I'm Your Teacher Not Your Mother: The Real Reason Children Fail and the Simple Solutions

By Suzette Clarke

Finally! A teacher speaks out.

After 15 years in the New York City public school system, she reveals to the world the REAL reason so many of our students do poorly in school.

From the thought-provoking pages of Im Your Teacher Not Your Mother

If children are to improve in schools, we must focus on the most influential branch of the educational tree.

Students in a class receive the same instruction, yet certain ones pass, some even do extremely well, while others fail horribly year after year. Whats the difference?

THE FACTS:

In America

* Each year 1.2 million students drop out of school.

* 7,000 students drop out of school each day.

Something MUST be done to break this destructive cycle!

If your child is failing in school,
You MUST read this book.
If you feel your child can do better in school,
You MUST read this book.
If youve ever wondered, whats wrong with our educational system?
You MUST read this book.

Find out the REAL reason so many of our students are failing.
And learn the 3 simply solutions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491847718

Suzette Clarke

Suzette Clarke served as a teacher on the front lines of New York City’s public schools for 15 years. After completing college, this Bronx native began the odyssey that has developed into her life’s passion – making a difference. She credits the advice of a Sociology professor during her first year of undergrad, for lighting her fuse. “If you really want to make a difference in this world,” the instructor often told her class, “become a teacher!” Those seemingly simple words forged Ms. Clarke’s ambitions and set her on a mission of sharing and teaching. Ms. Clarke pursued this goal in Brooklyn as a 6th, 7th and 8th grade Reading, English and Social Studies Teacher. In addition, she served as a Librarian/Media Specialist. This is her first book.

Book preview

I’m Your Teacher

Not Your Mother

The REAL Reason Children Fail and the Simple Solutions

Suzette Clarke

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©

2013 Suzette Clarke. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 10/16/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4208-1197-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4208-1197-1 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2004098774

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Th inkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Th inkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK

Chapter 1   THE PROBLEM

Chapter 2   EDUCATIONAL ABANDONMENT

Chapter 3   EDUCATIONAL NEGLECT

Chapter 4   ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

Chapter 5   THE SOLUTION: STEP 1

Chapter 6   THE SOLUTION: STEP 2

Chapter 7   THE SOLUTION: STEP 3

Chapter 8   GIVE SCHOOLS THE POWER TO BE GREAT

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

For The Children… Past, Present & Future

WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK

I had to do it—lay everything on the line—regardless of whose feelings get hurt. I felt a strong need to tell the world the truth… how teachers really feel. I’m fed up with the hypocrisy, finger pointing and constant passing of the educational buck.

Enough is enough. It’s time for our society to face reality. We must look in the mirror and be completely honest with ourselves for the sake of our children, our schools and our future.

************

As a teacher in the New York City public school system for 15 years, thousands of children crossed my path. I have had numerous discussions with parents, colleagues, administrators and friends. I’ve listened to countless talk shows on radio and television wrestle with the topic of education.

Many popular discussions for as long as I can remember have been about the state of our schools, or, what’s wrong with children today? Unfortunately, as a society we just don’t get it. If children are to improve in schools, we must focus on the most influential branch of the educational tree.

After a few years on the job, teachers begin to realize that children who under perform in school have one thing in common. They may look different, have unique personalities, varying issues and their own personal stories. Nevertheless, what they all have in common are parents who simply do not ensure that their children do what is required of them in order to excel in school. Essentially, they have parents who allow them to fail.

Too many people have bought into the idea that schools are the culprit failing our students. As a result of this attitude, most people never bother to look anywhere else for the answer.

How can schools or teachers be held responsible for the epidemic of failing students? Could the reason students fail be because their parents are not investing enough time into making sure they pass?

It has become the norm to assume that failing children are the result of bad teachers and a deteriorating school system, instead of what it really is: an expanding culture of students who do not keep up their end of the educational bargain and an increasing pandemic of parents who continuously allow their children’s poor school habits to flourish.

It is a sad reality that some students could not care less about their performance in school. Incredibly, their parents allow these attitudes to thrive-whether they realize it or not. Parents constantly make excuses as to why their children do poorly in school without realizing that they are the ones with the power to help their children improve.

There is very little that can realistically be done by teachers, administrators, or the system, that will make failing students pass, when they have parents who allow them to fail.

This battle has been going on for years. The American school system spends billions of dollars each year implementing new practices and ideologies in a desperate attempt to improve student performance. Meanwhile, too many students know they don’t have to work hard to pass their classes and will still be allowed to watch an abundant amount of television, spend countless hours on computers and phones, receive expensive gifts, hang out with friends, and go on fun vacations with their families. All this goes on while they are not fulfilling their educational duties.

Children who are failing are not motivated to put in the hard work needed to pass. They lack discipline and an environment at home where education is truly valued.

************

This book does not just explain the reason parents and guardians are responsible for the epidemic of failing students, it will provide simple solutions that can be implemented by anyone who has children in their care.

It’s time to end the agonizing conversations that blame everyone and everything else except parents for our failing students. It’s time to get real. Parents must look in the mirror and ask themselves, Am I doing my part to ensure the educational success of my child?

If your child is one of the millions who are failing, I’m sure after you complete this book, you will realize that your answer to this question is no.

"It is easier to build strong children

than to repair broken men."

-Frederick Douglass

CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM

And yes, it’s a big problem

Americans disagree about many things. Discussions on the death penalty, abortion rights, religion and politics, are sure to draw heated debates amongst even the best of friends. There is one topic, however, that will unite the biggest rivals. Start a discussion on the state of our schools and watch the alliances form.

We can agree there is a problem. The fact that many of our students are not faring well educationally is widely known-or at least it should be. Each year we hear the disheartening statistics. Reading, math, science and writing scores are bleak. Globally, our students are constantly out-performed by their international counterparts.

Drop out rates in the U.S. are sobering. Dosomething.org reports that the United States’ graduation rate ranks 22nd out of 27 developing countries. Almost 2,000 of American high schools graduate less than 60% of their students. Every year a whopping 1.2 million students drop out of high school in America alone. That’s 7,000 students every day, or one student every 26 seconds!

Boostup.org revealed that 28% of America’s students dropped out in 2011. This breaks down to 22% of the nation’s White students, 43% of Blacks and 42% of Hispanics who called it quits.

In fact, an alarming number of Black and Hispanic students have struggled to make it to graduation for years. Almost half continuously fail to complete four years of high school. This has been the trend for decades. These groups have substantially higher drop out rates in every state in the nation. Disturbingly, they have lower reading, math, science and writing scores across the board.

The Schott Foundation For Public Education revealed that New York State has the worst four-year graduation rate in the country for Black and Hispanic male students. A meager 37% of Black and Hispanic boys graduate New York’s high schools in four years. They trail far behind their White counterparts in that state who graduate at a rate of 78%. These are very despairing numbers.

Overall, Boostup.org has New York State’s 2011 drop out rate at 26%. This included 18% of the state’s White students, but a