Eighteen years back we choose Oak Ridge to be our home. It was - TopicsExpress

Eighteen years back we choose Oak Ridge to be our home. It was because of the community and the school system it supported that attracted us here. Oak ridge was not only excellent but we were exceptional. I have two boys who graduated from Oak Ridge High School. This was the only school system among the seven communities we lived in that would allow a eleven year old to start ninth grade and graduate at fifteen or a fifth grader take high school algebra and be ready for calculus in ninth grade. This is a school system where six students got accepted at MIT in a single year. Oak Ridge High School was in the radar of every Ivy League and top notch university whereto we sent over twenty students each year. But, sending students to Ivy League is not the end of the story, neither is it the beginning. Today we have to recognize that we have lost that edge and often in not too subtle tone we hear “look, the number of poor student’s in our school system has doubled.” Let’s not blame this on the rise in the number of students in poverty. This is becoming a common refrain among a section of stakeholders in our school system and our community. Deal with the situation afforded, poor kids also have hope and a future to look forward to. Don’t blame the erosion of excellence on children in poverty. They need to be provided the necessary resources, only then we can claim affording them equal opportunity. The school has done little to adapt to the changing demographics. Rather it is making it more difficult for children who need unconventional resources. Budget that will help them has been cut whereas budget on the top (administrators) keeps increasing exponentially. Over the years I have voiced my opposition on two issues: Everyday Mathematics and School Transportation for every student who desires. Luckily my child missed the implementation of Everyday Mathematics by a year. From my point of view Everyday Mathematics was a colossal failure and they blamed it on the teacher’s inability to adapt and adopt. They did not leave out blaming the children in poverty either. Parental involvement was an essential part for Everyday Mathematics’ success. That resulted in leaving behind the students in poverty who are predominately in a single mother household or being raised by grandparents, in many cases because their parents are incarcerated. Achievement statistics post Everyday Mathematics weaves a story that is a far from desirable. Let’s not bury our head in the sand believing that not seeing and recognizing the issues will make the issue go away. About eighty percent of those impacted with the current school transportation denial zone are children in poverty. This policy disproportionately impacts children and their families in poverty across racial and ethnic lines. In my books providing transportation and resources to children in poverty is more important than providing them with an iPad. My rally is for fairness, accountability and transparency. There is nothing positive in discriminatory policies towards children in poverty who do not have a voice. By under serving a certain group of students you are robbing them of what they deserve. This is another form of exploitation through the asymmetric distribution of resources. We as a society are a community that believes in fairness.