by Larry Sand
School discipline is declining, and the education establishment is clueless about how to improve things.
In a December Education Week poll, teachers and administrators disclose that student behavior is worsening. Since pre-pandemic 2019, “there’s been a pronounced spike in behavior problems, ranging from minor classroom disruptions to more serious student fights broadcast on social media.”
The survey results reveal that 72% of educators say that students in their classroom, school, or district have been misbehaving either “a little” (24%) or “a lot” (48%) more than in the fall of 2019, the last semester before the COVID-19 shutdowns began.
The problem in Los Angeles is particularly grim. In the 2023-2024 school year, the district’s School Experience Survey shows that just 58.5% of elementary students, 55.2% of middle school students, and 51.6% of high school students reported feeling safe in their schools—a significant drop from previous years. Their fears are justified as “fighting and physical aggression increased by 16.8% from the 2022-2023 school year to 2023-2024, while threats surged by 28.5%.”
Nevada is ineptly dealing with the issue by moving problem kids to another school, and a former paraprofessional is suing the Washoe County School District over claims that “the system shuffles dangerous students between schools without adequately alerting staff about their behavior and terminated him in retaliation.”
A North Carolina school district tried to improve discipline by implementing a policy for which it paid a non-profit over $800,000 to help it create. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools had fewer short- and long-term suspensions for the school year and no expulsions, part of a broader shift toward “equitable discipline.”
Didn’t work. The district reported a higher crime rate than the previous year. Critics say the changes have made conditions worse for students because the disrupters are not removed from class.
Then, there is the ongoing education establishment assertion that cops in school are not necessary. But, in reality, teachers don’t want them removed. A Heritage Foundation survey found that only 7% of teachers responded affirmatively to the question, “Do you think defunding school resource officers will make schools safer?”
Similarly, an EdWeek Research Center poll from 2020 found that only 20% of teachers, principals, and district leaders completely or partly agreed that armed police officers should be eliminated from public schools.
Parents aren’t fond of the idea, either. In Los Angeles, a district-commissioned survey found that 72% of Asian American and Pacific Islander parents, 67% of Hispanic parents, 54% of white parents, and 50% of black parents agreed that a police presence makes schools safer.
No matter. The education bureaucracy, heavily influenced by the teachers’ unions, prefers the touchy-feely method of dealing with kids who act out, regardless of its efficacy.
In Los Angeles, the school district cut 133, or about 40%, of its school cops in favor of kinder and gentler “climate coaches” in 2021. It was also decided that police would no longer patrol campuses and would only be called upon to respond in person during emergencies.
What should be done?
Capturing real-time police activity has become very popular in recent times. A poll from the University of Maryland showed that nearly 90% of respondents support body cameras, including 85% of Republicans, 86% of independents, and 94% of Democrats. This is consistent with a Cato Institute poll, showing that 89% of Americans support “requiring police officers to wear body cameras to record their on-duty interactions.
If it’s a good idea for cops, why not teachers, who are entrusted by the government to perform a public service?
In fact, a few schools in England already use the technology as a way to reduce attacks against teachers. Larry Davis, deputy headteacher of Southfields Academy in Wimbledon, said the use of body cameras by a small number of staff “had improved behavior and lessened the number of dangerous confrontations since they were introduced at the start of the school year.” Also, a school official said police “found evidence from the body cameras was more useful in making arrests, and that their presence was deterring disruptive behavior….”
Another alternative to the status quo is the “No Excuses” model. Writing in RealClearInvestigations, Vince Bielski describes a typical day at the Columbus Collegiate Academy Main, a charter school in Ohio, where orderliness is on display. “Students in khakis and blue tops carrying bulging backpacks walk briskly in line through the front doors of the single-story brick building—looking like young people who really want to be there.”
“In class after class, the predominantly black and Latino student body appears seriously engaged, with pencils in hand or fingers on keyboards. Teachers move rapidly through lessons. Hands shoot up to answer questions. No one is fooling around or disturbing others, which seems remarkable for a middle school full of teenagers.”
Columbus Collegiate Academy Main is not unique, but one of 1,000 or so high-performing urban charters that run on the No Excuses model. Its rules for behavior require students to sit up at their desks, remain silent unless called upon, and respect each other, which creates conditions for optimal learning.
The “No Excuses” model originated in the 1990s when anarchy in urban schools made learning impossible. The zeitgeist hasn’t changed much since then.
Bielski continues, “Lessons are tightly scripted to the clock to squeeze in as much learning as possible. Teachers, rather than students, move through the shiny, clean hallways from classroom to classroom during the day because it takes less time and creates less commotion. Kids change rooms for classes like physical education.
“In the first three days of the school year, students learn the rules of behavior, such as keeping their eyes on the teacher and a pencil at the ready, and why those rules are key to meeting high academic standards. Then they practice these skills, like how to show respect to teachers and peers, before they open a textbook.”
Parents obviously like this style as there is a waiting list to get into the school, whose students are chosen by lottery.
What a concept! Now, if we can just cut out all the touchy-feely, race-obsessed, anti-cop edu-fads and return to basics, we just may have a world-class education system as we once did.
***
Larry Sand, a retired 28-year classroom teacher, is the president of the non-profit California Teachers Empowerment Network – a non-partisan, non-political group dedicated to providing teachers and the general public with reliable and balanced information about professional affiliations and positions on educational issues. The views presented here are strictly his own.
Source: https://www.foxnews.com/us/billion-dollar-cartel-ops-face-disruptions-amid-border-crackdown-us-issues-highest-level-travel-advisory
No comments:
Post a Comment