Education Takes Back-Seat In Election
2008 Presidential Candidates Vague on Education Plans
While I’ve been battling computer problems and a Total System Restore, the Presidential candidates have been plowing-on with their respective campaigns.
It is true Barack Obama has garnered the support of the National Education Association, and John McCain has been proposing vouchers and charter schools, but neither candidate has spelled-out a definitive plan on how they will accomplish any education objectives.
The NEA loves Obama because he proposes more and better teachers, combined with reform to No Child Left Behind (NCLB). No surprise there – Every citizen in the USA wants better teachers and NCLB reform (even the Republicans).
Don’t you want to know HOW he’s gonna do it?
John McCain is proposing vouchers and charter schools. Even most Republicans admit that vouchers are elitist, expensive and won’t work except for a few, so they are not the answer. And while charter schools may be part of the solution, don’t you want to know how McCain would prevent charter schools from becoming private enterprises, promoting special interests at public expense (as has already happened numerous times)?
No matter WHO your chosen candidate is, if you are concerned about the future of the USA – both economically and educationally – you need to INSIST your candidate spell-out a real plan.
Let’s get education off the back burner, and back in front of the public eye, where it belongs!
Brennan
Education Problems Coast to Coast
Sad State of Education on Both Coasts
Just in case you thought education issues were getting better, think again!
The lead stories on Education News.com highlight problems on BOTH coasts! The top story tells about the disastrous drop-out rates in Los Angeles and the second story talks about horrible achievement gaps in Philadelphia.
In the first story, Mitchell Landsberg, staff writer for the Los Angeles Times reports:
“A study released Thursday confirms that many California dropouts give school another try. But the California Dropout Research Project also reports that even dropouts who go back to school appear to stand little chance of success in college. And in an economy that increasingly prizes academic success, the outlook is bleak for those who don’t return to school at all.”
“Kids who drop out of school are at risk in general — we know that,” said Russell Rumberger, a professor at UC Santa Barbara who leads the dropout project. He added he was alarmed by the study’s finding that one in three of the students who dropped out of 10th grade in 2004 were doing nothing four years later — not going to school or working.”
The article goes on to explain only one in five drop-outs go back to obtain a GED, and only 54% of those obtain that GED.
Even worse, 90% of those who obtain their GED don’t go further. They either drop-out of college, or never even attempt to enroll.
And the financial future for each of those individuals is bleak.
Meanwhile, In Philadelphia
On the opposite coast, Kristen A. Graham, staff writer for The Philadelphia Enquirer, shares some shocking statistics released by the Philadelphia School District.
” One in 10 white students is classified as mentally gifted; just 3 in 100 black students are.”
“Black and Latino students make up 79 percent of the district’s 167,000 students, but make up just 54 percent of students in the district’s prestigious magnet schools. Those groups make up 90 percent of all children labeled “emotionally disturbed,” and most of the students at the district’s lowest-performing schools.”
The article goes on to explain how misjudgement on the part of administrators, coupled with the limitations of archaic laws, combine to keep the ‘achievement gap’ in place.
The situations in our schools are getting worse, not better.
The topic of Education has been mentioned more and more as the Presidential election draws nearer.
It’s vitally important that every parent, teacher and taxpayer pay close attention to what the candidates say in the upcoming debates.
And we need to mobilize to FORCE positive change!
Brennan
Chicago School Boycott Troubles!
Chicago School Boycott!
The first day back to school in Chicago didn’t quite happen as usual.
Instead of heading into their center-city schools, 1400 African American students and their parents loaded buses to travel to the affluent, mostly white New Trier High School freshman campus in Northfield, and one other upscale school.
The purpose of Tuesday’s caravan, organized by Rev. James Meeks, was to protest inequities in Chicago public school funding.
Rev. Meeks, who is pastor of the South Side Salem Baptist megachurch, and a state senator, planned the protest for the first day of school to achieve maximum impact.
Parents are protesting the fact that inner-city schools don’t receive the same funding as more affluent, suburban schools. Also, they wanted to draw attention to the 50% drop-out rate in Chicago inner-city schools.
Chicago Mayor Daley accused Rev. Meeks, the event organizer, of using children as political pawns.
The students and their parents were warmly welcomed at the New Trier campus and the entire event appears to have been handled smoothly. Even so, the protest was mostly symbolic, as students need to have proof of residency in the district to attend classes there.
New Trier officials said an estimated 950 CPS students tried to register.
Rev. Meeks plans to take his protest to the lobbies of downtown businesses, to force the issue of the funding disparities among public schools onto the table. He was quoted as saying,
“We’ve seen the results of three decades of underfunding schools. We under-educated their grandparents, we under-educated their parents … enough is enough.”
The biggest immediate impact of the boycott, other than the disruption of first day classes, appears to be the $100,000 dollars, or so that Chicago schools may lose in state reimbursements.
Seem the parents of inner city school kids want their children to have a fair shot at education.
What do you think? Is a boycott the way to go?
Brennan
