> What are the problems [in Mpls. schools]? Seven or eight boys between the ages of 11 and 14, who all live within three or four blocks of each other, cannot read anywhere near their age levels. One especially darling boy (a great kid) is reading books only one level above 'See Spot Run.' I'll call him Tyrone. His problems and those of all of this little group of boys: (1)he's lost in the shuffle in his grade group at school even though he's a bright kid. He can't read! (2) since he's in eighth grade, they'll pass him on without his being able to read. (3) His teachers cannot take the time to go back to teach reading at his level that he missed in first and second grade--and everything he didn't understand because he couldn't read in social studies, history, math, science, etc. Ancillary problems specific to Tyrone which the schools have not been able to address: (a) his mother's on the pipe (b) his father is not in residence, (c) his grandmother has more than she can do taking care of him and his older brother, (d) there is extreme poverty in his household, (e) his family has no network of resources from which to access help for Tyrone and it may not even occur to them to ask for help or what to ask for that will help. There has risen up in this country a culture of poverty in which people know how to access the welfare system, but not how to access other systems in this country. The culture of poverty is about only knowing how to access the 'welfare' section of the systems of resources we have set up for the body politic. There are only a few sheckles in those parts of our system. More than 99% of our national wealth is directed to the other systems which comprise our big pot of resources. By wealth, I do not mean only money. You do not need a lot of money if you have access to resources--who you know, who can guide you through the process of applying for school, applying for jobs. However, they all require you to be able to read first and foremost.
We might agree that a 50% high school dropout / pushout > rate is a problem, but what are the underlying causes? They can't read! Ergo, school is mostly lost on them. High school will quickly get impossible--say the first or second day. In a very real way, the problem is simple. Kids like Tyrone are not being educated through who's fault it makes no nevermind. How do we educate kids up to speed for their age group when they are so far behind? How many of them are there? Do we have any materials for 14 year olds that teach 'see spot run' without being so first grade at the same time? Can we move the bureaucracies involved off the dime to do that? It will take a lot of torque to move the school system, and a lot more torque to move the teachers union. Moving the state bureaucracy at the same time...? Lynell is right in one way: if you're doing the parenting, even if the school is a disaster, your kid, with the mother wit god gave him/her, will soldier on and get a rudimentry education. He/she'll keep up with the class, etc. Some legitimate research group (Dennis Shapiro, member of this list, could give you the name) reports that each and every kid needs 41 different resources to succeed. Kids who are not succeeding do not have 41 resources, they may not have half that many. Some need to be provided by the parents at present, some by the schools, some by the society in general. They have to overcome their lack of resources, but they're kids and don't know how to do that. Their parents do not have the wherewithall to provide the resources. The schools are not set up to provide them. "Society" has yet to lern how to give a rip in an effective way. Mr. Mann, any idea you have about how to torgue everything sufficiently to make sure Tyrone and his buds get educated, let 'er rip. Inquiring minds want to know. Wizard Marks, Central Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
