Cutting teachers.....cutting salaries.....cutting aids/paras......cutting certain departments....what could possibly be next? In this case, it's textbooks! Our Federal government has reduced many schools down to the bare bones in order to cut costs and save money and still schools are struggling to make ends meet.
10 weeks into the school year, many public schools throughout Detroit have gone without textbooks AND supplies needed for everyday classroom necessities. Why? You guessed it!....no money.
As educators, we are taught to be flexible and to be able to work with what we have. If our curriculum is based on using certain textbooks, how do we adapt to meet the needs of our students and to be able to teach to the best of our ability without books for 10 weeks or possibly longer?
Keith Johnson, Detroit's Federation of Teachers President, said, "I have done visitations of 69 schools and with just about every one of them there's been a problem with textbooks." The book suppliers refuse to put the textbooks on credit due to so many schools having financial problems. One tech high school alone in Detroit is short 2,000 textbooks. Not much can be done to solve this dilemma when the sole answer is money.
What would you do in a situation like this? Computers help. But time is an issue when hundreds of students need computers in 45 minute intervals. Supplementary projects/activities can help, but is the material sufficient? 10 weeks and counting is a long time for these students to go without textbooks and proper supplies needed for a good education.
What next?
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Denise,
ReplyDeleteWell, it sounds like the predicament I was thrown into my first year of teaching in California. Not only did we not have math, English, or reading textbooks, I had 45 kids on my class roster to start the year in 1998. For me, it was ditto machining until I looked like Papa Smurf. Not only that, we had "whole language" learning, which meant we didn't have books, but novels from which a teacher was supposed to draw all curriculum out of a hat from. This what their plan. They are failing still after 11 years of me being here. Fortunately for me, I no longer work at the district, but a smaller one outside of town.
In the case of needing 2000 books, I'd say they need to send a petition to the families to purchase and or donate the books. Whatever they can get, they can. It's too bad really. Especially in Michigan, where there is what, 30% unemployment? The bad thing about the publishers is that even the online/computer versions are not worth the cost. They normally make those expire after a season and then it's like having to buy new all over again. Another thing with that is if schools can't afford books, they sure can't afford computers. Sounds like they need to provide more incentives for families to homeschool their children.
Interesting post.
Have a good week.
Randy B.
Denise,
ReplyDeleteThis problem is true in several areas that I know of around the south. My school just got new science books ten weeks into school because the ten year old one students were caring was missing chunks of new information. I have a textbook in my classroom that is 19 years old and I teach technology. You can only imagine how much technology has changed since the book was printed. I understand that we are supposed to role with the punches but sometimes its hard to duck when you are being smacked in the face. Supplies are needed everywhere, yet it seems like the school systems are doing little to help the situation.
Good Article,
Blaire
This is a difficult situation. The demands on teachers ae great enough as it is. To ask teachers to completely revamp what they teach because they can't get the textbooks or other supplies they need is too much. Three years ago, when we switched from Office 2003 to Office 2007, I had to start the school year without textbooks because the ones I wanted weren't being published until after the school year began. I had to learn how to use the new Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access well enough to teach it without a textbook. That was a very difficult task, one I don't want to repeat any time soon. It was difficult enough to keep up for the first couple weeks, so I can only imagine having to do the same without any textbook at all.
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