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Monday, July 6, 2009
Want to Talk About ACTs?
Here's your ACT thread.
12 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Thanks Mike. I appreciate your willingness to engage in discussion.
More information about Mehlville School District and how it compares to other larger districts. These are the same districts I compared Mehlville to regarding admin pay.
Notice that Mehlville has the lowest graduation rate. Notice that Mehlville has the highest dropout rate. Notice that Mehlville has the lowest percentage of graduates taking the ACT. And notice that Mehlville has the lowest average ACT score…in fact, the lowest score by 2 points (and in the ACT, 2 points is HUGE). Sadly, Mehlville scored BELOW the state average. My point of this information is this—when Mehlville has the second highest difference in pay between teachers and administrators, you would expect good results. But these scores, along with the number of MAP Top 10’s, show that Mehlville is not performing up to the pay of the administrators. What are these administrators being compensated so well for? And for those of you who will point to the teachers, I say thank you for noticing. The teachers in Mehlville need more compensation. Better compensation leads to better recruitment of teachers. About 7 years ago Mehlville significant budget cuts that reduced the number of teachers and counselors at the schools. About 3 years ago even more reductions were made, even though the previous cuts were never replaced. So now there are science classrooms built for 24 students but holding 33 because of the number of teachers. There are 30+ students in almost every high school class. There are middle schools with math and science teachers teaching social studies because of cuts. But the administrators, well, they are well compensated.
No thanks are needed. It is a worthy discussion. You offer some limited data and draw some pretty quick conclusions. First, I agree with you that these things are all important.But you also need to look at a lot more information such as trends over a number of years and the demographics of the students/families that you serve. The first thing that should be looked at is the poverty rate. Generally this is reflected in the number of students receiving free and reduced lunches. Personally, I'd like to know how many kids in the schools are living in fatherless homes or who have a family member in prison, but these numbers are not readily available. Also, the number of English as a second language needs to be taken into account. Frankly, as a parent and district resident, MAP scores don't mean much to me. The testing and rules change constantly. No one outside the education field has a good grasp on what their testing. That's not to say they don't have any value, but they need to be taken in perspective. I find it interesting that you want specific administrators held accountable but not others. Using just this type of data for such a narrow conclusion could lead to many poor decisions. Many suggest we do this for teachers. Should a teacher be held accountable for the MAP grades of his/her students? I would say only if you supply like students with like resources. Other than that, the best you can expect is progress.That can be measured but is certainly difficult and expensive. Ever notice that the top schools are selective about the grades of the students they allow in. Also note that several of the districts mentioned above have special gifted programs that bring students in from other districts to attend their schools on a district paid tuition basis. These high achieving students' grades count towards the districts that house these programs. I don't look at the district's business much any more so it's hard for me to comment about administrators' current salaries. I know I heard a lot about this while I was on the board yet a comprehensive study lead by Mr. Ocello shortly after I left showed our administrators' salaries to be in line with the area. I know a few years ago I disagreed with them all getting a particular raise, but the board gave the same % raise to all the teachers. The lowest administrator salary is set to be so much about the highest paid teacher. You say that better salaries lead to better teacher recruitment. Teacher recruitment isn't a problem here in Mehlville. At least it wasn't a few years ago. Retention is a problem with newer teachers and administrators. Others school districts pick off the up and comers. As to your question about why these administrators are compensated so well, the answer is simply supply and demand. Mehlville already has a reputation as a district with limited resources. To say that you won't compensate the leadership competitively will only lead to fewer quality leaders coming to Mehlville. As to replacing those budgets that were cut, you need to look at Mr. Noble and the Board of Education. They set the priorities. Really, you can look at how many items you disagree with in the budget, but to focus on just a few staff members' salaries is counterproductive.And to do so in the manner you suggest only fuels those who ask that teachers be held accountable in the same manner.
Mike-- You tap into something good. Here are the free and reduced lunch numbers for these districts: Parkway: 17% Rockwood: 14% Lindbergh: 13% Mehlville: 19%
As you can see, Mehlville has a slightly higher percentage than the other districts mentioned. Here is some more information regarding St. Louis County and Mehlville: 10 other districts have higher ACT 10 other districts have higher graduation rates Only 5 districts have a higher drop out rate In terms of trends, here are the last few years of ACT scores in Mehlville: 2004: 22.0 2005: 21.8 2006: 21.8 2007: 21.8 2008: 21.5 The trend is downward. Conversely, here is Parkway, the next closest in free and reduced lunch numbers: 2004: 23.7 2005: 23.8 2006: 23.5 2007: 24.3 2008: 24.1 The trend is upward. The main reason I point to specific administrators is because you can look at the data and see that specific areas and specific schools have not improved. One example--look at how Oakville Middle School has improved since Mike Salsman took over. Look at how the high schools have struggled since Eric Knost started supervising them. You mention holding teachers and schools accountable for the performance of students. While this is a large point of contention, the idea is that schools are meant to educate students. And right now, Mehlville is in the bottom half of St. Louis County--and several of the schools in that bottom half are no longer accredited. And while teachers do not get to choose the students in their classrooms, administrators get to choose the teachers in their building. If a teacher is not performing up to par, it is the administrators job to improve them or remove them. Research will show you that districts can overcome poverty and minority populations with good leadership and teachers...look at Doug Reeves 90-90-90 schools, where there are 90% low income, 90% minority, and 90% proficient or advanced on testing. Look at the Adlai Stevenson school for strong professional development successes. Look at Park Hills High School here in Missouri for what a strong leader can do. The teachers in Mehlville have the talent to help students achieve, but they need the proper tools. And the reason why I say hold central office accountable is because they have not provided those tools, be it strong leaders, small classroom sizes, newer textbooks, etc. The focus has been astray...providing security guards and doorbells while teachers are cut. Putting in turf fields (regardless of the "savings") while teachers are being cut. Spending one million dollars on SCOPE while teachers are cut. Shifting an assistant superintendent into a role (professional development) that was supervised by a director level staff member while teachers are cut. Spending money on consulting with Jerry Chambers on insurance, or with Unicom-ARC on human resources while teachers are cut. I agree, it's hard to hold Mehlville teachers accountable for the struggles of students. Perhaps if their situation was just like Parkway or Rockwood, with smaller class sizes and better equipment and textbooks, then maybe students would be more successful. But they don't have those things, and those that are directly responsible for those things..central office..get raises and are some of the highest paid in the area while teachers are some of the lowest paid. Perhaps if the administrators were some of the lowest paid in the area the complaint would be moot. And in terms of supply and demand, find out how many people applied for the recent head principal vacancy at Bernard Middle School....over 100 applicants. So there certainly is a supply. Thanks for the dialogue Mike. I appreciate you giving some people a voice.
Are these districts really apples to apples comparison's?
Parkway has 4 high schools Rockwood has ....3 or 4 high schools Lindbergh has 1 high school Mehlville has 2 high schools
and demographics are different across the board.
As far as Mehlville....I blame apathetic parents to a degree....My first of three just graduated from Mehlville North he scored a 28 on his ACT and is going to a well known university......the only one from his school going there.....
signed a parent that does give a damn.
p.s. Mike....thanks for your intelligent responses, the babble is ugly sometimes
2:16 Thanks for the kind words. I an also a proud parent of two high achieving students who graduated from MHS.I often e-mail district staff members bragging about their post high school successes and sharing gratitude for the foundation that was built here in Mehlville. I certainly agree that an apple to apple comparison must be done, but it's fair to review area districts to better understand the educational community. Parents do share much of the responsibility for their child's success. One area in Mehlville where they share a greater burden is in counseling those higher achieving students. Our staffs don't have the time to concentrate on these kids as they would get at some of the other districts or private prep schools.
11:32 I don't have time to fully reply right now but wanted to get your comment on.One thing you mentioned was that the percentages of Free and Reduced lunches were slight.It's over 30% higher in Mehlville than in Lindbergh! And ours is more concentrated to certain schools also! Check out the numbers in those top 10 schools. Again, this is just data and you need to take a deeper look at these things instead of drawing quick conclusions. Actually, using these numbers, you could say that these trends were a result of Bill Schornheuser and myself leaving the school board. Note to everyone: I don't believe that!
Excellent point Mike! Perhaps it is related to the school board (and I'm not joking about that). Since many of the spending issues I disagree with have been approved by the current board. And Mike, you are correct that the free and reduced lunch number is higher. However, for an example of how that impact can be minimized, look at Affton--they have 29.5% free and reduced lunch (compared to Mehlville's 19%) and their average ACT score is 22.5-a full point higher than Mehlville. Webster Groves has 19.5% free and reduced, average ACT of 23.4. Even Fox, right down the street, has 25.5% free and reduced but 21.8 ACT. So there are ways Mehlville can overcome this. 2:16--I am glad that your child scored well on the ACT and is going to a good school. I am not saying that there are no high scores on the ACT in Mehlville, just that on average fewer students take the ACT and the average score is lower than the state average. One has to wonder how well your child would have scored had they attended Parkway West or Lindbergh High. As far as comparing districts with dfferent numbers of high schools, that is why you look to the average ACT score rather than individual schools. You are correct that parents play a large role in this, but parents can only do so much to actually educate their child. The rest is up to the teachers and school systems. And sadly, if parents don't know how their school compares to others in the area, they may never know that there are schools performing better. I believe that Mehlville can be better. People need to ask central office and the board of education why Mehlville compares this way to other districts and what specifically they are doing about it. No more dancing around the topics, saying we are making strides and pointing to Distinction in Performance--323 other districts in Missouri got that (about 62%). No more pointing to improvements in community engagement. The board and central office needs to point to improvements in student achievement. And right now, they can't. Mike, perhaps the board needs someone like you again who will ask questions, who will be educated. I am reminded of the email you posted from Karl Frank. To me, he is everything that is wrong with the school board. Trying to publish letters in the call, trying to gain political capital, trying to always have a quote about something so that his name gets in the paper. How about Karl focus on the schools his kids go to, and try to improve those?
7:19 We agree on many things. Our school district could use a lot of improvement. I would have said this 4 years ago when I was on the board also. While I ask you to look at the many things that can hinder improving scores in the district, I do not mean that we shouldn't make every effort to overcome those challenges. Let me point out another problem that districts like Mehlville face. High schools don't start the educational process.Preparation for the ACT begins at birth. There are a huge number of kids that attend Mehlville HS that never attended a district school previously. I'm glad you pointed to the board as responsible also. Not that I have any particular issues with their spending, but you mentioned several items that were specifically board directed. Also, let's not talk about Karl, that's a waste of energy. Also, Affton has some super teachers. I happen to be married to one and she is currently her school's teacher of the year. She is a literacy coach/reading teacher. I'm sure that's why they have those ACT scores. I also agree that you should continue to ask questions and not rely on any state awards system. My only strong disagreement is that you start with one or two individuals as the problem.
That is great to hear that your wife is a teacher. I do believe it is the most noble profession. And you are correct, talking about particular board members is a waste of energy. Thank you for the great discussion...hopefully others can read this and provide some comments or thoughts. It is only by asking questions that Mehlville residents will get any answers. Mehlville has the potential to be great. And I think it's OK that we disagree on the notion of starting with one or two individuals....I just figure you need to start somewhere. I would love to hear other thoughts on these topics from other people. Thanks Mike. I've been following your blog for over a year now, and it's always been interesting.
7:26 Being interested is getting started.One of the biggest problems we have in our community is that something like 40% of kids attend private schools. The ages of their parents would normally make them supporters of our schools. Since their children don't attend, they're apathetic. This apathy, coupled by those who use our schools for their own agendas, forms a negative culture around our district's administration. Ignorance is the problem.
Maybe along with talking about improving the board maybe we should also discuss the methods of educating our children. As a parent of a MHS student I find some thing to be a miss.(ie the power of one) Is a horrible excuse for a teaching aid. What ever happend to turn in your homework or else. My son holds a good GPA but I dont think he is being challanged. MHS should run like a collage prep school, and spend less time being a politcaly correct district. The world dosnt work that way they should just teach for excellance and leave the raising of the children to the parent. I'll support any program that does'nt dumb down our children We should never sacrifice educational diciplin for school wide selfesteem. Kids should be rewarded for what they do, not because the system thinks it will make them better people.
Brian, You are certainly right on many points but I think MHS tries to run a college prep program. Actually, as a comprehensive public high school, they run lots of programs. Many of the kids are actually in junior college. That's right. Kids are leaving Mehlville HS with as much as 50 college credits. This is a solid program! They also must educate those kids on the other end of the achievement spectrum. Those kids may have physical, mental or other impairments(like not giving a hoot about their education) that must be dealt with. The challenge, as a parent, is making sure your child focuses on studies that meets their needs and doesn't slip below their potential.
12 comments:
Thanks Mike. I appreciate your willingness to engage in discussion.
More information about Mehlville School District and how it compares to other larger districts. These are the same districts I compared Mehlville to regarding admin pay.
Parkway
Graduation rate: 93.2%
Dropout rate: 1.7%
Avg. ACT score: 24.1
Percent taking ACT: 86.7%
Rockwood
Graduation rate: 95.8%
Dropout rate: 1.3%
Avg. ACT score: 24.2
Percent taking ACT: 84.6%
Lindbergh
Graduation rate: 95.2%
Dropout rate: 1.3%
Avg. ACT score: 23.5
Percent taking ACT: 77.3%
Mehlville
Graduation rate: 91.1%
Dropout rate: 2.8%
Avg. ACT score: 21.5
Percent taking ACT: 67.8%
Notice that Mehlville has the lowest graduation rate. Notice that Mehlville has the highest dropout rate. Notice that Mehlville has the lowest percentage of graduates taking the ACT. And notice that Mehlville has the lowest average ACT score…in fact, the lowest score by 2 points (and in the ACT, 2 points is HUGE). Sadly, Mehlville scored BELOW the state average.
My point of this information is this—when Mehlville has the second highest difference in pay between teachers and administrators, you would expect good results. But these scores, along with the number of MAP Top 10’s, show that Mehlville is not performing up to the pay of the administrators. What are these administrators being compensated so well for?
And for those of you who will point to the teachers, I say thank you for noticing. The teachers in Mehlville need more compensation. Better compensation leads to better recruitment of teachers. About 7 years ago Mehlville significant budget cuts that reduced the number of teachers and counselors at the schools. About 3 years ago even more reductions were made, even though the previous cuts were never replaced. So now there are science classrooms built for 24 students but holding 33 because of the number of teachers. There are 30+ students in almost every high school class. There are middle schools with math and science teachers teaching social studies because of cuts. But the administrators, well, they are well compensated.
No thanks are needed. It is a worthy discussion.
You offer some limited data and draw some pretty quick conclusions. First, I agree with you that these things are all important.But you also need to look at a lot more information such as trends over a number of years and the demographics of the students/families that you serve. The first thing that should be looked at is the poverty rate. Generally this is reflected in the number of students receiving free and reduced lunches. Personally, I'd like to know how many kids in the schools are living in fatherless homes or who have a family member in prison, but these numbers are not readily available. Also, the number of English as a second language needs to be taken into account. Frankly, as a parent and district resident, MAP scores don't mean much to me. The testing and rules change constantly. No one outside the education field has a good grasp on what their testing. That's not to say they don't have any value, but they need to be taken in perspective. I find it interesting that you want specific administrators held accountable but not others. Using just this type of data for such a narrow conclusion could lead to many poor decisions. Many suggest we do this for teachers. Should a teacher be held accountable for the MAP grades of his/her students? I would say only if you supply like students with like resources. Other than that, the best you can expect is progress.That can be measured but is certainly difficult and expensive.
Ever notice that the top schools are selective about the grades of the students they allow in.
Also note that several of the districts mentioned above have special gifted programs that bring students in from other districts to attend their schools on a district paid tuition basis. These high achieving students' grades count towards the districts that house these programs.
I don't look at the district's business much any more so it's hard for me to comment about administrators' current salaries. I know I heard a lot about this while I was on the board yet a comprehensive study lead by Mr. Ocello shortly after I left showed our administrators' salaries to be in line with the area. I know a few years ago I disagreed with them all getting a particular raise, but the board gave the same % raise to all the teachers. The lowest administrator salary is set to be so much about the highest paid teacher.
You say that better salaries lead to better teacher recruitment. Teacher recruitment isn't a problem here in Mehlville. At least it wasn't a few years ago. Retention is a problem with newer teachers and administrators. Others school districts pick off the up and comers. As to your question about why these administrators are compensated so well, the answer is simply supply and demand. Mehlville already has a reputation as a district with limited resources. To say that you won't compensate the leadership competitively will only lead to fewer quality leaders coming to Mehlville.
As to replacing those budgets that were cut, you need to look at Mr. Noble and the Board of Education. They set the priorities. Really, you can look at how many items you disagree with in the budget, but to focus on just a few staff members' salaries is counterproductive.And to do so in the manner you suggest only fuels those who ask that teachers be held accountable in the same manner.
Mike--
You tap into something good. Here are the free and reduced lunch numbers for these districts:
Parkway: 17%
Rockwood: 14%
Lindbergh: 13%
Mehlville: 19%
As you can see, Mehlville has a slightly higher percentage than the other districts mentioned.
Here is some more information regarding St. Louis County and Mehlville:
10 other districts have higher ACT
10 other districts have higher graduation rates
Only 5 districts have a higher drop out rate
In terms of trends, here are the last few years of ACT scores in Mehlville:
2004: 22.0
2005: 21.8
2006: 21.8
2007: 21.8
2008: 21.5
The trend is downward. Conversely, here is Parkway, the next closest in free and reduced lunch numbers:
2004: 23.7
2005: 23.8
2006: 23.5
2007: 24.3
2008: 24.1
The trend is upward.
The main reason I point to specific administrators is because you can look at the data and see that specific areas and specific schools have not improved. One example--look at how Oakville Middle School has improved since Mike Salsman took over. Look at how the high schools have struggled since Eric Knost started supervising them.
You mention holding teachers and schools accountable for the performance of students. While this is a large point of contention, the idea is that schools are meant to educate students. And right now, Mehlville is in the bottom half of St. Louis County--and several of the schools in that bottom half are no longer accredited. And while teachers do not get to choose the students in their classrooms, administrators get to choose the teachers in their building. If a teacher is not performing up to par, it is the administrators job to improve them or remove them.
Research will show you that districts can overcome poverty and minority populations with good leadership and teachers...look at Doug Reeves 90-90-90 schools, where there are 90% low income, 90% minority, and 90% proficient or advanced on testing. Look at the Adlai Stevenson school for strong professional development successes. Look at Park Hills High School here in Missouri for what a strong leader can do. The teachers in Mehlville have the talent to help students achieve, but they need the proper tools. And the reason why I say hold central office accountable is because they have not provided those tools, be it strong leaders, small classroom sizes, newer textbooks, etc. The focus has been astray...providing security guards and doorbells while teachers are cut. Putting in turf fields (regardless of the "savings") while teachers are being cut. Spending one million dollars on SCOPE while teachers are cut. Shifting an assistant superintendent into a role (professional development) that was supervised by a director level staff member while teachers are cut. Spending money on consulting with Jerry Chambers on insurance, or with Unicom-ARC on human resources while teachers are cut.
I agree, it's hard to hold Mehlville teachers accountable for the struggles of students. Perhaps if their situation was just like Parkway or Rockwood, with smaller class sizes and better equipment and textbooks, then maybe students would be more successful. But they don't have those things, and those that are directly responsible for those things..central office..get raises and are some of the highest paid in the area while teachers are some of the lowest paid. Perhaps if the administrators were some of the lowest paid in the area the complaint would be moot.
And in terms of supply and demand, find out how many people applied for the recent head principal vacancy at Bernard Middle School....over 100 applicants. So there certainly is a supply.
Thanks for the dialogue Mike. I appreciate you giving some people a voice.
Are these districts really apples to apples comparison's?
Parkway has 4 high schools
Rockwood has ....3 or 4 high schools
Lindbergh has 1 high school
Mehlville has 2 high schools
and demographics are different across the board.
As far as Mehlville....I blame apathetic parents to a degree....My first of three just graduated from Mehlville North he scored a 28 on his ACT and is going to a well known university......the only one from his school going there.....
signed a parent that does give a damn.
p.s. Mike....thanks for your intelligent responses, the babble is ugly sometimes
2:16 Thanks for the kind words. I an also a proud parent of two high achieving students who graduated from MHS.I often e-mail district staff members bragging about their post high school successes and sharing gratitude for the foundation that was built here in Mehlville.
I certainly agree that an apple to apple comparison must be done, but it's fair to review area districts to better understand the educational community. Parents do share much of the responsibility for their child's success. One area in Mehlville where they share a greater burden is in counseling those higher achieving students. Our staffs don't have the time to concentrate on these kids as they would get at some of the other districts or private prep schools.
11:32 I don't have time to fully reply right now but wanted to get your comment on.One thing you mentioned was that the percentages of Free and Reduced lunches were slight.It's over 30% higher in Mehlville than in Lindbergh! And ours is more concentrated to certain schools also! Check out the numbers in those top 10 schools. Again, this is just data and you need to take a deeper look at these things instead of drawing quick conclusions. Actually, using these numbers, you could say that these trends were a result of Bill Schornheuser and myself leaving the school board. Note to everyone: I don't believe that!
Excellent point Mike! Perhaps it is related to the school board (and I'm not joking about that). Since many of the spending issues I disagree with have been approved by the current board. And Mike, you are correct that the free and reduced lunch number is higher. However, for an example of how that impact can be minimized, look at Affton--they have 29.5% free and reduced lunch (compared to Mehlville's 19%) and their average ACT score is 22.5-a full point higher than Mehlville. Webster Groves has 19.5% free and reduced, average ACT of 23.4. Even Fox, right down the street, has 25.5% free and reduced but 21.8 ACT. So there are ways Mehlville can overcome this.
2:16--I am glad that your child scored well on the ACT and is going to a good school. I am not saying that there are no high scores on the ACT in Mehlville, just that on average fewer students take the ACT and the average score is lower than the state average. One has to wonder how well your child would have scored had they attended Parkway West or Lindbergh High. As far as comparing districts with dfferent numbers of high schools, that is why you look to the average ACT score rather than individual schools. You are correct that parents play a large role in this, but parents can only do so much to actually educate their child. The rest is up to the teachers and school systems. And sadly, if parents don't know how their school compares to others in the area, they may never know that there are schools performing better.
I believe that Mehlville can be better. People need to ask central office and the board of education why Mehlville compares this way to other districts and what specifically they are doing about it. No more dancing around the topics, saying we are making strides and pointing to Distinction in Performance--323 other districts in Missouri got that (about 62%). No more pointing to improvements in community engagement. The board and central office needs to point to improvements in student achievement. And right now, they can't.
Mike, perhaps the board needs someone like you again who will ask questions, who will be educated. I am reminded of the email you posted from Karl Frank. To me, he is everything that is wrong with the school board. Trying to publish letters in the call, trying to gain political capital, trying to always have a quote about something so that his name gets in the paper. How about Karl focus on the schools his kids go to, and try to improve those?
7:19 We agree on many things. Our school district could use a lot of improvement. I would have said this 4 years ago when I was on the board also. While I ask you to look at the many things that can hinder improving scores in the district, I do not mean that we shouldn't make every effort to overcome those challenges. Let me point out another problem that districts like Mehlville face. High schools don't start the educational process.Preparation for the ACT begins at birth. There are a huge number of kids that attend Mehlville HS that never attended a district school previously.
I'm glad you pointed to the board as responsible also. Not that I have any particular issues with their spending, but you mentioned several items that were specifically board directed. Also, let's not talk about Karl, that's a waste of energy.
Also, Affton has some super teachers. I happen to be married to one and she is currently her school's teacher of the year. She is a literacy coach/reading teacher. I'm sure that's why they have those ACT scores.
I also agree that you should continue to ask questions and not rely on any state awards system. My only strong disagreement is that you start with one or two individuals as the problem.
That is great to hear that your wife is a teacher. I do believe it is the most noble profession. And you are correct, talking about particular board members is a waste of energy. Thank you for the great discussion...hopefully others can read this and provide some comments or thoughts. It is only by asking questions that Mehlville residents will get any answers. Mehlville has the potential to be great. And I think it's OK that we disagree on the notion of starting with one or two individuals....I just figure you need to start somewhere.
I would love to hear other thoughts on these topics from other people.
Thanks Mike. I've been following your blog for over a year now, and it's always been interesting.
7:26 Being interested is getting started.One of the biggest problems we have in our community is that something like 40% of kids attend private schools. The ages of their parents would normally make them supporters of our schools. Since their children don't attend, they're apathetic. This apathy, coupled by those who use our schools for their own agendas, forms a negative culture around our district's administration. Ignorance is the problem.
Maybe along with talking about improving the board maybe we should also discuss the methods of educating our children. As a parent of a MHS student I find some thing to be a miss.(ie the power of one) Is a horrible excuse for a teaching aid. What ever happend to turn in your homework or else. My son holds a good GPA
but I dont think he is being challanged. MHS should run like a collage prep school, and spend less time being a politcaly correct district. The world dosnt work that way they should just teach for excellance and leave the raising of the children to the parent. I'll support any program that does'nt dumb down our children
We should never sacrifice educational diciplin for school wide selfesteem. Kids should be rewarded for what they do, not because the system thinks it will make them better people.
Brian,
You are certainly right on many points but I think MHS tries to run a college prep program. Actually, as a comprehensive public high school, they run lots of programs. Many of the kids are actually in junior college. That's right. Kids are leaving Mehlville HS with as much as 50 college credits. This is a solid program! They also must educate those kids on the other end of the achievement spectrum. Those kids may have physical, mental or other impairments(like not giving a hoot about their education) that must be dealt with.
The challenge, as a parent, is making sure your child focuses on studies that meets their needs and doesn't slip below their potential.
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