Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Who would...

... send their kid to a school that only teaches math and english? I do. I only just found this out at our last parent teacher meeting. Austin's 4th grade teacher informed us that because the school has done so poorly on state proficiency tests, they only teach math and language arts. What the hell is that! No history, no geography, no art. They also do P.E. a couple of times a week. Whoopie! I guess until those test scores go up, that's what the cirriculum will be. That bites. I may have the option of sending Austin to another school in the district, one that is doing better on the state tests, but that would invovle a lot of transportation. I just can't believe the school district could just eliminate so many subjects without parents knowing. They only inform you about the school's performance on the tests, but not how they are going to deal with it.


Over/Under
Only about 100,000 people died in the first 4 hours of 24! Jack Bauer was only resposible for 2 of them.

5 comments:

Aynde said...

ya know what? This is not surprising at all! It's everywhere. Even more frightening is that they aren't even teaching the full sepctum or reading and math. They teach to pass the test. I am so dissapointed in the current educational trend with all the focus on passing the state/federal testing. *sigh*

nejyerf said...

if my grade school had just taught math and english i would have been in the 5th grade forever. that is when we learned fractions.

NB said...

If that school did not meet the testing standards, you can tell the district that you want your son sent to a school that has met the standards and, by law, they must provide the transportation to get him to school. (ie: bus transpo)
There are many schools here in the Albuquerque Public School system that have failed state/fed testing standards and that's what they have to do here.
More importantly, what is that school doing to improve their testing scores? Have they put ineffective teachers on notice? Is the principal managing the curriculum? I would be asking why your child has to suffer a less than well-rounded education because the administrators and educators have failed to do their jobs.
In short: I'd be pitchin' a fit!
And to find this out in the second half of the year is BS. Get on the phone (or, even better, go face to face) with the principal, your school district's student services or parent liason or whatever they call it there. Write a letter to the Superintendent of schools and cc the mayor, the local newspaper, and every child advocacy group available.
What a bunch of hooey!
They've probably cut the programs because, according to No Child Left Behind, if the school doesn't meet their testing requirements, they can and will lose their funding. However, the superintendent should't be letting that happen.
The only way to make anything happen is to push HARD or put your kid in a private school. Doesn't that suck?
Uh huh.
Good luck with that. Need any help, let me know... I'm becoming an expert. lol

Sue said...

That's totally insane, but not surprising. When my kids were in school, whatever the test scores were low on, that is what they concentrated on, and then the other scores dropped. They are idiots! I did pull my kids out and homeschool the first few years for basics. I couldn't stand it! Blondie was helping teach her class! grrr.....

Keep us posted on this situation.

I love Jack....

Sue :)

Sue said...

Tell Alissa Whitey is a superb name, but we already had a dog named Whitey (named by DQ). We had to come up with something else. She is a great dog namer!

Sue : )