[Rhodes22-list] Some Public School Programs Work Pretty Well

[Todd Tavares]

   Roger,

       We HAD something like that here in Maryland, called the MSPAP.  I
   was initally to used to gage how well the schools were teaching the
   pupils.  The schools had to pass and each year show an improvement or
   face take-over by the state BOE.

       We unfortunately did not reap such positive results.  Instead, the
   results were twisted and used by a certain racially based "lobbyist"
   group (no names here), to show that minority children did universally
   worse than their white counterparts.  The test was supposed to be
   blind and the children's sex, ethnic and economic information was
   never to be recorded...but it was.

       A committee was formed by the state Board of Ed to find out why
   the minority children....all except a group named the "Asian/Pacific
   Islander Group"...were scoring poorly.   The committee spent two years
   and generated a 208 page report.  I studied the report in painstaking
   detail.  The conclusion was 11 reasons grouped into three main root
   causes.  Poverty, Lack of parental involvement, and low self esteem.
   When explaining why the Asian/Pacific Islander Group children (approx
   2%) scored consistently highest in all grades and genders, the
   committee came up  with a statement..to paraphrase it...It is widely
   known that Asian students are generally the smarter.

       Poverty meant that the children were under nourished, could not
   buy paper and pencils, etc.  Lack of parental involvement is
   self-explanatory.  Low self esteem was sort of a catch-all for every
   other excuse.  Low self esteem came from low self worth in males
   because of the absence of a male role model in the home setting;
   and the instructional material did not reflect enough people of color
   or their heritage.  That is about the only point I could have agreed
   with. etc, etc, etc.

       The state budgeted monies and came up with very loose guidelines
   for the counties to follow as far as what types of programs and
   activities to provide to the minoritiy students.  This money was to
   specifically help only minority students who were scoring poorly.  The
   counties in turn passed the money out to the schools and left it up to
   individual principals to decide how to use it. (within the vague
   guidelines mandated by the state BOE)  There was no accountability at
   all.   At my sons' elementary school there was free breakfast and
   lunch for minority children, free before and after daycare for
   minority children, they had the "BBC'......the black boys club which
   held field trips, pizza parties and more exclusively for "african
   american" students. Hispanic, Asian and all other minority students
   were excluded....community mentoring and big brother programs, etc.
   The principal was African American, and she too k all of the money
   given out by the state, all money budgeted for the gifted and talented
   program, and even bullied the PTA into opening their accounts to her
   for the stealing.

     One of the county Board of Ed members is a friend of ours. When she
   spoke out against the testing and kept her children home during that
   week, she was publicly censured by the Board, received a gag order
   and  was threatened with legal action for not having her children at
   in school.

     Thankfully so much negative publicity was generated that the state
   stopped this particular test.  Now we have "No Child Left Behind" and
   no funding.

       My brother and sister-in-law have their daughter in a Catholic
   school. There are less programs and resources available than in public
   schools.  They face a different set of problems though.  My niece did
   not do very well last year, but she was advanced anyway.  When I was
   discussing this with my brother-in-law, he reasoned that she must have
   done enough or she would not have been advanced to the next grade.  I
   could not contain my laughter.  I looked him in the eye and asked, "Do
   you think they would admit that they dropped the ball on educating
   your daughter and then look you in the eye and ask for another $6000
   to repeat the sixth grade? Come on!!"

      Schooling is like anything else.  You only get out what you put
   in.  We stay very involved with our kids schooling.  -proactive and
   not reactiveand so far it has paid-off.

   Todd

   ----- Original Message -----
   From: "Roger Pihlaja"
   Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2004 08:22:27 -0400
   To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list"
   Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Some Public School Programs Work Pretty Well
   > Here in Michigan, we have a test called the Michigan Education
   Assessment Program (MEAP). It tests skills in math, science, reading,
   writing, and critical thinking. Students that score highly in the 9th,
   10th, 11th, & 12th grades on all sections of the MEAP test can earn up
   to $3000 towards attending a Michigan college. Our older son, Daniel,
   maxed out on the MEAP award money & it helped tremendously in paying
   for his college at Northern Michigan University (NMU). So far, our
   younger son, Gary, is on track to max out as well. I've seen the MEAP
   test & it seems like a pretty reasonable tool to access a student's
   level of development. But, the MEAP test has been controversial here
   in Michig an as well. Lots of educators don't like it for all the
   reasons cited in the earlier posts on this subject.
   >
   > Schools of choice also seems to work pretty well here in Michigan.
   Again, both of our sons have benefited. We live in the Meridian School
   District, a rural area that is not very wealthy. Meridian High School
   does not have a very good vocational education program. However, they
   supplement their program by participating in a magnet school program
   with the Bay-Arenac Skill Center, located in Bay City, MI. Note that
   the Bay-Arenac Skill Center is located in another county, about 30
   miles away. The Meridian School District pays tuition and provides bus
   transportation for our students to & from the Bay-Arenac Skill Center.
   The program is a half day, 5 days/week. Meridian High School students
   either take their morning or afternoon classes at Meridian and then
   the other half of the school day at the Bay-Arenac Skill Center.
   Daniel took 2 years of Computer Aided Design classes at the Bay-Arenac
   Skill Center, which has been very helpful in his Graphic
   Arts/Electronic Imaging major up at NMU. Gary has benefited from this
   program even more than Daniel. Last year, Gary took his first year of
   Criminal Justice at the Bay-Arenac Skill Center and earned 6 college
   credits. This year, Gary is in his 2nd year of the Criminal Justice
   program and will earn 6 more college credits. A major portion of
   Gary's 2nd year in the Criminal Justice program involves doing a
   series of internships with various law enforcement agencies in the
   area. These internships come in 9-week blocks & were setup thru the
   Bay-Arenac Skill Center. For example, right now, Gary is doing
   ride-alongs with the Midland City Police Dept. in 12 hour shifts.
   Sometimes, he comes back from these ride-alongs with some hair-raising
   tales! His next assignment will be with the Michigan State Police
   Crime Scene Investigation Unit. Because of his class schedule and the
   12 hour sh ift time commitment, this internship keeps Gary pretty busy
   on weekends. Finally, because Gary had already accumulated nearly all
   the credit hours required for graduation and scored very high on his
   MEAP tests in the 9th, 10th, & 11th grades, he is also taking 6 credit
   hours/semester at Delta College in classes which will count towards
   his Criminal Justice major. The only stipulation on the nature of
   these college classes was they had to be in subjects not offered at
   Meridian High School. The only class Gary actually takes at Meridian
   High School is a college prep English class. The Meridian School
   District is paying the tuition & other fees for all this! Naturally,
   with Gary's wild class schedule, he has to provide his own
   transportation. He's putting a lot of miles on his car this year &
   we're helping him with those expenses. By the time Gary graduates from
   high school next spring, he will have accumulated 24 college credits
   towards his BS degree in Criminal Ju stice. It's been like a defacto
   scholarship from the Meridian School District & he'll still get the
   $3000 MEAP money after graduation!
   >
   > How about that for creative use of tax dollars? When it comes to
   head count, I'm not certain who gets to count Gary - Meridian High
   School, the Bay-Arenac Skill Center, Delta College? Frankly, I don't
   care. I realise Gary's situation is pretty unusual. There are probably
   very few students with sufficient skills, maturity, & ambition to be
   able to handle a program like Gary's. But, it does illustrate the sort
   of things that are possible within the public school systems if
   administrators are allowed to be creative.
   >
   > Roger Pihlaja
   > S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
   >
   >
   > __________________________________________________
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