‘We should be changing our curriculums’

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2:10 PM Friday, November 6, 2009

It is very interesting to hear the cries of protest coming from the wealthy school districts about the unfairness of the annual indicator and how it is unfairly ranking their school districts.

Of course, it is unfair, but you didn’t hear a word from these people when school districts with large numbers of non-English-speaking and special education students were unfairly ranked low, and in some cases, even put on academic watch, even though their students were improving tremendously.

What will be different is — because of the money behind them — the state will quickly change this.

From the beginning, until they added the AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress), all the proficiency test did was tell you the social economics of the district.

All of this begs the real question: Why are we trying to make all kids college-prep students? Many of the students with problems in passing the proficiency test are very skilled in vocational areas. We should be changing our curriculums so these students are prepared for their careers and lives, instead of forcing them into doing things they neither need nor want.

Paul Ostermann

Middletown

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