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Comment by Scubabear68 | Hacker News Reader

In our rural public school in NJ, both our kids were routinely socially promoted with B’a and C’s even though they were very below average on State testing.

We tried fighting this but the inertia of “do nothing and pass anyway” was too great.

When we moved them to private school last year (5th and 9th grade), they had a brutal adjustment period of catching up from being so far behind, and for learning studying habits from scratch.

Public schools in the US have problems due to the unions giving too much protection to lousy teachers, and school boards throwing away money like water on things like laptops and athletic fields while not focusing on attracting and paying really good teachers with a track record of success.

It really is a travesty.

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> We tried fighting this but the inertia of “do nothing and pass anyway” was too great.

It's because there's no story for what to do in this case. All schools, even good ones, only focus on the happy path. I mean you're basically describing the problem perfectly when you moved your kid to a private school. They're not getting a more personalized education, the expectations are just higher. School is still a train that keeps moving whether you're at the level or not.

Well said and exactly right. The private school not only had higher expectations? But also realistic feedback in the form of real grades and consequences.

Not just that, but the food we give to these kids is horrible.

I know that he is a bit contrived in his methodologies, but you watch enough of his shows that you can see the adult behavior reactions to his methods, it is clear that nothing is ever going to change...

https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/jamie-oliver-is-his-...

I watched this great documentary where the "problem kids" were fed high quality fresh food for breakfast and lunch. Many of their problems disappeared.

I think it was Cafeteria Man, but I am not sure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbCtpGV_Crg

Turns out there are a bunch documentaries that show how nutrition is a big driver in child development and school performance.

Teachers’ unions are basically ineffective outside of large liberal cities (NYC, Chicago, Seattle). Their ability to “protect lousy teachers”, as you put it, has already been gutted. As a side-effect, they’re also now incapable of retaining exceptional teachers.

Counter example, n=1. We are in one of the smallest school districts in NJ, "out in the sticks" as it were. The teacher's union is extremely powerful here. Everybody - and I mean everybody - knows who the bad teachers are. Nothing at all can be done get them to improve or to exit.

When parents come in talking about issues, the teachers all put up a wall of educational verbiage and jargon that is impenetrable, but the jargon is designed to make the administration look the other way. Use the magic code words in a meeting and you're OK.

I’m not sure how getting rid of teachers’ unions will also stamp out small town clique effects (i.e., the “good ol’ boys’” network).

The north east has some of the longest-standing cultures of bureaucracy and corruption in the US. I would not expect anything above average from these locations. As you mention, there is to much inertia and precedent in these regions.

If you can, move somewhere else. I've never heard anything good from the city management or education systems in the oldest parts of the nation.

> In our rural public school in NJ

Where in New Jersey is rural now?

Most of it. Go an hour to the west of NYC.

Yep, most of Western and Southern NJ is rural.

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