B Team

As high school football narrows down to a few remaining playoff bound teams, as college football heats up with both competition and scandal, and as pro basketball follows a plan to self-destruct, it appears to me it is the time of year to use a sports metaphor to think about public schools and teaching kids.

Given the demands of rearing and educating children we in public schools are the B Team.  A kid born in 2011 will graduate from high school in 2029 and in those coming 18 years the knowledge, skills, and processes that the child must master to successfully leave home and enter the world are beyond what we can comprehend today.  What is clear is that when it comes to preparing that child, parents are the A Team and public schools are the B Team.

Parents are the starting Team and the fundamentals they teach are virtually impossible for the B Team to overcome, undo, or alter significantly even if we wanted to.  By the time the child gets to the B Team they have already mastered much of the value structure that will stay with them through life.  For instance:

If they A Team teaches the child right from wrong, good from bad, a sense of philosophical and theological morality as well as respect for others, then the child will do great with the B Team.

If the A Team insists on both a healthy respect for authority as well as a willingness to stand up, question and speak the truth they will raise a child who will do great while working with the B Team. 

If the A Team raises their child to believe they are special, above the rules, and for whom whining results in rewards they will raise a child who not only does poorly in school, but will await the A Team to run to the school house door to complain about the B Team.

If the A Team raises a child who understands that there is a time for hard work and a time for play, then they will raise a child who is likely to do well when that child matriculates to B Team supervision.  Learning requires hard work.

If the A Team raises a child who believes that they are owed something rather than working for something, then they will raise a child who is likely to do poorly when in the hands of the B Team.

If the A Team allows a child to grow lazy and fat, the B Team will not be able to undo that.

If the A Team assumes the poor performance of their child is the fault of the B Team, then the B Team will have a real challenge to undo that. 

So, let us be very clear:  The A Team counts tremendously.  Those of us on the B Team count on the A Team to do their job first, then stick with us and back us up when we are in the game.  The A Team must never let their child doubt that you love them, but teach them what they need to know and do when in the hands of the B Team.  We'll work them hard for their own good.  Each of us on the B Team is likely to have 30+ kids to raise per day, and as many as 170!.  We may never love them like you do, we may never know them like you do, but we do love them and we do know them, and we are in the business of promoting student success for every child of the A Team. 

But, we remain the B Team.