editorials
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Our Children In Our Schools
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The National Governors Association
meeting at Hilton Head Island. S.C.. this
past weekend released a 173-page report on
education that received mixed reviews
from many of the nation’s leading
educators. The report, developed after a
year-long study and public hearings across
; the nation, is designed to be give governors
a much greater role in influencing the trend
Toward educational changes in many of the
S W - X? S % . 7 , * ) **
Mary FutreU. president of the 1.7 million
'taember National Education Association,
expressed concern that the report's plans to
reward competent teachers with higher pay
and more authority would unfortunately
take the best teachers out of the classroom
where they are needed most.
. Albert Shanker, president of the (00,000
member American Federation of Teachers,
said that the governors and their states
should proceed slowly and cautiously in
giving students and their parents the right
‘ff choose the schools of their desire.
Shanker said, “If you have the right to
switch,.nobody wants to fight.” That is, few
people would be say, for example, willing to
argue for Improving inner-city schools.
Most parents would probably send their
children to the school nearest their homes
for reasons of convenience. In addition, and
*htle apparently not mentioned publicly,
many educator* were concerned that
allowing students to choose their schools
would resegregate many school systems
along racial and economic lines.
However, U.S. Education Secretary
William Bennett defended the idea of letting
students choose their schools. He said, “If a
school Is wretched, we should let people
leave It.” Yet, there is in fact no valid
reason for a public school to be allowed to
become “wretched.” The .planned closing
and demolition of an old school Is under
stood as appropriate, but no serviceable
school facility should be allowed by
r*kponslble public officials to become
“wretched’-’ by neglect and thus need to be
Closed. 'Hiriu
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Sex Education
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Un another vital issue, the governors! did
not adopt any position on sex education, and
f»e report lacked any specific recommend
ation on. the subject. Neairby, 2S antb
aWtion I protesters demonstrated, they t
said they wanted the governors to know
that if sex education is taught in the
schools, students should also be instructed
not to engage in sex outside of marriage. It
appears to us that it was a serious over
sight for the governors to have not taken
some position on this vital issue.
It Is, of course, important to note that
our schools are really no stronger than the
support and interest shown by the com
munity in which the schools exist. This is
particularly significant as it relates to the
parents of the school children. Retired First
Ward School Prihcipal Cleo Gullick
summed up decisively what the National
Parent Teachers Association and the
^rofessional^ducatim^ssoclations have
known for years that. "Parents are a
critical factor. They know more about
their children than we (educators) know.
They know their major modes of
learning, their Interests, and talents."
The fact is, without parental support of
what the school seeks to teach children Is a
sure way to guarantee failure of both the
school and the children. There Is In fact a
significant correlation between students'
academic achievement and parental
interest and Involvement In the school. The
absence of such Involvement has been a
vital reason that some Inner-city youth have
not reached their potential In the student
teacher learning process.
Parental Support
Parental support of the student-teacher
learning and achieving process may mean
different things to different people.
However, Nancy Brachey of The Charlotte
Observer summarised articulately what
role parents should play to help their
children have successful school-learning
experiences. Just In case you missed or
overlooked Ms. Brachey's excellent article,
here Is a brief summary of her article as
drawn from suggestions by the National
PTA and local school administrators and
teachers. As parents, we should: 4
-Set a good example. Let your children
see you reading.
-Rehd to your child (with enthusiasm and
Interest).
-Go with your child to the library
regularly.
-Talk with, rather than to, your children.
This Involve* being a good liitener (you will
learn something, too).
-Help your children to manage their
time. (Regulate and direct their use of
television. Help them to organise their
school study time In a quiet, well
lighted place with a dictionary, pencils,
school, books, and other study aids..
Insist that your children be responsible for
certain chores -in the home such as keeping
their room clean, feeding the family dog.
cutting the grass and washing dishes.
Developing a sense of responsibility in
doing such chores will have a positive
impact on your children’s attitude and
responsibility about school work add other
life activities.) E^^^Br
Be patient. A child who 1* sci^__ upset
and under (unnecessary) pressure is less
likely to learn than a child who Is calm and
unworried.
-Take time to share ideas and let and
encourage your children to develop their
decision-making skills.
—Family builds self-esteem in your
children through praise. (However, when
reprimand Is necessary do it calmly and
constructively; explaining the circumstanc
es to assure that a positive learning
experience will take place.)
As another school year begins, we hope
you will think on less things so that your
child or children and mine may have a
better chance at having a successful and
productive school year.
THE CHARLOTTE POST
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WOer Say»
Black, Single Mothers Can Guide Their Children
By Sherman N. Miller
Special To The Post
Listening to the doomsday
merchants, America's Mack
family structure has already
crumMed and Mack children
are trapped in a labyrinth of
poverty. These soothsayers
defacto depict single Mack
mothers as parental incom
petents because they have
no hope Of guiding their
children towards realizing
the American Dream. This
doomsday scenario Is purely
balderdash because of black
single mother can guide her
children towards traditional
American values.
I think the late Lucille
Wilder of Alicevllle,
Alabama was a testimony
of the tenacity of a single
jlack mother when forced to
raise a large family alone.
When I met her ever 22 years
ago she was a widow strug
! > gllngto raise 10 children on a
farm. It took me only a few
moments to recognize that
she was a God-fearing
person with very strong
moral convictions that
underpinned her develop
ment plan for her children.
This Mack lady demon
strated that one need not give
birth to a child to mother it. I
_ married her oldest daughter
Sherman
and she immediately began
to treat me as though I was
one of her own. She shared
with me her dream of seeing
the family's assets (know
ledge and material pos
sessions) cumulated between
generations.
This lady's love reminded
me of my own upbringing.
Namely, one Is expected to
be responsible for his
family’s well-being, and the
children's education Is
. paramount. These two
forces placed a great burden
on my mind that lasted for
months.
I was haunted by the issues
•of “selfishly using my
earnings for only my Im
mediate family or helping 10
talented children.” When I
folly comprehended Mom
Wilder’s vision, my own
training demanded that I
help. Today these children
are professional educators
and professionals In
Industry.
This black mother’s
strength reached beyond the
grave when her children
signed over their share of a
relatively new house to one
daughter to keep the proper
ty In the family. This house
had been the fulfillment of
this black woman’s dream to
get her family out of the
housing projects where they
had had to settle after a
tornado destroyed their farm
house.
Some might argue that I
am letting the black males
off the hook by suggesting
that the black female can
raise children alone. 1 want
to make It perfectly clear
that I feel all men, regard
less of their race, have a
responsibility for the health
and welfare of their families.
Furthermore, our welfare
system should be under
pinned with the premise that
maintaining the family
structure Is a key Ingredient
in providing opportunity for
children of poor families to
move Into Mainstream
America.
In recounting our many
conversations, I think this
black woman let me share
her vision on how to shape
tomorrow's world for her
family. That Is to say, “The
real reward of investing in
people Is that you have the
opportunity to help them,
their children, and their
children’s children shape a
better tomorrow." Is no
America's current
prosperity due to the sacri
fice and vision of our fore
fathers?
AHA Puls On
Food Festival
"American Heart’s Food
Festival" Is an Innovative
national program to focus public
attention on the benefits of low-fat
eating patterns and heart health,
l/wal grocery stores will display
potters, and provide information
and recipes on heart • healthy
foods and will have these foods
featured during the Festival Week of
September 7-13.
Scientists have demonstrated that
the typical American diet -- high in
cholesterol and saturated fats -
contributes to the risk of cardio
vascular disease
COMUNITV
SELF-HELP PROJECTS fc
M H f$
EDUCATION
VOTER REGISTRATION
ANTIPOVERTY PROGRAM
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
MORALITY
DEUQUENCY
FIGHT.AGAINST
JSM
' TRUE WISDOM IS TO KNOW
WHAT IS BEST WORTH KNOWING,
AND TODO WHAT 19.BEST
worth doing:
COMMUNITIES CAN A.ND MUST DO THE JOB
Am I See It
JCSU Football Is In Jeopardy
By Gerald O. Johnson
Special TO The Post
In my youth I can remem*
her going with my father to
JCSU football games. I got
the chance to go to all the
CIAA college campuses to
see the Bulls play. I have
fond memories of those days.
I can still see the Bulls’ bus
pulling up to the opposing
stadium. I can still hear the
players’ chanting “let’s go
down and get It over with, get
It over with, get It over with,
letts go down and get it over
with, we’re going to Win this
gamb.” The chants, the ^
brought fe&rfo the hearts o^f
opposing teams.
Even the names of players
of yesteryear bring back
fond memories. Who can
forget “Butch” Walker,
Pettis Norman., “Snowhlll,”
“Rocky Mount,” Tom Brown,
Andrew Perry, Tim
Harkness, Bill Davis,
Lenwood Spindle, just to
name a few. But, the ques
tion now must be will new
names continue to be added
.to the list of those who wore
the Blue and the Gold? When
will the names stop? When
will the last Bull season end?
' ; * .)+' ,4 7. • • '• '
Gerald
All of this nostalgia, this
pagentry, is on its way out
from JCSU, unless we act
now. The athletic depart
ment at JCSU loses appro
ximately $200,000 a year. The
department runs on a budget
of $400,000 of which football
gets the lion’s share of
$135,000. This figure in
cludes department salaries,
equipment, promos, scho
larships, and everything
else under the sun. The
income from sports Is only
$200,000. Half of this comes
from student fee*.
Based on the above ata*
tistics, It should be apparent
to any Bull fan that the
school cannot afford to.
continue to take losses of this
magnitude. Hence, commit
tees are currently studying1
the feasibility of discontinu
ing football.
Some Immediate observa
tions come to my mind.
First, the JCSU athletic
budget Is far less than a lot of
schools they have to compete
against. Several of the
schools have football budgets
in excess of what Smith's
entire athletic budget
How can you expect a ^
school to win under these
circumstances? How can a
school with such a skimpy
budget recruit quality
athletes? The answer is they
can't.
Consequently, JCSU is :
caught in a “catch-22"
situation. They can't afford >
to recruit quality athletes,
hence, they lose. Losing
causes the fans to stop
supporting the teams. With
no fan support there is not
enough income from gate
receipts to help support the
teams. Therefore the school
loses money.
Unfortunately, many
people feel that the school
gets plenty of money and
that the problem is a mis-’
appropriation of funds.
Others simply blame coach
Small. The truth Is JCSU gets
funds under Endowment
programs. This money Is
given to the school for spe
cific purposes. The contri
butions of funds generally '
specify what donated
monies can be used for.
Moreover, without getting ;
Into details on how endow
ments work, the endowment
money is not readily avail
able for use. Suffice It to say
that monies coming to JC8U
are not going Into the
Athletic Department.
The truth of the matter Is
most schools should not have
to spend money from
general funds to sponsor
athletic programs. Athletic
programs should be self
sufficient. This Is the whole
purpose of booster dubs.
Gate receipts and contribu
tions are all that should be
needed to sponsor quality
athletic programs. The
school cannot and should not
take a loss sponsoring ath
letics. Even though Inter
collegiate athletics is an
Integral part of a college
education, It Is not the
purpose for which any Insti
tution of higher learning was
founded.