SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT

For parents who are sick and tired of being sick and tired

Who wouldn’t like to have this family’s problem?  THIS is a problem? Too bad the majority of parents don’t have the option of moving to a “better” neighborhood with the “better” school or to pay for private school.  Most families that I see are like the ones in the video featured on today’s posting—sick and tired of being sick and tired.

A week doesn’t go by that I fail to get calls for help from parents who are either at their wit’s end or are just plain desperate to find a better education for their kids. These parents live in poor areas of the largest city in Canada. Their schools are some of the worst performing on the EQAO tests. They’ve seen shootings and violence on a regular basis. Their schools certainly have fine teachers and almost every intervention and program that the school board makes available. Yet, they are still worried for their children. The money spent on those schools is not really the problem.

Other parents live in rural areas in a town with one local school and no other place to go if things are not working for their children.

Usually parents call for a copy of Malkin’s recently updated book How to Get the Right Education for Your Child. Sometimes they are asking about the Stairway To Reading remedial program that we make available online for free. The most heartbreaking calls come from a mom who missed out on the lottery for a private voucher through Children First Scholarship Trust. This is why films like Waiting for Superman or The Cartel strike such a chord.

The Society for Quality Education has a mission to significantly improve schools. A few months back I described Why We Do What We Do. What hasn’t changed is our resolve to work for better educational opportunities for Canadian families. Maybe it is time for parents to start asking questions like the one in this video. Ask WHY, and just insert your favorite politician’s name.

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For more on the debate surrounding Waiting for Superman, check out the latest round of letters in the Toronto Star, some from some pretty notable people.