My Alibi

moving in for the kill...

i was googling a friend of mines name. and i found an article regarding the golden apple award scholarship program getting their funding cut. which i was already aware of.

Columbia Chronicle Online Article

my friend just happens to be a golden apple scholarship recipient. part of her duties include observation and student teaching. she was recently at a Southside Chicago public elementry school. that area of chicago isnt the nicest, its a pretty "urban" area. and the director of her program went to observe the setting in which my friend was learning and after realizing the difference in the neighborhood and culture, compared to the loop where Columbia is located. the director basically had a major culture shock of her own and pulled my friend out of the school. this is a school where teachers did have to questionable language to get the kids' attention and do their job as a teacher, in an educational enviorment that already has a major lack of funding and can barely afford a substitute teacher.

the director then placed my friend in a new school, to finish the semester. the new school is not just any school, it is a University of Chicago Lab School. which means they have more than ample funding due to the grotesque amount the yearly tuition adds up to be. and you know, the school has every resource available to them. i am sure the school does wonderful things, they also have a great mission statement.

one of their goals is to teach a sense of community responsibilty. they want it to look like they are teaching children to use their advantages to help people less advanantaged than they. but in reality that translates to "when you grow up, make a donation to a charity that you can use as a write-off, vote, and join the rest of corporate american. to me, they seem to be teaching idealism. and anyone who has seen anything in the real world knows that idealism is a fantasy. we do not live in an ideal world.

my friend has gone from one extreme to another. hopefully, she will be able to take the best from both and apply them in a way to meet in the middle on a more average level.

so much for the no child left behind act. if only this government could figure out their own way to find a middle ground, especially when it comes to education.