HOUSTON SCHOOL CLOSING A CATALYST FOR REflECTION
Editor: The performance statistics in the March 9 article on the Houston School closing put a spotlight on the problems with public education failure. The article noted that only 12.93% of Houston’s seventh and eighth-graders passed state English tests. The results for math were low as well [5/8%]. When I saw these results my first reaction was shock. However, when I reviewed the state’s education assessment site [www.caasppelpc.efs.gov], the results seem the norm for the state, especially among minority students.
With all the concerns related to moving to a new school, are performance outcomes in English and math are an important consideration for parents? Thinking about the best situation for my children I would be looking for the school that would give children the best tools to succeed in an advanced society.
Horace Mann is known as the “father of American education.” A popular quote from him is “A human being is not attaining his full heights until he is educated.” Among other things, he was concerned that the American public not remain ignorant. I wonder what he would think about our current situation? Would he be satisfied with current Lodi and state public education performance results? In the Sentinel article Joe Nava, LUSD Board President, mentioned the need to insure better performance opportunities for the displaced Houston students. Hopefully, better performance means raising the bar in ensuring that all Lodi students perform at an acceptable level in English and math to compete in our society. Maybe the Houston closing can be a catalyst for reflection and reassessment. TIM LONEY Lodi
How will closing school lead to better results?
Editor: The Thursday, March 6 front page had a story concerning closing Houston school. The reporter quoted Board President Nava as saying that we have to close the school to get better performance to serve our students better.
Nowhere in the article is it explained how closing a school will get better performance. Buildings don’t determine performance, people do. By burying the lede, your reporter (or editor) missed the essential question of why close the school? Was the question not asked? Did the board not answer? Usually a school closure is done when it no longer serves its purpose and the board reallocates its resources elsewhere. But there no moneys saved here. Staff will be reassigned so labor costs will not be reduced.
In fact the article reports that more funding will be required to accommodate the closing. So then why is the school closing? If it is poor student performance, how does closing the school change that? Seems to me that two separate issues should be addressed individually. If the school building has issues such as environmental or compliance, they need to be managed. If student performance needs to be improved, fix that. If policies need changing, change them. If people are not performing up to expectations then deal with that. I trust your paper to provide accurate, fair, unbiased, complete reporting. This article does not do that. KEN SCHRETTNER Lodi
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