PTA petition: Save our assistants

Jennifer Lancaster, president of the Providence Spring Elementary PTA,  asked me to pass along word that parents there are circulating a petition urging Gov. Pat McCrory and state legislators not to cut teacher assistants in the 2013-14 budget.

"As parents, we know the value of teaching assistants," the petition says. "Teacher assistants are NOT clerical positions.  Many of us volunteer in the classroom, and we know these men and women are on the front lines working side-by-side with our teachers to provide academic support."

"In addition, last year the legislature imposed a requirement that starting next year 3^rd graders not be promoted unless they are reading at grade level and this session is proposing to lift restrictions on class size in K-3.  Without teaching assistants, this will create a disastrous learning environment."

"Last, and certainly not least, is safety. Recent events have shown that one of the best ways to protect our students is to have well-informed, vigilant adults on site. Reducing the number of teaching assistants reduces the number of people watching our children and is not consistent with a goal of keeping our schools safe."

McCrory's budget plan would cut about 3,000 second- and third-grade teacher assistants statewide  --  a move his staff says clears the way to add 1,800 teachers in a tight budget.  House and Senate leaders have not yet presented their proposals.

Superintendent Heath Morrison also sounded a  "save our assistants"  theme at a news conference at Dilworth Elementary this week.  After talking about efforts to make sure young students become  "high-quality vivacious readers,"  he introduced first-grade teacher Kerry Vreeland and assistant Nancy Christopher to talk about their teamwork.

"I work with small groups every day,"  helping students with vocabulary,  writing and reading,  Christopher said.

Starting in 2014,  third-graders who fail state reading exams can be held back until they demonstrate grade-level skills,  under an education bill passed last year.  Morrison and Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark say that makes the work of assistants more important than ever.

Eighth-graders: Phooey on reading!

I suppose it's no shock in this wired generation,  but fewer than one in five eighth-graders in Charlotte and nationwide say they read for fun almost every day.  And about one-third say they never read when they don't have to.

That's a tidbit from the latest "nation's report card" report on reading and math results for students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and 20 other large urban districts.  The sampling of students who took the 2011 eighth-grade reading test were asked some background questions , including how often they read for fun on their own time.  Eighteen percent of CMS students said  "almost every day,"  matching the national average.  Only Chicago;  Washington,  D.C.;  and Louisville,  Ky.,  were higher,  at 19 percent.  Dallas had the fewest daily readers at 9 percent.

Non-readers made up 33 percent of the national test-takers and 30 percent in CMS.  Other cities ranged from 40 percent choosing  "almost never"  in Fresno,  Calif.,  to 17 percent in Chicago.

Not surprisingly,  the report says students who read more frequently for pleasure scored higher on the reading tests.