Dear Editor:
A simple question is being asked by parents "What are you going to do when 70 to 80 per cent of a group of children are failing?" Is it really that difficult to evaluate the situation and see where things are going wrong? Is there no one in the public school system that is willing to do what is right for the kids?
I'm a mom who had a daughter doing very poorly in math. My first reaction was to defend the teacher, and I told my daughter she wasn't trying hard enough. I kept track of how much time she spent studying. After the third failed test, I listened to my daughter when she said she was trying her hardest and most of the class was failing. I thought bringing it to the attention of NWSS administration would help. I thought students are the priority and the administration would find this many students failing unacceptable. I saw this as a simple problem with a simple solution. The class average of one teacher's Foundations of Math 11 classes is in the 40s, while another math teacher in the same school is in the 60s. This teacher's current Math 10 class, and previous classes going back for more than a decade, have had similar problems. How can the school administrators not be aware? And, more importantly, why have they not done anything about it since being told of this three months ago?
I have yet to see anyone from New Westminster School District put the students first. Their semester will end, and they will move on as failures in spite of their hard work. I'm appalled that not one member of this school district has made any attempt to reach out to the students and think of what is best for them. It is very clear the process is broken and it needs to be fixed. Someone needs to step up and do the right thing.
Indra Randhawa, New Westminster
