Save Our Children Save Our Schools

It has been said that education is merely a reflection of society. Pathway to Success explores the changes in our society that have had a profoundly negative impact on students by creating such "Barriers to Learning" that many students cannot overcome. Our middle schools and high schools have become so subject matter oriented that many students do not feel any connection to their school. Pathway to Success sets forth a plan to assist students to overcome the "Barriers to Learning."The plan is focused on the student, highly individualized and meaningful. It provides the student with a connection to the school like never before. Professional staff will know their students well as they implement their individual education plan. Students’ academic as well as their social needs will be met. Students, who display serious behavioral problems, including signs of mental disorders, will be referred to appropriate professionals for help. The implementation of this plan will promote greater student achievement; fewer discipline problems, and a safer school environment. It will make education not just a reflection of society but a changing force.

"Saving Our Schools exposes the ugly side of President George Bush's "No Child Left Behind" mandate, which has threatened to close more than 6,000 public schools, to the detriment of dedicated teachers and disadvantaged children alike. Revealing how NCLB forces schools with strictly limited resources to teach its children test-taking skills in a desperate bid to pass high-stakes standardized testing, and how the government blacklists successful professors, institutions, and methods that balk the NCLB party line, and much more, Saving Our Schools warns of an immediate threat to the integrity of public education and urges the reader to take action. An eye-opening social commentary, of keen importance in determining the nation's future. -Midwest Book Review

Written from the perspective of black parents advocating for their children, this summation of problems within today's educational system maintains that challenges arise not from the home environment but from school insensitivity and lower expectations. Parents must often resist misconceptions of white teachers to prevent their children from being suspended or unfairly placed in special education. With knowledgeable advice and sympathetic solutions for confronting racism, classism, lack of understanding, and lack of appreciation for cultural differences, the study draws from a wealth of experience to teach parents everything they need to know about their rights to fight for prime education for their children, including how to evaluate schools and what alternative options they have to unacceptable ones.

Work dedicated to educating each child appropriately and identifying at-risk youngsters by Grade Two and salvaging them by Grade Eight.

Arguing against the tougher standards rhetoric that marks the current education debate, the author of No Contest and Punished by Rewards writes that such tactics squeeze the pleasure out of learning. Reprint.