This Monday, the Madison School Board will vote on a contract that would turn the private Isthmus Montessori Academy into a charter school serving students in grades 4K-9. In January, the board approved the Isthmus Montessori Academy Charter School proposal, under the condition that the contract address a number of serious shortcomings including financial management, staffing and demographics. The contract fails to address these problems, raises new issues, and is not in the best interest of Madison students. The board should vote it down.
It is applaudable for a private school to want to serve all students, regardless of their financial situation. Unfortunately, the contract is not in line with this good intention and fails to ensure the
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But if Isthmus Montessori becomes a charter school, MMSD will be obligated to provide an education for all Isthmus Montessori students, including English language learners and students with disabilities. Yet, the staffing plan allocates about half as many special education teachers and assistants per student as elementary and middle schools across the district. While the elementary schools surrounding Isthmus Montessori have a large population of English language learners, this charter school would have 44 percent fewer bilingual resource teachers and specialists per student than those schools. In short, students at Isthmus Montessori would not have the support they need to succeed.
Even with inadequate staffing, the proposed budget does not work. Within five years of opening, the school anticipates a budget shortfall of half a million dollars, an ongoing deficit that will get worse over time. The school may attract Madison students who currently attend private schools, bringing more state aid into the district. However, this approach to balancing the Isthmus Montessori budget works against the vision of a diverse, inclusive school, and is far from
One of the tasks that Oleszek’s plans to do is improve the education system in Braddock District. She has substantial knowledge of the education system in Fairfax County from previously serving in Parent-Teacher Associations at Bonnie Brae Elementary school and Robinson High Schools. She has also served as a School Board Member. As more and more people migrate/immigrate to Northern Virginia due to the attraction of the educational programs that it provides, it continues to
For the purpose of our project, this will be carried out in two stages. The first stage will be done through online research of all the available data aligned to culture, performance, student population, student needs, academic programing, budgeting, community, identified challenges, facilities, district goals, STEAM/STEM programming and relevant needs. That data will be use to inform our understanding of current educational programming, and the initial school plan will be developed identifying the unique programming that will be specific to the 30901 Charter. It will also outline why we expect our charter to improve whole child outcomes for those students who
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide an overview to the Board of Education regarding the pros and cons of establishing the first charter school (commonly referred to as “school choice”) in our school district. Its proponents argue parents should have the right to use tax dollars for charters to achieve higher standards and better student outcomes. First, “What is a charter school?” Charter schools “charters” are independent public schools established under charter granted by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (“BOE”). And, secondly, “How are character school operated”?
These results should not be surprising. When the goal is to reduce property taxes, there is a good chance politicians will decrease taxes and school funding overall as adding offsetting taxes would seem at cross-purposes with the reduction in property taxes. However, when the goal is to increase equality and help all students succeed, politicians will seek out additional funds to support schools currently near the bottom. At the least, they won’t reduce overall funding in support of equality. Moreover, almost 25 years after reform, Michigan schools are still funded unequally (and won’t be equal for another 20 years at the current rate).
The dedicated and passionate Staff of the Lewiston Independent School District believe that the educational process should center on the success of its students. With the support of parents and teachers the ISD fosters a safe and positive learning environment for all its students. With the continued support of the community the Lewiston Independent School District continues to make strides and improve the quality of the education provided to its many students. Relocating To Lewiston?
Robert Dominguez, Principal of Diamond Valley Middle School explains that a current problem facing DVMS is finding ways to integrate the new AVID policies and procedures into the fabric of our school while maintaining an inclusive environment while working towards our schoolwide vision. Naturally, the DVMS vision and mission aligns well with the AVID mission since DVMS has been working towards becoming an AVID Demonstration School while attempting to maintain our Site of Distinction Status. In addition, we are working on developing more inclusive practices in regard to the placement of our special education students. Mr. Dominguez explains that in an attempt to promote AVID school-wide and allow all students admittance into the program (inclusion versus exclusion) we have inadvertently hurt our chances of obtaining Demo status or maintaining our Site of Distinction. Currently, we have more F's than is considered acceptable by AVID therefore we have to develop a system to identify, track, and drop AVID students fairly and
Gisselle Zepeda Mr. Lievre American Government Credit 5 Board of Education of Westside Community Schools Versus Mergens The Equal Access Act upheld by the Supreme Court in Board of Education v. Mergens, 1990, requires public secondary schools to allow access to religiously based student groups on the same basis as other student clubs. The school administration denied a group of students their right to create a Christian after school club. The students intended for their club to have just the same privileges and club meetings as all other after school clubs. The schools excuse being that it lacked faculty support which led to the school and district being sued by the students.
First, it will be difficult to maintain children’s academic levels because this district has a diverse community. Strengthening bilingual education by including other language than Spanish and also offering free tutoring service or assistance could be an effective way to solve the issue. Second, for business owners prosper in this area, we need to create and maintain a better environment and support. Economic growth could also affect job opportunities for residents regardless of their education levels. Last, the balance between the large population of highly educated wealthy residents and other population would be important.
Families were appalled that they were denied the opportunity to transfer their children to a different elementary school in the district, even with the clear statistics that they were not getting the same quality of education as other students were receiving. Fortunately, the final court decision read that the school
Ever since Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954, schools have been desegregated and students off all races and ethnicities can attend the same school. However, this reform did not ensure that all students were being accommodated. Students with high cognitive abilities found themselves not being challenged and those with cognitive skills on the lower end of the spectrum found themselves not being accepted into schools. Thus, reforms such as IDEA were formed to accommodate every individual and ensure that all students are getting the best education as possible. Seems perfect right?
As a child, I was identified as precocious, but I had few viable options to achieve more than what McKeesport dictated. After three years in a charter school, my parents made one of the best
Many people think that most American schools are satisfactory. That is far from what is actually happening. The harsh reality is that schools that are unsatisfactory do exist. In Jonathan Kozol’s “Fremont High School”, he points out the flaws of a high school located somewhere in Los Angeles. This helps shine light on differences in the quality of education in various areas of the country.
The modern public school is a melting pot consisting of students from different socio-economic statuses, ethnic backgrounds, and religious communities; just like he had imagined. These students follow a curriculum that models Mann’s ideal curriculum. With the exception of music and art, all of the subjects that Mann considered important are deemed mandatory. While geography and spelling are no longer subjects that stand alone, they have been combined with other
Mike Rose shares his personal story to the public in “I just wanna be average”, as he reveals the many flaws within the educational system of a high school in an economically depressed neighborhood in Los Angeles. He effectively directs his arguments towards both educators and parents by utilizing emotional and logical appeals. By convincing the audience to fear that children placed on remedial tracks are being hindered rather than assisted, the author causes both awareness and a feeling of duty to change the way we handle teaching children. Rose presents his argument by aiding the reader through the eyes of his younger self as he retells the story of his years in high school.
With unavailable resources, students with learning disabilities may not have the support they need to succeed. Due to the lack of resources they may also get discouraged, leading them to transfer from a charter school to a traditional public school.