Keith Ellison represents my family!

I am so glad to have Keith Ellison as my representative! Here's the scoop. Even if the kids in a school are all doing well, if one group is not, the whole school is threatened.

Parents received a notice that Ellison will be visiting our school tomorrow.
"... is an inner city school whose kids, as Principal, Ray Aponte says: "come to school every day, feel safe, and they learn a little more each day." The school scores high in the 28-30 "categories" used by NCLB, but have fallen short in 1 - a small group of special education kids whose math scores are "lacking" by NCLB standards.

Principal Aponte goes on to say, "Value-added assessments (like their backgrounds and living situations) need to be in place" (when NCLB standards weigh in) - and they clearly aren't. "Not everybody comes into the stream at the same point...we take these kids from where they enter," Aponte added. NCLB doesn't take any of those things into consideration.

Jefferson has consistently had high scores and then often "fails" to show marked improvement, whereas schools who "enter the stream" at much, much lower levels can show a good deal more improvement (because they've come from so much lower baselines) and therefore "score higher" by NCLB standards.

Here's the press release:

Congressman to Visit "Model" Middle School Threatened by "No Child Left Behind" Rigid Regulations

Minneapolis - Congressman Keith Ellison will visit with faculty, students and parents at Jefferson Community School in Minneapolis on Tuesday, April 10th from 11 a.m. to noon as part of his review of how the "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) federal legislation is impacting 5th Congressional District schools.

The "No Child Left Behind" legislation is up for Congressional reauthorization this year and has been touted by the Bush Administration as its flagship educational program of accountability.

"This legislation makes for a great sound bite, and looks good on paper, but from the start it has been not been funded at the levels promised, and its rigid rules of accountability hurt model schools such as Jefferson," Congressman Ellison said.

"Jefferson Community School is a school we are proud of for all its accomplishments. Even by NCLB markers Jefferson excels in all areas - but one. The whole school is threatened with funding penalties because of one subgroup set of test scores. In this case No Child Left Behind threatens to "Leave A Whole School Behind," and that is just plain wrong." Ellison said.

The school is a pre-K through 8th grade school of 500+ students in the heart of a very vibrant community. It is a wonderful case in point of the diversity of our communities with a student population that is 50% Hispanic, 32% African American, 3% Native American, 4% Asian American, and 11% Caucasian. Jefferson offers all grade school children before-school Spanish instruction. It also provides District-wide programs for children with disabilities.

"I'm all for accountability, but when federal regulations threaten a model school, then it is the regulations and not the school that need to be graded again," Ellison stated.

"I look forward to listening and learning from the kids, teachers and parents about their school, and I intend to take their personal stories back to Congress and make their voices heard when No Child Left Behind comes up for reauthorization," Ellison concluded.