District 518 mulls changes to retention policies at middle school
January 8, 2011 at 7:13 am in Worthington Daily Globe
Current language in school handbook, teachers’ worksheet
is ambiguous
WORTHINGTON Of the many controversies in education, whether to retain failing students or move them to the next grade level is one of the touchiest. Continue Reading

Teachers should make sure the students actually understands each concept before moving on to the next topic. giving the students a bunch of homework doesn’t make them smarter. They need instruction from trained professionals and the teachers need to make sure they are reaching the kids before moving on. Controlling the noise level in class would benefit all the students. I think some of the teachers and WMS are phenomenal so this is in no way teacher bashing.
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I do not understand why we force kids to stay in school who obviously don’t want to be there. It would be better for everyone if we developed volunteer work crews where they would learn a skill. The students should have a choice. Either stay in school or join a work crew. The crew(s) would provide a free service to low income people who otherwise cannot afford labor costs for certain things such as roof repair/replacement, repairing water damage in basements, mold clean up, window replacement, painting, lawn care, snow removal, demolition of homes or buildings that are beyond repair. Sorting used lumber to be recycled and used again would be a great job for these kids. Cleaning up lake shores and picking up garbage, working at an auto salvage degreasing engines and cleaning parts, just to name a few things they could do. If they don’t want to be in school, then joining a work crew would be the other option. Washing and cleaning school buses and repairing seats is a thankless job, but it has to be done by somebody. Give kids an option. It’s either stay in school or join a work crew. It would be their choice.
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Let me yet again address the white elephant standing in the room. We have some of the best teachers here in SW MN, some of the best facilities, technology ect. So why all the failing grades? %50 – %80 minority students make up the classroom who’s families don’t think education is important. Families going back and forth to mexico for weeks at a time during the school year. Million$ of our tax $$$ pumped into ridiculous programs to “teach” the minorities how to do everything from cook to changing diapers. I do like Camalla’s idea of work crews or school but that would be considered cruel in this day and age, how dare we hold kids and parents accountable. Until we solve the problem of ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, things will only get worse here in Worthington. The law says schools have to educate kids no matter their status or their parents status…this is wrong, but you can’t blame the schools.
Do white kids fail in school? Yes, I’m not being naive here, but when I was in school, kids got held back all the time and it usually was a good thing in the long run, and the parents understood why. Things are way different in Worthington now.
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Our leaders just absolutely need to address the core issue. Which as Pat E. said is illegal immigration, and I will add mass and chain immigration to that. The taxpayer cannot be expected to pay for this, and if there is some law saying that we have to, then that needs to change also. Putting kids of illegal, mass and chain immigrants to work would only encourage more of the same, not to mention taking jobs from others, and I’m sure that doing so would be illegal! I’m afraid that what we are really doing here is paying to rise a generation of gangers. What else are all these dropouts going to do? All you need do is look to cities in the south that were immigrated the same way as us and you will find Gangland! I know that people leave their homeland to avoid this kind of thing, but the reality is that too often they bring it with them. NO, we need to address the real problem. As I’ve said I don’t disagree with a little diversity, but we have had a 40-day flood dumped on us and we are drowning in it! Diversity thinly spread could work, but illegal, mass and chain immigration is simply a disaster that we need to stop encouraging and Paying For!..
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