As state and local officials plan for layoffs of hundreds of local teachers, Charlotte-area houses of faith plan to band together this weekend to pray for the community's children. Officials at Covenant Presbyterian Church and the Council for Children's Rights say this weekend, many congregations will devote specific times during their worship services or space at their facilities to observe a weekend of prayer for children.
The weekend will culminate with a Christian prayer service on Sunday May 1 at 6:30 p.m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 1000 East Morehead St. Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board chair Eric Davis and Mecklenburg commissioners' chair Jennifer Roberts will speak. Glenn Burkins, editor of the Qcitymetro.com website, will lead a conversation about how Charlotte can respond to the needs of local children. Details: call Courtney St. Onge at 704-804-7565 or courtney.stonge@covenantpresby.org.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Pastors, politicians join in prayers for students
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From the Charlotte Observer's current online page:
Chauncey Sterling, 18, dropped out of ninth grade in February. He became a father for the second time in March. And in early April, he was arrested and accused of beating up the mother of his children.
I know this young man did not attend CMS schools, but how many like him do we have here?
Dropped out in the ninth grade? At 18? Became a father for the second time at 18? How did the system allow this to continue?
Perhaps the focus of these prayers should be to identify and help stop these kind of senseless statistics and their aftermath from happening, instead of praying for more money.
This young man was troubled long before states and local governments were faced with budget shortfalls and cutbacks.
The ones who really need the prayers are the teachers who really want to teach but have to put up with incompetnet administration leaving dangerous peopel in schools and the other students who want to learn but are denied their right because the thugs have more rights than anyone else.
As for Wiley's post, do not leave out the 16 year old girl who has birthed 2 kids for Chauncey now. (I never did see hwo was birthing his third kid.) I guess statatory rape is a predjudical crime now and we can not prosecute for it.
Agree with both of the above. I have a feeling that this weekend's prayer service will wind up blaming taxpayers for not being willing to pay more or for not "caring" about poor children. What civic leaders should be praying for is an epiphany in our troubled communities. They should demand that those communities take responsibility for their children and their education. And they should also thank all the citizens in this county who have paid their taxes every year, supported the school system, and sent well prepared children to school. They should also thank the thousands and thousands of individuals who have given to charities, and have volunteered, tutored, coached, etc. in an attempt to give less well off youth a leg-up.
Joe Nocera addressed some of this in the Times today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/opinion/26nocera.html
From the very interesting article in the NY Times.
"The point is obvious, or at least it should be: Good teaching alone can’t overcome the many obstacles Saquan faces when he is not in school. Nor is he unusual. Mahler recounts how M.S. 223 gives away goodie bags to lure parents to parent association meetings, yet barely a dozen show up. He reports that during the summer, some students fall back a full year in reading comprehension — because they don’t read at home."
Many of us are oh so familiar with this. But we've been told for years that if only we can find the silver educational bullet all will be well and equity will be achieved.
Eric Davis is as much of the problem as the student who does not show up for class! How does he think removing quality teachers from the classroom is the solution! As one poster stated, students have been dropping out of school well before the so called budget short fall. Pete Gorman , Eric Davis and other board members are pouring salt on the wound by spending money toward “Gotcha” tactics to eliminate dedicated teachers. Shame on you Eric Davis and Pete Gorman playing on the ignorance of this community.
Used both articles with my students today. Wiley, CMS is filled with hundreds of Baby Daddies and the pregnant results. Ask any high school teacher about the issues, attendance, behavior, child care, the tendency to fight, yell, and curse with no apparent reason, etc., etc.,etc. Joe Nocero's article evidently doesn't fit in the Broad playbook.
Anon 6:51...
My questions were rhetorical, as we all know the answers such as you provided.
At some point, public education has to stop being the failed social experiment that has been going on for 40 years.
Busing did not work. The bleeding hearts can't bring themselves to acknowledge that fact and move forward to a new day where the entitlement mentality will no longer rule everything that currently paralyzes public education.
Until the public decides that education is serious business and students need to come to school everyday serious about learning along with their parents at home supporting them and that discipline WILL reign on school property, public education will continue to be mired in the same perpetual state it's been in for decades.
...And if someone says the last paragrph is a run-on sentence - too bad!
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