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| Rep. John McCoy |
'Twas the season. Speechifying season, that is -- as in, another fine season's collection of May-June "
Listen up, you futures
of America"
graduation
homilies and commencement colloquies just recently tucked into the pages of history.
Call them academic ukases, these thousands of scholarly addresses
that sent millions of young folk off to their post-secondary careers in
college, trade school, or what have you. So yes, what better time than right
now, what better place than right here to discuss another sort of
education-related "address" defining all too well the
state of all too many of their younger peers still plugging away in the K-12
scene: 1234 Falling Through the Cracks Blvd., Anytown, USA.
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| Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos |
An unacceptably large ratio of these falling, and failing, students comprise demographic groups who show up in other unfortunate measures.
These students tend to be disproportionately disciplined, for one thing, and
they are more likely than other kids to be enrolled in special-education
classes and underperforming schools, to receive poor grades, and to drop out of
school. They’re less likely either to take advanced-placement, honors and
college-preparatory classes, or to go on to college
even if they do finish
high school. And they constitute what's called the "achievement
gap" -- that dismal crevasse between the beautiful promise of American
public education and the beastly reality for too many American students.
In emphasizing his excitement at joining the new education panel, McCoy cited its statutory responsibility for "… closing the achievement gap (and affirming) the state's constitutional obligation to provide opportunities to learn for all students without distinction or preference on account of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or gender." He further noted that the statute also speaks to the fact that "(a) consistent and powerful theme throughout the achievement gap studies was the need for cultural competency in instruction, curriculum, assessment, and professional development. Cultural competency forms a foundation for efforts to address the achievement gap, and more work is needed to embed it into the public school system."
McCoy and several other legislators on the Opportunity Gap Committee are
working with additional public officials and private citizens toward writing
strategies for closing Washington's education chasm.
To read this story in Spanish, please click
here.
