Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Heroes In Washington D.C.
Sewell Chan has a story today in the Washington Post reporting that of the 1,359 private school vouchers awarded this year 290 families have declined to utilize them.
Therefore the title of the piece is "Many D.C. Vouchers Go Unused."
Of course, my take on this is completely different. I see the families of the children who are using this important escape valve from D.C. public schools as extremely brave. Here they are sending their kids to an educational facility they do not know, with students who may not be from their neighborhood, in an environment in which their offspring will be sitting next to others who had to go through an application process to be admitted. The voucher recipients most likely will be getting up in the morning way earlier than their peers to take public transportation to get to their new schools and they are facing an academic year which will be characterized by their obvious lack of basic skills in grasping the material being presented.
But have no fear. If you were to go into these schools and watch the reaction of these students, you will see them fighting the fight of their short lifetimes in an effort to succeed. These people deserve our highest admiration.
PermaLink | 8:02 AM |
|
Therefore the title of the piece is "Many D.C. Vouchers Go Unused."
Of course, my take on this is completely different. I see the families of the children who are using this important escape valve from D.C. public schools as extremely brave. Here they are sending their kids to an educational facility they do not know, with students who may not be from their neighborhood, in an environment in which their offspring will be sitting next to others who had to go through an application process to be admitted. The voucher recipients most likely will be getting up in the morning way earlier than their peers to take public transportation to get to their new schools and they are facing an academic year which will be characterized by their obvious lack of basic skills in grasping the material being presented.
But have no fear. If you were to go into these schools and watch the reaction of these students, you will see them fighting the fight of their short lifetimes in an effort to succeed. These people deserve our highest admiration.
PermaLink | 8:02 AM |
| 
