Our Middle School Experience

By Tunisia K. Riley, LMSW/RN, Urban Assembly School of Design and Construction Post-Secondary Counselor.

When my oldest son was in third grade, I was ready.  My son had to continue to have good grades and perfect attendance.  I was not concerned.  When he entered fourth grade and his third-grade state exams score came – we were ecstatic!  He received an almost perfect score.  I knew he was in a great place to get into a good middle school.  My son and his father wanted Clinton, but I wanted Salk.  We placed them 1 and 2 on the application respectively and waited.  I was completely overjoyed when he was accepted into Salk.  My son is now an 8th grader and is happy he landed at Salk.  We hoped for the same with our younger son.

Things have changed, though.  My youngest child will not have a chance to get into a school based on his merit.  He will have to depend on his luck.  My youngest son is an intelligent boy who has already been invited to visit colleges.  He also gets good grades and has good attendance.  His state exams have also garnered 4’s.  However, this does not matter.  We have to hope his random lottery number is a good one and is not – they were not even numbers but letters!  Over 85% of the other students will be chosen before my son is looked at – regardless of all of his work and efforts.  Is this what I want my son to learn, that luck surpasses good old fashion hard work?  That everything my 9 year-old has worked for gets him a school that shares a building with 21-year-old students and academic work that is currently below what he is doing?  What is wrong with this picture? 

As a product of the SP program and a specialized high school, I want the same for my children. I know that my family is being robbed.  Instead of taking from my child, elementary schools should be equally and fairly funded to improve the academic programs.  SP and other accelerated programs should be added to every elementary school, so all children can have an equal chance to be prepared for accelerated middle and high schools.  This is how we make things fair for all.