Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Get My Kid Outta There!!!!


Upon reading the linked article at first glance it seems the NYS Department of Education is genuinely concerned with the welfare of the students whose care they have been entrusted with. However, upon further reflection NYS seems so much more concerned over the "under reporting" than "solving the violence issues". The state seems to be under pressure from parents who are requesting transfers based on a perception of violence in the schools. Schools have not been reporting the incidents and the transfers have been denied.

It is economically more feasible to blame schools for lack of paper work and facilitate transfers for parents who do not want their offspring to attend their zoned schools, than to actually address the violence in the school.

Currently, according to the article, there are only 5 schools deemed unsafe on the list. So there are five schools that if parents are willing to file for a transfer, and have to economic ability to send their children further from their home, their transfer will not be denied.

Who is filing for these transfers? Why should we make it easier to cut and run from a school? Should we be threatening to shut schools down rather than fix the problems?

Paperwork does not stop violence. Bullying either from NYS or a kid in the schoolyard is wrong.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

i think that after the teachers and security report all incidents to the principal or to the board of ed then they transfer the student that was violating the rule to a better school that is more strict on students. Maybe that way the student will learn or might have a better chance of changing his or her ways instead of being in a school that just transfers the students that want to transfer

Anonymous said...

I feel that paying auditers to see how safe a school is doesnt really address the violence problem in High Schools. Even if the school board knows which schools are filled with violence, I highly dought that they would do anything to fix the problem.

Anonymous said...

I believe that the situation with adressing school saftey has gotten out of hand. The money is going to the wrong places. Finding out which schools are deemed unsafe and letting everyone know does not change the fact that the school is unsafe. The money should go to fixing the school.

Anonymous said...

Violence is overwhelming New York High Schools and it is becoming increasingly difficult for students to feel safe in their environments. I was once in a school where I didn't feel safe and it really effected my mentality towards school.

-Alexsa

Anonymous said...

The government should start worrying about actually solving the problem of violence in schools instead of just penalizing the ones that do.

Anonymous said...

I think that what they are doing to is stupid, it doesn’t solve any problems. It doesn’t make schools less violent, or give them more funding to fix the problem, so what’s the point. So they make it easier to transfer students out? That doesn’t benefit the schools, only the parents. They should actually give schools with problems more money, because how else can they fix the problem? Money doesn’t grow on trees.

Anonymous said...

I believe that every school should report when there is a incident. Even though I am aware that schools lose money when there is a problem and then don't get the money until the problem is fixed. But my question is how would you like the schools to fix the problem when there is no money involved?

Anonymous said...

I think the government should pay attention to violence in schools instead of simply turning away. They should push aside racial and economic issues and fund for schools so violence is decreased.

Anonymous said...

I believe that the city should solve the problems present in our public school system intead of ignoring it. Funds should be sent to schools with problems to try to solve it instead of funds being sent to schools that don't have problems.

Anonymous said...

I agree, this system is not fixing the actual problem of school safety. Only a few kids escape the problems of their current school if their parents are loud in enough. But what about kids whose parents are not as active in school? Shouldn’t the school board or state, consider them? How can school fix safety issues without proper funds? I feel the state should work on fixing school safety directly, rather than relying on transferring the bad kids out. How many transfer students can a school hold? Wouldn’t they require more funds as well?

Anonymous said...

I believe violence in school is a growing problem that has been escalating throughout the urban, rural, and suburban areas. This problem is going to keep escalating and occurring until the government does something about it.

Anonymous said...

This issue with the school needs to be solved in another way. They should give more funds instead of keeping back the funds. I feel that the schools that are most violent should get the most money, while the schools that don't aren't that violent should get the least money.

Anonymous said...

What I don’t understand about the NYS Department of Education is why they are planning to cut funds to school with reports of violence when they need it the most to fix the situation. Instead, the Department of Education is spending money on auditors to check the school and report the number of violence which I think is absolutely absurd.

Anonymous said...

I believe what they are doing is ridiculous and outrageous because the outcome will be the same; nothing resolved and with no funding for the school. This problem needs to be resolved. For the schools who need the most funding such as overcrowded schools and make schools more appropriate for the students to learn and have an education.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Brown is definately on to something with this article. Its about time government legislators and school officials stoped caving in to annoying parents and whiney students, and started doing something productive. Counting the number of times you get beat up does nothing. Beating up the bully does.

Anonymous said...

I think the NYS Board of Education is ignoring the underlying problem, VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS. Dealing with paper work is much easier than fixing economical problems.

Anonymous said...

I think what the NYS is doing is wrong. They aren't fixing the problem of violence in schools. Instead they are balming the schools for not reporting all the incedents that go on in the schools. To make the situation worse they are taking money away from schools that have too many reported incedents. Instead of making it easier for parents to pull their kids out of schools that are unsafe, NYS should work with the school to sole the problem.

Anonymous said...

I dont think by having teachers report all violent incidents makes the school more safe. What are they going to do when the BOE finds out about the incidents... NOTHING. Just cut the budget for the school. Maybe they are doing it to save more money.

-jackie g.

Anonymous said...

I think schools should report any incidents that happen in school, even if they lose money. The safety of the children in the school is more important than the schools money. It is unfair to both students and parents that so many incidents occur every year, but less then hald of them are unreported. Something should be done about this soon.

Anonymous said...

The Board of Education is miss consentrating is ressources. There is a more bigger problem. I think that it should pay more attention on fixing the problem instead of trying to get kids out easier. It should rather direct its ressorces on fixing the problems.

Anonymous said...

I think if we spread out the children with the poor test score to other high class schools and build other schools this problem would be fixed i think transfering schools is a good idea and not allowing it is crazy unless they have a good reason