Hello All,
As I have stated long before, there are these fantastic historically black
colleges that African Americans attend, and they get a phenomenal education.
So going to school alongside people who have the same skin color as yours is
not, nor should it be, a problem. While it is nice to have a diverse mix in a
classroom, it is not essential to learning.
Therefore, it is the content of the curricula and the materials used within the
schools in the various neighborhoods that contributes to the educational
seperation. The placement of teaching staff lacking the necessary experience,
core knowledge and cultural competency is also a factor. It is not always
about money, its these basics that need improving. It is how the materials is
being taught, and the manner in which it is done.
There needs to be a focus on the provision of materials that are not just
adequate, or "kinda" on par so to speak, with the schools in some of the
supposedly better neighborhoods, but that the schools ALL recieve the EXACT
SAME materials - from books to state of the art technology to qualified
teaching and administrative personnel - so they are on equal footing right off
the bat and can learn. That DOES NOT mean that we pass another school's
leftover books or used computers over to the poorer schools, that means invest
in everybody's children EQUALLY and UP FRONT. I know education budgets are
being cut all over, but there are private corporations who have adopted
schools, so let's start making some innovative partnerships happen. If we can
get a unneccessary stadium deals, we should be able to get some educational
deals. Our politicians can start working on that. By the time the primary
happens, which is, oddly enough, when school will be resumed, I would like to
see SOM
E
CONCRETE REASONS for me to vote for you. Not MERELY PROMISES, BUT SOME
ACTUALS.
There should be no parent telling us that they feel unwelcome in the schools
anymore. We simply have no time to ALLOW anyone to make us feel that way.
There are too many excuses all the way around. If anyone should be made to
feel unwelcome it should be people who are not doing their jobs. That includes
teachers who are simply passing students out of one situation into another; who
are not making efforts to connect with parents until the child is about to
fail; that includes parents who wait to be invited to the table regarding their
child's education, when they should have been helping SET THE TABLE to begin
with; parents who don't take their responsibility seriously and prepare their
child FOR SCHOOL AT HOME, who regard school as a babysitting service while they
work or stay home and play. This list could go on, but we all know how it
plays out.
And, while I have not had any dealings with the new superintendent, I hope that
the school board does not waste any of our money firing her, and paying a
ridiculous severance package. Give her time to make some changes. None of us
fell off the turnip truck last night, so we know this educational debacle did
not happen overnight either.
Well, thanks for reading.
Pamela
(Lyndale)
Most my son's friends parents that are white expressed that their first
choice for high school was Southwest, second South, and Washburn third. I
don't believe all of these parent's are racist, but the above data clearly
shows a segregated school system, and students of color are getting the
short end of the stick, as shown by the test scores. Have neighborhood
schools benefited students of color? Can someone show me data that will
prove it has helped these students?
So it seems to me that our Neighborhood School experiment has created a
certain amount of segregation. Parents of white children, and parents of
children of color, may be happy with having their children closer to home,
but we have to be honest that it has created a more segregated school
system.
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