Andre--

I understand what you are saying.  I wrote what I did because I think 
there is enough experience and brain power on this list serv and others 
to light up a good-sized city.  Where I live, school boards get 
elected. They are supposed to be the link between the school and us, 
and they are answerable to us--us meaning the people who elected them.  
Here, the "us" are the extremely knowledgeable members of this list 
serv.  We know the consequences of school failure.  This is useful 
knowledge, not only for the dropouts, but what may be behind the drop 
outs.  I am convinced that groups of people with this knowledge, in our 
communities, can make a difference.   I used to be a school teacher, 
too.  We first must come to some agreements as to what the problems 
are, then prioritize and find out where to start.

Andrea

On Nov 24, 2007, at 12:25 PM, Andre Whitmore wrote:


> Andrea

>     I am a former school teacher and I believe that the school system 

> in and of itself is the reason why so many students fail. The 

> schooling process is designed to ensure that students are socialized 

> to acquire an American cultural identity, which for many of the 

> students is an unrealistic goal for them. It has become increasing 

> difficult for students to envision how they can actively participate 

> and succeed in this culture. Jobs, occupations, and success are no 

> longer consistent with education. The educational requirements have 

> become too demanding and do not offer any guarantee  for a job. Many 

> minority students have observed how their family members and people in 

> the community have sought education that leads to poverty still. The 

> schooling process should offer students the opportunity ability to 

> become socialized in their culture so that they can associate real 

> significance to their education. furthermore, American culture 

> singifies free market and free enterprise opportunities, but the 

> schooling process does not place emphasis on this aspect. Most public 

> schools teach students to become a poorly trained labor force that 

> remains dependent on the corporate structure. Simply put, students 

> will continue to resist public education until education in this 

> country receives a make-over.

> Andre

> ----- Original Message ----

> From: Andrea Wilder <andreawilder at comcast.net>

> To: Women and Literacy Discussion List The Poverty Race 

> <povertyracewomen at nifl.gov>

> Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 10:29:06 PM

> Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 1429] Changing schools

>

> Hi everyone,

>

> I think it is really important to find out which types of students in

> our local schools aren't doing well and to change local school behavior

> so all students can succeed.

>

> Andrea

>

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy mailing list

> PovertyRaceWomen at nifl.gov

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to 

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen

>

>

> Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Yahoo Mobile. 

> Try it now.----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy mailing list

> PovertyRaceWomen at nifl.gov

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to 

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 5067 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/diversity/attachments/20071124/f7cb1ca5/attachment.bin