Elimination of middle schools in NYC

[dakareng]

Back in the dark ages when I was in the public schools, it was K-8 then 9-12. By the time I was in 8th grade I was bored out of my mind and could not wait to get to HS. Four years later, they changed to K-6/ 7-8/ 9-12 in my hometown.

THe schools here in Plano have a system that I've not seen anywhere else, nor has anyone mentioned it here. Elementary schools are K-5, middle schools are 6-8, high schools are 9-10 and senior high is 11-12. One of the other area districts has a "Freshmen Center" for grade 9 and then high school is 10-12. The high schools are immense complexes (to me, they look like jr colleges) and graduating classes are 800-1200 students. The selection of courses that I hear my coworkers talking about their children taking are wide, varied and very intense but it seems to me that the personal element isn't there. Then again, as long as your building does well on the TAKS (state test), nothing else matters (please note the sarcasm there... I am not a teacher but I think teachers should TEACH and not simply prep kids for a government mandated test)

[FeeFee]

Originally posted by ZTAMich
The more the year goes on the more I feel very unqualified and unsupported @ my job here for NYC's Board of Ed. My graduate work in K-6 is a JOKE. It's part of a city run program I'm in for teachers but I feel very unprepared & unsupported. I think content wise many of my fellow new NYC teachers KNOW what it is we need to teach. But the problem as I see it lies in the way we are told we have to teach it in accordance with the curriculum guides and lesson formats here for the city. City teachers feel very micro-managed by our immediate supervisors and above.

And don't even get me started on what we should do to the kids who don't behave...that seems to be a whole nother thread!

For a brief moment, I had thought about joining the city run program, but changed my mind (now in graduate school for guidance counseling). Most of my friendswho teach in the NYC school system have the same complaint. Obviously the powers that be over at BOE don't pay atttention what the teachers have to say half the time.
As far as misbehaving children, I guess at some point I would have to deal with that as a school counselor.

Pray for the Board of Ed (or Dept of Ed as they are called now).