Dropouts

Star-Telegram | 06/23/2006 | A good education designation?:

Expect the dropout rate for Texas public schools to go up next year when new accountability ratings are announced. That’s because the state will begin stamping the “dropout” label on students who get a GED certificate instead of a diploma.

His argument is that students who receive their GEDs aren’t dropouts.

Star-Telegram | 06/23/2006 | A good education designation?:

Yes, they’re kids who had trouble in school — so much trouble, in fact, that they couldn’t complete the requirements even with all the help and encouragement that teachers and school administrators stood ready to give them.But they didn’t quit. They showed initiative — some of them for the first time in their lives — and took charge of their own education and passed the required exams. That should be celebrated.

They may be dropouts — with all the missed educational opportunities that implies — but they’re not failures.

I think he misses the point. The dropout label reflects the school’s effectiveness. The kids may not be a failure, but the schools certainly didn’t succeed with these kids.

Education priorities

Hmmm, let see. Teachers requesting more instructional time…

The Herald Democrat:

SISD Interim Superintendent Al Hambrick proposed the extended school day during the last regular board meeting June 19. He explained that teachers are requesting more lesson time in core subjects, particularly math and science.

but what about utility costs?

The Herald Democrat:

One concern board members had with the extended school day is additional utility costs.

I could argue that maybe the teachers aren’t be effective with the time they have or that maybe the solution is to hire more teachers to lower the student/pupil ratio, but utility costs? This is why many rural school districts didn’t bother with air conditioning until the 80’s. Usually except for the administrative offices. And I don’t recall ever hearing about school boards meeting in unairconditioned spaces either.