Educational Editorials # 1
The Changing Educational Demographics in America
I visited a Middle School yesterday. The school is located to the south of the City of Los Angeles and is not a part of the Los Angeles Public School System. I visited the school at the request of a parent who was concerned about "the changing educational demographics" of the school.
I, as the Chief Tutor of "A Free Tutoring Service", entered the school's office and politely asked about one of my 8th grade tutoring students. I was very courteous because I had a few instances in the past where I was not treated very kindly as a Tutor who was interested in the well-being of his students. You see, some schools seem to frown on anyone who has the nerve to assist one of their students with homework or to teach them anything else other than that which is taught in "their" school. They seem to frown on a visit as this one.
I asked one of the secretaries about a 3rd period mathematics class. My student was in that class and had complained to his parent about the teacher's deep accent and the inability to understand what he was saying about mathematics. I thought it only fair to inquire of the teacher a lesson plan or outline so that I could assist the student with his mathematics. I had no intention of berating anyone for having a "deep accent".
The school Principal overheard the conversation between the secretary and me and immediately took to the sword.
"You want me to tell one of my teachers that this student can't understand his accent?", she stammered. She seemed to look at me with disgust and distaste.
"And just who are you, sir, may I ask?" she continued.
"My name is Cleophas McAlpin and I am a Volunteer Tutor to one of your students", I said. "I only want to see if I can do anything to assist that student with his mathematics. He says that he had a little bit of trouble understanding the teacher because of his accent."
The Principal turned away from me to berate a student who stood before the desk. It seemed that I was a non-entity.
"Just what are you doing out of class, young man?" she asked. She refused to hear of anything the young man had to say and swiftly led him to the door amidst promises to call the security guard if he didn't move to his class "on the double".
It was at that moment that I questioned her real role. Was she the School Counselor or the Campus Police?
She turned back to me.
"Sir", she continued. "Do you know that this school is 80 % Hispanic? Do you know that they have little trouble understanding? Do you know that we hired him because of this percentage?"
She continued with her "do you knows".
"And just why are you here?", she asked again.
She emphasized the "you".
"I am here at the request of a parent", I said. "It seems that we met last semester when I came to visit this student's teachers. Your office could not find a record of him being in the school."
"I remember you", she said. "We were in the process of upgrading our computer system. We have it in place now."
She seemed to calm down a bit.
"I only wanted to speak to the teacher about his mathematics lesson plan", I reiterated. "I want to know about his performance in your school."
She led me into her office. She showed me the student's Stanford 9 and other test scores. She said that he was a "failing student". Then she looked at another stack of examination papers and said that he was an "average student"! She gave me the impression that this student was barely scraping by. She also said that a progress report had been sent out. This was in sharp contrast to a secretary's statement that progress reports had not been turned in by the teachers.
I was a bit confused by all of this. I knew the student to be a very fine tutoring student. He could graph straight lines with the greatest of ease. As a matter of fact, he had told me that a science teacher was so amazed that he wanted meet me. He wanted all students to receive such "free tutoring services." This student, in my opinion, was an "A" student, based on his performance in mathematics and science in the Tutoring Service.
"If my teacher wants to meet with you", she said for the 3rd time, "then he will meet with you."
She emphasized the "wants to" each time. She emphasized the "my" even more.
"I understand that perfectly, ma'am", I said for the third time. "I believe that I am on his Emergency Form in your office as one who has parental permission to speak to the student's teachers. Will you be so kind as to look and see if I am? Most teachers are very pleased and happy to speak to me about the students. Some send e-mails while others make telephone calls to me. They communicate with me about lessons and assignments."
The Principal kept rumbling through pages and pages of test documents. She was either ignoring me or did not hear my request. I was akin to a non-entity.
The Principal had given me "2 minutes of her time", as she so eloquently put it, but now the time was approaching 10 minutes. Perhaps, it was my kindness or the fact that she didn't really know anything about what she was talking about that was responsible for the extra 8 minutes. Or was it the fact that she had been used to "ignorant Black people" standing in her office, as so many Blacks think of other Blacks? Perhaps, she came to the realization that Blacks are just about as intelligent as any other Race of people and should be treated with respect. She took out an appointment book and told me that she would be available to speak to the parents on the upcoming Wednesday.
I left and returned approximately 30 minutes later with the parent. There was an immediate attitude adjustment on the Principal's part! There was an appointment made to speak to the mathematics teacher about his lesson plan. I was invited to attend! There was cooperation between tutor, school and parent. Why had it taken an "Act of Congress" to reach that end?
Eighty Percent? Is this the norm for Southern California Schools? Must we intensify our study of foreign languages so that when teachers are hired with deep accents, our 20 % can understand them?
The changing demographics of education is crippling to some Minorities. As neighborhoods change, so does education. It should not be that way. Schools must now be sympathetic....to Blacks in particular. They are suffering due to the changing educational demographics. If schools are not sympathetic, then some Minorities will fall even farther behind. Please consider the communication skills of all teachers and respect the efforts of those who step forward to assist the students, especially if the assistance comes from such a highly regarded Organization as... "A Free Tutoring Service: Preparing for the Future."
This is my opinion as a Volunteer Tutor and it does not reflect the opinion of anyone else who has anything to do with the Tutoring Service. I welcome your comments.
Cleophas McAlpin....October 21, 2000