Tennessean schools' investigative series scores well today, except with ELL students

Give The Tennessean a lot of credit for all the hard work that went into today's part of its continuing investigative series on saving Metro Nashville Schools.

Well done.

But today's part automatically threw up a red flag for some of us when the two, above-the-fold graphics had no mention of children with problems in English language proficiency. Officially, these youngsters are called English Language Learners. I profiled these children and their problems early this decade for The Tennessean in a long series of columns that ultimately produced the needed change. The Bush administration's Department of Education came in and declared the school district out of compliance with a Civil Rights agreement signed during the Bredesen mayoral tenure to correct the inadequate education of ELL children.

The great John Seigenthaler, editor emeritus of The Tennessean, was gracious enough to call me at home to express appreciation for my columns. Yet the best thing he ever did for me was personally bring over David Halberstam at a First Amendment Center gathering. I was able to shake this great journalist's hand and talk with him. What a thrill! Halberstam's passing last year was a great shock, and I include him in my prayers each day.

With today's part of the series, I would have liked to have seen immigrant children included in the statistical graphics. I would like to know how they are faring with the needed teachers of good training based on years of experience. The Tennessean did note in a condensed piece in how it got the information needed for the series. There was, however, no explanation about the lack of English Language Learner students in the data request.

If the state could not provide such data, and simply rolled ELL student information into that for white students, then we have a problem with the state of Tennessee. The greatness of No Child Left Behind is in its requirement of school districts to compile information on ELL students and other classifications simply cast in the statistical shadowns. This is called disaggregation.

Either way, it would be helpful if The Tennessean could explain from where the problem emanates in not breaking out graphic numbers for ELL students.

My two older brothers are teachers. So I know the wonders and integrity that an experienced teacher offers. There also is my good friend, Charlene Grinder, who retired this past school year after a long career in Metro and areas schools. Her compassion for ELL students struggling in her history classes was moving. I believe other Metro teachers act accordingly, and God bless each of them. They see the deprivation and tragedy each day. I know it breaks their hearts.

In my years of conversations with the great Sister Sandra Smithson, she pointed to the training in university education programs for the difficulties in retaining experienced teachers in the most needy classrooms. The teachers are taught by theory and not hands-on experience, except for perhaps a short period of teacher aide assignments. The shock then as a new professional of enterting a classroom filled with significant academic and social needs becomes overwhelming. Today's Tennessean cited that. Also well done. Thank goodness for the extraordinary instructors who successfully overcome the classroom's social and academic obstacles.

Yet, if Nashville leaders are looking for a place to start for the future, they need to also be in more contact with the universities training the teachers before they ever get close to a Metro classroom.

Smithson, for those of you not familiar with her miracles, heads a charter school for at risk children in Nashville. Her sister is a Tennessee Hall of Fame instructor. They ran Project Reflect off Charlotte Avenue for years. The children they took in had fallen behind in regular public school classrooms, many during the forced march days of Phil Bredesen's Core Curriculum program.

In closing, I do not offer this assessment of Today's Tennessean to criticize. It is well done with the exception of leaving out a big group statistically that is affecting Metro score numbers.

I offer this web post to add to the necessary compilation of voices that will be needed to help turn Metro schools around. Besides Seigenthaler's compliment, the only other credentials I can offer are from the National Education Reporting Awards offered annually by the Education Writers Association in Washington, D.C. In the large newspapers' competition, my commentary beat out entries from newspapers including The Washington Post. And I won the commentary awards for three consecutive years.

I also have an investment in Metro schools, including two computer labs and a revitalized school music program at one place. I hope they still exist. Metro schools must succeed for a better Midstate. We need each of their students -- most particularly ELL students who can bring down a district's performance numbers in falling behind -- to come out prepared to contribute as citizens, leaders and professionals.

Some critics may say the problem belongs with the parents. Yes, an involved, educated parent can make the biggest difference. But what if the parent was failed by the same school system one year away from state control? Somewhere and at some time, the cycle must be broken. The Education Trust, a non-profit and non-partisan think tank in Washington, D.C., has found that a good, qualified teacher can catch up a child from a bad learning environment in five years. Yes, five years.

The same contention was made to me by a conservative Republican and Tennessean, who has been put in charge of going around the country into deprived areas to find education initiatives that worked. In interviews with disadvantaged families in Chattanooga, he found the same cyclical problem of failed parents trying to help their children who were being failed by the school system. So instead of working with the system, these parents distrusted it even more for what they believed it was doing to their children. A horrible history was being repeated.

ELL students face the difficulty of learning in a language many of their parents don't know. Critics will say that the parents should not come to this country without English language proficiency. But hungry mouths and stunted futures cannot wait. Any parent wants to provide better for his or her child, not wait 12 years to get into the legalization process line, raise thousands of dollars for fees and help they can't get from their nation's depressed economy, then watch many of their children reach adulthood and lose hope.

And besides, American business throughout our history has wanted these kind of people, because they are hungry to succeed and will work tirelessly for their dreams of better for their children. They contribute enormous energy and labor to our economy, pay sales taxes and buy homes. We need them, and most especially their children in our graying nation.

The voices of business men and women are most important in bettering public schools. The idea of incentives to recruit better teachers to more challenged schools is not new, even though the Metro school board will vote on it Tuesday. Early this decade, a businessman on the board often pointed to the lack of teachers in the most challenged schools and proposed ways to alleviate the imbalance. But his proposals did not gain enough discussion or needed traction on the board or in Nashville political circles -- partly because of his businesss, conservative credentials.

So there you have it. There are no easy solutions but the long, dedicated road back of forward steps and missteps without losing sight of the goal on the horizon. Best of luck and prayers, Nashville, on this most important trek. Those of us rooting for you will be looking for opportunities to contribute. And we'll most appreciate coverage like that provided today by The Tennessean.