A little over a week ago, the Sacramento Bee broke a story that created a minor stir, documenting how many California schools are gaming No Child Left Behind by reclassifying minority kids to different ethnic groups, thus flying below the law’s reporting threshold. Good, solid reporting. One principal, Jim Wong of Will C. Wood Middle School in Sacramento, was on the record, talking about how persuading the parents of four students to change the racial designation of their mixed-race kids kept him out of trouble. Dead-bang, unambiguous gaming the system and flouting the spirit of the law, right?
Today the paper comes back for a second bite at the apple in an editorial defending the principal. And it’s a pretty good defense.
A long time ago, I sat with Wendy Kopp at the White House Correspondents dinner in Washington, when she was named one of TIME Magazine’s 40 most promising leaders under the age of 40. Today she’s one of the TIME 100, as in 100 most influential people in the world. Looks like this Teach For America thing is working out OK.
With more than $4 billion expected to be cut from public education budgets in the coming school year, school districts across California may increase class sizes in primary grades. “Educators are loath to increase student enrollment in the youngest grades,” reports the San Diego Union-Tribune, while noting that research on the efficacy of smaller class size is inconclusive.
“Since 1996, California has nevertheless set aside huge amounts of money – nearly $2 billion for the current school year – to limit class sizes to 20 students in kindergarten through third grade. Those are the crucial early years of schooling, when children acquire reading and math skills that determine their success later,” says the U-T.
Recent Comments