To those of you who live in middle-and upper-class neighborhoods, in a world far from the inner city.... Please consider listening to this brief testimony about the realities that an increasing number of our students face daily. Dealing with the bitter temperatures is not just a matter of bundling up and accepting that this is Wisconsin weather. Many of our students walk to school or wait for delayed buses in tennis shoes, inadequate jackets and, often, gloves too thin to insulate against the cold. Our three thousand homeless students lack a safe, warm bed to sleep in and food to help their bodies make heat. Our schools have been starved of adequate resources by recent legislation and taxpayer savings. Basic survival needs arent being met, but the schools and their teachers will be labeled as failing. There is a proposed plan to close failing schools and fire all of the teachers in those schools. I propose we take the teachers from Elmbrook, River Hills, Mukwonago, Greendale, Arrowhead, etc. and have them swap places with teachers working in inner city schools where poverty is a daily life struggle to survive. Give it a year or more, and lets see which teachers will THEN be declared as failing. Does anyone truly believe that this action would turn around struggling schools? Of course not, but I would bet that a great many of our suburban teachers would emerge with a far better understanding of the situation that schools in poverty areas face. I hope these legislators listened yesterday...
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 04:08:33 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015