Letters to the editor, March 16, 2010
Parents, students need to take responsibility
As a teacher at Barstow High and parent of a Barstow High student, I’m obviously interested in what the population has to say about my (our) school on the Desert Dispatch Web site story comments.
I appreciate how many writers recognize the fact that the situation is not to be blamed upon the teachers alone, but to be shouldered by the parents and, especially, the students. The teachers are not the ones taking the state tests; the students are. Many do not take it seriously because the test doesn’t affect their grades. It’s just a long, boring test to them.
The teachers are not the ones pulling the kids out during the school day for shopping trips and missing weeks of school for vacations because the rates are cheaper during the school year; the parents are. We have a little under an hour a day to get as much information as possible into your child’s brain, during which we are interrupted often, tuned out if we are not entertaining enough, and (in math) restricted by “scripts” we must follow as mandated by the powers that be. Please help us out by scheduling appointments for your child after 2:15 p.m., if possible. State testing starts the first week of May. Encourage your child to get enough rest, eat breakfast, come to school and do their very best. Our kids are better than what they are showing us on these tests. Help them perform their best.
As with any profession, not every teacher is spectacular and we all can improve. But we are definitely not as bad as these test scores make us out to be. I invite you to come see for yourself. Our school would be as amazing as I know it could be if we did have a stronger parent presence on campus. Please feel free to walk our halls, chat with our kids, show the kids that they are cared about. I personally invite you into my classroom to witness the learning that is taking place.
By the way — Good job, girls’ basketball team!! Go Aztecs!!
Patty Jacobs, Barstow High School math teacher
