I could not stop laughing after reading a letter about “Take Back Childhood.” It reminded me of a similar question, “How can we stop parents from sending their kids to the summer camps?” during the Town Hall meeting.
Who are YOU to tell other parents what to do? I would not dare. Last time I checked, this is still a country of democracy. Federal and state law still mandate that parents have first say in their own children’s education.
When I talked to a couple of parents about what is going on at school with A&E possibly being eliminated in 4th and 5th grade, their immediate reaction was: let’s find a private tutor, now our kids get more time to be prepared!
When I asked my 10-year-old son what he thinks, he said “I heard they will split the A&E into three levels, but it’s stupid, it will add more stress to us by racing the levels, also more work and less results for teachers. Unless they give one level to one class, but wait, that will make teachers stressed, teaching a lower level may make them feel inferior.”
Bingo!
It makes me as a parent stressed knowing that someone as well educated as Dr. Aderhold thinks his changes are meant to fix stress. The logic is not there.
And thanks to the nice reminder from Aderhold and Mrs. Take Back Childhood! Now a whole generation of 4th and 5th graders will be stressed, their childhood will be truly ruined, they will sit in the after school tutoring class, racing for entrance to sixth grade A&E, and find out in six months that A&E is not designed for the 30 percent and be really suffering and depressed! Those 90 percent who never cared about A&E, some of them will now be stressed as they may be labeled as bottom 30 percent in the classroom.
And with the midterms and finals gone, internet access mandated by the school, kids in their adolescence will have much more time to chill out, use drugs, go online and explore all the impossibles, fail at real life at an early age, and get depressed! How many of us survived reputable colleges without midterm or final exams?
Well, private tutoring business will boom in this town, psychiatric evaluation specialists will rush in! Who will benefit from these?
I don’t know how many parents, students, or teachers the decision makers consulted before any of these changes, maybe people in that position feel too omnipotent? A fat check to consultants with our money is all that is needed to support any theory, unfortunately!
None of these changes can be justified by this grand excuse called “reduce stress.” Go to the town hall meetings and you can feel what this game is really about! Feeling superior and taking some kids’ childhood away may indeed be the ultimate motive.
I feel sorry for the first graders who were cited in Aderhold’s story. If this story is true, the child, who thought he was stressed and being protected this way, will be in deep depression on the first day he has to face the real world, without having his hand held.
I feel sorry for those kids with the potential to achieve in various fields who will be forced to stop on their way up because they do not have the financial means to hire private tutors or go to private school.
I feel sorry for all parents in this town, for whom this administration has zero respect. You don’t know about any of these changes in school until they are in place. When questioned, all you see are slides with individual, irrelevant cases, lips moving, and abstract plans changing everyday.
I feel sorry for all taxpayers in this town. I assumed the superintendent has fiduciary duty to this district’s public education and tax payers’ money. Here comes a huge administrative team and fancy offices in the last couple of years, while our kids need to rotate for 15 minutes of lunch time starting at 10 a.m. and have to rush through classes due to lack of classroom and lunch space.
Public education quality in WW-P will deteriorate fast, just like that of California, the only difference being that we pay much more tax and still have to send our kids to private schools. Funny that Aderhold used a single case from Palo Alto High to justify his cause. Is WW-P even remotely comparable? This school district in his hands will head directly to East PA.
It probably would take some money and time to achieve good testing scores. But it takes a whole village to nurture a beautiful mind and a good heart. With such a divided community called upon by some self-claimed educators, those hard working parents who are working toward their American dreams and looking for a better education for their children in WW-P — there is better use for your money. Please Run, run for your life!
Cathy Gao
Plainsboro
