“Parents Who Don’t Parent”

What happens when parents don’t parent? Chicago schoolteacher Will Okun knows. Writing for the New York Times’ blog, Okun explains how urban education is in shambles and offers solutions to fix it.

…After years of often dishonest statistical manipulation, our shameful secret has been revealed: urban education in America is in shambles. A recent report by America’s Promise Alliance documents that our nation’s 50 largest cities graduate only 50% of their high school students. In low-income communities, where there is no safety net and opportunities for success already are scarce, dropping out is the death knell of hope. By age 17, urban dropouts are relegated to a life on the fringes: higher rates of poverty, incarceration, unemployment, government assistance, health problems, etc. As the basketball coach at our school concludes, “In ten years, they will be dead, in jail or still in their momma’s basement.” In a country that brags of its level playing field and claims to value our children and their education above all else, how have we allowed such a massive failure to fester amongst our own?

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Oil Woes Fail to Stir Leadership

Using energy independence as an example, The Wall Street Journal’s Gerald Seib today wonders out loud if America has lost faith in itself to tackle important issues that can benefit the country, even if there is consensus on a solution.  It should strike a chord, particularly among advocates for children who find it so difficult to build consensus even when the answers are clear.  What would it take for this country to get big things done once again?

Why is Rep. Randy Forbes all alone out there?

Rep. Forbes is an earnest Republican congressman from Virginia who has distinguished himself by calling for a “Manhattan Project” to fully end the U.S.’s dependence on foreign energy within 20 years. The Manhattan Project label harks back to the government’s crash project to develop and field a nuclear weapon within just a few years to prevail in World War II.

The implication is that the country’s fate is no less at stake now that its economy is being held hostage by a world oil market so out of control that even Saudi Arabia is watching helplessly. The surprise here lies not in Rep. Forbes’s proposal, though it is an interesting call for mandated higher auto fuel efficiency and expanded use of biofuels and nuclear and solar power, overseen by a new national science commission and fueled by big cash prizes dangled before scientists to conjure up solutions.

The surprising thing is that there aren’t 100 Randy Forbes out there, issuing similar calls to arms to seize this moment and finally cure the country’s oil addiction. As it happens, Rep. Forbes says he went roaming the Capitol looking for partners — and found no takers.

There are several possible explanations for this meekness in the face of challenge, but the most likely, and the most distressing, is this: America and its political leaders, after two decades of failing to come together to solve big problems, seem to have lost faith in their ability to do so. A political system that expects failure doesn’t try very hard to produce anything else. If you wonder why voters have made “change” the catchword of this campaign year, that’s a pretty good explanation.

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Arkansas Schools, Parents Adjusting Well to State Efforts to Curb Obesity

Georgia’s General Assembly failed to pass SB 506, the “SHAPE (Student Health and Physical Eduction) Act,” during the 2008 Legislative Session, an effort that would have modeled what appears to be a successful initiative by Arkansas to have schools and parents educate their children about unhealthy foods and monitor their body mass index (BMI).  Parents have had no issues with receiving confidential reports on obesity risks of their children while in grades 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10, a point of apprehension for some of Georgia’s lawmakers debating the Shape Bill.

The states’ leadership has acknowledged childhood obesity as an epidemic in Georgia, making the failure of passing similar legislation all the more puzzling.

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A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education

That’s the name of a task force of national policy experts in fields including education, social welfare, health, housing, and civil rights who have launched a campaign calling for a “Broader, Bolder Approach to Education” that seeks to break a decades-long cycle of reform efforts.  It specifically calls out No Child Left Behind, supporting the law’s correctness in school accountability yet taking it to task for ignoring social factors that hinder academic success among disadvantaged children.  In other words, all of the blame for under achievement cannot be placed on schools and teachers.

Excellent early childcare, education, health services and out of school time are as essential to success in school as is the quality of schooling from first grade on.

What we have is yet another worthy proposal made to federal and state policy makers by an authoritative group who can provide answers.  Will our elected leaders take their advice?

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Girls’ Gains Have Not Cost Boys, Report Says

This latest report shows that gaps in educational achievement aren’t necessarily based on sex, but on social backgrounds.  Any sighs of relief?  Didn’t think so.

The American Association of University Women, whose 1992 report on how girls are shortchanged in the classroom caused a national debate over gender equity, has turned its attention to debunking the idea of a “boys’ crisis.”

“Girls’ gains have not come at boys’ expense,” says a new report by the group, to be released on Tuesday in Washington.

Echoing research released two years ago by the American Council on Education and other groups, the report says that while girls have for years graduated from high school and college at a higher rate than boys, the largest disparities in educational achievement are not between boys and girls, but between those of different races, ethnicities and income levels.

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Prison costs grow in excess of $1 billion

One out of every 15 Georgians is in prison, parole probation, one of the highest rates in the nation.  The human costs for this statistic notwithstanding, taxpayer costs are spiking.  Most agree that reducing recidivism would help.   How much more successful would  anti-recidivism  programs be if focused on young people?

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Study: Big gaps in foster vs. traditional homes

A new study from the Annie E. Casey Foundation on the condition of homes foster kids encounter is disturbing but not surprising.  How many people take in foster children just for the stipend?  It’s a deplorable situation when considering the wealth and size of many metro Atlanta homes.  There has to be some room for at least one child.

Children in foster care live in poorer, more crowded and less educated homes than kids in other families, often taking them from one disadvantaged environment into another, new research shows.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation study is the first to analyze 2006 Census Bureau data, the most recent available, for a detailed look at foster parents.

“The gaps were so pervasive,” says demographer William O’Hare.

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Teach for America Sees Surge in Popularity

Good news.  Perhaps Wall Street can wait two years before getting America’s best.  Kids will surely benefit.

Teach for America, the program that recruits top college graduates to teach for two years in public schools that are difficult to staff, has experienced a year of prodigious growth and will place 3,700 new teachers this fall, up from 2,900 last year, a 28 percent increase.

That growth was outpaced, however, by a surge in applications from college seniors. About 24,700 applied this spring to be teachers, up from 18,000 last year, a 37 percent increase, according to figures released by the organization on Wednesday.

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Will raising age limit lower dropout rates?

The headline in the Star-Tribune of Minneapolis-St.Paul says it all in a question.  Many states have raised their school drop out ages and others are considering the measure, despite no clear evidence that forcing kids to stay in school longer actually works.  Would it work in Georgia?

Should Minnesota follow the lead of many other states and raise the high school dropout age from 16 to 18?

Minnesota legislators hope to solidify just such a proposal in the next few days. The intent is to force at least some of the state’s thousands of high school dropouts every year to stay in school. Though there’s little evidence nationwide that raising the dropout age improves graduation rates, proponents want to drive the point home that it’s bad to leave school at 16 or 17.

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Atlanta parents camp out for coveted pre-k spots

Scenarios  like  this  in Atlanta are surely repeated across the country.  Might it be plausible to duplicate the curriculum in Inman Park so parents wouldn’t have to worry? It was just after midnight Monday when Jackie and Michael Cottrell parked their 40-foot motor home across the street from Mary Lin Elementary School.

Their plan was simple: Camp out to make sure Skyler gets into the highly coveted pre-k program at the school in Atlanta’s Candler Park. Even if that meant spending three days and three nights in the camper until registration begins Thursday.“The whole process is kind of goofy, but what parent doesn’t do crazy things for their kid?” Michael Cottrell said.

Competition is tight for the program, which has room for 20 kids. The Cottrells started a registration line and secured the first spot.

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