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Frightening. Any student who is able to graduate from high school, in any city and any state, should have the education needed to succeed in college, whether it's a community, public, or private institution.
It isn't just the schools, though. What about this girl's family and what about herself?
" Although Deel managed to remain on the B honor roll throughout high school, she was taking basic math and general English classes instead of the more challenging classes offered by the school. She said she doesn't remember teachers or high school counselors advising her to take the tougher classes.
"I think my main thing was they didn't challenge us enough," Deel said. "
What about having the motivation to challenge yourself?
(The ABQ Journal is a good newspaper and people in ABQ can be proud of it.)
The sad thing is that the inadequately prepared young woman in the story is now going to a community college that won't teach her much more.
This is exactly what I have been stating about public education in New Mexico. It is SORELY lacking in nearly every aspect imaginable. That means not only do the schools at APS here in Albuquerque graduate only half (or 60%, depending on whose bad math you listen to), the kids that do graduate are not even proficient enough in math and English? And people wonder why NM has such a high poverty, crime, drug, teenage pregnancy, and drunk driving rate? Something is seriously wrong with the system, and it doesn't seem to be getting any better.
This is exactly what I have been stating about public education in New Mexico. It is SORELY lacking in nearly every aspect imaginable. That means not only do the schools at APS here in Albuquerque graduate only half (or 60%, depending on whose bad math you listen to), the kids that do graduate are not even proficient enough in math and English? And people wonder why NM has such a high poverty, crime, drug, teenage pregnancy, and drunk driving rate? Something is seriously wrong with the system, and it doesn't seem to be getting any better.
--BtK
I can tell that you are a local cause I can see it in your posts, NM has a different view on City Data, most people only see the sunsets,culture and arts and dont really know the true New Mexico,but it takes a native New Mexican too truely know how the state is.
When I first retired to NM, I taught for one year at a state university branch that shall remain unnamed. This NM school is nothing more than an extension of the local high school, accepting anyone who applies for entry, regardless of demonstrated prior education levels. There is no entrance exam required of incoming freshmen. New students over 23 yrs of age are admitted without any proof of prior education (under the Non-Degree plan they can later become full-time students as long as they maintained a 2.0 GPA)! After my first semester, in which I graded as I would in my former job, I was effectively instructed to lower my expectations and liberalize my grading.
I quit after that first year because I wouldn't play along with this "university's" need to allow anyone and everyone entry and a free ride lest the school jeopardize it's funding sources. They receive various funds dependent on the number of students attending. If a class does not have enough enrollments to "make" that semester, the class is canceled, and the school loses more income than just the lost tuitions. Additionally, there is NO permanent teaching staff - they are ALL part-time employees earning a basic salary with NO benefits. The only permanent positions are administrative positions - director, librarian, clerks, etc.
It sounds, jaxart, like you were part of a political patronage campus that didn't so much attract the best and brightest as much as kept jobs in a backwater community in NM.
So if you were king for a day, how would you fix the problem?
But if you read the story and learn about eighth graders with children and jobs -- maybe you do have to put some of the blame on the parents or actually grandparents.
Absolutely...I think you'd be hard pressed to find a majority of homes with 14 year old children who are already parents that stress education, especially higher education.
The fact is that there is a direct link to socioeconomic level and education. If a parent is educated and has a well-paying job, the children are far more likely to follow the same path.
Of course there are exceptions, but children born to poverty tend to stay in poverty.
I think it's one thing to recognize the NEGATIVE role that too many families play
in generation after generation failing to achieve, but that's also the "boogie-man"
that New Mexico's entrenched educational systems use to cover their own failures.
Whenever someone in a supposedly authoritative position starts in on the lack
of family support, we should be very aggressive in asking them "how does that
excuse you from offering decent education?".
I agree that the schools should be held equally accountable for the educational failure that is APS and the rest of the state's systems but they have to do something to make the student responsible for motivating themselves. If they don't get the push to excel at home, they have to get it at school.
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Skewl
This is exactly what I have been stating about public education in New Mexico. It is SORELY lacking in nearly every aspect imaginable. That means not only do the schools at APS here in Albuquerque graduate only half (or 60%, depending on whose bad math you listen to), the kids that do graduate are not even proficient enough in math and English? 
And people wonder why NM has such a high poverty, crime, drug, teenage pregnancy, and drunk driving rate? Something is seriously wrong with the system, and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. 
