How has this been demonstrated?
We are also fortunate to have a mayor who considers this issue a top priority. Karl Dean made the reduction of our dropout rate a pivotal issue in his campaign and continues to make the improvement of education an overall priority. (Sydney Rogers, Executive Director of Alignment Nashville) Tennessean
Frankly, I wouldn't expect much from any mayor at this early point in their tenure and so I'm surprised that Ms. Rogers considers this one of his top priorities. I don't doubt Mayor Dean sincerely wants to improve our public education system and has staff going through his options---but, ummm...other than going on a listening tour... how has our new mayor made improving education an overall priority? It would have been more helpful if Ms. Rogers had enumerated the ways in which Mayor Dean has proven this to her.
She also writes:These students need extra tutoring and help with things such as how to study for college entrance exams. They need access to computers, because their families generally cannot afford them at home. Many need to be taught English.
They don't need computers. They need classrooms with adequate electricity to handle computers first and clean water and air conditioning for those early August school days. They need reading teachers--through high school. They do need tutors and counselors and their families need the freedom to pick a program that works for their child regardless of the status of the school. They need ordinary voters and taxpayers to go to bat for them and demand that the system account for itself.
1 comment:
Kay -- these kids needed (and the rest of the students need) teachers that genuinely care about them and their success. They need tutoring and extra attention at the first possible sign of not being prepared to move on to the next grade. Without this in elementary and middle school by the time they get to high school it is too late.
Oh wait, under NCLB kids in failing schools are to have access to additional tutoring or such. Oddly many of them do not take advantage of it. Hmmm...how many would want to be tutored by the very same teachers that could care less about their success in the regular classroom?
Garcia said the district would do remediation for those kids failing three high shcool students after the first nine weeks. The PAC told him hell no. You do it at the first signs of trouble regardless of the grade they are in.
Geez...
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