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From: pc@hplabsb.UUCP (Patricia Collins)
Newsgroups: net.kids
Subject: Re: "Talented and Gifted" program
Message-ID: <2053@hplabsb.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 31-Jan-84 14:39:17 EST
Article-I.D.: hplabsb.2053
Posted: Tue Jan 31 14:39:17 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 7-Feb-84 08:15:05 EST
References: <869@ihuxr.UUCP>, <1097@hlexa.UUCP>, <525@pyuxa.UUCP>
Organization: Hewlett Packard Labs, Palo Alto CA
Lines: 32


	Having done a 4-year term as a mathematics teacher I can verify
that the problems of adequate education are staggering.  To keep this
brief:
	1. Parents in most districts have the power to determine who
is placed in "gifted" classes.  I had to teach children advanced math
who had a superficial understanding of arithmetic.  Their parents had
simply phoned the Superintendent and demanded that their children be
included.  (Upwardly-mobile communities are notorious for this.)
	2. I taught with a math teacher who came running into my classroom
in a tither, wondering if there was any reference on "the square root
of zero."  Since dividing by zero "is impossible," there was no hope of
finding a square root.  I have seen many tests for English grammar which
were, themselves, riddled with grammar errors.
	3. It is my cynical opinion that education (public or private)
is basically a mechanism for socialization.  It teaches young people the
social structures of their culture.  I have no illusions that any school
will teach my child the breadth and depth of knowledge and the learning
skills which open doors.  I allow that my child may encounter a FEW
teachers with the skills to facilitate some of this learning.
	4. With elementary teachers earning $8000 to start in private
schools and $14000 to start in public schools, there is absolutely no
hope of attracting ENOUGH people who are knowledgeable, skilled, and
dedicated enough to raise American Education to the level we would all
desire for our children.

	I did not quit teaching because of the salary.  I quit because I
was BORED by total lack of intellectual stimulation and by an entrenched
bureaucracy which had lost sight of the children.

						Patricia Collins
						hplabs