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DELAWARE VOICE • BY MARTHA SOMMERS • NOVEMBER 26, 2010
I am disappointed by the title and tone of your newspaper's article "Delaware schools: Race-based approach snarls plan for parental involvement" on Nov. 18.
Labeling Claymont Elementary's efforts a "race-based approach" is misleading.
The term "race-based" within the context of this article's title implies a negative connotation inconsistent with our focus. If race is such an issue, why does this article carefully identify the social worker of Claymont's Equity Team as "black" while the nurse on that same team is not identified as "white"? The nurse -- being me -- attended the meeting discussed by this article and was greatly encouraged by it.
Now in my 20th year of employment by the Brandywine School District, I am well acquainted with programs purposed for academic achievement, and I applaud principal Jim Grant for his support of Tuesday night's meeting.
The article states, "Leaders at a Brandywine School District elementary school hope to increase parental involvement and boost test scores by hosting meetings with parents based on race or ethnicity of their
By Steve Gunn
It’s become obvious in recent years that charter schools, with their unique and innovative approach to student instruction, are a source of great promise for our nation’s troubled public education system.
That’s why the recent decision by teachers at the Englewood on the Palisades Charter School to join the American Federation of Teachers is so frightening.
For years, our nation’s powerful school-employee unions, like the AFT and the National Education Association, opposed the very concept of charter schools and pressured state governments to cap their numbers or shut them down altogether.
They simply didn’t want the competition.
But now that charter schools are obviously here to stay
The Orleans Parish School Board has filed suit against state education officials, seeking to be removed from its "academically in crisis" status and allowed to evaluate nine charter school applications that have been filed directly with the state.
Times-Picayune archiveOrleans Parish School Board officials have been mounting an intensive public relations effort to convince BESE and the public that the district is ready to take back at least some schools.A hearing on the board's cease-and-desist request is scheduled for Nov. 30 in front of Orleans Civil District Court Judge Piper Griffin.
In a sign of how important the district considers the issue, former U.S. Attorney Harry Rosenberg, now a partner at Phelps Dunbar, is its lead attorney.
If the lawsuit is successful, the nine charter school applications currently in process would not need to be restarted. Last week, the board decided that it would use the same recommendations the state is using to make decisions about the applications.
"Being that the district has the highest bond rating in the city and is ranked academically third in state and third in the rate of improvement, those applications should come before the Orleans Parish School Board," board President Woody Koppel said.
In addition to the Louisiana Department of Education and the state Board of Elementary and
In California, 25,000 veteran special-education teachers are being sent back to school this year to learn the nuances of teaching students with autism.
In Florida, Georgia and Utah, parents who are unhappy with their local public school’s special-education program can use taxpayer-funded vouchers to send their disabled child to another public or private school they think can do a better job.
In Kansas, researchers are developing sophisticated “learning maps” to give educators a more holistic view of what special-education students are actually learning.
And here in New Jersey, where fiscal constraints are forcing district
Unemployment may be high, but business is booming…or at least corporate profits are. New data