No English, No Spanish

The Burke middle school kids have been screwed again. There are 8th graders who have no English teacher. They haven't had a certified English teacher since January. And the kids who thought they were actually going to get a chance to receive a credit for Spanish lost that as well. Their Spanish teacher walked out several weeks ago. How do we tolerate this? Where are the civil rights activists? Where are the community members with a conscience? Better yet, where is our representative on the school board when we need her? If Mt. Pleasant students were dealt this situation, I assure you those parents would be heard loud and clear. Are we all just too beaten down to stand up for what's right?

Stoney Field is a Corridor of Shame, Mayor Riley

Mayor Riley states in the documentary the "Corridor of Shame" that students living in rural areas are not as fortunate as those living in rich cities such as Charleston. Yet, time and time again, we witness our own "Corridor of Shame" right here in our rich city. Stoney Field should never have gotten to the state it's in. What happened? Is it racial discrimination? James Johnson stated in yesterday's Post and Courier that "It only happens in black schools." Or is it simply red tape...with the city and the school district fighting over who should be responsible for the renovations?
Either way, the stadium should have been maintained and that is clearly not the case. The pictures in yesterday's paper said it all. Who can sit on those bleachers? And clearly the faucets aren't functioning in the home team's locker room. We as a community should be outraged. This is OUR only high school on the peninsula.
Bill Lewis states, "We definitley have Stoney Field on our requirements list, along with stadiums in other constituent districts. Our objective is to bundle these all together so they are treated similarly." So what are you saying, Mr. Lewis? Are you saying other stadiums are worse off than Stoney Field? Give me a break. Where's Mark Cobb, Mr. Lewis? Why do we have to turn to the media anytime we need something? Why can't you MAINTAIN our schools and their facilities? I challenge Mayor Riley, Mr. Lewis, and Mr. Cobb to go check out the concession stand this week. But don't eat before you visit...you may just lose your lunch.

SC State's problem says it all

The article in yesterday's paper regarding SC State's dilemma said it all, yet few of my friends have made any mention of it. Evidently, a consultant has the key to our higher ed problems. It's a sad day when we need to hire a consultant to tell us college bound kids should be prepared for college. So the word is... SC State needs to stop enrolling students who "lack basic skills" to succeed in order to boost their graduation rate. HUH????
What are we doing accepting kids to college who lack basic skills? Better yet, what are we doing giving these kids high school diplomas? I wonder how many of these kids come from our very own Charleston County?
I'm sick of our state dumbing down our kids. When are we going to say "enough is enough?"

Partial Magnet School Choice Plan or Not?

Don't worry...I'm not holding my breath. But I am curious as to how Dr. McGinley's Partial magnet school choice plan is going to work out. For starters the word "Magnet" gives me the creeps. It screams "inequities"! Unless, of course, you're talking about Charleston Progressive. Charleston Progressive located directly across from our beautiful Visitor's Center is Charleston County's only magnet school without ANY extra "magnet" staffing. Maybe CCSD thinks because it's a Title I school they don't need to give it any extra money..."C'mon they're getting money from the feds, why should we give them anything extra?" From what I've heard, Gregg Meyers says it depends on what your definition of a magnet school is. Evidently in his mind, a magnet school is a school which attracts children from different areas of the county. That's funny, Gregg...because according to CCSD's formula for staffing, there's clearly something more going on.
So, back to my original question...what WILL a partial magnet school be? Will it receive partial magnet staffing? If we use Buist as our model, staffing our schools even partially may not be half bad. Hell, it's better than what we have, even WITH our Title I money. Yet, will it be enough to turn our schools into partially decent schools? I guess time will tell...