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Despite the fact that New York spends nearly $13,000 per public school student per year, the highest in the nation along with Jersey, those same students are consistently ranking in the bottom five for all fifty states. "In New York, it seems, the money isn't making its way to the teachers. In the last decade, teachers in the state saw average salary decrease 5 percent when adjusted for inflation, according to the National Education Association."
Why do we stack up so low? Well for starters the longer kids are ignored in the system, the less they care about leaving it. We've got an embarrassingly low high-school graduation rate (that'd be 59 percent) that is well below the national average (that'd be 68.7 percent). For another thing there simply aren't enough incentives for students to perform better. But at least some new incentives are starting to appear, and in curious places too. For instance:
Krispy Kreme has begun offering a free doughnut to students for every A they earn. Crown Theaters hands out two free tickets for straight A's and a medium popcorn for all B's. Sbarro joined the corporate crowd by offering a pizza slice if students said the phrase, "A's and B's - pizza please!"
We kind of like the idea of local businesses rewarding students for good achievements (though does that Sbarro offer actually require the grades or just the phrase?). And if we were one of the companies running one of those campaigns we'd be screaming about it to the high heavens. Who wouldn't be very happy to give their money to businesses that value smart kids over ones that are indifferent? But really that's not quite enough. What the DoE really needs to do is cut down on the bureaucracy and reward hard working teachers and schools in tight situations with the money they deserve. We hear from too many teaching friends about sketchy Principals skewing their finances away from the places the money is most needed. And as for the proposal in the above photograph... an interesting idea but we're not sure it be legal.
Sex for Grades by S. D. via Contribute.
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who cares if little things like jobs aren't enough to motivate kids anymore? there'll always be smart foreigners to take their places fixing hearts and designing bridges, so let 'em slack. i mean, it'll be more than "real" after their 15th year at the full service sunoco. maybe they'll even tell their own fucking kids to study, and like, you know, give a shit about their progress. god, americans gave up on math and science 30 years ago and act like it's microsoft's fault that every tech job belongs to an indian. besides, the more these kids suck, the more in demand i am. or something along those lines.
"sex for grades" ? i thought we were talking about public schools, not parochial.
[rimshot]
anyway, it is a little strange that even in new york the standard answer is "more money!" it's a bit more complicated than money. (i.e. if money could solve all woes, there'd be no illegal drugs and no iraq war due to effective policing/military strategies)
the reason we have so many dumb kids is cause most public school kids are black and hispanic and the asian ones are only good at math not verbal.
"there simply aren't enough incentives for students to preform better"
are you also a product of NY schools?
Jolwy, I don't think you have any idea what you are a talking about. I know anonymous comments gives people the chance to spew their racist views but seriously, grow up.
And yes smart ass, I am. A proud one too. Even if I do sometimes type too quickly. I'll fix that one now.
jolwy: you are an idiot.
one reason why nyc public students perform so lowly is the immense influence of the national teachers union. how's that, you ask? when teachers are not personally held accountable for their students' grades, and when the union contract makes it almost impossible to quickly fire a bad teacher--including sexually predatory ones--the results are bound to be bad.
also, american public schools need to start attaching teaching $$ to individual students the way well performing european and asian countries do. this will force the schools to shape up since if a school is bad, students can simply leave..and the bad schools will have to shape up or be forced to close. requiring students to attend school based on their geographic location, no matter how bad that school is, is a terrible idea.
"For another thing there simply aren't enough incentives for students to perform better."
Shouldn't getting into a good college, getting a good job, and earning a comfortable living be incentive enough? I think the idea of plying kids with donuts and bad pizza seems pretty shortsighted and ridiculous. Not to discount the value of a strong school with well-paid teachers, but appreciating the value of a good education is a lesson best served by a parent, not a pizzeria or a Krispy Kreme.
Oh good, now they'll be more obese too.
Getting into a good college, getting a good job, and earning a comfortable living isn't incentive enough because none of that is real to them. By the time students have been in the system a few years they have become used to the low standards and neglect being all they know. At best they learn to game the system and distrust anything teachers and parents may have to say. More commonly they just atrophe in a miserable cross between daycare and prison.
If any of this is going to change it will take a comprehensive list of reforms ranging from increased teacher pay, eliminating the cap on charter schools, and holding teachers to higher standards, to streamlining the contract, promoting school choice for parents and students, and using the concept of student rights as a teaching tool for getting students to participate in and care about their own education. Our education policy has to stop being about managing a problem no one really thinks can be solved and become one of slowly building the self-responsibility and skills needed for students to become eager consumers of the learning opportunities presented to them.
I'm glad to see that someone finally commented on how insanely stupid it is to claim that there is no incentive to do well in school. And to add insult to injury, the story proposes that giving kids free motherfucking donuts is the solution?! Someone shoot me now.
Sozekirai, did I miss the meeting where we decided that parents aren't responsible anymore, or is it "the system's" fault that they're failing too?
The statistic that Gothamist listed is misleading. Between New York State and New York City, NYC schools receive less money per child, especially in the poor, black, and Hispanic districts.
Since September, I have been trying to teach high school English in NYC. The problem? Class size.
Wake up, America. Stop blaming kids, teachers, and parents. Administrators across the country who, by the way, have long since abandoned classroom teaching, know bloody well that you can't teach children who feel anonymous in a mob of 34.