Learn To Be Foundation

Learn To Be wants to take the time to recognize another great tutor for his exceptional dedication and commitment to our organization. Alex Fok has spent many hours tutoring in Math and Science, using creative techniques to engage children of all different age levels. We greatly appreciate all his hard work, and we want to honor him as our Tutor of the Month for March 2010. Please take a moment to get to know Alex!

Where are you from?
Boston, MA

How old are you?
26

What was your favorite subject in school?
My favorite subject was Physics, which I loved to learn. My second favorite subject was U.S. History.

What was your favorite childhood book?
Matilda by Roald Dahl

What is your favorite hobby?
I dabble in photography, but I would also like to try dabbling in creating writing as well.

What do enjoy most about tutoring for Learn To Be?
I enjoy helping other students become more confident in their school work, and I hope that one day they'll be in a position to tutor others.

What is your favorite childhood memory?
One of my favorite childhood memories has to do with watching a dozen baby chicks hatch out of their shells right in front of me.

The Learn To Be Foundation is excited for Neeraj Kapoor and his vision for the future. With plans to be more involved as a CEO in day-to-day operations, Kapoor has promised more accountability and leadership in Learn To Be outreach and logistics. Undoubtedly, obstacles and challenges lie ahead but Kapoor says “With a team like this, I am confident there is nothing we cannot do.”

Ms. Gibson was an incredibly talented and exciting teacher. In my opinion, she was the best kindergarten teacher in the entire school, and each day I was inspired to be a better teacher by her passion for teaching and her dedication to her students. Unfortunately, she was laid off. Not by her immediate supervisors who were thoroughly impressed by her teaching methods and interacted with her daily, but by the school district.  The district, a group of decision makers who directly influence the education of over 700,000 students, has decided to send lay-off notices to a few thousand employees based solely on their spot on the proverbial totem pole.

It is very frustrating to read this article and see that the dismal financial situation in California is again negatively impacting public education through layoffs in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The district continues to grow in student population, but it is failing to meet student demand by cutting important resources. Eliminating positions, such as school nurses and librarians, will take away vital resources from the students. These students will lose exposure to a wealth of books that can play an integral role in fostering a love for reading. Teachers will have to take away from precious class time to treat bruises and coughs, check out library books, and counsel students with behavior issues. Teacher layoffs will result in yet another increase in class size that will make it more difficult for students to get the attention and personal interaction necessary to succeed in the classroom.

What still puzzles me about teacher layoffs is that teacher retention in LAUSD is based solely on seniority. Unfortunately, it does not matter which teachers make the largest positive impact in the classroom or who motivates students to try their best; all that matters is who has been teaching longer. This type of retention system would be absurd in almost every other type of business. If layoffs must happen, they should be based upon productivity and observations among other important factors, but not solely on years of experience.  

I understand that the present decision makers in LAUSD are not entirely responsible for the present dilemma, but at some point difficult decisions need to be made to help propel the district forward. Teachers need to start being held more accountable for their teaching and should always be assessed and held to certain standards. If we hope to improve public education, we need to recruit an intelligent, passionate workforce of teachers who are constantly striving to improve education. The volatility of the school district and lack of job security for new educators only serves to drive these potentially great teachers away from the profession. I believe that quality teachers are the most important part of a successful school district. Decisions about retention and recruitment of teachers should be based upon comprehensive criteria in order to ensure that students are put in classrooms with the best teachers to help them succeed.

As an organization, Learn To Be hopes to continue expanding to different schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District to provide support and supplemental resources to students after school. We realize that certain schools are struggling to meet the individual needs of all students, and we hope that our one-on-one tutoring can help schools and communities bridge the achievement gap. 

A recent article in the New York Times discusses a new plan to allow 10th graders in high school to take a comprehensive board exam that, upon passing, would allow them to immediately enroll in community college.

It's difficult to understand the reasoning behind wanting a 16 year old to go to any sort of college, community or not. Community college courses, while preparatory in nature, are still more fast-paced than their high school counterparts. These kids are going to be walking into a setting that they are most likely not going to be prepared to handle.  

This program was instituted as a need to prevent kids from having to take remedial courses in college. But too many come into high school without the proper prerequisites needed to thrive. An accelerated program will only serve to widen this disconnect between the very few who are able to keep up and the rest of the student body.    

What needs to be done is to prepare these children at a younger age. Let's make elementary school and middle school more challenging and engaging for these kids. And let's make sure these kids are learning the fundamentals of our core subjects like math, science, language arts and the social sciences before advancing them. This will serve as impetus they need to work hard in high school and find success in their post secondary schooling.

This is what Learn To Be is all about.  We are allowing that young student who is struggling with a math problem or a science problem to get the help they need, understand concepts and move on to new material. Students no longer have to hate language arts because they will get one-on-one attention, giving them confidence that they can carry with them well into the future.  

-Your Friends at Learn To Be