Reading this blog has been very informative for me and I really appreciated being directed to read “Shift Happens”. It was very enlightening. I am in total agreement with you. I have seen such a shift in education from my days in elementary, middle, and high school to now as I see my children going through school. This is one reason that I have chosen to home school. I worked within my children’s public school system in two different states and saw the major differences in the way that our children are being educated depending on areas and money. I’ve been welcomed in schools and made a part of the education process and I have been uninvited in schools and told that teachers do not welcome the intrusion of parents in their classrooms. I have volunteered in classrooms where the education was more of a “one size fits all” approach and clearly witnessed children being left to their own devices, unchallenged and bored. And I have also had the pleasure of volunteering in classrooms where the strengths of each child were applauded and each child was challenged to develop and to help their classmates. Excitement for learning filled those classrooms and it was a joy to be a part of.

I am not a formally trained educator and I feel for those who are. I agree that there is not enough money in the world to the pay the salary of a “truly bright and dedicated teacher”. They are the roses in the midst of many thorns. Thank you so much for starting this blog. I learned a lot tonight by reading it and feel more enlightened and encouraged. It’s people and teachers like you who make a HUGE difference. You’re a blessing and I am honored to call you my friend. Thank you for teaching me.

For every story we read about people like your son, there are many more about kids who get lost in a system that can’t or won’t adapt to them. The result, I believe, is that a great deal of potential is lost. Some of those people may rediscover their passions and gifts as adults, but we have no way of knowing how many don’t ever find them.

While I am flattered and delighted my spontaneous thoughts (I’m not used to being interviewed for TV!) were cited, I feel I must add that during Duff’s junior year, I actually did call a meeting with the principal and the local school board to beg and plead for him to be targeted as a “special needs” student.

I pointed out that just because his profile was at the upper right of the learning bell curve they used as the criteria for student placement, instead of the (majority) of the “Special Needs” kids whose points were at the left side, nonetheless, his education was suffering as much as theirs if they had been placed in a classroom designed to teach to “the norm”. Duff was bored in school and subsequently got “into trouble”. The fact is, he was actually depressed as he didn’t see his life at that time, going anywhere and he was at a kind of “is that all there is” place in his perception of the world around him. He didn’t see where he fit in – both academically as well as socially and his acting out was a bid for attention albeit I bet – more subconsciously than not as he always wanted to please people – even at his lowest points.

The bottom line is that in the 90s, the public Massachusetts school system didn’t recognize kids at the right side of the bell curve as having “special needs” so he/we all just suffered the consequences until he reached college with the help of his astro scores on the ACT test – NOT the SATs.

Duff blossomed at my father’s alma mater, University of Maryland – and turned his life around – not a moment too soon. I don’t think he would have lasted another year in his high school situation – his graduation was liberating and led to the first steps in his subsequent. remarkable journey. He got turned on by ideas and the positive environment where freedom of expression was nurtured, not squashed and punished.

Yes, our educators have a daunting task, but it shouldn’t be a luxury to demand excellence in the standards of all aspects to our education system. I don’t think there’s enough money in the world to pay the salary of truly bright and dedicated teachers. We need to get our priorities straight – fast – for the collective benefit, survival and joy this country deserves.

Most Sincerely, Jackie Winch – the proud mom of Duff Goldman