LETTER: Clark County School District not living up to its mission
From the Clark County School District website: “It is the mission of the Education Services Division to provide our students with the essential skills, attitudes and integrity necessary to become successful, responsible citizens.”
Clearly, the mission is clear: to ensure that graduating students have the essential skills to be responsible citizens and career ready.
But the district has a long history of promoting students who are not at grade level. Students fall behind in the basics. Dropout rates increase. These children clearly are not ready for the real world. And many who do “graduate” require remedial courses in college to make up for being unprepared for higher education.
Currently, the district is proposing to lower grading standards. Twelve years of schooling is much more than reading, writing and arithmetic. Students must be taught to be responsible and accountable for their actions, to meet deadlines for completing assignments and to be prepared for testing. Students must be challenged to learn how to communicate orally and in writing, to research topics, to express their findings and to learn how to accept failure by getting back on the horse and working harder. These are the skills needed to be responsible citizens who will have a fighting chance to compete in the ever-changing and demanding jobs market upon graduation.
Isn’t it better to get “left behind” for one year while in school than be “left behind” for the rest of your adult life?