SAUSD schools suck again – why do the Trustees keep getting elected?

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• As long as they ask childless taxpapers to pay for schools, then they should have a right to sit on the boards that decide how the tax dollars are spent. When they only tax parents for schools, I'd be all for parents only on school boards.

• make that tax payers

• Admin - Recently I was laid off as a school counselor and it was one of the greatest blessings being laid-off after being hired in another school district. Although I enjoyed the challenges that parents and students brought to the table, what I disliked was the politics that were being played within my school site and in the district. I was laid-off based on politics, what ever happen to HR's policy of recruiting and retaining competent employees. I was bumped by a teacher who had no experience in counseling. This is why the trustees need to go for failing to monitor the rehiring process. The union wouldn't help me and told me to take a hike. I had a perfect employee evaluation and I was still let go. I have no hatred towards the district but hatred towards the policies that the union and the district for rehires. I hope the three trustees are far removed in the upcoming elections and I hope Admin. in HR are fired for mishandling the rehire process. On a side note, the school site that I was at has a teacher who plays video games during class lecture (has not been fired), a teacher had cursed at me (finally retired), a couple of PE teachers who just sit on their rears watching the time go by. They hardly engage with the students. These are the type of staff members who should be let go but no, I had to be the one let go. I guess it's SAUSD's loss and another school district's gain!!!!

  • You make excellent points - and this is exactly what I have heard before from others. I wish you the best of luck with your continued career. Once again we lost out on a great employee!

• Interviews with kids that drop out do not mention board decisions. Student and teacher apathy is more connected to the symptoms of community low economic hardships.

  The difference between education performance is tied to household economics also extrapolated to differences in city economic levels.

  THE SOLUTION TO DROP OUTS IS ECONOMIC.
  SCHOOL BOARDS ARE IRRELEVANT ONLY RELEVENT AND NECESSARY FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REASONS.

  Parenting Education Why Teens Drop Out of High School...

  Why Teens Drop Out of High School .

  National statistics on the number of high school drop outs for 2008

  Recent studies reported by the US Department of Education revealed nearly 1.2 million students between the ages of 15 and 24 dropped out of high school in one year alone. However, according to the US Department of Education, the true drop out rate for US teens is quite difficult to discern with out factoring in the number of reasons why teens drop out of high school.

  These statistical findings suggest that 1 in every 5 students will drop out of high school between the 10th - 12th grade for one reason or another. Factoring in all the potential reasons for this extremely high ratio of drop outs verses graduates is quite complicated as researchers explain. For this reason we have narrowed down the top ten reasons that teens leave high school before graduation.

  Statistically 55% of the nation's students between the ages of 15 and 19 will successfully complete high school and receive a high school diploma. Another 15% will receive their GED or high school equivalency before the age of 24, which in total accounts for 70% of students that will graduate annually. The remaining 30% of high school students will drop out of school before reaching the 12th grade.

  According to the US Department of Education, there are ten significant markers of risk or reasons teens drop out of high school before graduating. Below are what USDOE discovered as the most common reasons teens drop out of high school.

  10 Reasons Why Teens Drop Out of High School

  1. Lack of Educational Support
  Studies conducted on 5,000 high school drop outs revealed 75% dropped out of high school because they lack sufficient parental support and educational encouragement.

  2. Outside Influences
  Friends and/or peer pressure from other high school drop outs, family or other outside relationships can impact a teen to drop out of school. This also encompasses teens who opt to drop out high school to join a gang or to be accepted in other teen groups and street communities.

  3. Special Needs
  There are a number of teens dropping out high school because they require specific attention to a certain need such as ADHD or dyslexia. This is predominately among densely populated public high schools where the overcrowded classrooms fail to recognize the special needs of a specific student.

  4. Financial Problems
  Often the family is in a very poor financial situation and in order to help the family financially is another reason why teens drop out of school. Teens in this case are forced to obtain employment to financially help the family, and in some cases the financial strain can be due to an unplanned pregnancy and/or parental disabilities.

  5. Lack of Interest
  One of the biggest reasons a teen will drop out of high school is because they simply lack interest in gaining an education. Out of 10,000 public high school drop outs, 7,000 of them confessed to their lack in interest to complete high school. Most often this is due to the generic course curriculums offered to public high school students, whereby a number of students simply become bored.

  6. Drug and Alcohol Abuse
  Drugs and alcohol abuse is within the top 3 reasons students fail to complete their high school education. It goes without saying, that a teen on drugs will rarely complete high school.

  7. Depression and Physical Illnesses
  Depression and illnesses can be the result of an eating disorder, heredity, family or financial situation that will contribute to the teen's lack of interest in school or class subjects and and is common reason why teens drop out of school.

  8. Physical Abuse
  Teens that are victims of domestic violence such as physical, verbal and sexual abuse tend to drop out of high school before obtaining their high school diploma. In most cases a number of teens experiencing abuse will runaway from home, thus causing them to drop out.

  9. Teen Pregnancy
  In the past, teen pregnancy accounted for 15% of the high school drop out rate among teens between the ages of 15 - 18. However, these numbers have sharply declined to about 4% on the average. A number of public schools have opted to reform the school to cater to pregnant teens. Some states have high schools specifically for pregnant teens and teen mothers to ensure they complete high school in an environment that does not judge them or discount the impact or signigicance of their circumstance.

  10. Alternative Lifestyles
  This common reason teens drop out of high school is due to their perception of an alternative lifestyle in which education does not play an important role. A teen who is introduced to drug dealing and prostitution may view high school as a waste of time because they don't need an education to sell drugs or their bodies for that matter.

  The bottom line for parents to help reduce the number of teen high school drop outs across the nation is to equip themselves and their teens with knowledge and alternative methods, such as going to a continuation or alternative school to receive their high school diploma and/or get their GED. It's simply not enough to tell your teen the importance of an education, but to also guide them into the right direction. Most important is maintaining communication so that you can discover your teen's risk of dropping out far enough in advance to really make a difference in the outcome.

• "THE SOLUTION TO DROP OUTS IS ECONOMIC"....... Hmmmmmm

  The reason why I didn't doped out of the school, in the old communist Czechoslovakia, was that a teacher was allowed to tell me: "Fiala if you will not learn you will become a garbage collector" or "Fiala if you will not learn you will become a coal miner" or "Fiala if you will not learn you will become a bricklayer" or "Fiala if you will not learn you will become an affirmative action detected dentist in the USA because over the USA they can't tell you truth so they can't heard your feelings.

  There are many countries around the world with 100 x worse economics and in same time 100 x better education Dr. Amalgam.

• Fiala ,

  We are talking about drop outs in the USA . I understand your problem with reading comprehension.

• garbage collector make a good wage.

• "We are talking about drop outs in the USA"...... Hmmmmmm

  The USA is not the 5th dimension, Dr. Amalgam.

  I am talking about USA referenced to others in the 3rd dimension!

  Only the USA affirmative action educated person will talk without a reference.

• "garbage collector make a good wage"..... Hmmmmm

  I know, even over there all those labor intense workers make a good wage, however in Europe are cases.

  If you are garbage collector you are lower class and your children are recurred by children whose parents are office workers which is higher standard because of the education.

  That forces children to strive for a higher education.

  To be a somebody.

• Fiala,

  Why don't you read a book or research material on issues. Your general ignorance is amazing.

  The images in your brain is not the real world.I reference everything I post. In this case my reference is the USA Department of Education . Your reference is your imaginary world.

  "The USA is not the 5th dimension, Dr. Amalgam."

  However it is the subject matter. Issues and solutions are tied to where they occur in association to regional contributing factors.