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Ned L. McCray - Still Teaching and Preaching: A Retired Educator Reflects on the Important Issues Affecting Chicago and the Nation

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Still Teaching and Preaching: A Retired Educator Reflects on the Important Issues Affecting Chicago and the Nation
Author:
Ned L McCray
Publisher:
Christian Faith Publishing, Inc
Genre:
Books / Politics
Year:
2019
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Still Teaching and Preaching

A Retired Educator Reflects on the Important Issues Affecting Chicago and the Nation

Ned L. McCray

ISBN 978-1-0980-1514-5 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-0980-1515-2 (digital)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Foreword

I had the pleasure of getting to know Ned L. McCray through his writing. I worked for many years as a member of the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune , and one of my primary responsibilities was to edit The Voice of the People, the newspapers letters to the editor section. I received hundreds of letters a day, and it was always a pleasure to receive one from Ned L. McCray.

Ned was part of a special group I referred to as my pen pals, readers who would write often. I could always count on these people to write meaningful letters that were inspired by the news of the day. They would be well-composed, timely, and enlightened. It was a privilege to receive them, and I was thrilled to share them with my readers.

Neds strength is providing thoughtful and thought-provoking pieces that offer a strong perspective from the educator and principal he was before retirement and continues to be through his writing. His creations often offer teachable moments and thoughts.

As an editor, I was grateful for his pieces because they often dealt with some difficult local topics. As much as he and I love the Chicago area, we are well aware of the challenges that plague it. And education is so important to most, and Ned was so generous to share his deep knowledge and experience and apply them to current issues facing todays students, parents, and educators.

Dodie Hofstetter

I have been reading letters to the editor by Mr. Ned L. McCray for about a decade and always admire how efficiently he writes to get a point across. And his points are spot on. His vast knowledge of how the city of Chicago works, and indeed how the country works, amazes me. Mr. McCray is a man deeply interested in improving life for people everywhere. And Ned contributes to life itself by keeping active, interested, and interesting.

I am grateful Ned has shared his letters with me. Because of that, I learned so much and feel deeply privileged.

It gladdens my heart to know that this learned and talented man has put his letters into book form to share with friends, family, and other interested parties.

I expected nothing less from Mr. Ned L. McCray.

Sr. Kathleen Melia, OSF Niles, Illinois

Chapter 1

The Educational Process

Stop Bashing Our Schools

S chools are being attacked left and right. They are being manipulated, tinkered with, and basically misunderstood. The misunderstanding comes about because some people fail to understand that a school is no better or worse than the people in it. A school is people. The people are the students, teachers, and parents interacting with each other. These three groups engage in the educational process. This process is neither rocket science nor a mystery.

Combining students who come to school prepared with parents that have instilled in them a desire for learning and with teachers who motivate and inspire is a recipe for success. It is a simple recipe but it works like a three-legged stool.

If one leg is out of kilter, out of balance, the stool will wobble. The proper blending of student, parent, and teacher is seen in schools where achievement levels are high. Where they are not, schools are identified as failing schools. They may be designated for closing, reconstituted, etc. In many instances, the entire teaching force is let go and students are shipped to new schools. These methods will achieve nothing more than instability because even with a new teaching force or a new school, the other two legs of the stool, parents and students, remain.

The student is the most important part of the educational process. A student who comes to school unprepared will have trouble catching up and may always lag behind. Does this mean this child cannot learn? Absolutely not. With good teaching, gains and progress can be made.

The parents who send their child to school unprepared are products of a society where many families have deteriorated, where babies are having babies and poverty and unemployment abound. They are probably doing the best they can with what they have.

In the meantime, the schools are asked to rectify all of these social illnesses. The teacher is asked to work with a child who is behind and move him from one level to another. Our teachers, for the most part, do a magnificent job of working with all kinds of students with all kinds of problems under trying conditions where they are maligned if certain levels are not attained. And all of this in an environment where student respect of teachers has waned in recent years.

It must be realized that all teachers are not the same. They differ in skill and capacity to teach and motivate. Those who lack these skills need to be weaned out.

This is where the principal comes in. He or she is the manager of this educational process who sets the pace and the tone for the students, parents, and teachers to interact. In most situations, he or she does not choose his or her students or parents. He or she does, however, play a decisive role in identifying and attracting good teachers to his or her school and to retain them.

Is the situation in our schools hopeless? Of course not. We just have to be realistic and not expect our schools to solve all of the problems that have been thrust upon them by society.

What can we do to make our schools better?

Only educators should manage the educational process and not businesspeople who have never had experience as a teacher or administrator.
Reestablish the old board of education procedure for certification of principals and teachers. Under the present system, we are not getting the best and the brightest.
More equitable funding is needed. The schools where the students come prepared get more funding than the schools where they come unprepared. This makes the plight of these students worse.
Stop making teachers scapegoats for societys failures. Support them and identify the very best with more status and pay.
Stop using test scores to identify schools and everyone in them as failures. Instead, work to improve each school. Commend students, parents, and teachers for laboring under difficult circumstances. It is surprising what good morale can to do motivate people to do better.

The State of the Public Schools

Some of the turmoil and bitterness that exist in the school system can be traced directly to the takeover of the system by the mayor some years ago.

When politicians get directly involved in educational matters, things other than education come to the fore.

As a retired educator, I would never dream of telling lawyers, doctors, or businesspersons how to run their business. However when it comes to the school system, there is no shortage of experts. Some politicians who have never faced a classroom of children pretend to have all the answers

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