[Mpls] School Choice: Minneapolis

[Michael Atherton]

Dorie Rae Gallagher wrote:
 
> Dropouts usually are the kids who lose interest, can't do the 
> work, or have problems that overwhelm them...are parents not 
> part of the equation? I don't believe in advancement without 
> skills but  how many parents care, know or want their child 
> staying behind a year. If I had a child who was not
> performing to his/her ability and not learning in school, I 
> would be at the door step of that school. If I found out the 
> school was not performing to the ability that was required for 
> teaching my child....I have options. It is the parents 
> responsiblity to know what is going on with their kid just as
> you have taken the responsiblity for your child's education.

I know that my position is hard to understand.  It appears that
I am proposing mutually exclusive positions, but responsibilities 
are not always shared. Sometimes if one person drops the ball it 
becomes the duty of someone else to shoulder the entire load.  
The schools cannot give up on children simply because the parents 
are irresponsible (to do so is just a cheap rationalization).

I cannot respect a school system that places responsibility for
student failure on parents.  I once asked a friend who was a
marriage counselor what he did in situations in which he thought that 
it was inevitable that the couple would break up.  He said that it was 
his responsibility to do whatever he could to help the marriage work,
regardless of his own opinions. It was after all, why people came to 
him.

So if some students show up on the school house steps without the
necessary parental support, does this absolve the schools of the 
responsibility to insure that students graduate?  I don't think so.  
Schools have the ability to provide the one safe and stable environment 
in a student's life.  The schools have the ability to provide students
with motivation and emotional support.  Do they currently?  I don't think 
so.  I think that this is an matter of focus and management strategies,
not a matter of funding, but as long as people believe that student
acheivement is the responsibility of parents nothing will improve.

Tracy Nordstrom wrote:

> My son also attended the mandatory "pre-school screening" this morning 
> at the Phillips school.  It was a very thorough process whereby the 
> trained school nurses/counselors tested his hearing and sight, weighed 
> him and measured his height, talked about lead-poisoning and other 
> environmental hazards of city living, and then ran through a variety of 
> cognitive and developmental screens to determine if Tucker was actually 
> ready to meet the demands of kindergarten.  This is an essential tool 
> that the Mpls schools use, I think, very effectively to let staff and 
> parents know if the kids will be ready for school when the year begins. 
>  I'm glad the district requires it.

It's not the district that requires it, it's required by state law.
You'd find the same screening in St. Paul.

Michael Atherton
Prospect Park