helping parents help their children get BEYOND MIS-EDUCATION in public schoolS

BEYOND MIS-EDUCATION (available at Amazon.com, or use the contact form below to order direct from author and/or to schedule a consultation - 1st 15 minutes free)

by Donna Shannon,
Author, Education Advocate,
Former Homeschool Teacher and 

Public School Substitute Teacher

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed here are based on personal experience and research. No responsibility is assumed for how the information provided is used. Seek legal advice for further guidance.

          PROBLEM:

"Implicit bias" in public schools is very real, starting as early as kindergarten. It not only hurts Black and Brown students, but also the very highly gifted of any race when their need for a much higher-level challenge is simply resented and ignored. This results in intellectual neglect (mis-education), even causing these students to lose early interests and abilities (dis-education), and emotional abuse through excessive punishments by teachers and ostracism by classmates due to having little or nothing in common with them. This can shut very highly gifted kids out of being socially at ease.

          EXAMPLE:

A very precocious Black child begins reading in English and Spanish at 2 years of age. He's reading books at home with a special interest in science. He tests into The College of William & Mary's gifted program at age 4, looking forward to when he can start 1st grade at the big public school. Public school confines him to "age-appropriate" class where he's endlessly bored learning virtually nothing new. He's constantly punished for not paying attention due to legitimate boredom. He's ostracized by classmates because he has nothing in common with them. Teachers say he has an attention problem, even suggesting he needs Special Ed. This child loves learning but only learns to hate public school. He already wants to drop out in 2nd grade. Without an involved parent, what chance does he have in what is for him a hostile school environment? 

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          SOLUTION:

Parental advocacy, and possible permanent removal from the public school system. Thanks to homeschooling, the student above starts college at 14 and ultimately earns his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science with Magna Cum Laude honors. 

          LINGERING PREDICAMENT:

The education problem is solved, but socializing remains difficult. In public school he was intellectually completely out of sync and socially ostracized due to being so different. In homeschool he was happy learning but isolated. In early college, he enjoyed challenging classes but was too young to hang out with his classmates—isolated. As an adult who doesn't drink or do drugs or have "playa" credentials, he's not accepted because he's not cool by social media standards" His "tribe" would be very small if he could find it. Public schools should put these kids together, no matter how few there are, in a class where they'll "get" each other and enjoy flying through lessons together. But after all, there's so much money in Special Ed...

CAN YOU ADVOCATE FOR YOUR CHILD'S EDUCATION?

YES, YOU CAN!! Whether your child is "gifted" or not, if you know s/he likes learning but hates school more every day, there is a reason, and your child needs you in his corner, paying attention and being involved. Before you calmly and politely start meeting with the teacher(s), at a minimum you need to be familiar with:

     Your State's Public Education Requirements and Responsibilities

A little research can give you an idea of what public schools should be doing with/for your child and how they should be doing it.

     The ADHD Diagnosis

​There is no medical test for ADHD. You do not have to agree to a school wanting you to get your child evaluated for this, with medication surely to follow. If anything, make this determination with your child's pediatrician - but medication is not the only way to deal with ADHD and side effects can be serious.

     Age-Appropriate Class Placement

Age-appropriate classes move much too slowly for the highly or profoundly gifted child, who's too often forced to endure being made to feel like something is wrong with him for not needing age-appropriate lessons. Anger and frustration increases daily. 

     The School-to-Prison Pipeline

It is real. The government's own statistics on which students are not getting into gifted programs, which students are being suspended and expelled, which students are placed into Special Ed classes, and which students go on to end up in prison seem to demonstrate that the "implicit bias" of teachers is a causal factor, if not the main one.

YOU MIGHT BE YOUR CHILD'S ONLY HOPE

FOR A MEANINGFUL EDUCATION

Black male children as well as highly and profoundly gifted children are the most underserved and educationally suppressed students in public schools, starting in early elementary school. Schools aren't much interested in thinking outside the box to meet the needs of a measly few uniquely able children.

Homeschooling is not the only solution, but it is an increasingly popular one, and it can't do worse than public school denying your child appropriate learning opportunities, destroying his self-confidence, and denying him opportunities to socialize with children of similar abilities and interests. 

If you have room in your budget, private school could be a good option, but it can be hard to find one that can truly serve a highly or profoundly gifted child. Private schools have their own boxes they prefer not to think outside of.

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BEYOND MIS-EDUCATION - The Book

Beyond Mis-Education shows how one divorced, financially challenged parent stood up to public schools and ultimately resorted to homeschooling, setting her gifted child free to thrive as the intellectual eagle he truly was. If public school drops the ball, YOU can pick it up and make sure your child's future is not destroyed by a disastrous public school experience. 

Note:  While some teachers are awful, some teachers are really wonderful. Which type of teacher your child gets is basically the luck of the draw. You need to be involved enough to know which type of teacher your child has so you can either find ways to be supportive or take steps to remove your child from that class or school.

"Your book gave me strength." 

~ Tion Langley, Parent

"Thank you my Sista for a truly necessary and inspiring work!" 

~ Jack Burnett, ManUp! teacher

"Your book is badly needed by parents and the public in general who don't realize that public schools can and do mistreat and miseducate children for their own convenience and personal biases."

~ Richard Huntly, Author, Parent, Public Speaker