Ideas for schools and school districts across the United States (public schools, cafeteria)

[Vicman]

I have some ideas for schools and school districts across the United States:
1. Post nutritional information for school lunches and any other food or beverages sold on campus on the internet and have the same information available in all of the individual campuses.

2. Post data on numbers of English learners (Students who know languages other than English but do not possess fluency of English) and the specific languages that they speak. California has this information published.

3. If the district is an urban district, the district should translate school profiles into non-English languages commonly spoken by parents. I.E. Alhambra USD, headquartered in Alhambra, California, posts its profiles in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Chinese.

In addition, parents and members of the community should establish websites that evaluate the details of the schools in their communities. I.E. www.insideschools.org is a site that evaluates New York City public schools. The site publishes more than test scores; the site explains many details of the schools, including atmosphere, curriculum, etc.

[jco]

Post nutritional information for school lunches and any other food or beverages sold on campus on the internet and have the same information available in all of the individual campuses.

Why? I see kids take their lunch money and use it in the vending machine all the time. Most students do not care about nutrician when a Milky Way is calling!

In addition, parents and members of the community should establish websites that evaluate the details of the schools in their communities

Have you visited rateyourteacher.com (I believe that's the site)?

[Racelady88]

Originally Posted by Vicman

3. If the district is an urban district, the district should translate school profiles into non-English languages commonly spoken by parents. I.E. Alhambra USD, headquartered in Alhambra, California, posts its profiles in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Chinese.

Maybe the parents could learn to speak the language.

[ahava]

Originally Posted by Vicman

I have some ideas for schools and school districts across the United States:
1. Post nutritional information for school lunches and any other food or beverages sold on campus on the internet and have the same information available in all of the individual campuses.

I agree with jco, most students do not care. The school I teach at does have nutrition info posted in the cafeteria and the only students I see looking at it are the stick-thin girls trying to eat as few calories as possible. Yes, let's help borderline anorexics eat less! If it was on the school website and/or sent in a letter to parents, that would be useful.

Originally Posted by Vicman

2. Post data on numbers of English learners (Students who know languages other than English but do not possess fluency of English) and the specific languages that they speak. California has this information published.

This isn't done for privacy reasons. Even if it was, what purpose does it serve?

Originally Posted by Vicman

3. If the district is an urban district, the district should translate school profiles into non-English languages commonly spoken by parents. I.E. Alhambra USD, headquartered in Alhambra, California, posts its profiles in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Chinese.

Many districts already do this.

Originally Posted by Vicman

In addition, parents and members of the community should establish websites that evaluate the details of the schools in their communities. I.E. www.insideschools.org is a site that evaluates New York City public schools. The site publishes more than test scores; the site explains many details of the schools, including atmosphere, curriculum, etc.

Ratemyteacher.com and ratemyprofessor.com seem to be very popular sites, though I wouldn't say student opinions are objective. Not that parent opinions necessarily are either.