One of the main reasons I ran for office was to be a voice for the 'mid-kids'. Those who choose, or are not able to go to college. At least they may not choose to go to college the traditional route, right after graduating high school. Many enter the work force and continue their education in the university system years later and are very successful individuals.
Striving to prepare all students for college is a noble, yet unrealistic goal. And I believe we are doing a disservice to our students, the university system, and our community by pretending that every student is college material. By making students think that they are prepared for college when they are not is only setting them up for disappointment and defeat when they learn the cold hard facts of how difficult, demanding, and expensive college is.
My concern with the direction we are currently moving in is that we are losing programs that can give students options for success beyond high school. Programs that are sometimes the only reason some kids get up and go to school in the morning.
Call it a plan B if you will. What if they don’t want to go to college? What if they can’t go to college? For whatever reason, college is not an option…what is their plan B that will set them up to be productive, tax paying citizens?
I am driven in this post this article because of a story in the Sacremento Bee pointing out the importance of career and technical programs.
14 comments:
I couldn't agree with you more. I can't help but to feel that in the best case SpringBoard will only get kids to college, not to college graduation. I teach high school, and I am not far removed from my college education (3 years). SpringBoard is very, very different from the real college setting.
We should learn to identify a student and the path that is right for them. Then, we must send them on their way down that proper path. College isn't for everyone, so we should stop pretending like AP classes and SpringBoard is the cure-all.
Agreed. Now how in the world are we going to convince Elia of this point?
Count me in, too. Anyone read the Trib and see the Nemko article last Sunday? Also--read The Gradebook--looks like Pasco County got suckered, too--by something that looks a lot like Springboard. Now having BIG budget problems, too! By the way--how much IS Springboard going to cost teachers and taxpayers over the next three years? I teach high school English. I finally got my hands on a TE and the curriculum is English 1-4 all scrambled up over the four years!!! Imagine scrambling up Geography,World and American History --or Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Physical Science and then teaching them over four years! By the time these kids get INTO college it'll be WAY too late to just say "sorry"! We can't ruin futures for our students!!!!
May I suggest reading
Education Lessons We Left Behind.
Thank goodness that someone out there recognizes the importance of the entire labor force. Our push to make all students college material is unrealistic and a waste of time in some cases. I don't know about you but I need my plumbers, electricians, mechanics, etc. Do these people need a solid foundation so they may succeed in the necessary training? Of course they do, but that doesn't mean they are society's failures because they do not choose to attend college. Unfortunately, I think you will find a very strong opposition in this matter. I still say it's worth the fight though- good for you!
I have former students who own construction companies, plumbing enterprises, technical service companies and convenience store chains (small). College? Some courses but no degree.
Money? Success? Loads of both.
We MUST give our kids the tools and skill for independent living so they have something to fall back on when things get tough.
Until we stop evaluating schools, counselors, AND superintendents on college admissions, scholarship dollars and AP enrollment, the assembly line to college will continue.
We must acknowledge that "college isn't for everyone", promote alternative success tracks, target the talent, and support those programs.
If not we will continue to find our disillusioned graduates with high 5 figure school loan debt mixing up lattes instead of owning the shop.
10th grade FCAT Writing scores are out, and every single high school in the county dropped by an average of about 6-10 percent in just one year, except three of the most affluent schools, which only increased by 1 tiny percent... Gee, could the 6/7 that has been forced on teachers and the kids be the reason? It's the only marked change that we all have in common... Maybe the news should report on this…
anonymous-- got news for ya! we are no longer one of the affluent ones....and teaching kids a subject when they don't speak or understand the English language!Ha!
We're all going down --thanks to 6/7--and other things... We knew it would happen--hope some of the ROSSAC brain deads can connect the dots--ha!
April--
Read the last couple of posts on The Wall--teachers get it. How do we help parents do the same? "College" is still a magical dream word equated with social stature and financial security.
Pam
The guys that made/maintain our home computer (my husband is a financial geek and "needs" the latest "whatever") are crazy busy--not a college degree amongst them--and even a high school drop out. They make more money than I do and get a charge out of their lives and what they do for a living!!!
In response to:
Pam
May 24, 2008 10:50 AM
Pam states: "April--
Read the last couple of posts on The Wall--teachers get it. How do we help parents do the same? "College" is still a magical dream word equated with social stature and financial security. "
----
If teachers or administrators want parental support regarding best practices and research-based educational strategies along with realistic goals and objectives, there will have to be a change in how administrators, teachers, parents and students interact.
On one hand, school personnel can not have it both ways. They can not use arrogance with ignorance to dismiss parents and students and claim to be "experts in education" at the same time blame failures of educational outcomes on those same parents and students.
Referencing this post:
"Suzie Creamcheese said...
May I suggest reading
Education Lessons We Left Behind"
this article speaks to the significance of family support as indicative of educational success and failure for the student.
I find it interesting that parents and students who want out of the public school system are generally chastised as not going along with what is best for all, yet there are plenty of teachers who find fault with the system and, when the reality hits that they can not change it, they want out too.
The current public school situation is analogous to a bad marriage where the spouses use the kids as weapons.
Why should reasonable and realistic parents who care about their child's future care about how good the school system scores on FCAT or whatever the latest money scam is?
How can school personnel convey to parents that the "success of the student" is their (school people) concern whenever there is more focus on District stats?. Massaging statistics, such as wholesale grading curves, and leadership focus on bonuses and "district recognition" based on statistics does little to promote the student as the real interest.
Raising a child to be a productive citizen requires attention to behavioral, academic, social and emotional needs (BASE). An absence of support in any one of these areas lessens the result in the efforts of support in the others. The Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA) spells this out, whether school systems act on it or not.
In other words, no matter how much more engine power one uses, an airplane will only go as fast as the design of the body will allow.
While I am admittingly just a parent and not a public school educator, perhaps an educational expert can ask how much does FCAT or SpringBoard address each of these BASE areas, and then ask what is their (school personnel realistic expecations.
Special Ed "gets it"!
According to "anon 10:16" of May 25th, "Special Ed gets it".
Special Ed. has received two endorsements this month from super-delegates, even if one is a non-disclosed entity.
A lot of activity has been going on over in the Special Ed Motel and also on PRO on HCDS. As the header under the headline says - it is Poor Richard's Observations.
Today's June 5th post in the Motel has come in due time for all interested parties to read.
Richard L. Hancock
A note from April: This email is not in it’s original form. I have redacted student information because student information is confidential.
What this Mom would say to a School Board, if she believed they would listen…..
Dear Hillsborough County School Board members,
I am writing to ask that you review a pending due process case in your district, one filed on behalf of my son XXXXXX. As elected professionals serving the families and students of our county, I feel certain that you understand your fiduciary responsibilities as well as an inherent commitment, as expressed in your mission statement, to serve all the children of our district.
My situation is one that unfortunately we have faced before. In 1992, when XXXXXX began kindergarten, we were forced to file due process in order to receive the promised speech therapy designated on his IEP. We won at due process and the district was found guilty of seventeen violations of IDEA (the federal law governing the education of students with disabilities). We were relieved to have it over, and never dreamed our own school district would respond by suing us in court. In response, and not for the first time, my husband went to a public School Board meeting and begged the Board to review our case, talk to us, talk to their attorneys and understand the issues. The response of the Board was to turn to their attorney and say “Handle it Crosby” and immediately hire additional appellate attorneys. I think looking back on that moment in time the Board must have ultimately regretted that comment. Because abdicating their responsibility to the attorneys resulted in over 8 years of litigation, at a breath-taking monetary cost to the district, and ultimately resulting in Hillsborough County setting a national precedent as the first district in the U.S. to have been found guilty of retaliating against parents who advocated for their son. I was almost embarrassed when members of our School Board were brought to testify in depositions and in federal court only to have each of them admit they did not know or understand the real issues of our case. To this date, one only need mention “Hillsborough” to anyone across the nation in special education, and they know you are the district who retaliates against families of children with disabilities. And your attorney, whether he is your friend or foe, is known for a “scorched earth” policy when it comes to litigating – not exactly what I would term a “family friendly” district.
It is not my intention to open old wounds, relive the past, but one must as the saying goes, remember history in order not to repeat mistakes. I thought it appropriate as my elected officials that I write you with one and only one request. Please read the due process filing I have made on behalf of my son XXXXXX. Do your own research regarding what the federal law says with respect to the responsibility of schools to provide appropriate transition services. Ask your attorney why an 8-hour mediation ended in an impasse without a single offer by your district administrators to compromise (although we are bound not to discuss the details of the mediation – you can know it did not end with resolution). Ask your transition administrators why a program they have participated in, and promoted for a solid year, was suddenly ended when it came time to implement the program. Call some surrounding counties and ask how they implement transition. Call the FDOE and ask if they believe your people are implementing transition in compliance with federal law. And even if you don’t care about my son and whether or not he has any appropriate transition services, consider the liability of this case.
Now some would say I am giving my case away by writing all of you and asking these questions. But instead I say I am simply doing what I have done all along, asking that the right thing be done for XXXXXX. But even if you do nothing else, please do not repeat the sins of the 1992 School Board, do not abdicate your responsibilities to the attorneys, do not act as Pontius Pilate and wash your hands of this simply because due process has been filed. Read the due process filing and ask questions, require accountability of your administrators and fiduciary responsibility on behalf of your attorneys. It is your job. It is not too late to save the taxpayers of our county what amounted to over a million dollars paid out to our family and your attorneys over the last Whitehead case. I am as confident of a win this time as I was in 1992. I was right then, and whether or not you believe I am right this time as well, please believe me when I tell you it is not my desire to litigate. I simply want my son to have the transition services (which I currently believe would not cost the district any additional money than currently received under his IEP Matrix equivalent of a 255 since he already has a Teacher’s Assistant) so that he can exit the school system as a contributing tax-paying, employed citizen of Hillsborough County. The resistance I have received to a pro-active approach w/ no additional funding requirements is mind-boggling. But the cost if I am forced to litigate will surely be more.
I am happy to answer any questions you may have, or even encourage you to contact the local teachers at my son’s school who also support his program. Or perhaps I should erase that sentence since so many teachers live in fear of pressure and retaliation from those above that when inquiries are made, silence is returned, It seems the people who have the most problem with what we are requesting reside at the Velasco Building and have never even met XXXXXX. Reminds me of the attorneys who made all the decisions in the last case without ever reviewing it with the people who count most – our School Board.
And just in case anyone doubts that history threatens to repeat itself, just view our press release from the end of the last litigation in 2000 – the personal statement in paragraph two speaks for itself…
http: I have redacted this because student information is confidential.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Blessings to all,
XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX
XXXXXX’s Mom
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