GRE作文范文 Issue-19

"Both parents and communities must be involved in the local schools. Education is too important to leave solely to a group of professional educators."

嘉文博译Sample Essay

Local schools are an integral part of a society and of each individual community. Much of what happens in a community is directly tied in to the local schools, whether the members of that community's children are of school age or not. The quality of the local schools also depends a great deal on the community. If the schools are well supported, they generally will be good quality schools. If the community ignores or contributes to the school's problems, the schools and students may not perform to the best of their abilities. Without the involvement of parents and the surrounding communities, professional educators cannot do their jobs properly. Additionally, the involvement of the parents ensures that educators will keep the school children as their first priority, rather than focusing on maximizing personal profits through teachers unions and the like.

Traditionally in years past, the parents and communities cooperated to set up schools to serve all the children in a particular location. As the United States has become larger, local, state and federal governments have become further involved, thus lessening the responsibilities of the parents with regards to the schools. Parents cannot and should not abdicate all of their responsibilities to the various governmental bodies, however. It remains incumbent upon the parents and communities to remain involved in as many aspects of the local schools as they can.

First of all, the most fundamental responsibility of the parents is that they must ensure that their own children are properly dressed, on time and actually behaving themselves in the classrooms. Professional educators cannot properly teach children that don't know how to behave while at school. Other children are distracted or maybe even misled to misbehave themselves by children who are chronically disruptive. Parents must control their own children and not leave the job of child behavioral training to the teachers at school.

Secondly, parents and communities must make sure that they contribute financially to their local schools, and not only by the mandatory payment of taxes to the government. School groups are always trying to raise money for some beneficial school projects. It is important that parents do not turn their backs when school children come door to door asking for money, even when (and maybe especially when) it is not their own children who are asking for help.

Furthermore, parents have more than just a financial responsibility to the local schools, they also have an obligation to give generously of their time whenever possible. Attending their own child's sports games and recitals are certainly important. Volunteering to coach, referee or to help organize activities for the school children are also extremely important. Local schools seem to never have enough help to accomplish all that needs to be done or to accomplish all that should be done. Just ask any teacher or professional educator, they can probably find a place for any volunteer that desires to help.

Finally, parents and communities must be involved with local schools just to be sure that the professional educators are indeed "professional" and are giving the children the proper educational basics that they need. Direct and continuous communications with a teacher or principal can sometimes give parents all the information that they need to decide whether he or she is properly fit for the job. Powerful teachers unions have developed over the years that sometimes tend to put the teachers first and the priorities of the children second. By staying involved with the local schools, parents and the communities can show the educators that they are committed to the children and the schools, and that they should always remember whom the schools were built for in the first place.

The success or failure of a local school depends almost entirely on the involvement of parents and the local community. The parents and others in these communities must be willing to make sure that their own children are properly behaved, that they support the school both financially and with their time, and that the professional educators always put the well-being of the children as the number one priority.

(681 words)

参考译文

家长和社区都必须参与到地方学校对青少年的教育中去。教育的至关重要性决定了它不能只依靠专业的教育工作者

地方学校是整个社会及个人所属的社区不可缺少的组成部分。无论社区中的孩子是否达到上学的年龄，这个社区发生的很多事情都会与其学校有着直接的联系。地方学校的好坏也极大地依赖于它们所属的社区。如果社区努力办学，则学校的质量就会很高。如果社区忽视学校的建设或者使学校产生一些问题，则学校就不能充分发挥其作用而学生的能力也得不到最好的开发。没有家长和社区的支持，专业的教育工作者不能够很好地开展工作。另外，家长的支持与监督能保证教育者将孩子的教育放在最首位而避免他们将精力放在通过教师联合会或其他类似组织来谋取个人利益上。

根据过去的传统，家长和社区在特定的地区协力创办学校，为当地所有的孩子提供教育。随着美国的扩展，地方、各州及联邦各级政府加大了对学校教育的扶持，因而家长对学校的责任有所减少。然而实际上，家长不能也不应该放弃他们对学校教育承担的责任而交由各种政府部门管理。家长和社区有义务尽可能多地参与地方学校各方面的工作。

首先，家长最基本的责任就是保证他们的孩子穿着得体地按时去上学并在课堂上有良好的表现。对那些连在学校应该如何作为都不知道的孩子，专业的教育者不可能有效地进行教育。还有的孩子可能会受到坏孩子的影响甚至被坏孩子误导，做出不好的行为来。家长必须管教自己的孩子，不要把约束孩子行为表现的工作留给学校的老师来做。

其次，家长和社区必须在经济上支持地方学校而不仅仅是给政府缴纳必需的税款。学校团体常常要为开展一些有益的学校计划进行募捐。当孩子们上门来要求捐款，尤其是当别人家的孩子上门来要求捐款时，家长不应置之不理或予以拒绝，做到这一点是非常重要的。

而且，家长对地方学校负有的责任不应该仅仅是在钱财上的支持，他们还应该尽可能慷慨地将自己的时间投入到学校中去。参加自己孩子的运动会、朗诵会意义重大，主动帮助学校的孩子们组织活动，充当教练或裁判也是极其重要的。地方学校在达成需要完成的工作或应该完成的工作时似乎从未得到过充分的帮助。只要你愿意主动帮忙，随便问任何一个老师，都会找到需要你帮忙的地方。

最后，家长和社区参与到地方学校的工作中去可以确保那些专业的教育工作者确实是"专业"人员，确保他们能够教授孩子所需的基础知识。与老师和校长直接、频繁的交流可以让家长全面了解教师，看出他们是否适合教育这个岗位。近年来的发展使教师联合会的权力增大，有时倾向于将教师放在首位而将对孩子的考虑放在其次。家长和社区对地方学校工作的参与能提示教师他们对孩子、学校负有的责任，让他们记住学校首先是为谁设立的。

一所地方学校办得成功与否几乎完全依赖于家长和社区是否参与学校的工作。孩子的家长以及社区内的其他成员都必须愿意确保自己的孩子表现良好，确保他们自己在金钱上和时间上给予了支持，而且学校的专业教育者们将孩子的利益放在了第一位。