Thinks districts have lost sight
I am sorely disappointed and angry at SOCSD and CMSD for their hasty withdrawals from the GTECHS program at EMCC. Both districts’ superintendents stated that they were paying for children to attend GTECHS that had never attended their school. I hate to be the bearer of bad news to both Eddie Peasant and Cherie Labat, but it IS their responsibility to educate every single child in their school district. Home-schooled children and private school children that live in their district are still entitled, legally, to educational programs offered within the school district they reside. These children’s parents pay school taxes for these districts to educate their child (free money for these schools if the children don’t attend). Maybe if SOCSD and CMSD had better school environments and better state grades, all of the children in their district would want to attend their schools. That is not the case, however, and these superintendents have the audacity to complain about having to educate these children that they have been receiving tax dollars on all these years.
Peasant and Labat also complained that they didn’t feel that GTECHS was serving the type of students “it was supposed to.” Have either of them stepped into a classroom at GTECHS? Have either of them bothered to get to know the students from their districts that were attending GTECHS? Here is a novel idea: how about before superintendents go making decisions that affect students, they go roam the halls with their students and have conversations with the people that their decisions affect. I can promise you, the students that I know (both from public and private school) that attend GTECHS very much fit the model that the school was designed for. You would think by now these “educators” would know that a “one size fits all” approach to educating children does not work, and there was very much a reason these kids left their school district to begin with. Remote learning (as proposed by Labat) will socially isolate a child. Dual-enrollment will still force some of these kids to be back in a school environment where they were relentlessly bullied. The Middle College Program that Peasant is touting isn’t guaranteed to be up and running by August, when he is forcing his district’s GTECHS students to return to SOCSD, so it may not even be available to the kids.
At the end of the day, I think school boards and superintendents have lost sight of the fact that they are dealing with children, not numbers or dollar signs. And they most definitely have lost sight of what is in the best interest of the children.
Jennifer Smith
Columbus
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
