Education's role
Published: Tue, Mar. 18, 2008 12:30AM
Modified Tue, Mar. 18, 2008 02:20AM
E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeRegarding your March 16 editorial "Called to account": The lives of Demario Atwater and Laurence Lovette have one common thread that began years ago when they dropped out of school.
Whether they are found guilty of any new crimes, they already had criminal histories. Was this the probation officers' fault for not monitoring them? Or was it the schools' fault for not meeting their needs? Or was it the teachers' fault for not piquing their interest in academic studies? Or is our school system fighting an uphill battle as it tries to engage 21st century learners with 19th century schools?
Prisons are filled with high school dropouts, and we are asking our prison system to solve problems that began when students dropped out of school. Should we continue to apply Band-Aids or can we finally address the root of the problem?
More Letters
Until we provide schools with 21st century classrooms, adequate technology, relevant curriculum and adequate professional development so teachers can engage 21st century learners, we will continue to have a shameful dropout rate -- an ever increasing pipeline that sends some students directly from the high school into the prison system.
Let's stop blaming and start addressing the problem!
Caroline McCullen
Raleigh
Get it all with convenient home delivery of The News & Observer.
The News & Observer is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.
Since The News & Observer does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The News and Observer.
If you find a comment offensive, clicking on the exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.
