User profile

bklyngal

Its not only about Spanish speakers . Its about children who never do homework,who don't hand in projects etc, being coddled. If you don't do homework, and you don't hand in projects, you should not pass the class. You should not be given additional time to do the work or promoted to the next grade. You should take the class (with others who also did not follow the rules) until you follow the rules, and you master the material. It is disgraceful that children who do what they are supposed to do, see others who do nothing passing classes and being allowed to be disruptive. It is a bad lesson for all students. In the real world you need to meet deadlines, do what is required of you in your job setting, and act appropriately. Allowing children to slide in school, is why we have a class of adults who are basically unemployable. It starts in the first grade..

Why is no one concerned about how we fail our gifted children. While additional english classes and vocational choices are important, we offer nothing to those students who want to be in school,who do well in school and need to be challenged. We offer magnet schools that offer admission by lottery, rather than by testing, and taking the best and the brightest. We fail to mandate a second language in middle schools, when studies have shown it is almost impossible to be proficient in a language you begin taking in high school. We dumb down english classes so our children can't write well, in order to "pass" the masses. We are underserving our bright children at the expense of hiring truant officers and counselors to counsel those who do not want to attend school. Everyone is not academic, we would be much better served concentrating on those individuals who have the ability to contribute to society, rather than chasing after and spending money on those who could care less.

We certainly need a school like DAvidson. We also need schools for very smart children who may not have the 145 IQ, but who are neglected in our current school system. A 5th grader who is able to take ALgebra has no where to go. A 6th grader who could easily master Biology is stuck w/ lower level sciences. Our high schools offer more remedial classes than AP classes. Magnets are not the answer. Magnets don't take the best and the brightest. They are adjusted to account for geographical, racial, and economic criteria. Schools for high achieving students, based soley on perforamance and academic achievement are a necessity. MAybe if we hire an educator to run our school system, rather than a bean counter, things will begin to change.

The GATE program in elementary school, while better than nothing, is not sufficient to challenge gifter children. We have Magnet middle and high schools, that can, and should be used to attract gifted children, however, the cutoff scores for admission are so low, that many gifted children get excluded(lottery). Why is it OK to authorize auditions(and selection based on skill) for the Las Vegas Academy, so that the most talented children are offered the opportunity for a performing arts school, when we refuse to allow standard academic testing for "magnet or select schools", to insure the brightest receive the same opportunity. Take the most gifted in our school district and offer a gifted school. If we can chose chidren for LVA based on additions in theatre , dance and art , why not test our gifted children an math , science and english and give them a similar opportubity. Gifted children need the socialization of school, not homeschooling. Why are we not fostering our best and brightest? Most every other large school district, puts resources into these children. By failing to do so, and lowering standards for magnet schools to be more inclusive,(creating a pool of less qualified children) we are failing our gifted children. Use the test NY and Boston use, Place your top 300 students in school A, the next 300 in school B. This must be done without any manipulation concerning racial, sexual or economic demographics. Smart/Gifted children need to be challenged, by being educated with similarly smart/gifted children. This allows them to grow both academically and socially. An investment in these children will pay off in the future.

It is not surprising that peope are flocking to Faith Lutheran. They offer a safe environment, after school activities and sports teams at a reasonable price. It appears to me the academics are probably similar to the local public schools in Summerlin, but you do get safety, a sense of community etc. If we would spend our public dollars wisely people would not have to pay 20K for private schools. We neglect the brightest students in our public school system. There are 3000 applicants for 300 seats at our magnet schools, yet no one thinks that this is a problem that needs to be addressed. Vouchers are not the answer. The answer is making sure that money is not "wasted" on children who can't learn traditionally or don't want to learn.