Evaluating the educational system in your area
While finishing my teaching certification four years ago, my professor talked about school categories and how they ranked. Students that attended Department of Defense schools did just as well on standardized tests as students from private schools. Of course it was no surprise that overall, public school students were in the middle, with charter schools fairing slightly better and students from Native American reservations scored lowest.
This saddened me since I was finishing my degree to work in the public school setting. Also, being Native American, I felt disappointed in knowing this ethnic group wasn’t being reached. The figures weren’t showing how Native Americans across the country were failing, but rather their whole schools. Sometimes I hear stories of how people in South Dakota from the family I was born into are doing. Those stories make me wonder how educated I would be if I hadn’t been adopted out into a white, middle class family in California.
The other emotions I felt while listening to him was disgust and jealousy. Why should the children of military members or the most privileged get the best education? Belonging to the military community never gave my child the opportunity of a DoDDS education up to that point. We never felt that our child was owed a better public education than what the general public was provided. My husband is in the Air force, and I was in college which meant we couldn’t afford private school. She attended regular public school in a district that ranked 17th in the nation. However, I couldn’t help but feel maybe there was something better.
My husband and I both went to private schools and though we still cannot afford that, I now know the grass is always greener on the other side. My daughter currently goes to a DoDDS school. The school district I taught in and our daughter attended in the states was a blessing. I just didn’t realize it at the time.
The DoDDS school system in Germany reminds me of a dilapidated car sitting on a front lawn. Everyone sees the problems, the owner admits to the car having problems and it being an eyesore, but does very little to resolve the issue. The teachers hired for DoDDS are given a housing allowance, a higher teaching salary, and are relocated for free in addition to all of the regular perks of teaching. What this means is that a bad teacher can get into the system and retire in Europe without fear of losing their job because there is no accountability. They have a teacher’s
Tags: Charter Schools, Department Of Defense Schools, Jealousy
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