What do you see as the priorities and/or concerns for the Christina School District?
1. Empowerment of Teachers through access to emerging best practices. Educators need the freedom and support to employ a variety of methodologies, professional development that goes beyond the “train the trainer” model, and procedures and policies that make materials and supplies readily accessible.
2. A Free and Appropriate Education for All Children, not just those who are part of the special education/populations. We need to identify and adapt to our students individual learning needs, providing extra support where necessary while challenging our best and brightest. As evidenced by the proliferation and exodus of students to local private and charter schools, our current public school system is short-changing students on every educational level.
We also need to perform an independent evaluation of whether our District is unilaterally providing FAPE to special needs students in regards to IDEA and its provisions. We need to ensure that our educators are receiving the most up-to-date training and are being encouraged to think creatively. We need to ask and answer: Are our students being limited by preconceived notions?
3. Our district needs to rethink its approach to curriculum. We need to develop a progressive, more realistic view toward relevant curriculum with Delaware Contents Standards regarded as our baseline or minimum criteria – not the goal.
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