Reply #40: Well, that's just not true at all.

[donco6]

"Sorry, madfloridian, but if you managed to see things from the perspective of a fourteen year old child - a task I know no teacher in America is capable of doing - you would understand that rational sentiment. The kid doesn't care about learning Shakespere or calculus; he's worried about not getting beaten bloody after school, either by bullies his own age or bullies who are his parents."

I work in a low-income, urban district. I know most people think it looks like "Boston Public", but it really doesn't. We have no metal detectors, no bars on the windows. I think we had a BB gun last year once. But in all, it's pretty much like any other school, except more run-down and brown.

But the kids do care about what they learn. We have more than 90% accepted to college - not that they'll all go, but they COULD if they wanted. Most kids take at least one college course before graduating. We do a lot to make things relevant - we had an expedition on the Harlem Renaissance this year that pulled in history, social studies, literature, music, and art. And the kids had a blast with it.

So, in my experience, this just isn't the case.