Sunday, October 25, 2009
Editorial: To make sure every child graduates
Schools alone can't teach your kids. Parents, most of it is on you.
From the RoundTable blog
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If you haven't yet looked at today's Horizon front, please take a few moments now to read, "Students achieve if 'fathers kick their butts,'" then rejoin us here.
The message delivered by Patrick Welsh, an English teacher at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, is powerful and should be repeated in every home until it sinks in: Parents have the greatest influence in determining whether their children will do well in school.
Which isn't to say that educators can't make a difference. Roanoke City Schools is proving that. Last week, the state announced graduation rates for the class of 2009. Roanoke, which for decades has graduated on time just slightly more than half the freshman class, had a 66.5 percent rate. Yes, it's still far lower than the state's 83.2 percent -- but it's a huge 7.5 point increase and cause for celebration.
School Board Chairman Dave Carson is quick to heap praise on teachers and students for a job well done.
When asked to summarize the changes that are leading the turnaround, Carson said, "There is no doubt that Forest Park leads the pack." This is the academy set up last school term to entice overage kids to stay in school.
"The second is purely and simply teacher determination. I doubt there is a school system anywhere that has endured the monumental changes we put this system through in one year (start/stop times, closures, consolidations, attendance zones, budget issues, pay freeze, etc.). Notwithstanding those highly disruptive changes, the teachers just plain did it."
Yes, they did. And so did the school board and administration, which initiated the changes and raised expectations.
The celebration in Roanoke should be robust, but short-lived. When a third of high schoolers still drop out, there is much work left to do. Educators and students can't do it alone.
As Welsh writes, parents have the greatest influence. It's not too late for older students. For the younger ones, the return to neighborhood schools should make it easier for parents to get and stay involved.
The school system is doing its part. Parents, are you?
