Tyrone N. Butts
APE Reporter
52
City's schools levy builds on success
This Monday, the Seattle City Council gets its first presentation on the proposed renewal of the Families and Education Levy.
Having helped develop this proposal, I urge everyone to learn about the renewal and its importance for our community. The levy proposal by Mayor Greg Nickels to the council has a goal all of us should embrace: Give every child, and every family, a chance for success in our schools.
Too few among us are aware of the daily challenges faced by many young people in our public schools. Children of color and chil
ren from poor families in Seattle are not making the grade. One in two drops out of high school. Fifty-five percent of Latino first graders in Seattle do not pass their reading assessment. Ninety-three p
erc
nt of African American 10th grade
rs did not meet the 2003 standards for math. Fifty-six percent of Native American students who were supposed to graduate from high school in 2002 did not graduate.
The many citizens working on the levy renewal proposal agree that if so many of our children are failing school, that means we, as a community, are failing our children. We agree that we have a moral, social and economic obligation to stop -- and reverse -- this crisis in our community.
The 2004 Families and Education Levy proposal is the way for us to do that. It originally evolved from an education summit convened by Mayor Norm Rice in 1990. Voters first approved it in 1990 and again in 1997. This year, the last year of the 1997 renewal, the levy provides about $11 million for s
ervices outside the classroom that help children do better in school -- child care to low-income families, health care to middle and high school students, support for parents wanting to do m
ore
to h
elp their c
hildren, and after-schoo
l academic programs.
The 2004 levy renewal proposal takes several extra steps. It builds upon the levy's successes so far and target funding to programs that ensure young children are ready for school, children succeed academically, and children are healthy. It also proposes to direct funding to services that work toward specific goals:
Close the gaps in academic achievement based on income, race, ethnicity and language by targeting kids who need help the most -- those who are at risk of falling behind in school, or getting into trouble.
***************
Negroes have had 50 years to show their worth. It is long past time to $hit or get off the pot.
T.N.B.
City's schools levy builds on success
This Monday, the Seattle City Council gets its first presentation on the proposed renewal of the Families and Education Levy.
Having helped develop this proposal, I urge everyone to learn about the renewal and its importance for our community. The levy proposal by Mayor Greg Nickels to the council has a goal all of us should embrace: Give every child, and every family, a chance for success in our schools.
Too few among us are aware of the daily challenges faced by many young people in our public schools. Children of color and chil
ren from poor families in Seattle are not making the grade. One in two drops out of high school. Fifty-five percent of Latino first graders in Seattle do not pass their reading assessment. Ninety-three p
erc
nt of African American 10th grade
rs did not meet the 2003 standards for math. Fifty-six percent of Native American students who were supposed to graduate from high school in 2002 did not graduate.
The many citizens working on the levy renewal proposal agree that if so many of our children are failing school, that means we, as a community, are failing our children. We agree that we have a moral, social and economic obligation to stop -- and reverse -- this crisis in our community.
The 2004 Families and Education Levy proposal is the way for us to do that. It originally evolved from an education summit convened by Mayor Norm Rice in 1990. Voters first approved it in 1990 and again in 1997. This year, the last year of the 1997 renewal, the levy provides about $11 million for s
ervices outside the classroom that help children do better in school -- child care to low-income families, health care to middle and high school students, support for parents wanting to do m
ore
to h
elp their c
hildren, and after-schoo
l academic programs.
The 2004 levy renewal proposal takes several extra steps. It builds upon the levy's successes so far and target funding to programs that ensure young children are ready for school, children succeed academically, and children are healthy. It also proposes to direct funding to services that work toward specific goals:
Close the gaps in academic achievement based on income, race, ethnicity and language by targeting kids who need help the most -- those who are at risk of falling behind in school, or getting into trouble.
***************
Negroes have had 50 years to show their worth. It is long past time to $hit or get off the pot.
T.N.B.