For the St. Louis American James T. Ingram
Well, it’s back to school time in East St. Louis. Another opportunity to reverse the academically challenged school district. Another chance to prove that, despite the nepotism, cronyism and questionable leadership of ESL schools, that maybe this year the children can finally come first.
When I attended my recent class reunion, one of my fellow East St. Louis Senior High classmates said it best: “If ESL focused on scholarship in the same way that it wins Olympic medals, then ESL would be a force to reckon with.”
That was an obvious reference to the recent gold medal-winning performance of ESL native Dawn Harper at the Beijing Olympics.
ESL is, rightfully, proud of Harper’s stellar achievement, as am I.
However, long after Harper’s homecoming parade has ended and the cheers have faded, ESL must face the stark reality that, at East St. Louis Senior High, 85 percent of 11th graders cannot read at the minimum acceptable level as defined by the State of Illinois.
That means that, with one year left before graduation, many of ESL’s students will face a major challenge in being proficient enough to not only pass State requirements, but to even qualify to attend the college of their choice.
If a high school student reads on a remedial level, then it’s a long shot (at best) that they will score well enough on their ACT and SAT to gain admission, let alone scholarships, to attend college.
Without an education they will be underemployed, unemployed or used as cannon fodder by the U.S. military. That’s unacceptable by even the lowest standards.
I blame ESL School District 189 as well as the parents of these students. Both have failed the children of ESL for the past 11 years of their academic lives.
District 189 has been more focused on hooking up relatives with jobs, and hiring and rehiring administrators who have been abysmal failures in other school districts and rewarding them with six-figure salaries.
Parents have failed to attend school board meetings or parent-teacher conferences and failed to hold the ESL school superintendents and board presidents (past and present) accountable for malfeasance and educational malpractice.
Recently, IL State Superintendent Chris Koch reportedly met with state Senator James Clayborne and state Representative Wyvetter Younge, regarding a plan for the improvement of ESL schools.
However, if parents don’t hold Superintendent Theresa Saunders, School Board President Lonzo Greenwood and the ESL School Board accountable, then no plan will work.
A reputation of functionally illiterate ESL high school graduates shouldn’t be an option, particularly when I reflect on the lives of our ancestors who fought so hard for the opportunity to receive an education which, today, is taken for granted.
I’m saddened at the status of these students, particularly when I reflect on the college prep curriculum which I enjoyed as a high school student in ESL.
At East St. Louis Senior High I took Latin, organic chemistry, qualitative analysis, physics and composition and research. Yet, today, 11th graders can barely read? That is unacceptable, inconceivable, and shameful.
And the fact that I even have to point these facts out disgusts me even more.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com.