Education reformers aren’t tackling the root problems that lead to bad schools.

08-19-2011

By Sarah Garland/The American Prospect

On an unseasonably warm evening last November, Glendalys Delgado lowered herself into a child-sized chair in the classroom of her youngest son, Juan, a second-grader at Thomas Dudley Elementary School in Camden, New Jersey. Juan’s teacher, Shakira Wyche, sat next to her looking serious. “You’re going to be a little upset,” Wyche told Delgado as she held up Juan’s report card. A line of Fs trailed down the page. Juan is “very intelligent,” perhaps the smartest in the class, the teacher said, but he refuses to work in class or do his homework. “I can’t just give him straight-A’s because I like him,” Wyche said. Delgado nodded. “I tell him he’s going to be left behind if he doesn’t do his work,” she replied in halting English, giving the teacher a wan smile as she backed out of the room. “No more excuses.” (more...)

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Education reformers aren’t tackling the root problems that lead to bad schools.

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