The Standard Times - February 24, 2013
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130224/OPINION/302240302/
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
We see no reason the schools should not be approved.
The bottom line, however, is that the New Bedford school system is in deep trouble. And while we are now seeing some signs of a possible turnaround, decades of failure suggest that evolutionary gains occur too slowly. Time is running short. And there is so much to be gained.
New Bedford teeters on the edge of state takeover. Its graduation rate, astoundingly, hovers close to 55%, far below the state average of 85 percent and even well off Fall River's 69 percent. To say some kids are falling through the cracks is a gross understatement.
The innovation schools aim to catch them, while also offering some of our most gifted students a real chance to soar.
The Esperanza School of Language and Culture — with its dual-language immersion program — would be situated at Roosevelt Middle School and would serve students from the South End. Parents would apply through a lottery and the student body would be split evenly between English and Spanish speakers.
Small, autonomous schools offer the ability to adapt to the precise needs of the neighborhoods they serve. It's an opportunity for grass-roots educational policy that puts the day-to-day decisions about student needs and success in the hands of those closest to the students.
Let's give them the green light and get this show on the road.
