Gainesville, Hall schools not making AYP

I love that English as a Second Language has gone the way of the cotton gin and that English Language Learners is its new facade. ELL is much warmer and doesn't have that foreign feel to it like EASL does as EASL implies a first language other than English. Our governments and interest groups at work; when all else fails, paint it.

I cannot imagine what it is like going to school these days.

Cross posted from Take Back Georgia:

Well, well, well. Here it is - thirteen Gainesville and Hall county schools didn't make Adequate Yearly Progress this year.

Are we surprised?

Considering the amount of ESOL anchor babies and illegal population in our county - this is no surprise to most of us who live here. This development is proof positive that we need to eliminate birthright citizenship and close the borders -

ALL of them.

Our schools can't handle this anymore! Our teachers are overwhelmed and do not have the financial and educational resources to teach these students.

Now thousands of parents - LEGAL, AMERICAN CITIZEN parents, will have to find another school for their child to attend.

It is not fair. It is not right.

Nathan Deal had the right idea -

[he] introduced in this Congress H.R. 1567, the Citizenship Reform Act. Specifically, my proposed legislation would do away with the practice of granting such citizenship by amending the Immigration and Nationality Act to limit automatic citizenship at birth to a child born in the United States to a parent who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.

Now that is common sense legislation. Too bad our Congress doesn't HAVE any.

13 Gainesville, Hall schools not making AYP by Ken Stanford

GAINESVILLE - Thirteen schools in the Gainesville and Hall County school systems are listed as not not making "adequate yearly progress" in a report released by the state Tuesday.

However, county school superintendent Will Schofield says six of those in the county - North Hall, East Hall and South Hall middle, and Tadmore, Chicopee Woods and Myers elementary - are "appealable" cases.

Schofield singled out Chicopee Woods, in particular, because it is a new school. "And, we just feel if you look at the fact that they have no baseline data to go by that is an appealable school."

He puts Myers in the same category because 60 percent of its student population is new because of redistricting.

The five where no appeal is likely are Lyman Hall, Jones, White Sulphur, Sugar Hill elementary and Chestatee Middle. (Two Gainesville schools failed to make AYP - the middle school and the high school. See separate story.)

Hall County's 33 schools comprise approximately 1,400 potential indicators for AYP purposes. County students made "Adequate Yearly Progress" in approximately 1,365 of the 1,400 potential indicators (almost 98%).

Schofield said, compared to last year, "in terms of the number of schools, it looks like it will be very similar - that won't make it. In terms of the number of subgroups and indicators, it's actually an improvement over last year."

The areas singled out by the state where work is needed and Schofield's response:

*Record keeping and subgroup size. "We will ensure that we are maximizing schools' ability to report accurate results.

*English Language Learners (which makes up almost half of the subgroups that are not making AYP). "We must look at new and creative ways of being more effective with this population. Brown University will be a primary source of support. We will continue to partner with Gainesville City Schools in meaningful ways such as the 21st Century Grant."

*Students With Disabilities. "Again, we must look at new and creative ways of working with this group."

At a noontime news conference in Atlanta, state Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox said the percentage of Georgia's schools meeting the standards for AYP dropped this year compared to last year. (See separate story.)

(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.**