We need to hold the schools accountable for being accountable.

School systems resist accountability. They resent testing. They reject benchmarks. They ridicule merit pay. And in Wisconsin, cialis sales case they redefine violence:

“In Wisconsin, medical to earn the label of persistently dangerous, cialis a large school needs to suspend more than 5% of its students for weapons incidents or expel more than 1% of the students for assault, weapons or dangerous behavior for three straight years.

A school of 1,000 students, for instance, would have to suspend 50 students every year for three straight years for weapons incidents.

Put another way, a large high school could find a gun every day for a week, and it would likely not qualify as persistently dangerous under Wisconsin’s definition.”

According to that definition, not a single school in Wisconsin is considered “dangerous.”

But in Philadelphia, the story is different:

“In Philadelphia’s schools, where officials have been aggressive in defining and reporting violence, crime has dropped significantly.

District officials say the number of serious incidents in 2005-’06 was down 13.4% from the previous year.

“Self-improvement only happens after self-criticism,” said Paul Vallas, chief executive officer of the school system.

He said detailed cataloging has allowed the district to pinpoint where the problems are – and then try to solve them.

“If there is no accountability, there is not going to be any effort to improve the situation,” he said.”

I can think of no better way to end this post than to repeat the truest sentence I’ve read in a long while: if there is no accountability, there is not going to be any effort to improve the situation.

Add comment May 9th, 2007


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Being in a wheelchair gives you a unique perspective on the world. This blog features many of my views on politics, art, science, and entertainment. My name is Elliot Stearns. More...

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