Milwaukee Public Schools Say Hello To Life Without Cell Phones By Patricia Hawke

Cell Phone Ban in Milwaukee Public Schools

It’s hard to imagine a world without cell phones. Next to the Internet it’s probably the single most important invention that has affected the maximum number of lives around the globe. People run entire businesses through their stylish gizmo fitted cell phones and it’s normal to find a family with each member sporting his or her individual phone.

But, students in Milwaukee Public schools won’t be among those yakking on their cell phones this year. The reason – Milwaukee public schools have enforced a ban on cell phones on campus. From January 2007 onwards, students in Milwaukee’s122 schools are banned from using cellphones in classrooms.

Fear of Violence Leads to Cell Phone Ban in Milwaukee Public Schools

The catalyst that triggered this ban was a brawl involving students outside the gates of a Milwaukee school. Female students who got into the fight used their cell phones to summon help from family members. At least 20 family members turned up and matters got really ugly before the Milwaukee school authorities and police managed to step in. Although nobody was seriously injured in the brawl, Milwaukee school authorities were stunned into action. This wasn’t the first such instance in Milwaukee schools. Earlier two students had been caught using their cell phones to summon others to a fight outside campus.

Milwaukee Schools Join a Growing Number of School Districts in Banning Cell Phones

Milwaukee public schools are by no means the only school district taking, what some consider, this extreme measure. New York and Los Angeles do it too, albeit for different reasons. The Columbine shooting in 2001 and the attacks of September 11 had many schools all over the country lifting their bans on cell phones as parents expressed their desire to stay in touch with their children in what they saw as an increasingly dangerous environment around the country. That trend has definitely been turned now and more schools are scrambling to enforce similar bans in their schools. Reasons given for these bans in schools around the country range from using cell phones for cheating to taking inappropriate pictures.

The issue of whether the ban will have any positive effects on curbing the levels of violence in Milwaukee schools is debatable. It seems simplistic to think that banning cell phones will curb any tendencies to fight. Students who want to fight will do so regardless of who they can or can’t summon to their cause. It seems more appropriate to beef up security around campus to deal with issues of school safety. In these days of working moms and kids who are forced to be independent, a cell phone is a powerful tool for communication. To take away this tool might be the equivalent of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=187444&ca=Education

A Storm In A Teacup At Miami Dade Public Schools By Patricia Hawke

Controversy over Book Ban Rattles Miami Schools

Miami Dade Public schools have been rocked by allegations of throwing aside civil liberties in favor of pleasing parts of the local populace. First came the unnecessary controversy over an innocuous children’s book that portrayed life in Cuba from a child’s perspective. The book “A Visit to Cuba” was not a prescribed textbook for young children in Miami schools, rather it was part of the school library. A young Cuban American girl bought the book home and showed it to her father; a Cuban dissident and political prisoner who was upset at the soft picture the book portrayed of life under Castro. He immediately notified the Miami Dade public schools’ authorities who proceed to place the book under a ban. Miami’s strong Cuban American population supported the ban on the book in Miami schools’ arguing that reading the book could create the wrong impression in young children’s minds about the reality of life in Cuba. The American Civil Liberties jumped into the fray and filed a lawsuit against the ban calling it unconstitutional.

Book Ban – A Knee-Jerk Reaction by Miami Schools?

A few weeks later another book found itself at the center of a storm in Miami Dade Public schools. This time it was Cuban Kids, a children’s book that portrayed a couple of Cuban children on the cover dressed in what seem to be Scout uniforms- but are reportedly uniforms of the young revolutionaries, ( a group that all school children in Cuba are required to be members of). Parents of Cuban American children in Miami schools say the book gives young children the impression that the lives of Cuban children is the same as the lives of American children. They argue that young impressionable minds are not able to filter party mouthpiece rhetoric from fact and risk being brainwashed by books like these that do not portray the true picture of life under Castro for students in Miami schools.

The argument seems a little too simplistic. Civil liberties activists and critics of the book ban agree that it would be hypocritical for a country that claims to uphold democratic ideals the way ours does, to allow react with a knee-jerk response to the contents of a book. What, they ask, would be the difference between Castro’s Cuba and the land of the free if the simple decision of whether or not to read a book is taken away from its citizens? While parents of Cuban American children in Miami Dade Public schools, many of them having arrived at this country after extended stays in Cuban prisons, do have a point in being concerned about the impression that their children and others will receive through these books-they don’t need to be. In a situation like this keeping the lines of communication between parents and children open can go a long way to help children separate the grain from the chaff and come away with a true picture of the ground reality in the Communist nation. Banning a book, any book is not the solution.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=187440&ca=Education

Metro Nashville Public Schools Promote Unconventional Role Models By Patricia Hawke

A Step in the Right Direction at Nashville Schools

We’re all familiar with the kinds of students who are projected to be potential leaders in high schools – the debate team member, the math club geek, the student council president. These are the stereotypical American leaders of tomorrow; lucky enough to have their special abilities recognized while they are still in school. But what of the other less visible role models? The kid with a stammer who has a lot to say if he could only get the words out clearly enough, the teenage mom with unlimited potential, even the kid at the back row who spends more time in detention than in class?

You’d cringe at the thought of these students being portrayed as leaders and nobody would blame you. In a groundbreaking new program, Nashville schools believe that this exact group of “low on achievement but high on potential” students has the capabilities to make an impact on society. So confident are Metro Nashville schools that these students, if given a gentle nudge, can make equal or greater contributions to society that they are partnering with local community organizations to promote this belief.

Identifying Role Models at Metro Nashville Public Schools

Alignment Nashville, a group that aims to bring together Nashville schools and local community organizations like the YMCA, and Hands on Nashville, wants to create a more organized framework for co-operation between these bodies. Earlier well intentioned attempts to coordinate Nashville schools and voluntary organizations fizzled because of the unsystematic nature of the efforts. This time around the focus is on going beyond words to actual implementation. The organization has launched a couple of programs at two Metro Nashville Public Schools targeting students who possess leadership capabilities but are currently frittering away these abilities in other pursuits. In other words it aims to draw out the potential of at-risk teens who might not have otherwise had a shot at any roles in the school system, leave alone positions of leadership.

Creating Unlikely Leaders at Nashville Schools

This heartening initiative to empower students in Metro Nashville Public Schools who have been marginalized and draw them into leadership roles in the system works in a surprisingly simple manner. Staff is asked to nominate students they feel are currently on the fringes of the school, but could blossom given the right opportunities.

The program then aims to target these students through reading programs, discussions, maintaining journals, enhancing problem solving and team work abilities. Students are encouraged to communicate successfully and respect diversity. Although it’s still too early to gauge the success of this program, authorities at Metro Nashville Public Schools say changes are already visible. Students in the programs are already assuming positions in school bodies and clubs and even at other local organizations. In the long run, Nashville schools expect this commendable program to lead to fewer dropouts, decreased school fights and an overall enhanced school environment for all.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=187439&ca=Education

Public Versus Private New Orleans Schools By Patricia Hawke

Ever wonder what to do with school choice? For families who have ample amounts of money and can afford any school, the decision about what school to send the kids to may seem simple. After all, most people believe that private is best. Other parents may not be able to afford private school and have to send their kids to public schools and keep their fingers crossed. For still yet others, scrimping and saving to send little Johnny and Suzie to private school is their top priority. Sure, for most private schools, there are lots of benefits: smaller class sizes, a wider array of programs available such as Latin or Montessori, and the quality of amenities the school has to offer (pool, track, state-of-the-art computer labs, etc…) are all examples.

But what about cities like New Orleans? There, they have to rebuild their school systems from the ground up; Hurricane Katrina wiped everything out, schools included. Even if New Orleans Schools had made it through the storm unscathed, for a time there were no students to attend them. The city has a unique opportunity to restructure their entire New Orleans Schools educational system; what an exciting prospect!

Dividing up the area into two districts, the public sector of New Orleans Schools is working to not only get schools going again, but to also make sure that they are doing it right. Feeling that this division of management will allow for more flexibility throughout the city, leaders are working to ensure that all students who return to public New Orleans Schools will get the chance to continue in their educational careers. For students whose families are sending them to New Orleans Public Schools, this restructuring is a beacon of hope. Their children may get the chance to continue learning, and they will do so in newer, safer environments. Their lives have been torn apart by wind and rain; they’ve lost their homes and their livelihoods. They deserve the consistency that going to New Orleans Schools can, hopefully, provide.

For some families, enrolling their children in a private New Orleans Schools is the decision they’ve made for their students. The rebuilding of an entire city is a great way for private New Orleans Schools to get a foothold in the city. While the public schools must work through the bureaucracy to get things done, private schools must go before their board of directors and perhaps the building permit office in order for changes to occur. Definitely a shorter process, it allows for private New Orleans Schools to open their doors to students. Not only are churches and private institutions leaders of private New Orleans Schools, corporations and groups of parents are getting together to form charter schools. For many families, these quasi-public New Orleans Schools are the way to go. They can choose which school philosophy works for them, which ones they can afford to attend, and go from there.

So, whether you choose private New Orleans Schools or public ones, you and your family have options.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=187446&ca=Education

Minneapolis Public Schools Lose Students To Charter Schools By Patricia Hawke

Students are Fleeing Minneapolis Schools

Minneapolis schools are being faced with the prospect of empty school buildings as more and more students flee the system to charter schools in the district. Minneapolis schools’ enrollment figures have plummeted to just 36,000 this year - that’s almost half its capacity of 50,000 students. Schools in the north side have felt the pinch the hardest with a 44 percent drop in enrollment over the past five years. All indications are that there is no stemming this tide and Minneapolis schools have already announced plans to close 5 schools leaving more than 2000 students in the lurch, desperately scrambling to find new schools.

The Exodus of Blacks and Minorities from Minneapolis Schools

A bulk of the students that chose to leave Minneapolis public schools belongs to high poverty black neighborhoods and other minority communities. The statistics reveal a strong yet disturbing trend. In the ’99-’00 academic year, more than 48,000 black students sought admission in Minneapolis schools. Compare this to the bleak picture painted for 2008 when enrollment from black students is expected to touch barely 33,500.

Most black students prefer to enroll at charter schools in the district which have perceived higher standards than public Minneapolis schools. This problem of “black flight” is, authorities agree, a serious problem for Minneapolis schools. Surveys in the African American community show that black parents in general tend to be dissatisfied with the quality of education in Minneapolis public schools. Not that they have any reason to feel differently. In 2005, barely 29 % of black students in the eighth grades in Minneapolis schools managed to pass basic math tests and just 47% could manage to scrape through the reading tests. Graduation rates for black students at Minneapolis schools were some of the lowest at fifty percent. Besides blacks, Asian students are joining the growing movement out of Minneapolis schools.

Moves to Stem the Tide at Minneapolis Schools

The success of charter schools can be traced to a number of factors. School sizes are smaller, and it is generally believed that teaching staff are more in tune with students’ requirements and are better able to meet these needs. Minneapolis schools have begun to realize that immediate steps have to be taken to avoid the current migration of students. School authorities have proposed initiatives that require schools in the district to offer additional emphasis on music, arts, and language besides improving their core academic curricula. It’s hoped that raising the bar on academic learning will stem the growing tide. Even if the schools do not succeed in attracting students back to their fold, one hopes that at the very least they will be able to stop students leaving in masses.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=187445&ca=Education