I can't find a better forum to post this under, so i will post it here.
Something that has been bugging me for years. I feel the School Board of Broward County Florida mishandled my education. Sometime during my elementary years I recall being taken out of school and brought somewhere to take a test. I am not sure what kind of test this was, but I beleive it was some kind of physchological examination. Sometime after that, I was removed from the normal class and placed in a class with kids who couldn't spell the word cat. Prior to this time, I had loved school. It didn't take long being in this 'special' class that I ended up hating school. When I transferred to middle school, I was again put in a class with 4 or 5 other kids. I can't explain to you how hopelessly out of place I was, but I didn't realize at the time that there was something wrong. I was very trusting of adults, and if they thought I belonged in that class, then I believed them. Middle School was worse, I went to a predominately black school, so not only did I have to put up with being a "white" kid in a "black" school, I also had to put up with being one of the 'special' kids. By the time I got to High School, I completely despised school. I was very much behind the other kids, because I didn't learn a thing in middle school.
I barely made it through 4 years. I recall getting report cards with grades like four F's and two A's. The A's were in art and computers. My hatred of school kept me from going to college. I joined the Navy, and learned electronics. After the Navy, I did get an AA degree in Music and Video Production, however, I feel my greatest potential has been wasted due to the decisions made in my elementary days.
Here is my take on this.
I was a smart kid. I'm not saying I was a genius, but I don't think I was average either. I recall the reader books that we had. It was a set of about 13 or so books, Dick and Jane sort of thing. I remember I finished the set before the rest of the class was half way. Another time, the teacher was testing my reading skills. I remember her astonishment at my score. I believe she made a comment to her counterpart that I had a College level reading ability. I think this was in the second or third grade. I'm not trying to brag, I am just trying to get the point out that I was an above average student. Now, someone, somewhere made a decision to have me tested. For what I do not know. I would love to see the results of that test. These people convinced my parents to allow me to go into this other class.
So this all boils down to this.
1) I was wrongly diagnosed with some kind of learning disability and placed in a class for such a student, or I was diagnosed as a 'gifted' student, and placed in the wrong class.
2) Because of this, I did not get a chance to develop the skills needed for high school/college until much, much later.
3) I am pretty sure my parents would have had to sign for me to be placed in this class. I am not sure if that frees the school board of any liability in this matter.
My question is both a legal and a moral one. I ask myself, do I really blame what happened to me on these events, or am I just making excuses for the problems I now have. As an adult, we are all responsible for our own lives, but as a child, it is the adults around us that are responsible. I have a family now and I must provide for them. I am an electronics technician, but what makes me laugh is I know more than many of the Engineers that I work with. The difference is, they have a piece of paper that says they are an Engineer and I dont. Yes, I could go back to school, but it will take me 10 years to do it when I could have done it in 4 if I didn't have the love of learning washed out of me.
Really, I don't even think I have a case. Even if I did, how could I prove it? Even if I could prove it, what would I get out of it? Money? I would feel guilty taking money from education funds.
I guess, I just wanted to vent.
Something that has been bugging me for years. I feel the School Board of Broward County Florida mishandled my education. Sometime during my elementary years I recall being taken out of school and brought somewhere to take a test. I am not sure what kind of test this was, but I beleive it was some kind of physchological examination. Sometime after that, I was removed from the normal class and placed in a class with kids who couldn't spell the word cat. Prior to this time, I had loved school. It didn't take long being in this 'special' class that I ended up hating school. When I transferred to middle school, I was again put in a class with 4 or 5 other kids. I can't explain to you how hopelessly out of place I was, but I didn't realize at the time that there was something wrong. I was very trusting of adults, and if they thought I belonged in that class, then I believed them. Middle School was worse, I went to a predominately black school, so not only did I have to put up with being a "white" kid in a "black" school, I also had to put up with being one of the 'special' kids. By the time I got to High School, I completely despised school. I was very much behind the other kids, because I didn't learn a thing in middle school.
I barely made it through 4 years. I recall getting report cards with grades like four F's and two A's. The A's were in art and computers. My hatred of school kept me from going to college. I joined the Navy, and learned electronics. After the Navy, I did get an AA degree in Music and Video Production, however, I feel my greatest potential has been wasted due to the decisions made in my elementary days.
Here is my take on this.
I was a smart kid. I'm not saying I was a genius, but I don't think I was average either. I recall the reader books that we had. It was a set of about 13 or so books, Dick and Jane sort of thing. I remember I finished the set before the rest of the class was half way. Another time, the teacher was testing my reading skills. I remember her astonishment at my score. I believe she made a comment to her counterpart that I had a College level reading ability. I think this was in the second or third grade. I'm not trying to brag, I am just trying to get the point out that I was an above average student. Now, someone, somewhere made a decision to have me tested. For what I do not know. I would love to see the results of that test. These people convinced my parents to allow me to go into this other class.
So this all boils down to this.
1) I was wrongly diagnosed with some kind of learning disability and placed in a class for such a student, or I was diagnosed as a 'gifted' student, and placed in the wrong class.
2) Because of this, I did not get a chance to develop the skills needed for high school/college until much, much later.
3) I am pretty sure my parents would have had to sign for me to be placed in this class. I am not sure if that frees the school board of any liability in this matter.
My question is both a legal and a moral one. I ask myself, do I really blame what happened to me on these events, or am I just making excuses for the problems I now have. As an adult, we are all responsible for our own lives, but as a child, it is the adults around us that are responsible. I have a family now and I must provide for them. I am an electronics technician, but what makes me laugh is I know more than many of the Engineers that I work with. The difference is, they have a piece of paper that says they are an Engineer and I dont. Yes, I could go back to school, but it will take me 10 years to do it when I could have done it in 4 if I didn't have the love of learning washed out of me.
Really, I don't even think I have a case. Even if I did, how could I prove it? Even if I could prove it, what would I get out of it? Money? I would feel guilty taking money from education funds.
I guess, I just wanted to vent.