Today I have been captivated by the Goldman Sachs hearings. As I type this the echo of the hearings are streaming via CNN and  echo in the background. As a parent of a child in Public School, an employee in Education and a Taxpayer I must admit I am mortified and disgusted. Not for the reasons you may think. The fact that some of these stockbrokers and CEO's can admit they have no regret about their actions, the fact they collected $9 million dollar bonuses as people lost their homes and jobs are a given. These are not the things that trouble me, what troubles me are the similarities between the structure, bureaucracy, and downfall of the financial system and the Education System. Replace CEO's with Principals, Replace Brokers with Teachers/Parents, Replace Profits and Losses with Students. See why I'm worried? The thing that worries me the most is the lack of accountability. I have always likened raising a child to having stock depending on how much you invest in it and nurture it the better the return will be. Who is to blame when our kids don't learn? How is it acceptable that Principals profit and earn big bonuses when their schools are failing? You have schools that are boasting about sending kids to community college.. Really? Is that all we can offer our kids? What does that say about why they are not competitive, why they have no interest in school.? Why their SAT scores are in the toilet? How can we expect our kids to succeed when we put people in charge of their education to ensure they fail? Where is the moral and ethical responsibility? Where and how do we begin to bring reform to our children's schools and take responsibility for their Education? Do you really know your child's teacher or principal? As the chairman repeatedly accused the Goldman Sachs CEO's of doing was selling "junk". To a certain degree that's how I feel about the quality of education in some schools. You have teachers that are just working to earn Tenure and they know they are doing a crappy job. You have principals that allow this, they need to protect themselves so they can also get tenure and bonuses. It's not fair.  If you are a taxpayer in NYC you have a right to know what teachers, principals and administrators earn at your child's expense. Here is a site where you can check http://www.seethroughny.net/Payrolls/EmployeeSearch/tabid/69/Default.aspx

Here is another site to get an inside look in NYC schools http://gothamschools.org/ and speak with other parents a great source of information ishttp://www.edwize.org/

Also remember you have a right to know who is teaching your child, stop by their schools unannounced, check on them in classes, observe what goes on in the halls, talk to your children. Don't always take the teachers word. We are all accountable and we all have a responsibility to the future of America. There will be more to come on this topic. I encourage people to comment especially from other states, I can only attest to some of the goings on in NYC.

DivaMomNYC