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Smart List: 60 People Shaping the Future of K-12 Education
Common core will not help or hinder anyone’s education. Why would it?
But yesterday I had a conversation with the mother of a student I had fifteen years ago when he was in the first grade in a very poor and low-performing school in a suburb of Los Angeles. This woman, now a worker at Taco Bell, is an immigrant to the United States from El Salvador but she knows the “secret” to a good education. Here’s the conversation we had:
Me: How’s William doing?
Maria: Great! He’s a senior at the university and will graduate this year.
Me: Oh, I’m so glad. What will he do then?
Maria: He has a fellowship to UCLA where he will study to become a child psychologist. He always thinks of you and tells me to thank you for being such a good teacher.
Me: Oh, thank you so much, but of course, most of the credit goes to you and your husband.
Maria: Yes, we were always involved with their schools. A lot of parents think it’s the school’s job to educate their kids. They say “Oh, the school will do it” but I tell them “No, it has to be a partnership.”
Me: You are so right. How are some of the other kids (in William’s class) doing?
Maria: Mark will go to law school and so will Juan.
Me: Their parents were very supportive also.
Maria: Yes.
And there it is, the “secret” to a good education. It takes a partnership between home and school. There are no shortcuts nor are there any really good substitutions. If we truly want to improve education we have to find a way to support both home and school.
Common core? Isn’t this just another example of “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?” And an expensive one too!
One of the worst aspects of the current “reform” is the spreading of the “schools alone” myth. Nothing is more damaging than spreading the lie that the teacher can work miracles without the support of the home. Once in a while, yes, but normally, no. Almost all successful parents and teachers know this “secret.” Let’s let everyone in on it.