Alternatives in Education: You Don't Have to Settle for the Public School System! By Diana Dahl
Many aspects of American culture have taken great strides to progress in recent years. The world of medicine can now fix vision with lasers and give people new organs. Female leaders are succeeding in our political system; African Americans are becoming CEOs of large corporations. It is clear that many institutions are advancing, changing, and all together reinventing themselves.
This unfortunately is not the case for public education. In fact, traditional education is not only remaining stagnant, but is retracting in many ways. Class sizes are becoming larger than ever (more students for each teacher = less personalized attention for each student). Children now have to walk through metal detectors and view their school policemen everyday because of the increase in school violence. Teachers are afraid to show affection or to discuss morality with their students. Principals used to know the name of every student, which is rare in today's public schools. The goal of today's teaching is to score well on the NCLB 's standardized tests, rather than to meet the individual learning needs of students.
Children today are not experiencing the same schooling as we did in our younger days. They are being sent into a lonely world with a "fend for yourself" mentality. They are being taught that test scores are more important than learning and that teachers and principals are unable to care for them as people.
Because of this deterioration in our public school system, and our inability to depend on our government to alleviate the issues, parents and teachers have taken it upon themselves to develop alternatives to the failing traditional system. It is vital that you know that choices are present and that quality, affordable alternatives exist.
Is your child "telling" you that they want out of the public school system? The Southern Baptist Academy is here to provide an alternative.
________________________________________________________________ ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Diana M. Dahl is the Manager of Academic Operations at The Southern Baptist Academy. She graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelors Degree in Secondary Education. Diana recently produced a new training program for the curriculum development department of the company. She has published countless articles on educational issues, and has authored curriculum for numerous Internet-based Pre-K-12 courses.
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