When my children were attending schools in Wauwatosa in the 1980s, each year the school board had to determine the number of new chapter 220 students that would be accepted by the district. New chapter 220 students were only accepted at the early elementary grades. The board was presented with a number that was based on the number of current resident students and the historical number of new students that moved into the district during a year for each elementary school. The sum of those two numbers was subtracted from the number the district used to determine if a new section was needed in a grade. It was a process that created a number that was easy to understand and did not burden local taxpayers with any program costs.
It looks like all the money that has been spent has missed the target. Perhaps these dollars could be better used to lift families out of poverty and give the people a sense that their life has meaning,. Education is one part of it, but decent housing and good food and a sense that tomorrow will not bring economic disaster - these all play a part of it. And, incidentally, that you will not be stopped for driving while black or scrutinized in stores, or generally given the idea that you don't "belong".
I wish I could have more confidence in our School Board's decisions. It's hard to do so given the ambiguity of the statistics and numbers being cited by the experts in the school system.
When my children were attending schools in Wauwatosa in the 1980s, each year the school board had to determine the number of new chapter 220 students that would be accepted by the district. New chapter 220 students were only accepted at the early elementary grades. The board was presented with a number that was based on the number of current resident students and the historical number of new students that moved into the district during a year for each elementary school. The sum of those two numbers was subtracted from the number the district used to determine if a new section was needed in a grade. It was a process that created a number that was easy to understand and did not burden local taxpayers with any program costs.
It looks like all the money that has been spent has missed the target. Perhaps these dollars could be better used to lift families out of poverty and give the people a sense that their life has meaning,. Education is one part of it, but decent housing and good food and a sense that tomorrow will not bring economic disaster - these all play a part of it. And, incidentally, that you will not be stopped for driving while black or scrutinized in stores, or generally given the idea that you don't "belong".
I wish I could have more confidence in our School Board's decisions. It's hard to do so given the ambiguity of the statistics and numbers being cited by the experts in the school system.