Ed and the other democrats, what is your assessment of this:
" The Wages of Summer School
By PETER SIMON
News Staff Reporter
3/14/01
Ninety Buffalo students will be paid $5 an hour to attend summer school this
year, in what is believed to be the first time local students will be compensated
for attending classes.
The pilot program, to be funded by a federal grant, is designed to improve
academic performance among incoming freshmen at Burgard Vocational High
School and to bolster one of Buffalo's most troubled schools.
"If we can convince these students to go to summer school, we can improve their
academics and help them be successful," said David Hess, Buffalo's assistant
superintendent for secondary, adult and continuing education.
Because nearly 80 percent of Burgard's students are from families living below
the poverty level, many of them choose jobs over summer school in order to save
for clothes or cars, or simply to help their families get by, Hess said.
Though students have long been paid to participate in summer jobs programs and
some internships, this is believed to be the first time in Western New York that
they would be compensated for attending school.
The Erie I Board of Cooperative Educational Services, which provides vocational
training for students in 19 local school districts, does not pay students to attend
class, said Barbara Runco, a BOCES spokeswomen. And James P.
Mazgajewski, now in his 19th year as superintendent of the Cheektowaga-Sloan
School District, said he cannot recall any local district providing stipends for
students.
In Philadelphia last summer, 650 low-income high school students received
stipends of $3 an hour for studying at 12 colleges or universities in or near the
city.
Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools,
said high school students also have been paid to tutor younger pupils in other
urban school districts, but he is not aware of students' receiving stipends for
attending summer school.
"If it gets kids into the classroom, terrific," Casserly said. "I'm sort of a pragmatist
in that regard."
The incoming Burgard freshmen, all of whom plan to attend the school's
automotive program in the fall, would study English, math and social studies, tour
automotive facilities such as shops or car dealerships, and work on vocational
projects at the Kensington Avenue school. They are 14 to 16 years old.
Summer school would run 15 hours a week for five weeks, and participants would
be paid $75 a week or $375 for the full program, meaning it will cost the district
$33,750 for the summer. The students probably will not be compensated for an
additional week at a camp in Fredonia, where they will learn life skills such as
trust, cooperation and teamwork, Hess said.
Freshmen deficient in English, math
In recent years, almost all of Burgard's incoming freshman have failed either an
eighth-grade math assessment test or an eighth-grade English assessment
exam or both, Hess said.
Starting high school with such severe academic deficiencies makes it extremely
difficult for students to meet the state's graduation standards, which require
incoming freshmen to eventually pass five Regents exams or substitute exams of
equal rigor.
"We want to bring them up to grade level, or close to it, before they start high
school," Hess said.
The program, he said, would have other benefits.
"It tells them about the real world. If you do the work and do it right, you get paid.
If you don't, you get dropped from the program," he said.
Burgard has a dismal academic profile. It has awarded no Regents diplomas in
the past three years, has a high transiency rate and has seen enrollment dip to
382 from about 600 in the past five or six years, Hess said.
Reaction from Board of Education members is generally supportive.
"It's something we should try," said Anthony J. Luppino, the West District
representative. "You're beginning to connect school to the work world. A little bit
of a stipend might solidify commitment for some kids."
Central District Board Member Jan Peters said she favors the stipends because
they would be financed by a federal grant.
"Given the mix of classroom work, site visits and hands-on experience, I think it
makes sense," she said. "But I would not use district funds to do it."
Marlies Wesolowski, the East District board member, said she needs more
details before reaching any conclusions.
"I don't know what the philosophy behind it is," she said. "I don't know what we're
paying them for."
Suburban superintendent: Will it work?
Mazgajewski said he has mixed feelings about paying students, but said the real
test will be whether participants go on to do well in high school.
"If you're giving them a carrot and it turns them on to the program, fine," he said.
"But if all they get out of it is the carrot, then it didn't work."
The Burgard program is a joint effort involving the school district, the United Auto
Workers-General Motors Center for Human Resources and the Workforce
Development Consortium, a nonprofit agency that serves as a grant recipient for
the city. " |
