|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
|
State
Rep. Tony Payton |
|
Payton extends support to
Allen M. Stearne Elementary School’s students and teachers
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 12 – State Rep. Tony Payton, D-Phila., extended his support to students, teachers and parents at Allen M. Stearne Elementary School who participated in Tuesday’s community meeting to discuss the adequate yearly progress requirements under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
The school did not meet the requirements and is required by law to provide a community forum to consider changes that may be made to school structure in response.
“I completely support the students and teachers at Stearne High School and will do everything I can to help the school improve in the future,” Payton said. “Education is the most important thing you can give a child and I will work very hard to secure additional state resources for Stearne. In the meantime, I hope all of the teachers and students keep their heads up and continue to dedicate themselves to learning.
“The school has some clear goals to strive for and I am sure that with parental and community support, they will achieve them.”
No Child Left Behind requires each state to define adequate yearly progress for school districts and schools, within certain parameters. In defining adequate yearly progress, each state sets the minimum levels of improvement -- measurable in terms of student performance -- that school districts and schools must achieve within time frames specified in the law.
If a school has not made adequate yearly progress, as defined by the state, for two consecutive school years, it is identified by the district before the beginning of the next school year as needing improvement. School officials are required to develop a two-year plan to turn around the school. The local education agency is required to ensure that the school receives needed technical assistance as it develops and implements its improvement plan.
Payton, a strong education advocate, said attendees at Tuesday’s meeting also learned more about his REACH proposal. The bill would create a statewide merit-based scholarship program for all students in Pennsylvania who maintain at least a 3.0 grade-point average and a 90 percent attendance record. The program would ensure those students would receive a scholarship covering all tuition and fees to any university in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
###ac2007/mjh l:\print\releases\ ayp.179
|
CONTACT: Ann Collis |