College View Middle School teacher Jeff Campbell greets his students on Oct. 15.(Denver Post file)
Editor’s note: The following letters were written by seventh-grade students at DSST: Stapleton, a Denver charter school.
Education is essential in order to succeed. But Colorado seems to be slacking off in giving kids the resources needed in order to have a good education. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2008-09, Colorado spent $1,809 less per pupil than the national average. Children need adequate resources in order to prosper, but if children do not have proper resources, it will be much harder to succeed. Colorado, being the great state that it is, should have an education system that is equally amazing. The Colorado government should step up its game by giving more money to schools for better resources. Children like me are our future; education carves the path to success, and having a bad education affects the rest of our lives. Everyone deserves a chance at a good future.
Mika Kawanabe, Denver
This letter was published in the Jan. 11 edition.Standardized tests are used to measure a studentap knowledge and how well the curriculum in school is doing, when in reality, the measurement isn’t accurate.
Administrators support having standardized tests when they don’t see that standardized tests put students at risk. Problems include cheating, grading with wrong answer keys, and discussing answers after testing.
According to ASCD, an education development program, 80 percent of tests don’t measure what students learn in school. Also, Omega Learning found tests with one out of every 11 questions keyed incorrectly. Furthermore, what is measured on tests is levels above what students learn in class.
Undoubtedly, state tests are hurting people, and I suggest we elect a focus group concentrated on pinpointing and changing problems with standardized state tests.
Arnav J. Kanwal, Denver
This letter was published in the Jan. 11 edition.Student health is very important, and changing school start times will help with it. I believe that the times that schools are starting should be pushed back later in the morning. It will help with students’ mental health as well as the amount of sleep they are getting every night. According to an article by CNN, lack of sleep causes poor academic performance and health issues. Statistics show that starting no earlier than 8:30 is recommended, yet only 14 percent of public high schools actually follow that guideline. Students who wake up earlier are not as mentally healthy and do not have as high a performance in school as they would if they went to school later.
Instead of having school start at an unhealthy time, it could start around 8:30 or 9 a.m.
Zoe Vandal, Denver
This letter was published in the Jan. 11 edition.
Submit a letter to the editor via this form or check out our guidelines for how to submit by e-mail or mail.
