The buzz this week is the fate of Atlanta Public Schools located in the urban part of the city. They have been placed on probation, and are in jeopardy of losing their accreditation for changing answers on the CRCT Test forms. I refer to the situation as a powder keg, because it has been a ticking time bomb for a few years. The pressure of making the students appear to have made improvements over previous years, added to the pressure of principals and teachers being threatened with firings and /or demotions. At one point, it looked as though the school system was on the right track. They were pouring money into computers and software. There were also centers that provided free computer access and training.
Community Technology Centers Although well meaning, the centers were not opened at convenient hours, and only provided basic training for those students and parents who had no computer at home. Unfortunately, there are no winners in the powder keg effect. After the investigation is complete, some teachers and principals will probably still lose their jobs. Hopefully, students' admission applications will be accepted in the colleges of their choice.
I read about this and was so concerned - what is going to happen to our urban schools? How do we save them?
ReplyDeleteThat is a very good question. This is the 2nd county in GA that has had problems. In 2008, we had another county that SACS revoked accreditation. That was because the board was dysfunctional. After they were replaced, they started focusing on the children. One of our problems is when we hold PTA meetings, only a handful of parents show up, and it is not the parents of the at risk kids.
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