Reply #41: Here's some suggestions to bring those numbers down. [View All]

[mac2]

Many require federal funding.

1. The large immigrant population have needs that the community can not handle. Federal policy on huge immigration admission numbers and corporate tax cuts stress the state and community coffers. The corporations profit but not the community. Corporations of the community should pay their share to educate and meet the immigrants needs since they profit off of them.

2. Do statistics on city schools with larger immigrant populations to see what their needs are. Although they aren't stupid learning in new language is a difficult thing. Do not include that in the graduation rate since it might take longer. They drop out discouraged and feeling different. Encourage them to stay and finish their education if they are to succeed in this country.

3. When children fail to show up for school frequently the tuient officer would go to the home to find out why. If the parents did not force them to go to school then the courts would decide on a solution. I see kids in the malls when they should be in school. No one seems to care. Maybe their parents don't even know since they are working, etc. The children get so behind they can't catch up to the others and just drop out.

5. Just throwing money or vouchers for "choice" at the schools won't help if the problem is not known.

Cleveland did a voucher thing to improve education in their city. It was a failure. The Charter schools did not perform less than the private "Catholic schools" since they were both located in poverty areas. Fact is there was fraud regarding the program.

6. The schools in Cleveland did extensive testing. Usually the private schools are tested less/not the same, or not as much as the public ones. Most the private/religious school have classes only up to high school and that's where that ends. Young kids aren't much of discipline problem.

It would be interesting to see the test results for the high school level for private and public schools in non-poverty areas. Here in my suburban area outside Chicago three public students scored perfect on their SATs. It is a upper middle class area.

7. What impact is poverty having on students? Is there chaos at home so they can't think or do home work? Are their parents not there, etc. Drugs, etc.

Saying city school have 50% drop out numbers does not do it for this researcher. How did they count the variations? There is a drive\propaganda to ruin our public schools for private and religious ones (using our tax dollars). It ruins any chances of the poverty and poor students to become more. It is undemocratic.

We are not caring about our children or our old. That says what kind of government and society we have today.