Duane Tron: A perspective from the trenches

From Duane Tron, June 9, 2007

Subject: Re: getting to know Fordham a little better....

The following article was written by Duane E. Tron

Please feel free to share from someone in the trenches and not sitting in the 'ivory tower' pontificating on the woes of public education.

From a professional viewpoint based on actual experience I wish to share the following observations with some of today's critics of public education. I have spent the past decade focusing my full attention to serving the needs of at-risk children. These are children who aren't succeeding in our regular schools. As a career educator I have noticed during the past 20 years that we are witnessing more and more young children who experience tremendous difficulty mastering the basic principles of reading and math. The numbers don't lie! We are seeing more children with issues related to hyperactivity and attention deficit. Many manifest severe behavior issues and aggression. Though we have experienced children with these problems in the past there has been a definite spike in the numbers during the past decade. The first question I started asking many years back was, why?

After spending time working for the courts and law enforcement I quickly became aware of one of the major causes. Over time I witnessed the number of cases involving drug abuse, substance abuse, possession of drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia, DUI, DWI, DVI, drug overdoses, underage consumption, and on and on. Most of these cases are treated with impunity by the courts. Why? There are so many on the court dockets across this land that the courts lack the jail space to lock most of the people up. Thus, Paris Hilton received a paltry 23 day jail sentence for a second offense, and for violating probation. Her sentence was stiff in comparison to most cases that come before the courts. Only the most egregious cases see any actual jail time assigned.

Where is this going? Teachers, and in point public education, are being blamed for the decline in student achievement, or perceived student failure. One only has to stop and think that we are witnessing the second generation of a people who abuse large quantities of alcohol and drugs. I'm not a medical professional but I can't believe for one minute that the ongoing abuse of drugs and alcohol isn't having some negative impact on our offspring. I recently read that the United States has the highest rate of drug abuse of any country in the world. The article pointed out that demand for cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamines (the new drug of choice), heroin, and other opiates make the USA the number one market for the distribution of such drugs. Couple this to the fact that we have more affluence and thus can spend more money and resources to promote the lifestyle. I beg the question, what kind of an impact is our love affair with drugs having on our children?

I truly believe that our preoccupation, love affair, with illegal drugs is impacting millions of children educationally, socially, behaviorally, and economically. Enter the classroom teacher who receives children who were crack and alcohol fetal syndrome babies to try and teach them with ordinary resources, methods, and materials. I have been observing such children for over a decade and I can tell you that their educational deficiencies aren't the result of poor teaching. Many have physiological, and psychological, issues which in turn contribute to learning issues. If a child can't stay focused and pay attention a child is going to experience difficulty learning.

Teachers today are more highly trained and skilled than their predecessors. If this is the case why is there so much difficulty teaching large cross sections of the adolescent population? Refer back to what I just explained in the preceding paragraph. Another problem has emanated from the decline in the importance of the family. Many children lack any kind of support base at home. Parents often work two low paying jobs to try and make ends meet. The children are often left unattended and without proper supervision.

These are the factors driving the problems we see in education. Not poorly trained teachers. I really get sick of listening to conservatives tell me about how great education was in the "good old days." I am the product of a school system (1950's) that probably had some of the worst, poorest trained, teachers I have ever seen. We attended a rundown school with few opportunities and resources. Our high school only played seven football games a year and about twelve basketball games. Imagine that! We didn't have wrestling or any of the preppy sports. I remember a time when the school board met and voted to pay the coal (fuel) bill and the teachers had to wait for their paychecks. The single teachers were paid first and then the married teachers who had a working spouse last. True! The school I attended can't take credit for my educational prowess and knowledge. I was the product of a religious home where my parents placed high value on learning and education. They supported the public schools in every way possible. Even though we were relatively poor we traveled to different places and sites across the country. We camped and sat and ate our peanut butter or bologna sandwiches on the running board of our 1938 Chevrolet. My siblings and I weren't distracted by TV and other electronic toys. We went outside and played and made up new games all of the time. There was a high level of creativity that existed in our homes and community. Most of us succeeded in spite of the school and not because of it.

Do I try and cast blame on my teachers? No! Did I come from a home where I had to deal with issues of drug abuse, physical abuse, hunger, neglect, sexual abuse, or the myriad of problems associated with a dysfunctional home life? No! Many of the children we work with today experience one of more of the preceding problems. For many their problems are multiple. Then I listen to my ignorant conservative counterparts, such as Jon Husted, denouncing the state of public education in this country. Schools today are trying to serve as surrogate parents and provide everything that is lacking at home. Teachers today are trying to teach children with multiple disabilities and many impairments. I have witnessed many more teachers who have experienced burnout in the classroom during the past 20 years. There are very few colleges that can adequately prepare teachers for what they are going to encounter in the every day classroom.

Those of us who grew up in tougher times understand much better. We know the meaning of doing without! We understand the ramifications when children don't become educated. We have dedicated our lives to trying to repair the damage in the cities and our communities. We understand that ignorant lawmakers can't legislate morals, parenting skills, values, honesty, integrity, and ethics. If our lawmakers don't possess and represent these values how can they expect teachers to impart all of these virtues to our children? Oh! It's the old "do as I say and not as I do" thing!

Congressman Jordan and his colleagues badmouth public education but they reaped the benefits of the system they are so eager to blame and chastise for its failures. This coming from people who have a terrible approval rating from the American people. Jordan went to college on a full ride scholarship for his athletic achievements in wrestling. I'm sure he achieved all of this on his own. Husted was a star linebacker at the University of Dayton and I doubt that his education played any part in his successes following college. If you listen to some of these people they want to lead people to believe that they pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. Jim Jordan, and his lovely wife Polly, were blessed to have wonderful parents, live in a relatively crime free community, have caring and quality classroom teachers, and never had to do without. I don't know Husted's background but I venture to say he has never really suffered the impact of poverty.

For those of us who grew up during, or immediately following, the Great Depression I can attest to the suffering of those who did without. I have seen the face of poverty having grown up in one of the most economically disadvantaged parts of Dayton. I understand what it feels like to fail and fall on my face big time. I flunked out of one of the most prestigious schools in the Navy "due to a lack of educational background." I had to dust myself off and start all over. I had to work and educate myself in writing and math so I could succeed. And I did! I discovered that I lacked most of the educational foundation essential to achieving academically.

I have often reflected back on my classmates and our education journey growing up. I quickly recognize the fact that back during the "good old days," of public education, our class started with 230 kids in 1950 and we graduated 136 in 1962. What happened to all of the other kids? Lets see! Oh! Many dropped out of school when they turned 16 and others were held back, and finished, or dropped out later. You know when the public schools were wonderful and turning out much better educated children than we are today? Folks, the idea that schools in the 1940's and 50's were awesome is a myth. I read an account that at the beginning of WW II the Navy had to send three fourths of pilot candidates to remedial math classes so they could learn to navigate aircraft and ships. It was noted that the pilot candidates math skills were so poor that they couldn't perform basic math. It was indicated that their writing skills were also woefully lacking. Imagine that?! You know back in some mythical time that conservatives want us to believe was wonderful and everyone had everything they needed. I assure you that the men and women serving in our armed forces today are much better prepared academically than myself and my earlier counterparts.

Maybe they can go and pop "It's a Wonderful Life," into their DVD's and pretend about how wonderful the "good old days" were. You know the "good old days" where we had separate but equal for African Americans. We had separate but equal drinking fountains, restrooms, theaters, restaurants, housing, courts, churches, and much more. If I remember right when I was stationed in Florida, and South Carolina, 'separate but equal' restrooms meant restrooms for white folk had sinks and porcelain flush toilets. Toilets for colored folk meant an outhouse that sat about fifty feet behind the gas station. I couldn't take my African American friends to a restaurant, theater, or any other public venue. They were persona non grata! They sat in the back of the transit buses and if there wasn't enough room they had to get off of the bus to let us white folk on. They couldn't stay at hotels or motels. I could go on for hours since I lived through this, experienced it first-hand, while serving our country with men of color who were deprived of their basic human dignity, their basic human rights. They were good enough to die for this country but they weren't good enough to be given equal treatment. I remember the "good old days" quite well. You know when our public schools were the finest in the world, unlike today.

Somebody has fed some of the people we're dealing with today some really bad information over the years. Our problems aren't the result of poor teachers and lousy public schools. Our problems emanate from lousy political leadership, the "good old boy" fraternity, that continues to plague our society and political system. I think too many of these people watched too many Shirley Temple movies. The thing that made Ronald Reagan so popular with many was the fact that he understood all of the issues to which I have referred. He lived through the times I described and this is why he coined the term "compassionate conservatism." The problem with conservatives today is they have dropped the term "compassionate!" They like to think they are emulating the teachings of President Reagan and they are lost in a sea of ignorance and mediocrity. Whether you liked him or not, Ronald Reagan understood the meaning of compromise, compassion, empathy, sacrifice and doing without. This is in contrast to those who think they represent him and his views. Husted, Jordan, and others can't emulate President Reagan because they lack compassion and empathy! They obviously can't understand that to which they have never experienced, or lived!

Please note that I still love the movie "It's a Wonderful Life," and I still like the old Shirley Temple movies, but I view them in the context for which they were meant. I don't sit around and long for some mythical time that never existed as some wish to depict! Those who hold power are abusing their power out of ignorance and not necessarily malice. They believe in a lot of things that just aren't so and never have been. They are trying to recreate something that never existed except in the fantasies of a few. Radical views, and opinions, whether coming from the right or left ends of the political spectrum become a cancer to our way of life. Radical ideologues represent the greatest threat to democracy and our way of life. They polarize the people and distract from the real issues affecting us. All one has to do is view radical Islam to see what happens when any society allows extreme elements to take control. This is where we find ourselves today in America. Two small political minorities are driving the entire political decision-making processes and we have to stop them before they destroy the entire country. I keep lobbying the idea of creating a new political party that will represent the needs, views, and opinions of the majority of Americans. We need a new third party that isn't divisive but dedicated to fixing and restoring instead of destroying. My conservative friends are totally wrong on the issue of education.