Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 21, 1994 TAG: 9409230017
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Alternative ed has been the last hope for students with problems ranging from chronic truancy to serious misbehavior. Its student population either has failed in or was failed by the regular education system, which must serve the majority of students willing and able to learn in routine classroom situations.
Those too disruptive, too inattentive, too far behind for whatever reason have been able to go to alternative education for a chance to catch up, mature, get motivated. It is better than giving up and dropping out.
But when an investigation shows that of the program's 139 students, only 50 to 55 attend daily, one must wonder what difference it makes for the majority who don't even show up. And with no means of evaluating teacher or program performance, or tracking students after they leave, one must wonder how helpful it is for those who do attend. Success in the program is meaningful only if it translates into continuing success outside.
Students in alternative ed are not easy to reach and teach. They need highly qualified and motivated teachers who are able to connect with the disconnected.
Does that mean every teacher who lacked certification, and whom Harris has not rehired, was incapable of doing this? Not at all. People with a talent for teaching and the heart for caring enough to tackle the most challenging students surely will be more successful than those with great on-paper qualifications but no want-to.
Will every replacement who has that teaching certificate be excellent? Of course not. Certification is an imperfect but objective means of imposing a bottom-line standard of training and academic experience. After that has been met, there will be those who are dedicated, talented, caring, and those who are less so. But all will meet a minimum standard of training.
At-risk students - and these are the at-riskiest - need teachers with all of the above: talent, dedication, proper training. That the school district is insisting on this is to Harris' credit. It's also one of several positive signs that alternative ed may no longer be regarded as a poor stepchild.
The program starts the school year with a highly qualified new administrator, Michael McIntosh; it will move to expanded facilities and get technological equipment better suited to prepare students for the job market; it will have group and individual counseling for students with emotional or social problems, and it will offer field trips to colleges and universities to encourage students to plan postsecondary education. The message to youngsters: If you don't have a dream, reach for one.
Some of the program's students will be lost, no matter what effort is made on their behalf. But by offering alternative education, city schools are going the distance to try to salvage those in danger of sliding into unproductive lives on the margins of society, in poverty, in prison or preying on others.
There may be some misunderstanding between the school superintendent and uncertified former teachers who claim Harris promised them their jobs. That is unfortunate. But the goal here is what's in the best educational interests of the students in the program, and Harris clearly is concentrating on that.
Revamping the program promises a reasonable payoff. Compared with, say, investing in prison construction, education remains the better alternative.
by CNB