28464: Hermantin ( News)Miami Edison's failures stir fears about the future (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Posted on Thu, Jun. 15, 2006

EDISON SENIOR HIGH
Miami Edison's failures stir fears about the future
Failure has once again stained Edison Senior High, whose walls have housed a 
community.
BY PETER BAILEY
pbailey@MiamiHerald.com
Poverty, racism, language -- all have have been dubbed barriers to success at 
Edison Senior High, cast as the causes for the school's lack of achievement.

But whatever the reason, the saga continues: Edison has failed. Again.

The school received an F for the fifth consecutive year, making it only the 
second Florida school, alongside Orange County's Jones High School, to do so.

Principal Jean Teal did not return calls Wednesday.

Advocates say the school is saddled with unique social and cultural hurdles 
that raise questions about the fairness and effectiveness of the Florida 
Comprehensive Assessment Test.

For example, James Carlos migrated from Haiti in 2003, and found his first year 
at Edison difficult.

''I couldn't really understand the language,'' said the 10th grader. He was 
placed in English-as-a-second-language classes. ``The next year I did better. . 
. . My grades went up.''

NEW BEGINNINGS

For kids like James, officials hope a program called New Beginnings will foster 
cultural immersion, which they call critical to students' success. Under the 
program, which is being overhauled for the new school year, newly arrived teens 
are assigned to intensive reading and language classes with extra counseling 
services.

''We want to further the program by possibly assigning teachers with individual 
students,'' said Gepsie Metellus, chair of Edison Senior High's School-Based 
Accountability Board and a candidate for School Board.

While only 7 percent of the students have met reading proficiency standards, 
about 29 percent meet math standards, district records show.

This year, the school scored 274 points under the complex scoring system, just 
six shy of earning a D.

Superintendent Rudy Crew has plans to improve the school, converting its 
curriculum to career-themed academies. On Wednesday, he said he would shut down 
any struggling school.

Despite the assurances, the perennial failing scores still give rise to fears 
among some in Little Haiti that time may be running out on Edison, a place 
that's rooted in the soul of the community.

In the 1970s, newly arriving Haitian immigrants were offered English classes at 
Edison, located at 6161 NW Fifth Ct. The school became a conduit to the 
American mainstream for many.

DEVASTATING MOVE

''Shutting down the school would be devastating,'' said Father Reginald 
Jean-Mary of Notre Dame d' Haiti Catholic Church. ''It represents a 
sociocultural center in the community.'' Father Jean-Mary believes educators 
obsessed with the FCAT aren't addressing the socioeconomic factors affecting 
the lives of students.

''Many of the families juggle two and three jobs,'' he said.

If the string of Fs reflect a broken past, Autrell Reid speaks of a bright 
future, possibly beginning at the University of Texas in the fall.

''I wouldn't trade my experience at Edison for anything,'' said Reid, who 
recently graduated.

``The F rating is for people hung up on image . . . We know we're smart 
students.''