This is about the mid-spot of the campaign. I have been campaigning for a month, with about a month left. I have made my way through about half the city so far door-knocking and have talked to a great many of you. When I started this campaign, I said that I wanted to hear from you about your thoughts and concerns for the school district, and I would blog about them.
So far, I have blogged about:
Why the school district levies this fall are critical to pass
Find out what's happening in St. Louis Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Why teacher evaluations are important
Find out what's happening in St. Louis Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Why is freight train relocation an important school issue?
Here are some other concerns I have heard about that may be the subject of future blogs:
Whether the school district is being as innovative as other school districts in using technology, with lack of I-pads a common example that is used.
The district has brought in some new technology, like electronic white boards and “clickers”, but has been moving cautiously with some other possible items, like I-Pads, both because of the cost and the fact they don’t want to rush into new technology without ensuring there is training for the teachers to utilize the technology and curriculum that will take advantage of it.
What do you think? What more could we do to incorporate technology?
Whether the curriculum is as innovative and as complete as it should be.
Some people are concerned about the technology curriculum, particularly at the High School. Some people would like to expand the arts curriculum at all levels, which has gotten squeezed in recent years. Finally, some people are concerned about the lack of “options” in the Middle School.
What do you think? What do you think is lacking in the curriculum?
Closing the achievement gap.
St. Louis Park has many initiatives aimed at addressing this problem. We have an excellent pre-school program that offers many scholarships to low-income families. We have an excellent reading intervention program that aims to ensure each child is reading at grade level by third grade. In the middle school, we attempt to give remedial help when a student struggles in a subject. In high school we attempt to give individualized attention to students and keep them on track to graduate. Despite these efforts, though, the achievement gap remains.
What do you think? What should we be doing about the achievement gap that we are not already doing?
Please also visit my webpage, www.jimbeneke.com. I would appreciate hearing from you. I would like to know your thoughts and concerns about the school district. You can do that by commenting here, using the contact page on the webpage, e-mailing me at jimforslpschools@gmail.com, contacting me on the Facebook page www.facebook.com/jimbenekeforslpschools, or calling me at (952) 926-5699