If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If the proficiency gap between Detroit's children and the Michigan average is any indication, our children have only fallen further behind these past four years.
They arrive weekly at their assigned times, red and white DPS Reading Corps ID badges showing and, after signing in at the main office, proceed to one...
Many of Detroit's youth arts organizations are intentionally carrying forward the inheritance that we honor by remembering figures like Dr. King and Mother Parks, as she is affectionately called among Detroiters.
What most of you remember from my days at Michigan happened on the basketball court. Very few realize that I was actually a good student who also made the Dean's List. Basketball was my spring board to college, but all inner-city kids aren't that fortunate.
Today In School Closures... Detroit is slated to close even more schools, reports CBS. Enrollment in the Motor City has dwindled from 150,000 to a projected 40,000. "A deficit elimination plan obtained by The Detroit News says the district will close 28 schools [by 2016]," CBS reports. "The closures are expected to save DPS about $13.4 million in operating expenses, but hundreds of district employees will be out of a job." The Free Press has a letter from emergency manager Roy Roberts to the district's employees: DPS has "accelerated the time line for its return to complete fiscal stability," he wrote. But Roberts hasn't said which schools will be shuttered.
Volunteer service projects are often of the paint/fix/clean-up type. But this year's new listings of school projects across DPS on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day have a lot of good options for the breed of volunteer who has to know that when they serve, they're doing something to change the world.
As Detroit nears the possible appointment of an emergency financial manager, it's important to note that although the current pace of change is not as rapid as necessary to extinguish this fiscal crisis, we have made progress since 2009.
Like educators around the country, I feel that Sandy Hook Elementary is my school and its children are my children. In our calls for action, we must take care of our souls and remember that while they may not solve, words can be a balm during hard times.
I've seen what happens when you put a pen in a child's hand. It's like a match to the imagination. The beauty and bravery that come forth in poems is simply breathtaking.
While it's important we evaluate how we are teaching our children, we must never lose track of the intended result. Education is the deciding factor in giving children an opportunity to eventually live the lives they want to lead.
Woody Allen famously said, "Eighty percent of success is showing up." For school districts across the state of Michigan, this Wednesday proves the wisdom of that statement.
When you look at the social decay of Detroit's neighborhoods, you see a city that is on life support. The majority of Detroit citizens have given up hope and crossed over to desperation.
An open mic night experience offered my students a poetic example of the opportunities that might be possible for them through their education -- and it gave them confidence in what they're capable of achieving.
On a daily basis, our kids and therefore our schools face an onslaught of challenges stemming from the ravishing effects of poverty and the culture of violence in the neighborhoods around them.
Qualitative measures like school appearance, safety and openness to parents and community are essential to any school becoming a neighborhood anchor and are also, quite measurable.
The state of education in Detroit continues to draw increasing attention, which is a good thing. However, the attention continues to focus on the negatives and the many positive solutions are relatively unnoticed.
