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Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Should homemade treats be banned?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UPDATE: The Forsyth board did not vote on this issue. Here’s Jennifer Brett’s story.
The Forsyth County school board is set to ban students bringing homemade treats to school parties. The school board cites various reasons, including food safety, food allergies and increasing vigilance over childhood obesity. Other metro Atlanta schools are weighing similar issues.
Do you think a ban on homemade goodies is a good or ban thing?
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Principals Who Stand Out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Governor’s office released today a list of principals eligible for $15,000 bonuses if they lead schools deemed Needs Improvement. It’s an interesting list, which includes many principals from high performing schools serving mostly affluent families. Examples: Sarah Smith Elementary in Atlanta, Dickerson Middle in Cobb, Vanderlyn Elementary in DeKalb and McIntosh High in Fayette.
No Cherokee, Forsyth or Clayton leaders made the cut. Question is: Would they care? How many of these leaders would want to trade their current school for a Needs Improvement school? And if there are some takers, would the skills cultivated in a school like Crabapple Crossing Elementary in Fulton transfer to a school serving families where 80 percent qualify for free lunch?
This new state law didn’t get a lot of ink because it’s unclear whether it will have an impact. But maybe it will. Maybe a dynamic leader at a high performing school will turn a Needs Improvement school into a model.
UPDATE: Dana Tofig, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Education adds the following:
“Your blog seems to indicate that the the High Performance Principals are coming mainly from affluent white schools. While that may be true of the few schools you mentioned, I ran a few stats just in case someone brought that up. Of the schools that the HPPs work at: - The average African-American student population is 39 percent. - The average Economically Disadvantaged population is 46 percent (and is probably higher since, as you know, high school students don’t sign up for Free and Reduced Lunch as much as Elementary and Middle School kids). - You point to Sarah Smith Elementary as an example, but don’t look at the rest of the city of Atlanta. The average African-American population of the schools that had HPPs in Atlanta was 82 percent, the average Econ. Dis population was 65 percent.”
