The Potatoes of education

You ever heard the expression you say potato, I say po-tat-o? Well I thought about that when I read the Times Union’s highlights of the district.

The Times Union wrote: Graduation rate: The Duval County public school system has a graduation rate of 71.2 percent, up almost 20 percent in the last four years.

School grades: This is the only school district in the state to increase A schools and decrease F schools in the 2011-12 year.

Advanced programs: Every high school has accelerated classes such as early college or International Baccalaureate.

College ready: Every one of the Duval County students enrolled at the University of North Florida in 2010-11 were considered college-ready, according to the Florida Department of Education.

To which I respond: According to the federal government our graduation rate is up about 7%, a grade recovery, gentlemen C inflated seven percent.

The district grade dropped from a B to a C because instead of solving our problems we push them around.

If we have advance academic programs at all our schools then why do we have advanced academic magnet schools? It seems like an unnecessary expense.

60% of our kids need to take remedial classes when they get to college.

I don’t have a problem with us celebrating our victories. I have a problem with us ignoring our weaknesses and failures. The Times Union would have you believe all is well in the district and we just need a little tweaking and that just isn't true.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/opinion/editorials/2012-09-14/story/entering-danger-zone-superintendent-pick#ixzz26Xeazw52