Dorie Rae Gallagher wrote: You TEACH art because art is a career and it is as important as any other subject. Let us not be so dense to say art is coming before reading, writing and arithmetic...this is elementary.. except to our current leadership.
Mark Anderson replies: Okay, maybe we agree here, at least in general. I agree that the arts are important to teach, both because many people will use those arts for their profession, and because for many more they will become an important part of their non-professional life. The point I've been trying to make is that the three R's should come first, before the arts, before science, before history and civics. When we have kids who get through school without a basic ability in the three Rs, we've failed, no matter what else they've learned. The schools need to focus on this problem, even to the exclusion of other areas if necessary. There will likely always be a few kids who simply refuse to learn these things, and one can't force kids to learn stuff they don't want to. But I think the number of kids in MPS who are illiterate and innumerate is much greater than those who refuse to learn. Instead they are kids lost in the shuffle, with all the things going on in school. If we need to use our limited resources to provide private tutoring, even if we then need to cut other classes or events outside of reading and arithmetic, so be it. David Brauer mentions in his post that his second grade conference was 100% on reading and math. When I think back on the conferences I've had, I think it's been pretty much the same, at least in elementary school. I think most of the teachers are getting the message -- without the three Rs, everything else is pretty useless. That is a great development. I still wonder if the administration and staff other than the day-to-day teachers care as much as they should about this. The stuff I get from the school seems to concentrate more on school spirit, field trips, and other special events. Mark V Anderson Bancroft REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
