Elementary School Principal Begs Parents for Cash

by Robert Pondiscio
March 16th, 2009

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Posted in Education News | No Comments »

Nice school your kid’s got here.  Be a shame if something bad happened to it. 

That’s not exactly the message a cash-strapped principal is sending to parents.  But it’s close.  Looking at a $500,000 budget deficit, Trevor Honohan, principal of Audubon Park Elementary in Orlando, Florida sent a fundraising letter to parents last week asking them to contribute $500 each or run the risk of losing staff and programs.   “Our backs are against the wall. I need your help today!” pleaded Honohan’s letter. 

Hard working teachers that we value and love will be unemployed. We will potentially have to cut programs that have allowed our children to succeed in a variety of areas. There is only one solution and it begins with us all. It is time to pay for what we don’t have now; otherwise we will pay for what we didn’t have later. My solution is simple but at the same time it will not be easy to achieve. I am asking for a financial contribution from those families who are in a position to do so.

Honohan’s letter also makes naming rights to the school available for a substantial donation.  “You can purchase and name each classroom, office space or general area (cafeteria, media center etc) in the building,” he writes.  “This will require a minimum financial contribution of $10,000.”

As you might expect, reactions are sharply divided between those who see Honohan as a hero for taking such a bold stance; others feel they already gave in their property taxes. An OrlandoSentinel.com poll found that 54% would not contribute.  “Orange district officials are looking into the propriety of the principal’s missive,” notes Jeff Solochek’s Gradebook blog, “which was not approved by downtown.”  Honohan estimates that just over half the school’s parents have the financial wherewithal to make a donation.

Counterfeit Equity

by Robert Pondiscio
September 22nd, 2008

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Posted in Educational Policy, Research and Reports | 5 Comments »

Twenty years ago, only one in six U.S. 8th graders studied algebra.  Thanks to a national push dating back to the Clinton administration, today more of them take algebra than any other math course.  Take it, yes.  But are they learning it?

A new report from the Brookings Institution’s Tom Loveless notes many students are being pushed into algebra without having mastered basic skills such as multiplication, division and fractions.  Among the poorest math students, nearly one in three were taking advanced math.  As Loveless’ report, “The Misplaced Math Student: Lost in Eighth Grade Algebra,” notes:

These students tend to be some of the nation’s most vulnerable children. We already know that they struggle at mathematics, scoring among the bottom 10 percent of all eighth graders in the country. They also possess characteristics that make recovery from a lost year of math instruction unlikely.

The push to make algebra universal was about increasing educational equity. ”It’s really counterfeit equity,” Loveless tells USA Today, noting that the mismatch inordinately affects black, Hispanic and poor kids in urban schools.

The Washington Post’s Jay Mathews, a booster of 8th grade algebra for all, says the Brookings report is giving him second thoughts.  “It would be better to think of algebra as we do swimming,” he writes. “Something everyone should learn, but most importantly learn well. Get everyone into the pool as soon as possible. But let’s not mark them as having passed the course until we are sure they can swim several lengths without drowning.”