Fwd: [eddra] CA Graduation Rates

[Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>]

Begin forwarded message:

  From: PFTOfc@aol.com

  Date: Thu Jul 17, 2008 5:27:14 PM US/Eastern

  To: eddra@yahoogroups.com

  Subject: [eddra] CA Graduation Rates

  0000,0000,0000A number of folks have pointed out that the results, as
  reported to this point re CA's drop out rates, are less than nuanced.

  There is some confusion as to whether or not the state is looking at students
  who don't get a certificate of some kind of alternative fashion( HS
  equivalency/GED) and/or those who take more than four years. Students in CA
  can also enter the community college system at 18 with or without a HS
  diploma where they can get the diploma or just continue their
  college/technical education.

  To this point this is just another platform for bloviating politicians and
  pundits.

  The issue has been "framed." There will be no reasonable attempt to put any
  context on this. And what a context. CA is well known for having some of the
  more rigorous academic standards in the nation (World Class!) and near the
  lowest level of support. RAND put CA as 44th of the 50 states in "cost of
  living weighted dollars" spent per child in K12. Ed Week "improved" on that,
  putting the state at 46th. CA's child health care and social services in
  general rank at the same, miserable, low levels.

  Truly there has been a "Texafaction" of CA since the coming of Prop 13. CA
  has some of the highest costs in the US of providing public services and yet
  pays only average per capita taxes when ranked nationally. In Sacramento they
  have a euphemism for this state of affairs: "the structural deficit."

  Looking a little closer at the new information it can be seen to follow the
  usual pattern-drop out rates: for Whites @ 15.2%; Asians @ 10.2%; Latinos @
  33.3%; and, Blacks @ 41.6%. In other words the numbers pretty much track to
  family income and education levels. I know I was shocked.

  What we have here is a failure to communicate-the real issues that is. The
  Alameda Department of Public Health recently published a study they did of
  life quality/expectancy of children growing up in the CA Oakland Hills
  (wealthy and White) and the Oakland "Flats" (poor and Black). That is, these
  are kids growing up in the same CA city.They found, among other things, that
  the life expectancy of kids growing up in the Hills was 15 (fifteen) years
  longer than kids growing up on the Flats. This is about more than high school
  graduation or creating a level educational playing field for kids and
  schools. This is about the fact that we're, quite lterally, killing poor and
  minority kids. The graduation rate report is just a part of the fabric that
  makes up the curtain we must NEVER look behind.

  Gary Ravani

  Executive Director, Petaluma Federation of Teachers

  VP/ CA Federation of Teachers
  Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy
  Football today.

  __._,_.___
  Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional

  Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)

  Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully
  Featured

  Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

  __,_._,___

Vote in the National Cheney Impeachment Poll

http://www.usalone.com/blogvoices.php?Cheney%20Impeachment%3F

Add this text to your own email and blog signatures!