Why Education in Mexico sucks! (written by a Mexican)

[Jzmackenzie]

You are right, I have been told many times by experts to try California instead of Texas to promote the books (I wrote two). I talked to State Dept. of Education member, teachers, social workers, nurses, police, professors, the Dallas mayor, Rotary Club, and did book signings in libraries. I visited several schools.

I sent over 300 letters all over the USA to school boards. I offered to teach for 2 weeks (in a group and one-on-one in classrooms), for free, travel on our money, pay fro my own room and board, if they would buy a book - wholesale - for each teacher. Not a single place (out of 300) even emailed a reply or inquiry.

The American Library Association has members who volunteered to come down and teach each community how to manage a library. As a nonprofit, we planned to get funding from outside & inside sources to install used computers (Internet is a money-maker) a friend of ours has near the US/MX border.

[The Duck]

Marketing a book is tough and always an uphill battle.

"...Currently there are over 1,000,000 book titles in print in the United States. U.S. book publishers produce about 65,000 new titles per year (of which perhaps 8,000 have bookstore potential)."
You can find a lot of statistics here and more info on the Home Page of the site: Book Marketing and Book Promotion - Creating Worldwide Bestsellers

[MNRon]

"I sent over 300 letters all over the USA to school boards. I offered to teach for 2 weeks (in a group and one-on-one in classrooms), for free, travel on our money, pay fro my own room and board, if they would buy a book - wholesale - for each teacher. Not a single place (out of 300) even emailed a reply or inquiry."

Having copy edited a book that won awards, but sold few copies, I empathize.

But, from a school district's perspective, they receive sales pitches like yours on a regular basis. An offer to teach for free does not mean schools don't have issues of teacher certification, collective bargaining agreements, criminal background checks, and the like to deal with. As an educator 1972-1997, I received countless offers of the great deal I would get if I adopted the new, sure fire, solve all your problems, textbook.

School districts see things through their lens, not the lens of the independent author/publisher, and textbook adoption is a lengthy, laborious, political process. As an educator, I'd want to see verifiable, repeatable evidence that the text will help me achieve my classroom goals and objectives. Awards and glowing reviews are fine, but everyone selling a text has people saying great things about it.

You may be in the situation of the Boy Scout being bludgeoned by an old lady with her purse as she yells "Sonny, I did not want to cross the street!"

[raquelita]

At first I was very turned off by the State Library in Leon because the first floor was so sterile, including the Children's Room. But what happens there is impressive, many activities for children & adults.

As for other issues being discussed here, to my mind one size doesn't fit all. On the one hand I saw a Gto news article a few years ago that said elementary school teachers in the city didn't know why they were offered books so they could give one to each child. I also know of a community near Gto where the children keep getting one unmotivated teacher after another. But hey I experienced that in my junior high school in the capital city of West Virginia.

I am in sympathy with the observation that the children learn more about "critical thinking" -- and values -- at home rather than in school. But kids here do learn to add and subtract. The only time I have been given incorrect change was recently in Leon (sin city?).

I spent three years long ago teaching in the inner city, Washington DC and more years doing research and working with members of the US tribes so I know people and families differ. I also know that even our "best" US legislators have others doing much of their reading and writing for them. And I'm sure well-planned field trips into the city to see, for example, the inside of the Teatro Juarez or The Alhondiga or Amahl & the Night Visitors, might open a vista for a child. Motivation doesn't all come from parents or books.

And if most people want to read catalogs or the Bible that's their choice. One more thing to ponder, the textbooks I've seen here are excellent.

Thanks, Jacquie for opening up this discussion.

[The Duck]

SOME POSITIVE NEWS ON EDUCATION
source: Rueters.com in article entitled: Mexican manufacturing: from sweatshops to high-tech motors

EDUCATION PAYS
In years past, many young people in the region could only
aspire to a minimum wage job earning 60 pesos ($4.87) per day.
Now factories needing skilled workers have spawned
specialized training centers like Queretaro's aerospace
university and Puerto Interior's National Polytechnical
Institute campus.
The polytech helped establish a senior high school to bridge
the gap between local secondary schooling and the rigors of an
engineering degree. Students, 95 percent from nearby towns, then
spend five years at the polytech, where tuition is free.
"Before, most of the local population did not even have a
medium-level education, only primary school, and they worked in
agriculture or migrated to the U.S.," said campus director
Aldelmo Emmanuel Reyes. He says a new engineering graduate can
earn five times the minimum wage, rising to 10 to 20 times more
after five years.
Sergio Hernandez, 20, is about to finish a two-year program
blending senior high school with on-the-job-training at auto
part maker Schaeffler to become a production line supervisor.
Before that, he worked for two years at a machinery workshop
after secondary school. He says his employment chances have
improved "incredibly" since he started the course: "I have work
experience that can be documented, and my high school diploma."