Mr. Chair and members of the Senate Committee on Early Learning, I am Cindy Meyer, member of the Board of Directors of Walla Walla Public Schools.I am here representing the Walla Walla Board of Directors and am submitting a letter from them. We support this bill because the Walla Walla public schools are committed to rigor and data driven decisions.
In Walla Walla, we recognize every student enters our doors with differentiated needs. In return, we offer differentiated instruction to best meet the needs of each student.
Walla Walla Public Schools is proud of the rigor we provide our students. We are proud of our Gifted and Talented program, AP classes, and the partnerships with Walla Walla Community College and Whitman College we have developed to meet the needs of our students. We are committed to meeting students where they are, and challenging them, while supporting them through their studies.
A diploma of Excellence is a good fit for the great majority of our students and necessary for the college bound.
But brain research tells us some students are unable to process abstract concepts – and therefore unable to pass the high school math assessment. Walla Walla has 67 seniors who have gone the distance with us, they have worked hard yet they are unable to pass the math assessment – this is not about students needing to work harder, it’s about students not being able. Our staff has worked to keep them engaged and in school. These students have placed their trust in us and have not become a dropout statistic. Yet without a diploma of minimum state requirments, you are demanding we look these 67 in the eye and tell them “sorry, we won’t recognize your accomplishments, and the work you have done and there will be no ticket to a productive future from us.”
If you want to talk about numbers, we could talk about the 16,000 students statewide that can’t pass the math assessment, or the $292,000 it cost our taxpayers for every dropout over their life time, or the $127,000 high school graduates contribute to the tax payer over their life time. Or the $18 million that Randy Dorn is asking for dropout prevention, which seems counterproductive when the lack of a diploma of minimum state requirements forces these students into dropout status. Or if you really want to talk about numbers we could talk about the 16,000 students statewide unable to pass the math assessment. Of those 16,000 we could conservatively say 4000 won’t be able to pass the collection of evidence either, and if we multiply 4000 X $292000 = $1,168,000,000 burden to the Washington tax payer over the lifetime of the students dropping out this year. We could discuss this and become overwhelmed by the financial and social burden high school dropouts place on society. But instead let’s concentrate on a better reality.
You can fix this.
You can be the hero to these children.
You can be a hero to Washington State taxpayers.
You have a very real opportunity to encourage the independence of these students from government assistance.
This bill does not change the rigorous requirements for the majority. This bill still honors their hard work and achievement.
But this bill also honors the work of those able to demonstrate a competency that does not require abstract thought.
This bill opens a very real door for them.
Please support Senate Bill 5477
Comments (0)