APS Duran School Performance Email - Is Long Branch a Failing School?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Separating kids by ability saves money, and whether you like it or not, we don’t have infinite funding. (Though APS spends more per student than most systems nationwide!)

We can’t — and shouldn’t — allocate most of our funding toward initiatives that serve only to make people feel good. Money should be spent on getting the greatest number of students ready to be productive adults with meaningful work. Spending loads on ineffective inclusion practices at the expense of REAL learning for capable/motivated students makes absolutely no sense.

There will always be a need for differentiation in classrooms, but when teachers have ENORMOUS gaps in ability (like kids who speak no English, or kids who have massive behavioral issues that disrupt the entire class), no learning is happening for anyone. That must stop.

Put kids in different classrooms. Scrap language immersion schools and have all students who lack English proficiency attend classes that are geared toward language acquisition until they can move over to the Gen Ed classrooms.

There are such wide ranges of special ed. Plenty of kids are capable of inclusion in gen ed with REASONABLE supports (extra time on tests, different seating options, etc). *We cannot provide everyone a 1:1 aide!* Many sped students need to be in dedicated sped classrooms. That’s just reality.

Then we need to discuss the students who have massive behavioral issues NOT due to an actual disability but due to family culture/poor parenting. Bring back alternative schools! These students should ONLY be allowed to attend their neighborhood school when they can demonstrate ability to behave appropriately, like they will have to do as an adult in the real world!

Parents have no stake in the game when our system runs with no accountability or consequences. For some, they will go back to parenting their kids if they realize their child’s future is going to be GRIM otherwise.

THIS. Exactly this.

When a teacher has 17 kids in the class, and 4 don’t speak English, and 4 have severe special needs, and 2 have severe behavioral issues, nobody wins. The teacher is pulled in too many directions even with pop-ins from support teachers. The kids who don’t speak English continue to fall behind, the kids with special needs are never going to actually be able to keep up, and the kids with behavioral issues (and their parents) are not held accountable. Out of the 5 left, one or two gets gifted services (which means nothing) and the others drift. So the parents of those who can afford it have to get tutors. This principal’s obsession with equity doesn’t help the situation. No homework at all even in 5th grade - her rationale is that some kids don’t have parents to help them with it at home, so in order to be fair, nobody gets it. She’s not responsible for district wide policies, but she’s not helping the situation. Kids leave Long Branch not ready for Middle School all the way around.