Reply to post: At Snorlax...

Apple, if you want to win in education, look at what sucks about iPads

Shadow Systems

At Snorlax...

45 students per teacher per class is nothing. There are some with 50 or more per class, depending on the subject.

It's not the school's fault for overcrowding classes, it's the government's fault for underfunding schools to the point where they *have to* in order to make what budgetary money they get make ends meet.

His school recently had to stop serving breakfast to the students. They didn't want to do it, they just couldn't afford the extra expenses any longer. They applied for more money to cover the costs, but the grant request got turned down & the money just wasn't there. So kiss one meal a day offered to students, many of whom relied on it because they're too poor themselves to afford it from home, that the school can no longer offer. If the money ever comes back & they can afford to offer it, then breakfasts will be back on the table. But in the mean time, it's either cancel breakfasts or fire a teacher or two. Oh wait, firing a teacher would increase the overcrowding problem & exacerbate the issue. So kiss breakfast goodbye.

I used to work at his school back when he was still a student at it. Back then they could afford to pay me to be a Yard Duty & Crossing Guard, & I volunteered to be their Computer Lab guy. Fast forward a few years, he graduates & the budget isn't there any more for my services. So I stick around volunteering to be the Computer Lab guy, but they can't afford to pay for the Yard Duty nor Crossing Guard. Budget solution is to get an already overworked teacher to do those jobs (in addition to everything else), & hope said teacher doesn't burn ou- whoops, one stroke later & that person is now on permanent disability, no longer teaching, & all the load they had been shouldering left for everyone else to make up & take up the slack.

Want to take a wild ass guess what their tech budget looks like? Here's a hint. That "Computer Lab" was filled with Packard Bell Windows 95 machines using 10-base-T. I had to pay out of my own pocket to upgrade them all to ethernet networking cards so I could switch them to CAT5. When I left they were still on Win95, but another student's parent was in the process to get Intel to donate a bunch of new computers running Win XP! I don't know if that ever came to pass, merely that last year I ran into one of his old teachers in the market & the teacher asked if I could come back to help with a computer problem.

This is nearly two decades later & they *still* asked a blind guy to come back to help with their computer lab. Why? Because there's no budget for a full time guy. The district has a dedicated IT Admin, but that's *one man* for *the entire district*. Take a wild guess how fast any issues can get dealt with at my son's school. "Fast" is measured in geological terms.

So before you start bashing the school for making my son handle 45 students per class, take a look at the books & realize that *only* 45 students is a luxury he enjoys because he's still just starting. The moment he gets tenure & qualifies for a full time position, it's up to 50 per class & all the headaches that budgetary shortfall entails.

He knew from the outset that he'd never get rich being a teacher. "If I wanted to be rich I'd become a psychologist. I'm in this for the kids, Dad."

On one hand it makes me sad that he'll probably be barely better off than some of his students, but on the other hand he makes me so proud it hurts.

I take my hat off to teachers that do it for the kids. Those are the ones that will go out of their way to encourage & help a kid to strive & succeed.

And that's *in spite* of the budgetary shitstorm.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon