From Seattle writer and consultant Matt Rosenberg...

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A Teacher Speaks

May 27, 2004

I've been hearing from Howard Wolf for a while, in connection with my guest op-eds that have appeared in The Seattle Times, and my blog, which I started in late January. Howard sent this along today, and with his permission, I'm sharing it here. Seems apropos to a lot, including the Cosby story.

For out-of-towners, Howard's closing reference to John Stanford is about a widely-admired ex-Army General and ex-Fulton County, Georgia Chief Executive who came to Seattle in the mid-90s as our new public schools superintendent. Stanford, an African-American, energized everybody, convincingly stressing a core belief that all children really were capable of high achievement. The buy-in was palpable. He seemed poised to lead a real turnaround of our town's deeply troubled public schools, which have been losing market share for years. But then he tragically died of leukemia. We haven't recovered the momentum since.

(From Howard Wolf, Seattle). I was a teacher for thirty years; seven were in Daly City, California and twenty-three were in Seattle. As far back as the early seventies I encountered children who already realized that the “race card” was more potent than the personal responsibility card. It trumped responsibility by cowing many teachers and administrators with the often trumped-up charge of racism.

When I left my California school district, anxious to settle in the fabulous Northwest, I found Seattle schools (in which I had to substitute teach to prove my mettle for an eventual contract) superior to the district I had left. I was ecstatic and full of hope, but alas the district decided to accede to the busing mandate; its effect was not to share the wealth of the district, but to share the poverty.

Within three years, Seattle schools had sunk beneath the district I had left. And that was similarly sensed by the parents of school age children who voted with their feet and either moved away or opted for private education for their children. The district’s school population was cut nearly by more than a third in but a few years. It became difficult, and in some cases impossible thereafter to insist upon many minority youngsters meeting their personal responsibility to get along with others and to do their best work in a timely manner. It became politically correct to levy the charge of racism on the part of many.

To have openly voiced that observation back in the seventies or eighties would have resulted (in all likelihood) in the teacher being termed a racist. And thence he or she would have been abandoned by the union and the district. Schools must again regard personal responsibility as a far more vital teaching objective than that of disparaging racism, not that the latter should cease, but it must be relegated to a subordinate position.

Interestingly enough, John Stanford’s tenure as superintendent began to improve things; alas, the poor man died before a great deal of his vision could be realized.

Comments on Howard's contribution are welcome.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at May 27, 2004 08:33 PM

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Comments:

I grew up in the Seattle schools during the sixties and seventies. Howard is correct in his assessment.

I often witnessed the race card frequently played to secure privileges or avoid responsibility and accountability. Everybody knew what was happening, on campus violence escalated and educational quality sank like a stone. While I consider the local grade school at the time was more than adequate, middle and high school was more often an empty waste of time. It was common knowledge among the students in my high school that other schools had higher standards and were turning out students better prepared for college. Some of our friends in our lower middle-class neighborhood voted with their feet and fled or arranged for their children to enroll in another school district using another relatives' home address.

I'm convinced more of my real education occurred at college and beyond.

I always think back on a conversation I had with my wife's best friend who at the time had a three year old child and lived in Seattle. She was determined to send her child to a substandard public school out of some sense of social justice. I was stunned.

I will never live in Seattle. Even though I have no children, I refuse to pay taxes to support the mindless Seattle School system or let the future value of my home be held hostage to that "Shitty" school district. Even now, these education "professionals" know what will work but refuse to act.

Their was a famous billboard in Seattle in the 70's when Boeing's employment levels cratered that asked the last Seattlellite to please turn out the lights when they left town. Do you think if every parent had other options for their children, the same sign wouldn't also be posted on almost every Seattle Public School?

Posted by: Gary B at May 28, 2004 08:57 AM

As long as we are in confessional mode, I will confess that I was one of the "white flight" parents of 1978.

Forced busing never impressed me as a particularly enlightened form of social justice, and by the mid-1970s there was an abundant amount of evidence that it was not working. This was not something I was willing to sacrifice my daughter's education for.

It is still not clear to me who lost the most in this experiment, but the presumed beneficiaries must surely rank near the top. If the experience of Mr. Wolf is typical, African-American students are cheated at both ends of the educational spectrum: lack of discipline at the elementary level undermines their capacity to succeed, and preferences at the college level cheapen their achievement if they do.

I cannot imagine a worse set of incentives. Failure is personal, confirming the worst of racist stereotypes, while success is an institutional, not a personal, triumph. I don't blame anyone caught in this trap for being angry.

Posted by: Tom Rekdal at May 28, 2004 12:57 PM

I grew up as an only child of a single mom in the 50s, who attended a segregated school in Oklahoma City. I don't have children, so I once felt that what happened in today's schools did not matter to me.

It doesn't matter how motivated school administrations are or how much the teachers care.
What children need most to be successful are parents who care and who stress academics. They should insist that their children have higher ideals than dealing drugs. They are the ones who should insist on their children studying and spending time reading. Parents should be encouraged, by whatever means our society can bear, to support their children and insist on the best. A good teacher can influence a child's life, but that can all change the next school year. School administrators should spend some time worrying about the progress of the kids at the top of the class and supporting them, and spend less time trying to dumb the teaching down to the lowest common denominator.

Posted by: Teri Pittman at May 29, 2004 08:08 AM

Another brief comment: check out http://www.welltrainedmind.com/classed.html for an idea how some concerned parents feel that their children should be taught. Can you imagine the advantage a child would have from this course of study?

If you don't mind a small ramble, you might read this mother's discussion of why she chose to homeschool: http://www.mrsdutoit.com/newsite/marktwain.php

Posted by: Teri Pittman at May 29, 2004 08:20 AM

It all comes down to the parents, because they are more critical to a child's development than good schools. It is unrealistice to expect irresponsible people tp act responsibly.

Posted by: Nelson Hyde Chick at May 29, 2004 12:02 PM

I am right there with you on this as well! Personal responsibility is no longer a virtue in todays society. Not just in the schools but that is where it gets a great head start. It is much easier to use the race card as a way out then to take responsibility for your actions. I hear about it everyday from my roommmate who is a high school teacher in a highly mixed race school (predominantly black and hispanic).

Posted by: Jacques L Daivd at May 29, 2004 08:22 PM
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