Got to love this story about a struggling school on the near west side of Cleveland:
For the Cleveland school, it may have been a case of pass or perish. In October, district Chief Executive Eugene Sanders threatened to simply shut down or replace the staff at Gallagher and nine other so-called “turnaround” elementary buildings if their marks don’t improve by 2010.
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More than 60 percent of Gallagher’s about 800 students primarily speak languages other than English. About one in four is in special education. And many come from poverty, homelessness and other upheaval that teachers say eventually grinds youthful enthusiasm into despair.
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[picture caption]Abukar Abukar, a Somali refugee, helps Adora Campis, who is involved with a program that helps homeless students in the Cleveland school district. Every Friday, the program distributes bags of food to 50 students who are homeless or on the brink.
Ahh dear reader, you have no idea how upset this makes me. WHY IN THE WORLD ARE WE IMPORTING HOMELESS SOMALIS WHO CANNOT FEED THEMSELVES INTO OUR COUNTRY!?!?! What group of idiots would bring that upon themselves?
Anyway, a school full of freshly imported Somali’s and Hispanics that’s failing? Paint me as shocked.
But is Gallagher truly a failure?
Maybe, maybe not, but its existence is a failure of the worst sort.
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