All or Nothing

This question presents an opportunity to think about the role of schools in today's society, specifically in Georgia. Each student has a different need that presents in a different way daily. As educators, we have an expectation that we are ALL knowing, All seeing and have answers to ALL questions. I have found as a parent and educator that those terms are ALL wrong. When faced with such drastic economic short falls as we are currently experiencing, it becomes increasingly hard to recognize the shortfalls of individual students while keeping up with the rigor of the everyday grind. Knowing that we will receive larger student class sizes and smaller paychecks simply adds to the stress of our daily tasks. With those factors in mind I would have to say no schools can't be all things to all people.

Then there is the question of what schools can be. The role of the school should be that of a mediator between the parent and the child. The school should be responsible for providing the infrastructure required to educate a child. Some students will take the material given and build the building to educational specifications. Some will build a structure that is not sound but with assistance from the mediator (school) will restructure the foundations required to complete the assignment. Then there are those that will be left with a pile of ruble that may not be formed into any effective structure. With the school as the mediator it is vitally important that parents identify the resources required to complement instructional mediation. As a parent, I feel that it is my civil duty to recognize characteristics in my children that may not be recognized in a classroom of 30 + children. As we all know, all parents don't have that commitment and sometimes the access to the resources required to support the student.
That leaves us with the question of, what happens when a parent can't provide the support required to complete educational structure? No Child Left Behind? Instructional differentiation? Career Technical Education? House Bill 1232 mandating parent-teacher conferences for failing students? These are the hypothesis that we find on the table each and every day we report to the classroom. We know that smaller class sizes work. We can't afford smaller class sizes, so what next? That's the million dollar question with more answers than the opposition to healthcare reform. In the mean time, I will keep working 1 class at a time to do my best to impact the needs of the future through the needs of each student I teach!