2008 Woodie Awards
Alternative school should not depend on public funds
Issue date: 3/7/08 Section: Editorials
In 2006, Middletown, Ohio opened Success Academy High-a high school geared toward students performing unsuccessfully in a traditional school setting. After its first year, 83 percent of the senior class earned a high-school diploma, becoming the first class to graduate from the academy. Since its creation, the school has grown from 20 to 60 students, with more than 77 hopeful students on the wait-list. With a continued increasing demand, the Middletown Board of Education will consider a proposal this month to expand the school's program. The Miami Student editorial board recognizes the importance of the academy's need to develop and continue its progress, as long as the proposal does not disproportionately appropriate funds allocated to other educational systems.
We see the value of providing an education system for students who are dealing with parenthood or a family crisis and those who remain unsuccessful in a traditional classroom. Students are required to attend three and a half hours of classroom time every day, with the remaining hours spent on homework through online databases. The flexible schedule provides the opportunity for students to earn a real high school diploma versus receiving their General Education Development (GED). Teachers are specifically selected based on their individual merits and qualifications to facilitate this unique educational atmosphere.
While we believe the academy's goals are commendable, the requested funding should not infringe upon other educational facilities in Middletown. The Success Academy's proposal requests up to $225,000 in grants to expand its 60-student capacity to accommodate for those on the wait-list. We believe that despite the merits of the program, in the face of school districts that are strapped for cash, alternative schools, like the Success Academy, should look for unconventional funding sources to finance an expansion. Possible funding options could be extracted from in-kind or cash donations from community members or local businesses, as well as federal or state grants. Through this funding system, alternative schools have the option of combining grants from a variety of resources for a temporary expansion and relying on school board funds for annual expenditures.
The Success Academy has given hope to many students, but despite this glimmer of hope offered by the school, the Middletown Board of Education needs to recognize the problem of allocating funds away from other educational systems to finance an alternative school's expansion. Hopefully a balance will be able to be reached in the future to fund the academy in the long-term without taking money away from other schools in the Middletown district.
We see the value of providing an education system for students who are dealing with parenthood or a family crisis and those who remain unsuccessful in a traditional classroom. Students are required to attend three and a half hours of classroom time every day, with the remaining hours spent on homework through online databases. The flexible schedule provides the opportunity for students to earn a real high school diploma versus receiving their General Education Development (GED). Teachers are specifically selected based on their individual merits and qualifications to facilitate this unique educational atmosphere.
While we believe the academy's goals are commendable, the requested funding should not infringe upon other educational facilities in Middletown. The Success Academy's proposal requests up to $225,000 in grants to expand its 60-student capacity to accommodate for those on the wait-list. We believe that despite the merits of the program, in the face of school districts that are strapped for cash, alternative schools, like the Success Academy, should look for unconventional funding sources to finance an expansion. Possible funding options could be extracted from in-kind or cash donations from community members or local businesses, as well as federal or state grants. Through this funding system, alternative schools have the option of combining grants from a variety of resources for a temporary expansion and relying on school board funds for annual expenditures.
The Success Academy has given hope to many students, but despite this glimmer of hope offered by the school, the Middletown Board of Education needs to recognize the problem of allocating funds away from other educational systems to finance an alternative school's expansion. Hopefully a balance will be able to be reached in the future to fund the academy in the long-term without taking money away from other schools in the Middletown district.
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