This is an archive of a past election.
See http://www.smartvoter.org/ca/sac/ for current information.
Sacramento County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
Smart Voter

Quality vs. Safety Net

By James A. Cramer

Candidate for Trustee; Sacramento City Unified School District; Trustee Area 3

This information is provided by the candidate
Trying to leave no child behind has left us behind!!
Our "No Child Left Behind" programs seem to be leaving us behind the rest of the world. So much money, emphasis, and energy has been dedicated to creating a safety net for failing students that we are failing normal and gifted students. Not since Sputnik have we put proper emphasis on quality programs for our students in the arts, math or sciences.

Setting standards has also been disastrous and become more of an exercise in forcing verbally inclined students to be mathematical and mathematically inclined students to be more verbal and/or slower students to be frustrated, resistive, and/or drop out. Teachers feel pressured to bring slower students to standards. They are often forced to abandoning innovative programs and implement very structured remedial programs that burn many teachers out and bore most of today's students. The result is both teachers and students end up disliking school.

This new age gives us the resources of advanced technology, well educated teachers with advanced teaching methods, highly informed students and parents, and a community willing to lend a hand. We must get away from this "Dumbing of America" and deliver quality to our local students.

Candidate Page || Feedback to Candidate || This Contest
November 2008 Home (Ballot Lookup) || About Smart Voter


ca/sac Created from information supplied by the candidate: September 18, 2008 17:51
Smart Voter <http://www.smartvoter.org/>
Copyright © League of Women Voters of California Education Fund.
The League of Women Voters neither supports nor opposes candidates for public office or political parties.