January 14, 2019
You can choose your friends, but you can\’t choose your family! And because of this — we Californians must invest more into the Family and help It succeed in what its social function has always been: to prepare children to become socially responsible adults…
I wanted to write about LAX being the worst airport on the planet — after a grueling experience attempting to reach it on a rainy December 23rd — where it seemed like Giti and I were transported to a Third World country — with traffic gridlocked, no traffic control and ubers and taxis actually trying to go against the tide: it took us over 2 hours to get from the Manchester/Sepulveda intersection to the American Terminal (many people elected to walk in the rain [not I])!! I was reminded of Son Austen and my attempt to get through the Cape Flats (of South Africa) during a Friday rush hour…I was prepared to die…
But in today\’s edition of my beloved Times I learned that Governor Gavin is committing $61.6 billion into education — with a large chunk going to teacher training. And while this is job security for me — I feel compelled to explain why this burning of money is an effort that is, well, that is destined to go up-in-smoke.
First off, the average tenure for a beginning teacher in California is approximately 2-and-a-half-years about the time these newbie teachers realize that because of a total lack of support from administrators and parents — that they are, in fact, in the trenches — and that the mustard gas can come at any time. I advise my students to get into the elementary school sector — where things are still a bit more sane than the wastelands of middle and high school.
Why don\’t teachers get the support they so sorely need? Simply put — we probably live in the most litigious culture that history has afforded US — and-many-a-parent knows that school districts are fat calves (not to dismiss any of the legitimate claims RE: teacher deviancy that have scarred children for life). This forces district administrators (who should be on the teacher\’s side of a conflict) into an adversarial role — which protects the district and not the teacher in a lawsuit. I mean, what district wants to protect a teacher\’s $60,000-$70,000 salary when a multi-million dollar lawsuit looms. Better to throw the teacher under the bus (pun intended). Not a healthy or secure context for plying one\’s trade.
Every good family therapist knows that raising a child requires Two responsible adults. Many California school children don\’t even have one responsible parent — and schools are left to be in loco parentis — which would be fine-and-dandy if the school\’s in loco parentis had any teeth to it (other than allowing teachers to carry guns [satire intended]).
Additionally, the structure of the home (family configurations) often sabotages the efforts of the school — instead of facilitating the two entities to work in tight tandem as the responsible adults.
I recall working for the L.A. County Office of Education in its court schools — where youth might serve 6-, 9- and 12-month sentences for misdemeanors and felonies.
Many ran a \”stellar\” program for their entire stay juvie prison — but on their first day out — after sharing a 40 ouncer with their Homeboys (a surrogate family) and/or smoking a doobie — they found themselves \”joy-riding\”; or doing a drive by and ending up right back in juvie prison, or, dead.
Money being thrown at education will not solve the problems of the Home! What we require is a viable investment into the Family and family education — which entails prenatal education and diet; early childhood education; parenting education; independent living and-the-like.
I\’m at a draconian place where; after seeing so many throw-aways, I wonder if babies should be having babies? I mean, pragmatically speaking — how can a society survive if its children are not successfully socialized into the social fabric? Do they all become homeless? Do they become substance abusers? Do they get involved in sex trafficking? Do they all get locked up? Do they die in the streets?
If money is going to be thrown anywhere — throw it at families! Use cash incentives for Home to better partner with school (paid class attendance for everyone identified as a member of Family unit): we\’d find teachers much more energized and less fearful of doing their jobs.
We might start seeing educated traffic controllers who don\’t let LAX lapse into gridlock…