Race To The Top puts too much pressure on schools Delawareonline.com The News Journal:
"It’s precisely in the 5,000 chronically failing public schools targeted by the initiative that this particular mandate needs to be debated most openly. These schools are almost always located in inner cities and in rural areas. They are overwhelmingly populated by poor students who come from chaotic backgrounds."
When teachers inherit classroom after classroom of these students year after year, it’s extremely difficult to focus on instruction. That’s because of the powerful effect of out-of-school factors on learning. Too many poor students go to school each day without a nutritious breakfast, without sufficient sleep and without parents who are involved in their education. As a result, teachers are forced to perform triage rather than teach.
This bleak situation has long existed, but the recession has increased the number of students who are homeless and who have lost access to health care. About 1.6 million people, including 340,000 children, were homeless across the nation before the recession began, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. With unemployment on the rise, the situation will only get worse.
"It’s precisely in the 5,000 chronically failing public schools targeted by the initiative that this particular mandate needs to be debated most openly. These schools are almost always located in inner cities and in rural areas. They are overwhelmingly populated by poor students who come from chaotic backgrounds."
When teachers inherit classroom after classroom of these students year after year, it’s extremely difficult to focus on instruction. That’s because of the powerful effect of out-of-school factors on learning. Too many poor students go to school each day without a nutritious breakfast, without sufficient sleep and without parents who are involved in their education. As a result, teachers are forced to perform triage rather than teach.
This bleak situation has long existed, but the recession has increased the number of students who are homeless and who have lost access to health care. About 1.6 million people, including 340,000 children, were homeless across the nation before the recession began, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. With unemployment on the rise, the situation will only get worse.