|
Jan 8, 2004
Street Talk by Shari Kaplan
Due to budget shortfalls, San Jose Unified School District is considering
eliminating sixth period at the middle school level, which would
cut students' access to electives and release them from school an
hour earlier. What possible solutions do you see for the situation?
Also, what are your thoughts on the value of elective classes for
middle schoolers? (Asked at the Almaden Post Office on Crown Boulevard.)
"I think parents have to take ultimate responsibility for their
children's education. I don't advocate cutting anything, but if
the district has to, I think parents should pick up the slack. They
should get together and organize after-school activities. Since
parents pay the taxes, they should have the option to have something
available on campus, but if not, then they can look at libraries
or community centers or other places. It's a shame to lose electives;
they teach kids that education can be fun. It'll take away the joy
of learning."
Barbara Anne Blake Galloway, 49
Almaden Valley
Real estate agent
"I feel it's very important to offer these [elective class]
opportunities to children so they can pursue something that they're
curious about or something they want to learn more about. It might
get the molecules in their brains going more! If anyone is talented
enough—parents or other community members who are skilled
in a trade, a craft or an art—maybe they can be assistant
teachers for the electives. They would do it as volunteers, so it
wouldn't cost the district any money."
Cornelius Beggs, 83
Almaden Valley
Retired civil engineer
"Electives motivate kids. A volunteer docent program is something
I'd support. But it would take some work by the district because
it would have to be planned and everyone would need background checks
and fingerprinting. All that would cost the district even more.
I'm not in favor of eliminating P.E. because even though a lot of
kids are active in outside sports, a lot aren't. The best thing
is for parents to get together and tell the district what they want.
I'm also worried about kids getting out of school too early—I
think it would cause a rise in daytime crime and mischief."
Jim Lucarotti, 55
Almaden Valley
Retired police lieutenant
"I don't want to see electives taken out, because there are
a lot of kids who might not get exposure to things like art, music
and science otherwise. I'm also concerned about the idea of kids
getting out from school an hour earlier than they normally would.
For solutions, I would get rid of things like busing first. Also,
I know that the district is still holding on to some property and
I would have them sell those properties too."
Cyndi Goble, 40
Almaden Valley
Homemaker
"These kids will be our future innovators. It's important to
give kids an opportunity to groom themselves educationally, have
fun and see what things interest then. The short-term solution might
be to have local fund-raisers to benefit our local schools; it would
be OK because it would only be short-term. The long-term solution
might be to work with elected officials and make people more aware
of the problem. We need to have momentum to improve the schools;
it doesn't make sense that California is falling behind in education."
Naresh Govindaraj, 39
Almaden Valley
Software project manager
"Electives give children a choice to pick their own topics
outside their core classes. It's a self-esteem thing as well as
a learning thing. One of my neighbors is a sixth grader as Castillero
and she's distraught because she thinks she might not have her choir
class anymore. Maybe they can get some teachers to donate time to
teach one more period, the sixth period. They could do it for partial
pay or without pay because they feel the kids deserve it. That would
add up to a lot of extra hours for teachers, but it'd make a big
difference to the kids."
Jennifer Banta, 31
Almaden Valley
Homemaker
|
