I wrote an op-ed piece that appeared into today's Press-Citizen. Jeff Charis-Carlson was faithful in editing and publishing it, but minor vanity suggests that I really do need a newer picture--I have lost a good deal of weight since the photo next to the op-ed was taken. But be that as it may, a more important point that I did not address was ongoing the boundary issues that plague the school district.
Even though I could only cover so much ground in 600 or so words, rightfully I was called to task for not addressing it. So to that point, the school boundary lines need to be redrawn to reflect the most equitable way to allow kids to go the least amount of distance to receive a top-notch education. This is such a local hot potato, but needs attention from the public and the board to accomplish real school equity. Without doing this, we will forever be placing band-aids on the schools and hving the appearance that we have intentionally segregated schools. Said differently, unless we are going to put the schools on rollers and move them around to meet the changing needs of the community, parents will need to become open to their child going to school where it best makes sense and the school district make the necessary accomodations to all schools to make them all at a par.
I hope others will continue to lead on the issue of boundaries. If you are interested, the COPE group (Citizens for Outstanding Public Education in Iowa)has more information for you to consider.
No comments:
Post a Comment