Educating, Not Babysitting!

About the Book

The majority of our public school graduates are ill-prepared for both college and the working world. How does this betrayal of public trust happen? What can be done about it? Why is it that some public schools are effective and others are not? In Educating, Not Babysitting! veteran teachers Jon Ryker and Jo Rogers delve into the dilemma and recommend a set of principles for improving schools without spending additional money.

Educating, Not Babysitting! explains how schools lose their way under competing priorities, a lack of leadership, and a lack of oversight. It also recommends how taxpayers, parents, students, teachers, and administrators can drive the process of refocusing a district on its sole critical mission—maximizing student learning. It explains that:

• Taxpayers must not write blank checks
• Students must seek to learn
• Teachers must believe in their students
• Parents must join in
• Administrators must be everyone’s role model

Based on personal experience and presented in an informal, friendly format, Educating, Not Babysitting! demonstrates that education is everyone’s concern. Together, these groups can rescue school districts from the malaise of “at-riskness” and get back to the business at hand—maximizing learning.

About the Author

Jon Ryker completed a degree in Physics at Centre College and worked in manufacturing engineering for large corporations before deciding to teach science in a variety of urban and suburban high schools. Jo Rogers worked in research and industry as a scientist before beginning her teaching career in an urban high school setting. She continues to teach at her alma mater, the University of Cincinnati.