Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 9/27/83; site hplabsb.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!harpo!seismo!hao!hplabs!hplabsb!pc 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