Sean Nichols is principal of the Fresh Start Academy, an alternative St. Louis high school that welcomes back students 17-21 who have dropped out. It is extremely inspiring to see the focus shifted back to the children and the passionate commitment to education.
The one-year program geared exclusively toward preparing for the GED examination provides new hope for the shockingly increasing number of drop outs in the St. Louis area.
"These kids have been surrounded by poverty and violence and people who may love them but lack resources to help them," he said. "Most left school because they felt defeated and could not take another blow."
"They crave access to people who care about them and can help them," he said.
Mr. Nichols sees good teachers as the key to helping these children. He recruits teachers who understand that these are kids who need special help, sometimes in the evening or on a weekend, teachers willing to work "beyond the job description."
Though it is important to also support education reforms to decrease the number of drop outs in the first place, keep up the good work and commitment to education!
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Story
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Education Expert on MERIT PAY for KC
Proven extremely unsuccessful compared to the performance of other school districts across the country (and the world), the Kansas City school district is in need of serious reform.
Last Thursday Eric Hanushek, an expert on education policy, began a "What Works in Urban Education" series at the KC public library.
The conclusion: MERIT PAY is the answer!
Though Missouri ranked in the 51st percentile nationally for standardized testing, urban schools were performing significantly worse than the state as a whole. As anyone at these schools can testify, many problems (included high dropout rates, performance problems and ineffective, over-budgeted spending) plague the urban districts.
Many try to point to funding, however Hanushek points out: "It is no longer that the suburban districts are spending way more than urban schools." Out of 500 urban U.S. school districts, Kansas City ranked 54th highest for spending. So the real issue is spending this money wisely.
Improve the structure and they will stay
Last Thursday Eric Hanushek, an expert on education policy, began a "What Works in Urban Education" series at the KC public library.
The conclusion: MERIT PAY is the answer!
Though Missouri ranked in the 51st percentile nationally for standardized testing, urban schools were performing significantly worse than the state as a whole. As anyone at these schools can testify, many problems (included high dropout rates, performance problems and ineffective, over-budgeted spending) plague the urban districts.
Many try to point to funding, however Hanushek points out: "It is no longer that the suburban districts are spending way more than urban schools." Out of 500 urban U.S. school districts, Kansas City ranked 54th highest for spending. So the real issue is spending this money wisely.
"We must recognize the importance of good teachers, and reward them," Hanushek said. "Everyone from the principals to the parents to the children knows who the good teachers are and who the bad teachers are. We need to get rid of the bad ones."An increase in funding for teachers across the country has meant an increase for every teacher, not just the good ones. And, by definition, merit pay will correct this!
Improve the structure and they will stay
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Activists Send Obama Messages on Education
A letter published in the Wall Street Journal, asked Obama to support charter schools and performance pay structures as a way to close the education achievement gap between minority and white students.
"In the afterglow of your election, Americans today run the risk of forgetting that the nation still faces one last great civil-rights battle: closing the insidious achievement gap between minority and white students. Public education is supposed to be the great equalizer in America. Yet today the average 12th-grade black or Hispanic student has the reading, writing and math skills of an eighth-grade white student."
"What can you and your administration do to close the achievement gap? Beyond expanding federal support for charter schools, as you have proposed, we would urge you to press forward with other policy reforms. The federal government should take most of the more than $30 billion it now spends on K-12 education and reposition the funding to support the recruitment and retention of the best teachers in underserved urban schools. High-poverty urban schools have many teachers who make heroic efforts to educate their students. But there is no reward for excellence in inner-city schools when an outstanding science teacher earns the same salary as a mediocre phys-ed instructor."
WSJ Full Letter from the Black Alliance for Educational Options
"In the afterglow of your election, Americans today run the risk of forgetting that the nation still faces one last great civil-rights battle: closing the insidious achievement gap between minority and white students. Public education is supposed to be the great equalizer in America. Yet today the average 12th-grade black or Hispanic student has the reading, writing and math skills of an eighth-grade white student."
"What can you and your administration do to close the achievement gap? Beyond expanding federal support for charter schools, as you have proposed, we would urge you to press forward with other policy reforms. The federal government should take most of the more than $30 billion it now spends on K-12 education and reposition the funding to support the recruitment and retention of the best teachers in underserved urban schools. High-poverty urban schools have many teachers who make heroic efforts to educate their students. But there is no reward for excellence in inner-city schools when an outstanding science teacher earns the same salary as a mediocre phys-ed instructor."
WSJ Full Letter from the Black Alliance for Educational Options
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
School Choice --> Effective Educators --> Less Drop Outs
Last year, more than one in every five kids enrolled in St. Louis Public Schools high schools dropped out!
Some educators are simply failing to inspire children to invest in education. It is no surprise that kids at risk of dropping out are more likely to complete school if their teacher cares for them, spends with them and encourages them to work toward a future. Missouri needs an education reform that supports these teachers.
By using competition through paternal choice (whether through charter schools or tax credits for scholarship donations), schools will no longer be able to settle for sub-par educators. Every teacher and administrator will be held accountable for their performance.
Good educators should undoubtedly support these reforms, as it will ensure they are rewarded for their hard work. Poor educators, however, should be worried. They will not be able to continue to fail our children and our community without consequence.
Effective educators are the key to improving the unfortunate dropout statistics. And effective educators come from school choice.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Blog: Soft Bigotry Fuels High School Drop Outs
Some educators are simply failing to inspire children to invest in education. It is no surprise that kids at risk of dropping out are more likely to complete school if their teacher cares for them, spends with them and encourages them to work toward a future. Missouri needs an education reform that supports these teachers.
By using competition through paternal choice (whether through charter schools or tax credits for scholarship donations), schools will no longer be able to settle for sub-par educators. Every teacher and administrator will be held accountable for their performance.
Good educators should undoubtedly support these reforms, as it will ensure they are rewarded for their hard work. Poor educators, however, should be worried. They will not be able to continue to fail our children and our community without consequence.
Effective educators are the key to improving the unfortunate dropout statistics. And effective educators come from school choice.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Blog: Soft Bigotry Fuels High School Drop Outs
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