Ok I'll bite.
My son has a condition known as Asperger's Syndrome. Up until his third grade
year he attended a Duluth School called Congdon Park. This school recently won
the "No Child Left Behind" blue ribbon award.
My son, who is very intelligent and perfectly capable of regular classroom
work, was kept out of the mainstream population, despite our repeatedly asking
the school staff to mainstream him, and despite the "least restrictive
environment" rule.
Eventually, this young 2nd grader made a very mature decision to try living
with his dad and going to school in Minneapolis to see if he would do any
better.
Beginning in third grade, my son moved to Minneapolis, and after searching the
schools, I felt that Cityview Community School (yes, one of the schools with a
large minority population the Michael would be afraid to send HIS
children....on the North Side no less!) would best meet his needs.
My son is now in 5th grade and doing extremely well. He is not only fully
mainstreamed, but at the top of his class in some subjects, spent a year in the
Gifted and Talented program (cut because of NCLB, Remember that Republicans
aren't really trying to fix public education, they just they just don't like
public education and if they can make it worse, then everyone will be force to
use their vouchers for private religious education, or charter schools, which
have proven to be the "Enron" of public education.) He participates in the
school orchestra, and what's more, he LIKES SCHOOL!!!
To be sure, he gets quite a bit of homework which he doesn't always like, but
I'm even impressed with that. His teacher stresses things like critical
thinking and persuasive argument.....in 5th grade no less.
There is the other part of this equation. Parents are just as responsible for
their child's education as the schools. The "alarming" graduation rate?
School can only do so much, parents need to make sure the homework gets done,
and when necessary, get on their kid's case about about putting the work in to
school. This is true no matter what school a student attends.
Ultimately, even then, schools and parents can only give the tools,
encouragement, focus and love...the tools to succeed. It's up to the students
to use them well.
Attitudes like the one below, and the fact that there are so many people
convinced that this is the truth are arguably the reason that our school
boards, as well as our state and federal governments, keep trying to fix things
that aren't broken, and reform what is working fine.
My son attends a public North Minneapolis K-8 school, and it's one of the best
decisions we've ever made.
Tamir Nolley
Holland
another cheerleader for MPS
Michael Atherton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Mark Anderson replies:
> If I were in your shoes the choice would be obvious; go with Hale.
Sure, I suppose if my family was going with the public schools
I might select one that was 66% White and not worry that
the District average is 28%, but personal decisions such as
these will not improve educational outcomes for the City as
a whole.
<snip>
It is important to keep in mind the concept of "outliers."
I've tried to get this concept across previously, but failed.
What a few students are able to accomplish may not be typical
of the student body as a whole or reflect anything special
about the school or its curriculum. What strikes me as
important is that this "Math/Science Magnet" has only 42%
of third graders rated as proficient in Math. The percentage
raises to 59% in fifth grade (a good sign), but still far
below the level I would accept before sending my child to school
there.
Michael Atherton
Prospect Park
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