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How can more perfect schools be accomplished for all
students?
AUDIENCE COMMENTS:
Dear KQED,
The philosophy your case for race-based affirmative action was stated
by the Marin Academy teacher who asked her students, "What would you
not be willing to give up to make things equal between Bal and MA?"
I say, not one thing. It's the wrong question. The real question is
what did the parents and grandparents of the MA students give up to
get their kids to their present position. Then the families of the
Bal kids can find out what they really have to do, and what expectations
are realistic. It takes three or four generations for a family to
attain the priveleges the MA students enjoy.
Maybe affirmative action should be resurrected, but based on class,
not race. That way poor white kids could benefit from it, too, broadening
its support with voters.
John Futterman
September 22, 2000
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To the folks at KQED,
I enjoyed the show Making The Grade, and was very moved by it. It
is critical that we address these issues not just for the purpose
of higher education for minorities, but for society in general as
well. It seems that in order to solve the problem of inequality in
the UC system we need to look long and hard at other socioeconomic
issues. In looking at these other issues I cannot ignore something
even more sad and disturbing. What about the kids who arent in the
"Top 4"? The ones who are getting high instead of going to class?
The ones who are being abused at home?
When I was in high school, I became way too engaged in my social drug
use to care about school work. It soon went beyond social use. I can't
help but think that if someone had taken the initiative to care about
what was going on in my life, I may have gone to a university. Where
would I be today? I am attending a community college now, and take
good care of my 9 year old son as his sole provider, but I cant help
but feel a little bitter when I watch a show like this. There are
THOUSANDS of kids out there who right now are going through what I
did; waiting for someone to care. Kids from all walks of life. What
about them? What a sad existence, and even worse, most of them won't
make it. They'll end up in those prisons we love to build.
I appreciate the work you do at KQED and in all public television
and want you to know that. Keep openiong peoples eyes.
Sincerely,
A. F. Novato
September 22, 2000
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Watching this documentary brings back a nightmare of a reality.
I'm a graduate from James Campbell high school in Hawaii and am the
ninth child of a Filipino family of ten. I experienced the same lack
of standardized education as the public school students. My school
was enriched with a mixture of ethnicity as opposed to the private
school students. I can relate to the lack of academic classes in public
schools. As Marin Academy has the benefits of academics, so did a
private school in Hawaii called Punahou.
Punahou students were children of the rich such as brain surgeons
or doctors. They went on to Cornell, Yale and Columbia, because they
too reaped the benefits of their private school education.
I took the essential classes that were required for college, but that
still didn't equivocate to the national standard.
It's been ten years since I graduated from James Campbell and have
moved to California following my graduation. It's very depressing
to observe that the public schools aren't benefiting from the state.
Especially when board Members of the school education spend funding
foolishly. More than lawyers and doctors, it's imperative that the
public teachers be the highest paying occupation in the country. Basically,
California is conveying that they're unwilling to invest in their
"Children of the future".
There is one thing that the public school students will possess that
the private school parties will never grasp, it's called reality.
The real world. The survival of the street. The ability to balance
work and school at an early age. The power to fight and work for your
aspirations runs majestically thick in public school. They are strong
in other aspects that the private school students will never acquire.
If the difference in public/private education continues, the repercussions
will be apparent in a decade. The gap in social classes, politics
and education priority will be disastrous.
September 22, 2000
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I am a teacher at Seaside High School on the
Monterey Peninsula. I feel that if I had the resources, class sizes and
selectivity that M.A. has, we could do wonders. As it stands, we are
continually in a waiting pattern, waiting for resources, waiting for support,
and waiting for decisions to be made by administrators at the District and the
school level. Public school teachers, in my opinion will wait and grow old or
die first.
Dominic Trevino
Tuesday, Mar. 23 1999 at 22:18
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I am watching this programme on TV right now. It's
really sad that the world does not provide equal quality educational resources
and tools so that every person can maximize his or her potential. What is more,
many such tools are free, if only people were aware of the knowledge. Perhaps
some students might want to visit my website, I have put up key learning tools
to empower underachievers, and it has already helped a good number of students
around the world. http://www.anguswong.com
Angus Wong
Tuesday, Mar. 23 1999 at 22:23
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How can the Readers determine she is warm hearted?
From here Application? Recommendations? I don't think so.
KMK
Tuesday, Mar. 23 1999 at 22:32
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What's so awful about applying to a State
University?
mich2501@aol.com
Tuesday, Mar. 23 1999 at 22:34
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As a ex student from Balboa High I am disgusted with
numerous politicans touting education as a top priority while S.F. public
scholls are still in disaray.
scullen
Tuesday, Mar. 23 1999 at 22:41
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There are a number of good free on-line resources
that are available to help students learn about all of the options that are
available to them. I highly recommend http://www.CollegeEdge.com - it has
information on over 5,500 universities and colleges, scholarships, careers, and
on-line applications to a large number of leading universities and
colleges.
Steve Chen
Tuesday, Mar. 23 1999 at 22:43
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I went to a public school in sothern Califorina for
my freshmen and sophmore years of high school and I can honestly say that I
didn't learn anything that I didn't learn the year before. No one thought
anything of me other than what I was, another face in the croud. When I got the
chance to go to a magnet school for my junior year I was able and given the
chance to graduate a year early at the age of 16. When I was given hope and
support I was on top of the WORLD!! At the age of 16 I graduated high school
with a 3.9 gpa. It had nothing to do with the way my scool looked, the people
who attened, or whose family had the most money. It had to do with support and
someone giving me a chance.
Dena O'Bryan
Tuesday, Mar. 23 1999 at 22:47
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a perfect school is a place for education, when that
is the primary concern of the administrators, not athletics or public
relations. It is also a place that people should be living together well. It is
not a "hood" or an extension of the 'ghetto'. it should be a
different place.
john liu
Tuesday, Mar. 23 1999 at 22:52
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One more thing. To those students who got into
college, congratulations. The great battle will soon begin. I got kicked out of
university after the 2nd year because of bad grades, and I went back and
graduated on the Dean's honor list as straight-A student. I made the website to
help people who were like me. You just need the right skills. I just so
happened to see this TV show tonight. May the Force be with you.
http://www.anguswong.com (choose the item called Cyborg 101 to start).
Angus Wong
Tuesday, Mar. 23 1999 at 23:00
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There are many ways to be successful in this life.
The young people on the show you aired don't realize it, but they've already
won. Caring, giving, helping, striving, not giving up... these are lifes
treasures and there is no shortage of these traits at Balboa. Now they get the
rest of their lives to reap the rewards. Thanks for the positive view of the
next generation. To be honest, until now, I was getting a little worried ;-)
-mvc
Michael V. Capizzi
Tuesday, Mar. 23 1999 at 23:02
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And I thought I stressed over my SAT scores 11 years
ago! I was actually disgusted to hear the M.A. student say "I don't know
how many times my advisor looked over my essay, saying 'change this, change
that'." Why didn't she just write it for him? I'm not sure there'd be much
difference. But that's not my point--the rich will always buy the best they
can, and it's their right. Personally, I don't know how to make schools more
perfect. But the levels of privilege received by affluent students such as
those who attend Marin Academy demonstrates just how unfair the economics of
education in the US are to students. I know I will not pay the equivalent of
$15000 for a year of high school for my children, but I will teach them to
teach them what is truly important to being a success in life: the thirst for
knowledge, self-confidence and achievement, as well as compassion and
understanding for other human beings. Maybe what we need more than anything in
America, where capitalism and the dollar is the highest (if not ONLY) measure
of an individual's "worth", is a new definiton of 'success'. Children
need to learn to be leaders; sometimes NOT having all the benefits money can
buy is the most important benefit one can have. Ben Margolin ben@prince.org
Ben Margolin
Tuesday, Mar. 23 1999 at 23:07
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The teachers that organized this coming together of
the prestigious private school with the inner city public school should be
commended. I felt the pain of Lisa as she had to explain to Shane from Balboa
why 75% of the Marin Academy students did not fully participate in the forum.
It appears that the event was not a failure. The Balboa students seemed to
appear more empowered than ever after their experiences. I believe that the
Balboa group will produce quite a few visionaries and community leaders. I was
impressed with their proactive approach to their school's plight. Equally
impressive, are the Marin Academy students who chose to stay and participate.
They were already on the pathway to socioeconomic success. With this
experience, I believe their eyes were opened to the reality of our
multicultural society. I really enjoyed the program.
Tim Verceles
Tuesday, Mar. 23 1999 at 23:10
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This program was well done. The inside view from
both the eyes of the haves and the have nots should raise some eyebrows. I have
seen many of the inner city schools, and the kids are right, our prisons are
better maintained. Maybe the kids should learn to use the courts to improve the
system the way convicts have used the courts to improve prisons. This is a
society problem as I see it. Our society does not support the school system or
hold it accountable the same way in different communities. Our teacher
associations are so large and very self serving. Many policies are in place
that divide the family because the system "knows" whats better for
the kids than does the family. Our adminsitrators build structures that don't
really serve the kids in many areas. You can't teach a kid calculus when he is
hungry and it is difficult to cure all of societies problems in the classroom
with one meal. An "AP" or honors class in a ghetto school is not
going to attract very many kids capable of obtaining the knowledge to go to
college unless the kids and their families care enough to make it happen. Life
IS NOT fair. We need to make it happen. Demand accountability of those in
charge when facilities aren't maintained, teachers are laid off and the pay is
below par, and kids are taught that the government knows what a
"family" really is. The government is only as good as the next vote.
Spend the money on teachers and the kids, not new professional sports teams and
stadiums. Parents should be get involved in their kids lives, then maybe they
will care more.
Don
Wednesday, Mar. 24 1999 at 00:00
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I just viewed "Making the Grade," and
found the program informative and provacative. I myself, can empathize with
what the students of Balboa and Marin Acadamy are facing as they await
notification from their applied colleges. I am a senior at Mt.Pleasant High in
East San Jose. MP, as my friends and I called our school, is a public school
that is similar to Balboa, being that MP is highly diverse with students who
are latino, filipino, African-American, whites, vietnamese, Indian, and many
more; but MP has similar curricular as Marin Academy, though we do not have as
many honors and AP classes, to the dissatifaction of some of our honors
students, including myself. Even when MP is, in a way, like Balboa and Marin
Acadamy, I responded better to the students of Balboa than Marin Acadamy. There
was more passion and intiative in the Balboa students than the Marin Academy
students. I have many friends and know many of my fellow classmates who
struggle everyday to survive in life that just academics. At MP, we face
graffiti, drugs, bathrooms that are so abused that half the time the
administration opts to close them than risk having them vandalized. We are
constantly fighting for funds and grants, luckily through our diligent staff,
we have support from major Silicon Valley companies, such as Adobe and Intel.
It may be because of where I live, and a certain prejudice or bias I may have,
but I believe that many of the students of Balboa do not face "real
problems." I concede that this is a general statement, but I believe is
true. I have encountered students from more affluent high schools, and they
like a certain realization or insight of the whole world. Students, like those
of Marin Acadamy, are fortunate that they have the luxury of having supportive
couselors, teachers, and parents, but it may be because of this support that
shields them from harsher realities that lay a few miles from the front of
their doors. Perhaps Balboa students may not have as many AP or honors courses,
and may not be as educated as students as Marin Academy, but the experiences
and challenges they face on a daily basis is immeasureable, but absolutely
precious. I hope to see any of the students feature on "Making the
Grade." It was a joy, and I found myself lucky to have stubbled upon this
program at such a time in my life. I wish luck to all.
Philip
Wednesday, Mar. 24 1999 at 00:02
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This is a remarkable start of a dialogue. What,
indeed, would those of us with privledge be willing to give up to ensure level
playing field? In my life, even in an effort to live simply and to give as much
as I could, I learned that when it came to the education of my child and to our
health, given the chance, I am unwilling to give up the opportunity to take
advantage of our privelege. Hard choices--giving up what I have been
given--comes only with difficulty, if at all. Perhaps this group of students
can find insights that I have not.
El
Wednesday, Mar. 24 1999 at 05:14
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I was very pleased that KQED produced and televised
tonights documentary on the disparities in education based on income levels.
Your documentary was very well done. I firmly believe that this nation, the
federal government, the politicians and industry must view your documentary as
a wake up call to fix the education system in this country, otherwise our
children and their children will face unecessary economic hardships because the
present generation and the country's leadership failed to take these problems
seriously and start to fix them now before it becomes too late and too
expensive to fix. American industry is already suffering a shortage of educated
qualified job applicants. American industry cannot survive without an educated
workforce. American industry, leading universities and colleges, every local
school district, the federal, state and local governments must form an alliance
to plan how to deal with this problem as soon as possible. It is ludicrous that
American industry does not recognize that its future workforce which is
currently in public schools now are not going to be able to meet industries'
educational requirements. Look at the SAT scores. Look at each state's scores
in English, mathematics and the sciences. They are not enough people making
good enough scores to meet the increasingly complex technical requirements of
American industry. Most jobs in this country require a good education. Industry
has exported blue collar jobs to countries with lower labor costs. The only
jobs available will go to the educated worker. If our children give up their
education because of the inequities, difficulties and obstacles in our
education system, they are doomed to a life of poverty and homelessness as one
of the young people in your documentary stated. If we as a nation do not start
right now to address the funding problems in our public educational system, we
will have seriously jeopardized the economic survival of our future
generations. It is not inconceivable that this country could experience another
major economic depression and because the haves and have nots fall along racial
lines, it is not inconceivable that we will have another civil war. Our first
Civil War in the 1860's was based on the disparity in the economies between the
Union northern states and the Confederate southern states. We could be fueling
another civil war by ignoring the problems of our nation's public education
system. Here are my thoughts and a national plan I have thought about. I grew
up in Canada. Since 1867 when the Canadian provinces agreed to form a country,
all universities in Canada were chartered by the Federal Government of Canada.
The Federal Government paid a large percentage of each of the province's costs
to operate its high schools. The Federal Government established laws to form
national standards for high schools to follow that would ensure students who
chose the university entrance course obtained the requisite education to
qualify for admissions to any of Canada's Federally Chartered Universities.
Canadian High Schools offered three programs: the university entrance program
administered by a committee made up of a representative of each University, the
technical and trade programs in partnership with Canadian industry to make it
easier for trade students to get a job in industry upon graduation and the
business course which provided education to meet entry level standards in
business and also the admission requirements to a community college offering a
degree in business. Since high school education in Canada was standardized on a
national basis and each province ran the high schools according to the national
standards, there was little difference in the education one received from
province to province. One could transfer easily between high schools from one
province to another if your family moved to another province. Canada has a
national education program that standardizes curriculums to allow students to
qualify more easily for their chosen careers. My experience in growing up in
Canada and graduating high school there, has given my some ideas for the U.S.
to consider to better prepare students for university or the go directly from
high school to the job market. Since Canada started addressing these issues
over one hundred years ago and expanded its support of many types of schools,
colleges and universities, Canada does not have the educational problems that
plague the United States public school system. Your documentary on the
inequalities of education due to the inequalities of funding among school
districts is a wake up call for this nation, its industries and its government
to recognize the problem as an economic survival problem and to fund public
education for the national economic survival as the federal government funds
the military for national defense. (1) EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO RECEIVE A PUBLIC
EDUCATON: Every child must have access to the equal opportunities guaranteed by
the US constitution which includes public education. Every public school
district in the U.S.is funded mostly by taxes on local property values. School
districts in wealthy areas receive more money per student than school districts
in less wealthy areas. This is the foundation of the inequality in public
education and the reason why many U.S. industries cannot find enough qualified
labor in the pool of job applicants. Many job applicants have poor reading,
writing and math skills which they should have mastered in school. This lack of
these basic skills puts both the employer and employee at a disadvantage. The
lack of these basic skills slows down a company's growth potential and siphons
off training money to give these entry level people remedial basic eduation
instead of using the training money to provide advanced training specific for
the job to be done. Industry and public education must form an alliance to
establish standards in public education and then implement these standards by
ensuring that sufficient investment is being made in public education. (2)
PUBLIC EDUCATION SHOULD BE A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN INDUSTRY, UNIVERSITIES AND
COLLEGES AND GOVERNMENT TO ENSURE AN ADEQUATELY EDUCATED AND TRAINED WORKFORCE
TO MEET THE NEEDS OF INDUSTRY: Since most students hope to enter the national
workforce after finishing their education, they must receive the education and
training in school to qualify for the type of job of their choice. It is in the
best interest of every industry in this country that job applicants have the
level of education and training so that there is no shortage of qualified
applicants. It is in the best interest of students to receive an adequate
education to qualify them for their choice of professon or trade. It is in the
best interest of federal, state and local governments that all children receive
adequate education and training for employment and that industry participates
in partnership with public education in establishing curriculums, providing
presentations for students to learn the opportunities in industry and providing
summer and after school apprenticeships to students to prepare them for
immediate employment. This is in the interest of government because most
juvenile delinquency and crime in the inner cities is due to the hopelessness
of children qualifying and getting a job. They turn to crime and this drives up
the cost of federal, state and local justice systems. Politicians in federal,
state and local governments need to ask themselves a moral question of whether
they want the children in their respective communities to become employed and
provide money to the tax base or become criminals and take money from the tax
base. In the former everyone wins and in the latter everyone looses. But more
important the destinies of these children is in the hands of the leaders of
government and industry to provide what our constitution says: equal
opportunity for everyone not just for those who are wealthy and can afford to
send their children to good schools so their children will be employed while so
many poor children end up in the criminal justice treadmill. It is a moral
question requiring a moral answer. Politicians and industry leaders must decide
if U.S. industry will have an adequately trained workforce to thrive and grow
and increase income tax revenue as more of the eligible workforce is employed
or if there are to be shortages of qualified workers causing industry to
contract and either close or move to another country with a qualified workforce
thereby reducing income tax revenue while we make other countries strong and
wealthy at the expense of our children, your children. If we do not support and
keep our youth the best educated and the best trained the ideals that formed
this country will be lost. Already most of our blue collar jobs have been
exported to countries with lower wages and lower standards of living. Many
people who are now unemployed in the inner city used to fill these blue collar
jobs before they were exported to other countries. Focussing again on the lack
of equal access to education we see and know that most children of poor
families in the inner cities have greater difficulties in their life to
overcome than children from more affluent communities and in order for inner
city children to get an adequate education if it is available in the inner
city, they must contend with many painful and depressing obstacles such as the
hopelessness of getting a job when they see that a large percentage of inner
city dwellers are unemployed, the high crime level, frequent intervention by
police in their communities which affects their self esteem, the rampant drug
abuse that destroys lives, families and creates more crime and a depressing and
hopeless environment which creates a great negative impression on young
children. It's no wonder these children have no hope of getting out of the
inner city and a life or poverty and misery. The numbers of people still on
welfare are still overwhelmingly large for industry requiring low skills to
absorb before these families exhaust their five year lifetime welfare limit.
What then? We have done no planning for this potential catastrophe. We have
exported most blue collar jobs to countries where our industries enjoy a much
lower production cost than in the U.S. due to lower wages, longer work days,
child labor, no health or workers compensation benefits and no environmental
laws. For inner children to succeed they need an education that leads to a
white collar job for which there are plenty of jobs openings avaialble here in
the U.S. that require a good education with a proficiency in English,
mathematics and the sciences. However even the most ardent desire in a child to
get an education cannot overcome the obstacles of school districts that cannot
afford to fix school buildings in disrepair, bring school buildings into
compliance with local building codes, the overcrowding of the classrooms, the
lack of discipline due to overcrowding of classes and the lack of qualified
teachers who leave the inner city schools because they have run out of patience
with the lack of books and educational tools, the lack of discipline in
overcrowded classrooms. (3) EVERY PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT SHOULD BE FUNDED ONE
HUNDRED PERCENT BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WITH NO LOCAL OR STATE FUNDS REQUIRED
TO MATCH FEDERAL FUNDS. THIS PROPOSAL WILL END SCHOOL DISTRICT DEPENDENCE ON
LOCAL PROPERTY AND OTHER LOCAL TAXES FOR SCHOOL DISTRICTS. FEDERAL FUNDING
SHALL BE PROVIDED TO MEET THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA: (3a) SCHOOL BUILDING
CONSTRUCTION AND UPGRADES: Every school district in the nation will receive
adequate funds to either build new replacement school buildings or upgrade and
expand the existing school building whichever costs less. This work must be
completed within thirty months. (3b) SCHOOL BUILDING REGULAR MAINTENANCE AND
UPGRADES TO MEET NEW FEDERAL AND LOCAL BUILDING CODES: The federal government
will pay for all maintenance and code upgrades to school buildings. Local city
or county building inspectors which ever government has jurisdiction must
inspect each local school every year and complete the inspection by March 31
with a report on the condition of the school building and describe the capital
improvements required over and above normal mainteance. All capital
improvements must be completed before August 15th. The building inspectors must
certify that the capital improvements meet local building codes. (3c) FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT SHALL PAY FOR ALL PERSONNEL COSTS IN EVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT. SALARY
RANGES TO BE ESTABLISHED BY STATE COMMITTEES WITH APPROVAL OF THE FEDERAL
COMMITTEE. (3d) TEXTBOOKS AND TEACHING MATERIALS: New textbooks and
instructional materials free of charge are to be provided to each student every
year. This includes but is not limited to computer equipment and software,
audio-visual equipment, and books for the school library. (3e) SCHOOL BUSES:
The federal government shall pay one hundred percent of the cost of acquiring,
maintaining and running school buses. The salaries of the bus drivers shall be
paid from the personnel budget of the local school district to which the bus
driver is assigned. (4) NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS: Proper and adequate
education according to a set of national education standards for English,
Mathematics and the Sciences to be established by a national committee
comprised of our leading universities and colleges and representatives of all
major industries so that there is an adequate pool of qualified job applicants.
State and local committees will also need to be formed for local input for any
additional education and training that state and local committees may wish to
add to the school curriculum. State and local committees may not eliminate or
reduce national education standards for English, Mathematics and the Sciences.
However, state and local committees can raise their local standards above the
national education standards. Recognizing local control over education of their
children, local committees can recommend that local school districts provide
optional but not mandatory lessons on the Biblical theory of Creation. However,
the national science standard shall be the Darwinian Theory of Evolution. (5)
MONITORING OF ANNUAL TEST ACHIEVEMENT SCORES WITH PERIODIC ADJUSTMENT FOR
INCREASING MINIMUM PASSING SCORES: To measure the effectiveness of implementing
the national education standards, an established percentage of all students in
the country must exceed a minimum national score on statewide or national exams
in grades 9 through 12 and an established percentage of all students must
exceed a minimum national SAT score. If the less than the established
percentage of all students meet the minimum scores, the local committees shall
investigate and report the cause with recommendations for remedial action to
its state committee and the federal committee. Periodically, the minimum
national score is to be raised which will require all school districts to raise
the quality of education and teacher qualifications. These scores will indicate
how well the federal education funds are being used by each school district.
(6) TEACHER RECERTIFICATION AND COMPULSORY CONTINUING EDUCATION AND PERIODIC
EXAMS FOR RECERTIFICATON. Continuing education shall be provided free to all
teachers who must take national exams for recertification to be allowed to hold
a valid teaching credential.
Rob Lager
Wednesday, Mar. 24 1999 at 06:51
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Because I am a product of both public and private
school, I think I have an interesting take on this whole experience that the
comments on this particular web page do not address. One of the most important
things about the difference between public and private school to acknowledge is
the difference between the two. These two different types of schools are
different and baring any severe government action will always be different. But
different is not better or worse, it's just different. Growing up in New
Orleans which is (I think) upwards of about 60% black who, for the most part
attended pubic school, gave me an entirely different perspective on life then
the private school I attended. I went to a public school where except for PE I
was usually the only white or one of two whites in the classroom giving me an
experience like no other. Moving on to a private school was an entirely
different experience. I was part of a class that graduated only one black
student and while the education was a whole lot better, at the private school,
I firmly believe that the students there missed out on a whole social aspect of
life. You see, while I did receive a better education at the private school I
missed something that I never would have realized had I not gone to public
school first. Instead of looking at how to make these schools equal as is
raised by the teacher above one should look at how to make the two schools
better. Public school do need more money, private school do need more
diversity; public schools do need better facilities, private schools do need to
give their kids a better perspective on life, etc, etc. This is a very
interesting debate and one that I wish I could have been a part of in high
school and while the experiences that I have shared probably do not mirror
those of the students in California they do illustrate the differences,
advantages, and disadvantages of both schools. Sincerely, Jon Latner Brandeis
University
Jon Latner
Wednesday, Mar. 24 1999 at 07:57
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I am a 37 year old undergraduate at UC Berkeley,
admitted on the strength of my application essay. I am extremely grateful that
I got opportunity to enjoy the excellent education that Berkeley has to offer.
I want to wish Ailed and Damon good luck. They would both be an asset to the UC
Berkeley community. And good luck to the rest of the kids at Balboa, as
well.
Paula
Wednesday, Mar. 24 1999 at 10:35
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THANKS FOR THE NICE SHOW LAST NIGHT WE KNOW A LOT OF
PEOPLE WATCHED. WE HOPE OUR MESSAGE GETS OUT TO CREATE EQUALITY IN EDUCATION
BETWEEN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC, AND URBAN AND SUBURBAN, RICH OR POOR. THANK YOU!
DAMIEN PADILLA A LAW ACADEMY MENTOR
DAMIEN PADILLA BALBOA LAW ACADEMY MENTOR
Wednesday, Mar. 24 1999 at
11:30
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As a student from Bal I really thought that the show
was very important.I hope that everyone that saw the show can see that we are
working very hard to get our point across to the people. I Thank everybody who
watched the show.
Ruth Balboa Pre-law student
Wednesday, Mar. 24 1999 at 12:47
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I am the father of a Marin Academy student who
participated in the joint program with Balboa High. I want to express my thanks
to all the staff and young adults who were willing to participate in such a
challenging, creative, exciting program. The willingness to learn and take
risks which I know all these students took was amazing. I know my daughter came
home emotionally and physically exhausted, while at the same time praising her
fellow students and talking about how much she learned from and enjoyed working
with the Balboa students. As part of the community of adults whose
responsibility include truly educating all our kids, we have to make sure
experiences like this are replicated throughout our educational programs. Last
but not least the educational, and physical plant characteristics of Balboa
High School are unexcussable. Like the students said, we should all be apalled
by the fact that our prisons have better facilities and amenities than our
public schools. We all extol the fact that our future depends on our children,
unfortunately the message that students at Balboa High are getting is that we
do not value them as people, students or as part of our future. Thanks for the
opportunity to comment.
Rene Mendez-Penate
Wednesday, Mar. 24 1999 at 12:59
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WHILE READING THE COMMENTS I NOTICE THAT A MR. DON
SAID "PUTTING A A.P. OR HONORS CLASSES IN A GHETTO SCHOOL ISN'T GOING
TO...." I HAVE ONE THING TO SAY TO YOU MR.DON BALBOA IS NOT A GHETTO
SCHOOL. I DON'T BELIEVE THERE ARE ANY "GHETTO" SCHOOLS AND THAT'S WHY
WE NEED TO EDUCATE MORE ADULTS ON WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DOING.
DAMIENPADILLA MENTOR AT BALBOA
Wednesday, Mar. 24 1999 at 14:21
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As the graduate of both an under-performing public
high school in San Diego (where fewer than 20% of students went on to attend
4-year colleges), and an Ivy League university, I found last night's program
distressingly familiar. The visceral recollection of the culture shock I felt
upon walking on-campus my first day of college--where most of the students were
considerably more economically/educationally advantaged than I--has never left.
Nor has the complete frustration with many of my fellow students, who—like
many of the Marin Academy students represented--never seemed to grasp the
relative privilege they've enjoyed. I continue to perceive this lack of
recognition as unforgivably shallow, and a manifestation of ignorance as
dangerous/intolerable as racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, etc because
of its unrecognized insidiousness. This type of ignorance, seemingly rampant
amongst our country's richest (e.g., Marin Academy students) and most powerful
(the head of the school-board), seems to lead us to repeatedly problematic
'solutions' to address educational inequality. I cannot tell you how many times
I have heard 1) the Internet is the solution (Uh, how do you propose students
without easy access to computers get on-line?) 2) Schools ought to be punished
for low standardized test scores alone (Penalizing schools scoring low on a
culturally/economically biased test just does not seem right. Anyone who thinks
the test unbiased ought to compare scores with a buddy who took Latin in prep
school or a $900 Princeton Review course) 3) The real inequality problem is
between public and private schools, and not amongst public schools (I hate to
say it, but focusing on differences between public and private schools seems
like a red-herring to disguise gross differences between PUBLIC schools. Maybe
the situation is not as pronounced in the Bay Area, but in San Diego, the best
public schools [which often out perform the best private schools in town] are
clustered in affluent areas. Feels like state-sponsored classism!). I think we
all (including myself) need to wake-up and reflect on how we each contribute to
these problems, either through our complicity or misguided actions. Hopefully,
this process will lead to insight, and thoughtful attempts at real solutions to
reducing inequities(I'm sorry, but I'm afraid the parking space the girl from
Marin Academy would give up for educational parity will simply not cut it!). As
far as the two students profiled, good luck to each of you. Ailed, you are 90%
of the way there already, don't give up! You have life skills that simply
cannot be taught directly. Damon, I hope this experience will lead you to
reflect on the system which has compelled you to chart a timeline for your life
at such an early age. Most of all, I hope you both continue to remain open to
people from different contexts than your own. To the teachers, Thank God these
kids have you!
Joel Herzig
Wednesday, Mar. 24 1999 at 14:42
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I can't say that I have any knowledge of how public
schools work, but I do know that Lowell is a public school and Lowell is very
competitive. To me, it seems that the student body makes the school experience
worthwhile. However, there does need to be a solid foundation in the form of at
least a handful of great teachers. When I see schools like Lowell flourishing,
it gets me wondering if there needs to be a bigger voice from the students, not
just one class from the Balboa 'Law Academy.' Heh, and Marin Academy pretty
much mirror's my former high school, Crystal Springs Uplands. Yes, I'm a
sheltered individual who doesn't know squat about the public schools and how
they work...
Eugene Chan
Wednesday, Mar. 24 1999 at 16:21
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Thank you for the wonderful program. It added
much-needed human faces to the current debate over affirmative action and
equity in education. I also want to commend the courage of the participating
teachers and students at Balboa and Marin Academy. I look forward to working
with them in the future to improve our education system.
Kenneth Wun
Thursday, Mar. 25 1999 at 13:41
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I would comment, but I went to a public Shool and I
have not lored how to speel yet.
? Thursday, Mar. 25 1999 at 14:24
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I am one of those "spoiled, rich kids" at
Marin Academy. I first want to thank KQED for their great special. One thing
that didn't go into the special was a part of the retreat which is called the
bias awareness workshop. It was run by Lisa, who does a similar workshop for
parents and students at our school and others in the area. Something that we
learned in the workshop is the use of the word "ouch". Ouch means
that something has been said that hurts you or that you think might hurt
someone else. In this case, I'm "ouching" for myself. As I read
everyone's comments on this page, I developed a lump in my throat. I realize
that the special could do nothing but make us out to look like the privileged
teens that we are, but many people on this page seem to ignore something
important: our humanity. In my psychology class, we read a book called
"How People Change" (Wheelis). One of the first things that Wheelis
talks about it that when the basic human needs are taken care of, people
develop other emotional or intellectual problems. Whether it's to occupy our
minds or keep us from feeling immortal is unclear. However, my point is that
even though we are lucky enough to have been born into this place, lucky enough
to attend this school, to go on to 4-year colleges, etc., doesn't mean that we
should be looked upon as people without feelings. So maybe you're still going
to think I'm a whiny rich kid who deserves no sympathy. But if that's the case,
maybe you should examine some of your own stereotypes and develop the open mind
that you seem to think we lack. We have forced our eyes open to stare Inequity
in the face. We have seen that we are doing nothing but contribute to the gap
between us simply by living our daily lives. And that may seem simple to you,
but how do I live with that? How can I walk through our gorgeous campus and
continue to complain about "fake problems" without feeling like an
enormous hypocrite? I admire our Balboa shadows for the weight they carry
everyday. I wish I could have some of their stamina for it. But now that we've
seen all of this, know that we have to carry it too. And in many ways, the
burden that we shoulder is more awkward because ours is knotted with guilt. So
be gentle with your criticism of us. We've not only worked hard to understand
how this works, but we now share the responsibility to effect change.
Rebekah Stern
Thursday, Mar. 25 1999 at 19:46
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Any individual can acheive success from the worst of
circumstances just as any individual can fail no matter how many advantages
they have been given. Stop blaming others and being concerned with what they
have that you don't. No one ever got ahead with that kind of attitude.
Doc
Friday, Mar. 26 1999 at 14:11
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With all due respect to Ailed, who appears to be an
exemplary person--where does her sense of entitlement to attend a UC come from?
Especially with an 890 SAT! Is it UC or nothing? What about the 20+ campuses of
Cal State?
J.R.
Saturday, Mar. 27 1999 at 20:06
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I'm sure that this program has done a great job in
raising awareness, but why was the community college option never mentioned? I
have lived in Marin my entire life. And I do consider myself privileged, but I
decided to take the junior college route and now find myself earning 'A's at UC
Berkeley. Why isn't this most viable option promoted more extensively? This has
always puzzled me!
J deGreeve
Saturday, Mar. 27 1999 at 20:20
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"Making the Grade" captured the lifestyles
of two high school students from different schools and economic classes through
an eye-opening documentary. I feel that it intruiged viewers and made them
realize hardships different kids live with. I personally, really enjoyed the
documentary. More people need to watch specials like "Making the
Grade" inorder to overcome stereotypes. How immature was it of the
majority of the Marin Academy students to rather attend a party or concert than
to be involved in their own education?
Clara
Saturday, Mar. 27 1999 at 20:29
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I believe that as the economic disparities in our
society become greater, the role and importance of the community colleges will
increase. I graduated from from high school with a 2.0. I attended a community
college and now I am waiting to hear from UC Berkeley and UCLA. I believe
community college is a great place to get an education and prepare yourself for
the challenges of a four year university.
EV
Saturday, Mar. 27 1999 at 20:34
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Is there a way for me to help out? I am a
practicing Electrical Engineer with a MS from Stanford University. I would
volunteer to teach an AP class in Math, Sciences, etc.. a few days a week
during lunch hour. I know of a few other engineers like me who would volunteer.
Perhaps we could even establish a partnership with companies who might donate
their employees time for this. If you have any info or comment, please contact
me directly at otepmong@ix.netcom.com
Oh Tepmongkol
Saturday, Mar. 27 1999 at 20:44
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It seems to me that we don't have to decide what we
would give up in order to "level the playing field." We are a wealthy
society and there are too many obscenely rich people. If we all gave $100 to
our neighborhood high school, Aidel and her friends would have the same
opportunities as the students at MA. Giving away money feels food, so why stop
at the first $100.
Steven Miller
Saturday, Mar. 27 1999 at 21:16
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I think somewhere in the mix people lost the topic
of discussion. Which I believe to be, what makes a perfect school? As a
teacher, I found the disparity between Balboa and Marin appalling and shameful.
I applaud the teachers who were involved. I know how much personal time this
must have took. One thing that can not be seen by SAT scores or GPAs that
Balboa High School has and Marin is missing: Voice. The Balboa students have
learned to use their voices. Marin students seemed to be looking to others to
know what to think or feel. Balboa students knew themselves. In a perfect high
school, students would have access to AP classes, quality resources and
excellent teachers, but they would also know the power within themselves: their
voices make the difference in the real world.
Tricia Cameron
Sunday, Mar. 28 1999 at 16:13
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