Chameleon Community Schools Project, Inc. and will hold a public meeting tomorrow, July 14, to discuss proposals for East High School and Waterfront School including the concept and process for implementing the federally approved school turnaround model - close and restart of a public school as a charter school - for two of the persistently low achieving (PLA) schools in Buffalo: East High School and Waterfront School. The purpose of this model is to provide a much needed option for a quality education to the 1,500 at-risk students in these schools.
This proposal is the product of a Chameleon Community Schools Project, Inc., a local not-for-profit charter management organization, in conjunction with a diverse and passionate group of parents, educators, education and child advocates, business and community leaders.
The community is invited to be involved and may do so by visiting http://eastwaterfront.blog.com
WHEN: Saturday, July 14 at 10:00 AM
WHERE: Sherman L. Walker Community Center, 608 William Street, Buffalo, NY 14206 (Ample parking in back)
WHO: Chameleon Community Schools Project, Inc. and community members
So let me get this straight. These 1500 students are being taught by cut rate teachers at the moment and need a charter school to give them a better teachers and education? How about this. Pay attention in class now and have parents get involved. Sounds to me like just shifting of blame.
Saying "just get the parents involved" is a lazy way of thinking, and particularly unrealistic. If that's all it takes, *why hasn't it happened yet?*
Smaller class sizes, teachers with "better" degrees, and more money all offer no statistical improvement in students.
The only answer that does is school choice. Charters are a poor substitute in that regard, but better something than nothing.
Yes, parent involvement is paramount and, sadly, we have breed a culture of “parents” who think the school system is supposed to babysit as well as attempt to teach in an environment that is probably the equivalent of a room full of screaming banshees.
Might also explain why, in the 21st century, Buffalo has a graduation rate of 40%
Oh, but I bet they can all text really well because no one seems to know how to spell or, for that matter, use spell check.
Syntax is not a tax on liquor and cigarettes….
What's lazy about that? If parents made their kids study for two hours a night, check the homework and taught respect maybe our graduation rate would be higher. Parents are to blame for much of this.
That is great!
However you are failing to realize that most of these kids are living in an environment of cyclical poverty.
The culture of cyclical poverty is generally that of mistrust and anti-intellectualism (regardless of race).
If we want better performing schools we have to break the cycle of poverty. Education is just a single piece of the puzzle. However its no good if there is no support at home or among ones peers to achieve a better education.
Charter schools help a little, but at the end of the day they are not fixing the deep rooted problems; they are just shuffling the students around.
Then just home school them.
Day 1- Food stamps
Day 2- Medicare
Day 3- How to get free taxi to emergency room
Day 4- More babies = more food stamps
Day 5- Free heat
Saturday- Graduation
Poverty has nothing to do with parental control. Good parents want good things for their children.
Exactly! Good parents want good things for their children.
However, living in poverty does not usually make people good parents, especially when their own parents were living in a state of poverty. This is the problem.
Being poor in itself does not make you a bad parent. Growing up in an environment of poverty however likely will.
And yes chide food stamps and welfare all you want. Our system is horrible that traps people in poverty and punishes them for making more money. We need a system that facilitates upwards mobility and allows people to actually escape. Such a system will actually save us money in the long run, as less and less people will rely on government subsidies.
Agree, I have made this argument many times, we need to reward work and pay all productive workers a fair and reasonable wage. We have allowed certain business interests to drive down wages resulting in the need for government programs to make up the difference. Time for business to get off the taxpayers back and stop expecting us to pay for their employees health care and subsidizing rent and food expenses. If we had something even approaching a living wage many government programs would be uneccessary.