Students Grill Rod Paige

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY FACES TOUGH QUESTIONS AT METRO HIGH
          St. Louis Post Dispatch -- March 10, 2004
                     by Caroilyn Bower

U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige's visit to Metro High School in St. 
Louis
was billed as an effort to see firsthand the results of the federal No 
Child
Left Behind Act.

But Metro is anything but a typical high school. The magnet school, at 4015
McPherson Avenue, serves 233 of the top-performing students in Missouri.

And those students had anything but typical questions Wednesday morning 
for the
nation's top education official. Students peppered Paige with questions on
issues such as school budget cuts, testing, the achievement gap and 
problems
with housing and lead poisoning.

Paige spoke later Wednesday to about 800 school officials at an educational
leadership conference at the Millennium Hotel. The conference focused on 
how to
improve accountability and testing through technology.

Paige's visit came as St. Louis school officials are facing
contentious meetings over how to balance next year's budget, something 
school
leaders face in districts across Missouri and Illinois.

Craig Szczesiul, 18 and a senior at Metro, told Paige that St. Louis school
officials were studying budget cuts of $23 million, including cuts in 
support
for gifted, art, music and athletic programs.

"Everyone agrees there are problems, but we have no idea what to do. Can 
you
help us with ideas about how to fix the problem?" Szczesiul said to 
thunderous
applause.

Paige replied, "I think you stumped me with that question."

Paige went on to say that issues surrounding public education should be 
figured
out by the residents of each state. He noted the success of Atlanta in
attracting the Summer Olympics in 1996 after people of all races and 
economic
and political backgrounds worked together.

After Paige concluded his answer, he said, "I didn't get any applause." The
students clapped.

Another Metro student, Vannah Shaw, 17, said a lot of problems facing 
students
occur outside school - problems such as housing and lead poisoning.

Paige agreed that a lot of issues have an impact on learning. "That puts a
great burden on schools," he said.

Paige visited a class where students discussed the Holocaust.

He heard students in Peggy Lathrop's class talk about the value of reading
news accounts in other languages because something is lost when 
information in
other languages is translated into English.

In his speech to school officials at the Millennium, Paige called 
teachers "the
real soldiers of democracy" and said "every teacher deserves our 
support." The
conciliatory comments came several weeks after Paige apologized for 
calling the
nation's largest teachers' union a "terrorist organization." Paige said the
union, the National Education Association, had used scare tactics in its 
fight
over the nation's education law.

Paige said federal funding for education had risen under President 
George W.
Bush and was more than adequate to pay for the requirements of No Child 
Left
Behind.

The 2-year-old federal law requires each state to test academic 
performance in
reading and math in grades three through eight. By 2014, every child is
supposed to be proficient. Schools are held responsible for groups of 
students
meeting annual progress goals. The groups are broken out by characteristics
such as race, income, special education needs and ability to speak 
English. If
any group needs improvement, an entire school, district or state will fall
short.

More than half of Missouri schools and nearly that portion in Illinois have
failed to reach reading and math targets.

Paige applauded the academic accomplishments of Metro students. Still, many
students in the nation do less well, he said.

Paige said he understands that superintendents are grappling with how to 
pay
higher fuel costs of transporting students to school and higher health care
costs for the people who teach those students. He understands the 
challenges
presented by the neighborhoods where some students live.

"We cannot make excuses," Paige said. "When a child comes to school, we 
have to
figure out a way to help the child learn to the child's maximum capacity."

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