What’s working well in public schools?

• Educators are working hard and making good use of the available resources.
• Advance Placement in-house classes are keeping students in the schools, as opposed to post-secondary enrollment options.
• Schools are helping students to become more college-ready.
• There are a lot of opportunities for extracurricular activities.
• Teachers are involved. They like their jobs.
• General public awareness has gone up. There’s been a better public response to public needs (drugs, obesity, etc.).

What challenges do schools face?

• Diverse families and backgrounds make it more challenging to meet all students’ needs.
• High activity fees prevent some students from taking part in extracurricular activities. Students need to feel connected to something. Every student should be able to get involved in some type of program.
• Most adults lack basic financial “know-how.”
• Getting communities connected to the kids and to the schools so they can better understand the importance of good schools.
• Many students don’t understand the relevance of education.
• Stressed and stretched families. Drugs and mental health issues are placing more stress on students and schools.
• Declining enrollment/open enrollment are making things financially difficult for schools.
• A number of superintendents in the Alexandria area are being replaced or are retiring. Stability issues arise due to the shifts in the position.
• We need to be concerned about keeping up with a global society.
• Passing bond and levy referendums is tough.
• Growing diversity and special education needs mean a greater need for positions like school nurses and school counselors, but they are being cut from the budget. Most teachers aren’t prepared to take over those duties.
• Busing isn’t provided for all students.
• There hasn’t been enough additional funding for schools to implement the No Child Left Behind Act.
• There is a loss of local control over schools. State and federal laws like NCLB don’t allow communities and schools to make decisions based on local needs.
• Some of the vocational courses are some of the things that have kept some students involved, and a lot of those are being lost and deemphasized, which could lead to higher dropout rates.
• Some schools are able to offer all-day, every-day kindergarten while others are not. It’s turned into a game of haves and have-nots, and there are some equity issues there that need to be dealt with.

What do schools need to provide?

• More college prep classes.
• Encourage more early childhood programs.
• More accountability.
• Physically and emotionally safe environments where our children and students can learn.
• Arts and music for younger students.
• We need to value technical programs and classes. Not every student continues on to college, and we need to continue to provide technical classes for those students.
• Schools need to look outside of the box. They need to look at other options for funding and find alternative strategies for cutting costs. Example: sharing superintendents.
• Schools should offer more language courses.
• ESL is a very important program in our schools, and it needs to continue to be funded.
• Early childhood programs and all-day, every-day kindergarten need to be provided.
• Health care costs are skyrocketing. Schools need to promote health and physical fitness in our schools. Unfortunately districts are taking steps backwards by cutting physical education and health programs.

How can we all take part to help schools provide those items?

• The public needs to get involved in the schools. Let community education and other programs use the school facilities. The more community members are allowed to use the facility, the more the community will feel a sense of ownership over the building.