Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 16, 1995 TAG: 9501260017
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF ARTIS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Students graduate who can't read or write.
Students graduate who lack the necessary skills to be productive citizens.
Students are promoted because of age, not because of academic ability.
School administrators pressure teachers to pass students who haven't fulfilled the academic requirements of the class or, in some cases, they change the grades of a failing student if the teacher refuses.
Teachers water down their class requirements out of fear of exceeding the school's unwritten failure rate.
Students are passed through the school system because the school doesn't want to be bothered with them anymore.
The education a student receives is determined by the student's socioeconomic background, not by the student's ability.
School discipline is determined by where a student lives and who the student's parents are, and not by the student's actions.
Many of us, especially those in the African-American community, are upset with what's being passed off as ``quality'' public education. We wish to educate our children ourselves, thereby ensuring that our children will receive what they need in the classroom to be prepared for life outside of it.
We're not interested in creating little Black Panthers or a "Hate Whitey" curriculum. We're only interested in teaching our children how to read, how to write, how to reason, how to be productive citizens, how to become successful, and how to achieve the American dream in a structured, disciplined environment.
This holds true not only in the black community, but for all communities, regardless of race, religion or socioeconomic level.
Some misguided politicians would have us believe the creation of charter schools will lead to resegregation. This charge is nothing more than a pathetic attempt by desperate people to inject the issue of race into a valid education reform.
Other politicians will tell us charter schools will take money away from the public-school system. I don't believe this. If this is true, our school systems should open their books to the public and show us where money will be lost, including the books of the school system's athletic programs.
Charter schools are a wonderful idea whose time has come. Bell should be commended for his work on this issue. Charter schools work in other localities across this country, and there's no reason they couldn't work here.
Jeff Artis of Roanoke is publisher of The Black Conservative Newsletter.
by CNB