Pasadena
City Councilman Paul Little Letter to PUSD Board Of Education
10/22/2006
Dear
School Board members,
I
notice that you have an agenda item entitled "Three Challenges
to Bridging the Achievement Gap".
Knowing
that many other school districts are facing the same issues,
many actually managing to close the gap through effective programs
and strategies, I would much rather see you addressing concrete
proposals as to how the achievement gap can be closed and what
others are doing to close it.
Hearing
more reasons why the task is difficult really only distracts
from the fact that you need effective strategies to close the
gap. You don't need to hear about barriers, you need to be moving
forward to close the gap and deliver a more effective curriculum
to your students.
Please
ask your staff to come back quickly with strategies they are
employing to close the achievement gap. I would further suggest
you discuss surveying what other districts in Southern California
are doing. Have them find the successful strategies others are
utilizing and import them to PUSD.
Focus
on the needs of the students, not the reasons your district
might find the task challenging.
Finally,
one of your own schools has effectively worked to close the
gap. Ask the staff and teachers at Willard what they are doing
and spread that strategy districtwide.
Thank
you,
Paul
Little
Pasadena City Council
