Primary-Cap-3147 OP t1_j8i3w8o wrote on February 14, 2023 at 2:05 PM

Reply to comment by ilagitamus in Vermont Public School Teachers- What Are Your Concerns? by Primary-Cap-3147

Thank you for the thoughtful reply! It makes me wonder if COVID is responsible for this shift in behaviors, or if it just accelerated this trend in public education. My mother has been a teacher most of her life, and she has noted that teachers have steadily been losing authority over the last 15 or so years. I have a few teacher friends from the NY/NJ area that have either quit teaching to go into curriculum planning, or are going insane.

I'm left wondering if it makes sense to opt into something private or online right out of preschool. I'm not worried about the quality of the teachers, but the detrimental experience of seeing kids day in and out never be held to account. Our experience with daycare was really rough- we only had him in a few half days a week starting at 2, just to get him used to socializing/separated from us- but it became very apparent that he was getting bullied (he wasn't very verbal at the time so it was hard to gauge). The staff would always just say "he had a great day!" despite his listlessness, and occasional scratches that I couldn't tell came from play or another kid. We pulled him from that, found a great preschool when he turned three, and has been thriving since.

I'm really worried about entering the public school, as the unchecked daycare kids are all headed that way. Our preschool is very parent involved, draws from all around the Upper Valley as opposed to just the town, and there are clear behavioral standards that have to be met. I feel like losing that could be devastating for him.

If you have a child, would you or are you comfortable with them going to your public school? If you had the choice, would you opt for something private?

ilagitamus t1_j8i66k0 wrote on February 14, 2023 at 2:22 PM

I’d definitely want my child to go to public school. I live in the district I work, but I’d still want them to have the chance to meet a wider demographic of peers by attending public school.

Primary-Cap-3147 OP t1_j8ibj7r wrote on February 14, 2023 at 3:01 PM

As a parent, is there a way you would go about handling a bullying problem? Like if your kid was getting targeted, and the administration refused to do anything about it- how would you handle the situation? Or if your kid felt like they couldn't learn in a classroom where the teacher had to constantly divest their attention from teaching to address the specific behavioral problems of certain students?

These seem like extremely common scenarios, but admittedly most of this comes from what I'm reading online, or the occasional conversation with parents in public play areas/teacher friends. It's all anecdotal, but I've really not heard a single positive thing from anyone's experience. I'd mostly be worried about my kid thinking the real world operated like these schools, where the most outlandish behaviors receive the most resources with no accountability.

I guess I'm hoping that the horror stories I hear about are just the most extreme examples being expressed by the most dissatisfied teachers. Like the Teaching subreddit would make you think public schools are some dystopian hells cape. I've not read a single positive story coming from it.

ilagitamus t1_j8ppwdl wrote on February 16, 2023 at 1:38 AM

For bullying if no progress is being made I’d force an in person meeting and ensure that when the meeting ends specific action will be taken or that my child is separated from the one in question. If it’s bad enough, legal action. Bullying has a very specific legal definition in VT and schools can be held very liable if they’re aware of it and do nothing.

Academically, any areas I had concern on for my child I’d find ways to work on at home or over the summer. I’m privileged enough to have the means that I’d be able to make up the difference in ensuring my child has the academic skills required to be successful moving on, at least within grades K to 6.

Within my school though, and from other teachers I talk to in my district, the kind of stuff worst case scenarios and hellscapes I’m hearing being described aren’t happening. That doesn’t mean they aren’t, but from my own perspective, things are maybe a little rough, but are still perfectly manageable. Learning is happening, fun is happening, social development is happening. Teachers feel supported, behavior response has to be triaged, but is still within the scope of being managed within the classroom and in a way that generally isn’t disruptive.