State taking over MCS......

Joi Peake. After reading the article in the Commercial Appeal about the schools that can be possibly taken over by the state if scores do not improve, I felt that this issue is very delicate. The schools need support and sincere cooperation from all stakeholders. The most important and number one thing all of us should focus on is the education of our children. We as a city and as a county cannot afford a lost generation. I attended a Memphis City School and my pride level is not the greatest for that. It was several years ago and at that time it was thought to be one of the better schools in the Memphis area. Towards my senior year I noticed a rapid change in our in our school system. It seemed as students came to school only because they had to, or parents sent them to be cared after. Parents must be involved in the education process of their child. In my opinion parents need to be fully engaged in the learning process of their children. Parents should return to school, to better educate their children at home. Teachers need our full support. Teachers should be able to count on parents for their children to be disciplined. The reason discipline is important to me in the school system is so it will decrease the number of in class disruptions. If class disruptions are minimized then more time could be focused on teaching and learning. In this day and time a child has very little opportunity to get a good job without the proper education. A better educated child would make a better educated citizen. Parents need to demand more of the students. Parents should be involved with the student’s class activities and home assignments. Students need to demand more of them self. If students demand more of themselves grades would improve. If students strive for perfection, I believe they will end up somewhere in the neighborhood. Being a hard working student could help you with daily life skills, if college is attended or not. Being a hard working student it will help shape the students for the future and for corporate America. Teachers need to be allowed to teach. Citizens should do whatever they can to assist the system. If students are forced to do what is needed to be done then teaching would be able to be done. This system is set up for the failure of our children at the expense of profits for the companies who provide jobs for unskilled workers in distribution companies. Distribution warehouses would suffer from Memphis being a better educated city. They need unskilled workers so that their options of having a better career would be less. It is obvious to any honest parent, student, teacher, school board member, and our mayor that our schools are not now and have not for a long time functioned as places where real education takes place. Five of the eight schools that are on the list to be taken over by the state if scores don’t improve are located in north Memphis. Most of those students live in poverty and parents are undereducated, and the system is more geared to failure. Students in those types of environments need the encouragement from the community and teachers to overcome the odds of their environment. I believe if more people show more interest in the students that want to do better, will no matter where they are or where they come from. Schools, cities, families and individuals can help solve the problem in our Memphis city school system. In my opinion the change begins at home. If there is a change made in home then a change will be made in the school. Once the schools are changed over time the community will be changed. Parents are responsible for their children. The importance of discipline and education should be one of the many family values.