Something Is Terribly Wrong: The Sad Truth about Education in America

If you can read this, thank a teacher. And if not? I am not looking for people to agree with me. I am looking for people who are willing to stand up and be accountable to the children of America, such as teachers, parents, politicians, school administrators, colleges, leaders, and maybe you, the reader. America cannot continue to find its teachers in people who come from the lowest third of their class, certify them as teachers, throw them into a classroom setting, and let them loose on their own, with a guaranteed job for as long as they wish to have it, no matter the quality or effectiveness of what they do. With a lack of authentic, qualitative training on how to work with today's students, it is like giving a water pistol to someone entering a lion's den--clearly unprepared! Amazing as it sounds, the problems we have today are no different than those we had 60 years ago! With all of the reports, initiatives, studies, books, political rhetoric, and money allocated in the name of educational improvement, we stand much in the same place as we always have, except that we now have a seriously disengaged student population more worried about weekends than weekdays. Unless we grab the essence of our problems with the idea of wrestling with them to make significant paradigm shifts, the American system of education will continue to fail all of its students. DR. HOWARD CHUD has worn many hats as a professional educator: a teacher of K-12 instrumental music, a union president, a contract negotiator, a school administrator, a college of education program coordinator, and an adjunct professor who taught both education and leadership courses to future teachers, master degree candidates, and future school administrators. His knowledge, expertise, and achievements at each phase of his career as a professional educator have led him to write this book. The educational experiences of his three children, all of whom went to public schools, played a huge part in this effort. Some of the leadership hallmarks of Dr. Chud's work have been a high school move to an intensive schedule, designing a schedule that addressed the main problem areas related to the schedule; the move from a junior high instructional model to a pure middle school interdisciplinary instruction model and a true advisory program; a character education program focused on preventing bullying; a centralized guidance-based system of discipline; and using staff development to improve student achievement. Dr. Chud has studied the American system of education for many years, and his experiences, both inside and outside of the public school classroom, gnawed at his professional work and have provided the impetus for his ideas and the motivation to let people know that something is terribly wrong in America's schools. He is the founder of the Coalition for Real School Reform (www.crsr.org).