Public Speaks about SB Ribault Trip: Not Pleased

The Times Union worote about a recent trip to Ribault high school. The topic burned up the TU message board. Below is a fairly typical well measure responce by Ballantine.

Ribault isn't an F school because of a broken computer in the Guidance Office, a shortage of textbooks, or insufficient college prep programs. It is an F school because of a “one size fits all” academic curriculum, and indifferent parents who produced sullen, lazy "students."

Belying the seriousness of the problems are the fatuous statements from people who should know better. For example, W. C. Gentry, a well educated professional, says, “I’m wondering where the other kids are. If the kids are like this, you’ve won the war.” You don’t have to wonder, Mr. Gentry, and you know they aren’t like the 30 selected to meet with you.

Then there’s W. C. Barron, a very promising student, who says, “We want the same programs they have at the beach.” W.C., the programs at the beach are available at Ribault—AP courses, dual enrollment, IB. Most of your classmates don't take advantage of what is already offered. The difference between Ribault and the beaches isn’t the number or kind of academic programs. The difference is the student body and their parents’ involvement. The parents of most of those filling a seat in a Ribault classroom don’t care about education in general, their children’s education in particular, or Ribault as an educational institution—and their children reflect their parents disinterest. What Ribault needs is a curriculum that serves the students we have, not the ones we wish we did. If an opportunity is what your classmates need, it is one that prepares them, not for a college campus they'll never walk, but for a vocation for life that is within their grasp.

Betty Burney tells the Select 30, “Do not let a label define you. Not any of you are F kids. Don’t let it get inside your head.” However, don’t forget that it is the abysmal performance of the student body that makes the label that’s applied to your school. You Select 30 have to overcome the stigma created by the overwhelming majority of your classmates. You've done your part. What are your classmates doing?