about a success story? In the Washington D.C. school district, Chancellor Michelle Rhee is turning the schools around.

New student test scores released by the U.S. Department of Education last week showed that Washington's fourth-graders made the largest gains in math among big city school systems in the past two years. D.C.'s eighth-graders increased their math proficiency at a faster rate than all other big cities save San Diego. Washington still has a long way to go, but it's no longer the city with the lowest marks, a distinction that now belongs to Detroit.

Before Ms. Rhee's arrival, the nation's capital went through six superintendents in 10 years. Since taking over as Chancellor in 2007, Ms. Rhee has replaced ineffective principals, laid off instructors based on "quality, not by seniority" and shuttered failing schools. These actions have angered teacher unions to the point of bringing (unsuccessful) lawsuits, yet academic outcomes are clearly improving.