MIAMI — The Miami School Board met on March 4, 2010 for its regular monthly meeting.

During the Call to the Audience, Terry Styles reported on the March for Schools event that took place earlier that day in front of Miami High School. Approximately 80 members of the community, staff members, and children came out to march in support of quality public education.

The board members then heard from Superintendent Don Nelson, who spoke of the “Race to the Top”-process. The national government has set aside funds for the largest federal education grant ever to be awarded in the amount of $4 billion, known as the Race to the Top. In order to receive funding from the grant, states had to submit written proposals with funds being granted on a competitive basis. Of the 40 states that submitted proposals, only one western state (Colorado) made it under the 15 finalists. In the meantime, the state’s financial problems are spilling over into the school districts. Miami is no exception.

Nelson explained that one vital problem with the education system is the “huge gap between what a youngster needs when he goes out into the real world ... and what the youngster learns in the school’s curriculum.” One accusation being made against educators has been that they “run schools for adults.” The system is still struggling with innovation and flexibility to adequately address social and technological developments that students are growing up with. Board Member Paul Licano gave as an example of this, the testimony of a fifth-grade teacher, whose students did not know the meaning of the world “outlaw” but could define “enemy,” “combatant,” and “adversary,” words commonly associated with video games.





For the complete article see the 03-10-2010 issue.

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