FAPE? NOT!

The idea of a free and appropriate public education, the basis of NCLB, is total BS!!! Why do I say this? Because schools are not now, nor will they ever be, adequately funded for this.

When I was a child, my elementary school really did try. But I was a little knowledge SPONGE. I wanted to know it all, and know it all NOW.

So basically, my teachers came up with ingenious plans to keep me learning at a pace that was more appropriate for me. Armed with work-at-your-own-pace reading and math "labs", I finished the sixth grade curriculum in reading before I was 7 years old, and the sixth grade math curriculum at the age of 7.

Not to be deterred, my intrepid teacher in 2nd grade teamed up with the GT program's pre-algebra teacher, to keep me moving forward in math. So, by the third grade, i was ready for the GT program that would be offered in middle school. Clearly, you can't send an 8-year-old into the seventh grade. They would be eaten alive!

If my school had been able to continue with a free and appropriate public education for me, they would have had to put me in the 6th grade GT classroom with an assistant, who could at least take the assignments for our class and "upgrade" them for me, so I would be learning further than what I already knew. Oh, and find me some algebra to learn as well.

In our whole school of 200 some kids, that was just me. And I would have required ten times the resources of the average student, to keep my education appropriate. The thing is, EVERY student is unique and needs some sort of special attention! Are our schools EVER going to see that sort of increase in their budget?

And then there is the other end of the spectrum, where there may be children with debilitating conditions that mean that they need more than just academics at school, but also health care. And i am just as certain that THESE kids need a free and appropriate education, probably more so than i did.

We can't count these kids out. Kids with physical disabilities can be just as bright, and as focused as anyone. They can truly excel! And so they need to be in a main-streamed classroom with the support necessary to allow them to function at the level which they are capable of. Because one day, they may well enter the world of work, and they will need to be as prepared as anyone.

Kids with mental disabilities can't be counted out either. They too have a need to socialize, and should be treated as someone who will one day make their own contributions. Many will hold jobs one day, and most would tell you that this is what they really want. So it is our challenge, in just 13 or 14 years of school, to make sure they have the life skills that will allow them to gain self-sufficiency in whatever degree they are capable of.

So, how do we accomplish this? It's not by keeping the budget the same, and throwing in more standardized testing. This puts a pressure on teachers and kids who, for the most part, are already trying their damnedest to be successful in the classroom. And it's taking precious teaching hours and budget dollars away from the real goal, in the meantime.

The inability to keep up with these tests isn't necessarily a reflection on an individual student or child, anyway. But it sure as heck is one way to demoralize both groups! Ideally, all students should be learning the stuff on these tests as a MINIMUM… But the pressure of it turns teachers into drones who lose all their spark and creativity, in trying to bring those last few underachieving students up from the bottom of their class.

And then all the average and above average kids REALLY start to suffer!

No, the problem here is definitely one of resources. Maybe there ARE some people out there who can teach a classroom of 20 unruly 7th graders to the point where 100% pass that minimum competency test. But these people are going to fall into two categories: ogres and the truly inspired.

And if like me, you would prefer the latter for your child -- well, do you really think someone THAT TALENTED is going to want to earn a masters degree just to labor away in a 7th grade classroom day-in and day-out, for what amounts to 40% of the average salary in your area????? REEEEALLLLY????

If you think so you are either somewhat delusional, or maybe you are a mediocre teacher who is afraid of a little competition. There, I said it!

But who PAYS? It's going to really have to be a revolutions of sorts (of the PEACEFUL SORT!!!) to get anything near enough done. Schools don't need a 10% or 20% increase in their budget to solve this issue. They don't need a 100% increase. To even start making a dent, they need something equivalent to a 200% increase, to address the idea of hiring and keeping great teachers, and the staff on hand to deal with the individual needs of ALL students.

And if, somehow, they received this funding, the effects will in no way be immediate! It would take 4 or 5 years of a serious reward-based system to start weeding out the dregs. and maybe even more before REALLY stunningly bright and creative people, will start graduating with a degree to start teaching. It would realistically take over 10 years to work out the initial bugs.

And what does this mean for taxes? Well, the estimate right now is that the federal government spends between 1 and 3 % of it's income (in the form of taxes) on education. WHAT??? Yeah, that's right, maybe 2%. Sounds like watered-down milk, not the entire future of our nation.

The states and counties, then, are left to pick up about 85 to 90% of the cost of our children's' educations. And last I checked, the US average is that states are spending around 35% of their budgets on elementary and secondary education. Does that leave a lot of room for growth? I kinda doubt it. And for counties, it's more like 50-60% of their budget spent on education!

Sooooo, if the federal government could just increase it's spending on education from, say, 2% to 5%, then this also makes the reward for a good standardized test system, a bigger prize to the states. Hmmmm, is that workable? That the federal government could maybe use $1 in $20 to fund the most important work we do on our future as a nation?

Not without cutting something… I know! It's time for the Army to have a Bake Sale!