August 30) - In New Britain, Connecticut, parents protested an Early Dismissal plan that would mean about 30 early dismissals for elementary and middle school students and about eight early dismissal days for high school students. So that teachers can "work together to find ways to improve student performance."
Mulqueen said the new schedule is unrelated to the school restructuring approach mandated by the No Child Left Behind guidelines.
-----------------------------------------------------
WE FOUND:
The New Berlin School District is rated 2 out of 10, with 10 being the highest, by GreatSchools.net.
Student population is 55% Hispanic, 25% White, 18% Black.
Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch program = 62%
The district has 15 schools with 10,939 students
Google map for the district.
New Britain, CT, city information
Median household income = $38,592 <------
State median household income = $62,818
Population: 71,180
TT - In a lower income area, why send children home early where parents are both likely to work?
The article also notes that the Early Dismissal program has been in effect for decades in Glastonbury, CT (that has, we found, 8 schools and 6720 students, where NO school has a population with less than 83% WHITE, and the median household income is $90,290.) and West Hartford, CT (with 16 schools and 9988 students, where only one school has a majority - 36% Hispanic population link and the median household income for the city is $71,941.)
You simply can't say that these schools have better results because of increased teacher training supposedly achieved by the Early Dismissal of students.
New Berlin schools are low income, with higher crime rates, with significant Hispanic and Black populations forming the majority of students.
What they are, in plain English, are poverty plantation shools in a poverty plantation town where students are recycled into the community as low-wage, low-income and low-expectation workers. Unless, by luck, the No Child Left Behind Act eventually forces the school district to allow the students to attend better schools in more stable communities with more opportunies and less political patronage, they will be mired in poverty. Forever.
Importing Hispanics to fill the void when other residents abandon depressed cities ought to, at a minimum, result in an increased responsibility to decently educate them so they have the same opportunities others have.
(August 19) - In Hartford, the Mayor Eddie Perez has signed a new ordinance that bars police from asking people about their immigration status.
