Private-School Behavior Fostered by Parents

Re “Private Schools Lose Ground in Hiring, Keeping Teachers,” Aug. 8: I would like to share why I left the private school arena to teach in the public schools. It had nothing to do with money, although now that you mention it, I am going to earn $15,000 more this coming year. It had everything to do with private-school parents and their conviction of entitlement.

When I joined the teaching force, I entered with enthusiasm, creativity and a drive to communicate with children. Little did I know that when parents pay $12,000 to $25,000 a year for their elementary student’s education, I would be taught many lessons. A Westside mother spat in my face because her “brilliant” (her word) son was doing multiplication drills in class. She felt he was beyond them. His test scores proved he was not. I was asked by the parent of a fourth-grader if I felt her daughter was Ivy League worthy. I was told to “grade creatively” by a weak-kneed headmaster bowing to the pressure of a particularly affluent member of the parent body.

At times, parents pay so much for a child’s education that they feel it is not necessary to be a parent who teaches. The best teacher cannot help a child to read if the lessons end at the afternoon bell. And the worst teacher cannot stop a child from learning and loving the act of learning when that love is cultivated at home. It makes me weep to see bright children having such spoiled behavior modeled for them. You cannot buy an A. The private sector did not lose me because I needed more money. It lost me because the parents need a timeout.

Heather M. Wolpert

Los Angeles