The views of John C. Goodman in the article entitled "Educating Children of Katrina" did little more than get my blood pressure up. It is very obvious throughout this article that the author is an analyst rather than an educator. His suggestion for parents of children displaced by Hurricane Katrina to use the opportunity to seek out the very best of public education for their children at the expense of the government is nothing short of ludicrous. The thought of these families experiencing a major life event taking the time to seek out statistics of which schools offer the best education for their "type of child" is absolutely asinine in my opinion. While I think it is obvious that most parents desire the best education possible for their children, I would also hope that in the midst of a life trauma that the focus of the parents would be on the physical and emotional well-being of their families rather than individual school test scores.
My experience in dealing with educating the children of Katrina was first hand and was NOT focused at all on their educational well-being in the beginning nearly as much as making sure they were safe and back in a routine for security and structure as soon as possible. In Rutherford County Schools, the ATLAS program (Academic Time Leads to Achieving Students) is our way of implementing the federal McKinney-Vento Act. This act states that any child who is displaced or considered "homeless" by the definition of the the Act is entitled to enroll immediately in the public school where they are currently residing, that the school will assist in obtaining records from the previous school, that the child is immediately eligible for the federal free lunch program, and that the school will assist in connecting the family with necessary social services. It is the foundation of this act, and my own personal belief, that in order for children to perform and excel in school, their personal lives must be stable and as consistent at possible. If a child is worried about where he or she is going to sleep, get clothing, or receive his next meal, focus on education is greatly diminished. Furthermore, if children are tranferred from school to school due to repetitive moves, their gaps in learning are significanlty more pronounced. Therefore, the Act allows for children to remain in their school of origin for the remainder of a school year even if permanent housing is located out of that school's zone.
It seems to me that Mr. Goodman, like many other self-serving Americans, is looking for a way to benefit in some way financially from the natural disaster that befell so many people. While competition and accountability are very important in public education today, I believe that his priorities are out of line in this particular situation. As educators, in order to provide the best possible education to our children, we must teach the child and not the test. Additionally, we must meet the overall survival needs, those basic needs at the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, before we can produce higher student performance and test scores.
Snell, K. (n.d.). Overview of the Rutherford county schools aTLAS program. Retrieved October 1, 2009, from http://www.state.tn.us/education/fedprog/doc/FPDTBO1ATLAS.ppt
Thursday, October 1, 2009
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