LA SCHOOLS-When it comes to preparing the next generation to take over the world, one would think that education would be of primary importance. That doesn't seem to be the case in Los Angeles where the financial cost of education seems to be of greater concern. That is what seems to be happening, and you get what you pay for.
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has created several methods to bring down its expenses. Unfortunately, their methods don't seem to improve the product, but they are cheaper! A large percentage of the cost of education is related to teachers and they are unfairly held out as the major problem. Their hands are tied. They are, more accurately, the scapegoats.
Special Education takes a lot of the blame, since those classes are smaller, have more assistants and bring down test scores -- a school’s most important concern. To counter this, LAUSD now has a program called "Full Inclusion," where special education classes are eliminated and the students are included into a regular classroom with a general education teacher who may not have any training with this population, has little or no aides and a lot more students. The justification for this is to "socialize" these students. The reality is that it just cuts costs.
I know of a fourth grade student with ADHD who was put into such a classroom. There were 45 students in the class and twelve of them were identified as having special needs (according to their Individualized Education Programs or IEP's.) There were no aides, only the general teacher who will be blamed for the failure. So much for "No Child Left Behind.” But, it is cheaper! And forget about the negative effect it has on the other students in the class. They need a classroom without constant disruption, where education actually has a chance of taking place.
I recently tutored a sixth grader whose parents were awarded the "gift” of tutoring as a result of a lawsuit against the District. (Of the six I am now tutoring, all got this gift as a result of lawsuits.) While his IEP clearly states that he reads and writes at grade level with assistance (what assistance?), I discovered while assessing his skills at our first session that he didn't know the names of some letters of the alphabet and he knew none of the phonics. This student couldn't read or write at all!
Individualized Education Programs are legal documents which dictate, by a committee, what services the student is required to receive. Non-compliance constitutes fraud. If not fraud, I think it is at least unconscionable that they kept promoting this student when he couldn’t read. When he "graduates," will they consider him a fully-functioning adult? This situation greatly affected his self-esteem. He was in school for six years and was not even taught the alphabet. After only five one-hour sessions with me, he is forming words! But having fewer teachers is cheaper.
I have a modest proposal which would not only cut costs, but eliminate the need for most teachers. Since LAUSD dictates that all elementary students be taught from a script, which the teacher is forbidden to alter or ignore, anyone could be hired to read the script on video, eliminating the need for a teacher. All same grade students could be sent to the auditorium (you don't need expensive teachers to watch them--anyone would do) to watch the video together. If the students have questions, they could write them down and someone could get back to them later with an answer. Their success would be assessed with tests using only True or False and multiple choice answers. Again, no teachers needed.
Not very effective, but it is cheaper and you also eliminate the need for all those pesky teachers. This program, as well as the actual ones they use, falsely assumes that all children of same age learn at the same pace, in the same way and have enough education to write or ask meaningful questions. Instead, administrative educators should be very aware that each child is different and his or her needs should to be addressed as such. After all, wasn't that the justification for an Individual Education Plan (IEP)?
My real concern is that upon reading this, LAUSD's reaction is going to be, "What a great idea!"
(Leonard Isenberg is a Los Angeles observer and a contributor to CityWatch. He’s a second generation teacher at LAUSD and blogs at perdaily.com. Leonard can be reached at [email protected] )
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 55
Pub: July 7, 2015
