Sunday, November 25, 2007
Editorial: A promise worth keeping
Community members delivered to the city a 125th anniversary gift that aims to ensure a better future for the children of Roanoke.
From the RoundTable blog
Read the latest entries
Tomorrow, some kids will arrive at Roanoke's schools with hungry bellies, with unfinished assignments because no one at home could help them figure out the worksheets even if they had wanted to, with too little sleep and weighed down by burdens heavier than a loaded backpack.
Too many of Roanoke's students start at a disadvantage; 62 percent live in families poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. Not that being poor means they can't learn, because they can. It does, though, mean they aren't likely to have all the tools or support at home needed to succeed.
It's no surprise that the message that education is the most important thing in their lives is often lost on them.
Yet, all of those students are tomorrow's employees. This means we all have a stake in today's classrooms even if we personally don't know any children.
Roanoke's children deserve more than to be shrugged off as the product of an urban environment.
Business leaders are starting to understand that unless city schools graduate more and better-qualified students, the quality of Roanoke's labor pool will continue to diminish.
City leaders are also recognizing that the demand for programs that aid poorly educated and unemployed or underemployed adults will grow unabated unless the next generation is empowered to be self-reliant.
Fortunately, community leaders are ready to dispense with the handwringing. At the invitation of Mayor Nelson Harris, 125 people joined in a program called the Promise of Roanoke. Since spring, they have gathered in committees, logging more than 100 meetings, to devise ways for the community and the schools to come together to help students achieve.
Recently, their recommendations were presented to Harris.
Some cost money, such as $200,000 to $300,000 to operate after-school programs at community centers. But many of the recommendations, such as businesses allowing employees to duck out of the office and drop by the schools to tutor students or just read a book, cost little more than time.
The Promise of Roanoke is based on the concepts in the book "Smart Communities," written by Susan Morse, and it is being guided by Virginia Tech. This is truly a collaboration of business, government and education. There is opportunity for all segments of the community to join and enhance the efforts of school administrators, teachers, staff and parents.
Because so many are involved, the Promise of Roanoke can't easily be dismissed as just another idea destined to fizzle for lack of follow-through. For it to work, though, the business community will need to remain committed to investing in the future of Roanoke's children.
