Public Schools as Orphans Depending on the Kindness of Strangers
Private Schools Depend on the Checkbooks of the Privileged
NCES used a survey of management of public schools to inventory public facilities and report on physical conditions in 2014. The report, a collection of Tables in 60 pages, is structured to answer implied questions from a macro to a micro level. For example, Table 7 (p. 20) provided a finding from administrative personnel sampled across the country that 54% of all schools have a “written, long-range educational facilities plan…with repair, renovation, or modernization work currently in progress.”
At a micro level, the report looked at sub components of the plant, for example, electrical systems, outdoor lighting, and indoor lighting. The report disaggregated data by region, ethnicity, enrollment size, community type, and percentage of students on free lunch. It doesn’t take a lot of digging into the Tables to understand. American roads and bridges aren’t the only aging infrastructure that is crumbling. Is it possible that in 2014 almost half of our schools have no long range facilities plan? 1
Yet our leaders prattle on as if everything is ok. We just need a little help from our friends. Roy Cooper, North Carolina’s Governor who must live in a yellow submarine, announced earlier this month in a cheerful public service video the ‘Governor’s School Supply Drive’ and encouraged people to donate school supplies for public school students and teachers.
“While you’re out shopping, consider buying some extra school supplies to donate,” Cooper said. “Our teachers work so hard, and they shouldn’t have to dip into their pockets to cover the cost of classroom supplies that their students need.”2
Thank you, Governor. Uh, whose pockets should get dipped into? How about public funds? Although the piece didn’t focus on what political leaders can do, the Washington Post weighed in on the question of what parents can do to help teachers who practice in these crumbling buildings based on interviews with teachers. Here is a sample response: “Parents are often surprised by stories of other parents’ treatment of teachers,” wrote Margaret Flaherty, 42, a high school English teacher at a public school in Byfield, Mass.
“When I share some of the things parents have said or written to me, mouths go agape. They can be mean. Very mean. And we are so tired. Start with assuming good intentions and take it from there.”3
Assuming good intentions may be more important this year than donated backpacks stuffed with classroom supplies, though perhaps not as important as air conditioning. But mental health is on the management radar. In a recent federal survey 45% of principals claimed that supporting teachers’ and staff members’ mental health is a top priority.4
Then there is the breach of a long-standing commitment, more often honored in word than deed, to public school as a platform for social justice. State legislation restricting the curriculum from venturing into areas that upset white supremacists and religious fundamentalists is also making back to school this year difficult for teachers.
Kathryn Vaughn, an elementary art teacher in rural southwestern Tennessee, and president of her local chapter of the Tennessee Education Association, has been promoting curriculum changes to add books with stories by people of color.
“It’s been a very tumultuous time to be a teacher,” she said. “I’m someone that’s worked here in this county for almost 20 years, I’ve dedicated my life to the success of children here, and so when people tell me, I’m stupid and don’t know anything, or call me a Marxist for being an educator, it’s incredibly hurtful.”
Megan, another teacher who asked the source not to use her last name, told Good Morning America she had left teaching to raise two children and was now returning. She posted one of those viral videos in July of the barren kindergarten classroom to which she had been assigned.
“When I decided I was going to back into teaching, I wanted to see what the class had before I spent a ton of money I didn’t have on it," Megan said.
There is a myth that Americans care about public schools, a myth that Americans care about children. It feels good to donate a backpack. Teachers work so hard. Yet the ballot box belies that myth. Megan discovered the truth:
"When I walked in and saw it, I left in tears. I was supposed to have it ready for kindergarten camp in a week or so."5
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2014). Condition of America's Public School Facilities (NCES 2014-022).
https://www.thecoastlandtimes.com/2022/08/28/governors-school-supply-drive-supports-students-teachers-and-public-schools-across-state/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/parenting/2022/08/18/parents-teachers-relationship-stress/
https://www.chalkbeat.org/2022/8/17/23310067/educators-cautious-back-to-school?_amp=true
https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/amp/living/story/teachers-viral-video-shows-classroom-money-donations-88469540
This post by Terry Underwood should be required reading for any citizen who cares about the maintenance of the infrastructure of the US - and most importantly it provides an objective report on the neglect of public schools by policy makers, elected officials, school board members, and voters.