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This letter has not been edited.

By Derry Dale Sadler

The history of the Colorado CSAP results is proof that our current system of public education forces our children to a future of poverty, loss of self-esteem and failure. It’s insane to believe that success will be derived from doing the same thing the same way each year. We have blamed the teachers, administrators and even the testing mechanisms for flat test results. Each year, we have experienced more school closures, administration shifting and painful clawing up the slippery slopes of educational failure. Teachers are even encouraged to teach children to pass the test rather than to prepare for higher education and creative thinking. I fear that teachers may come close to cheating for the sake of creating the image of success.

Districts have tried giving teacher bonuses to try and stimulate progress. All the while, the taxpayers give and the school districts more and more money each year. We heap dollars upon a system destined and doomed to fail. We lament at the apparent failure of the current public school system. When will we learn that our public school children, mostly minority and poor, are heading for failure unless we unite and decide to do education business a different way?

The failure of public schools each year is directly related to:

We can do better, as a community and nation. As a school choice advocate, I have long since advocated the creation of new policies and effective practices designed to make parents directly accountable and subject to monetary penalties and other derogatory action for the truancy and failure of the children. Churches and other community organizations that rely upon the attendance of their constituents must be made accountable. If your child does not benefit from the support of that organization, fire the faith- and community-based leadership or join another group that demonstrates that it can and will support your children. If your elected official is not part of the solution to public education, get out and vote for someone who is not afraid of change.

If public school is not working for your child, make a better choice than you have made in the past

Derry Dale Sadler is an education advocate and civil rights attorney. He is a resident of Commerce City.

READER COMMENTS

Amen..no excuses. .home school them. Their "real world" issues they can face every day joining other things besides public schools (social skills etc).

I've home schooled two and am about to home school two more.. there is nothing like it...
If you don't have the time, find a charter or parochial school...both will be superior to public education...

Your kids are worth it, mine were..

Hank, "Survival of the fittest." Insist, persist, and persevere. sound a whole lot like Darwinism.

as conservative as you are wouldn’t "GOD has a plan" be more to your train of thought?

If more parents were to take an active part in their children’s education the problems would fix themselves. the Geopolitical aspect of republican "no child left behind" does exactly that. It leaves more children behind. (teachers teaching to test) whilst dismantling our education system. after all that’s what conservatives claim to want. smaller government (no public education) with a stupid electorate?

I went to open house at the school last night. As I sat and listened to my 2nd graders teacher tell me all the wonderful things they are going to accomplish in 2nd grade,I was sitting there thinking,she knows this stuff.

The teacher handed out a 2nd grade word list that the kids must learn,my daughter new in in kindergarten. She handed out a list of high-frequency writing words they need to learn how to spell,my daughter can spell them all and the 2nd grade word list and the 3rd grade word list.

My husband was thinking the same thing ,she knows all this.

We will go to the meeting the school has set up after assessments.How can a 2nd grade teacher teach beyond her curriculum? I can't understand why they will pass children on who are no where near ready for that grade and won't skip my daughter to a grade she is prepared for.

As I was in my 5th graders class getting the presentation,my 2nd grader got out my 5th graders reading book and sat on the floor reading it during the 20 min presentation.She wants her sister to bring the book home soon so she can finish the story.

I will take a wait and see approach after the big meeting.Until then nothing really is going on in school because it just started and they are not doing assessments until the 13th and 14th of Sept.

Eliminate the Department of Education, and the National Education Association, and schools will improve dramatically.
Both of those entities exist to further their own political power and influence. The last thing either of them want to do is improve the education of our children.

Can I get:
P.S.

Also try registering early on the open access. Check back often. Even if that means moving your child in the middle of the school year (pros and cons for that too). The Charter school may say they have a 3 yr waiting list but that doesn't mean they keep that list that might mean that is how large it is and then once th school year starts the waiting list is no more. RMA does that. Some parents have been trying for 3-4 years with RMA. I have several parent mad and jealous of me now. The old saying, "The early bird gets the worm," certainly applies to charter schools and open access. And so does, "Survival of the fittest." Insist, persist, and persevere.

Can I Get:

I know full well the frustration of getting into a charter school. RMA is a sought out prize in Evergreen. I enrolled my daughter for K this year and managed to get her in. I was one of the lucky few, right place right time. Others have been on a waiting list for years. Some charter schools get rid of the waiting list after the school year starts. RMA is one. They suggest calling back after the first day of school and every week there after to get your child in after the school year starts. You might want to try the same thing.

Evergreen Middle is a school that everybody hates, parents and students alike. My son(extenuating circumstances) went to EMS 2 years ago. I couldn't get him into RMA and EMS would not/refused to listen to me as his father. I yanked him out and home schooled him. And that was after they said I couldn't do that either.

The public school system is OUT OF CONTROL. You as the parent have rights and you can force the issue if you want to take the time and heartache.

They, Adams County, had my oldest daughter, now 17, on Ritalin from K-2. They recommended with DR. approval. We took her off of it, again, against school recommendations. We've had to make up for a lot of lost education time because of it, had to fight the school system there too, and now she is a senior and she grad 11th with a 3.85 GPA.

Best of luck to you and my prayers with you. You've got to keep fighting and insisting. Our kids were worth it and so are yours. Threaten the school to yank your kids out and home school. There are a lot of organizations out there that will help and provide resources. They would rather skip a grade with your kids than loose them all together. But also be prepared to follow-up. I don't believe in idle threats.

Harry,
I have looked into Charters in my area. One is really great and has a waiting list of 3 years.My district is Adams 12,they have open access schools ,but I can't get into any of them because everytime I find one that is performing well it is closed for enrollment because they say they are full.

The school system built a brand new huge school 3 blocks from my home. I however am not in the boundary and they won't let me transfer my children there,they say it is full.
I looked at the boundary and it did not support the school being full.So I scrolled all the way down the page and found another boundary 24 blocks away. They are busing students in 24 blocks away,but won't let my children go to the school.The area they are busing from has 4 elementary schools in the area.

This is the stupidity of what parents are fighting in this assinine school system.

Can I get an Amen: Check out charter schools. Some have school fees others do not. I'm a product of Jeffco schools and so are my two siblings. After 20+ years they are no better now than they were then. I'm sending my daughter to Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen and they charge a voluntary tuition of $200 for the school year. Look up school rankings for Colorado on the internet to find a reputable charter school in your area.

Sadler: It's all about the money and where it goes. Why does an school board member need a salary above 60,000/year? All rulers agree that children are a country's most valuable asset. So why are we paying a teachers some of the lowest salaries? These are our guardians and tutors of our most valuable resource. So the board members are paid up-wards of $120,000+ while our teachers are paid $32,000 to start. Board members are paid $120,000+ while they are cutting programs in our schools.

Don't get me started on the waist of time CSAPs create. Schools take 2-3 weeks off to prep student for this non-nonsensical test. The results to me were not surprising. After a ten year study (was it?) the results showed NO CHANGE. In fact the results showed some students decreased while it showed no students increasing. Stop concentrating on the CSAP and get back to the basics.

Get rid of the tenure system and publish the teachers' competency test scores. There is NO REASON why a teacher should get below 80% in their course specialty. But a recent study, by the RMN I believe, showed that the majority were below the 80% and quite a high number of them were less than 60%. Up the standards for our teachers and up their pay. Get rid of the teachers who score below 60% and put the teachers on some type of remedial program that fall between 61% and 80%.

Elwood, I never thought of that. However it does make sense.I should have known to follow the money.

The school principal called me last Friday,to discuss what my husband and I wanted to do for my daughter.

I told him after assessments my husband and I want to sit down with him,my daughter's teacher, the Literacy,Coordinator,The Reading Specialist,The Math Coordinator,and I wanted to see the assessments,her scores,and the curriculum for the year.

We will then come up with a plan tailored to my daughter ,not a plan my daughter already knows.

The school cannot fully comprehend how smart she is.She is often shy around strangers and tests do not always measure her full abilities.

Example: She is going into 2nd grade today. My husband wrote my daughters a letter of encouragement and well wishes. It was about an 1/2 page long.It was written in all cursive. My husband didn't think of that when he wrote the letter. My 5th grader read the letter,then my 2nd grader came down and I told her her father had written a note for you.

She read the cursive letter with no problems what so ever.

She never ceases to amaze me.

If your child skips a grade, it denies the school system of those per student funds. Multiply that by the number of children who are ahead of their grade level and you will see why the district won't allow your child to advance above the curve.

My husband and I are very involved with our children's education. We teach them at home to supplement the watered down version of the curriculum.

Both of my children are high achievers and beyond their grade levels.

My 2nd grader has been denied twice to skip a grade into 3rd.

The 1st denial said even though she is past the 2nd grade level if they skip her she would only be entering 3rd grade in the middle of 3rd grade academically.

We appealed and they denied us again. The reason was each child must follow the pathway to learning.In Administration " speak " that means she has to go through the pathway of 2nd grade already past the curriculum and then go to 3rd.

Meanwhile hundreds of children are passed onto their next pathway not knowing the pathway the were taught the year before.

My kids is ahead and kept behind. Lots of kids are behind but moved ahead.

I volunteered in my oldest child's 3rd grade class. I was reading with 10 students reading kindergarten and 1st grade level.
They also go a watered down version of 3rd grade. Since they couldn't read very well they couldn't do alot of the math assignments that had alot of reading in them.

Before my oldest went onto 4th I taught her multipilcation,division and cursive. Her teacher sent me a letter of thanks for teaching her multiplication,no one in the class knew it but her. However it was needed to teach the math she was teaching .

I have been fighting this school since my youngest walked into kindergarten. They have done everything they possibly can to dumb her down.They have retaliated against my daughter and I. They let bullies pick on her until I complain.They don't follow district policy on bullying. Every year they have a minimum of 2 children that disrupt class everyday.The school principal and a few of the teachers are liars.

I am so fed up! I'm weary but I'll keep fighting. to get my children the education they have earned through hard work and lots of support from home.

I cannot afford private school. I am a stay at home mother. I do not want them Home schooled because I think they should be around real world issues.They learn alot dealing with the people around them.

What are my options when a school keeps denying my children the education on their level?

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