Woman says vo-tech school really needed
In response to Mr. Neubauer’s recent letter to the editor regarding the vo-tech, now known as Fayette County Career and Technical Institute, or FCCTI, I agree that the public needs a voice in such expenditures, and school boards need to have the opportunity to collaborate with the school and parents to determine the best course.
However, I find your assessment of the students it serves extremely unfair and, as a parent, insulting.
If our schools are using it for a “dumping ground,” perhaps we need to get to the root of the problem on the local school level, rather than shutting down the only option many of our young people have for a practical education.
Our administration is so focused on PSSA scores that they fail to adequately provide educational opportunities for those who wish to pursue a direction other than college. Our school districts need to get on board with providing a quality education to all students, not just the academic achievers. Our districts need to come along side parents and students of all social, economic, and educational backgrounds.
My daughter graduated from FCCTI in 2006. She had a passion for working with computers, and excelled under the guidance of Melanie Dean. After Jessica graduated, she went to college on a scholarship, and secured an excellent job and position she may not have had if she had waited until college to explore computer technology.
My son attends the culinary arts program at FCCTI. The communication, cooperation, and guidance we have received from Melissa McKulka, and Dr. Jeffreys thus far has been exemplary. Justin speaks highly of his teachers and aides, and looks forward to going to school each day.
Many students who attend there have an IEP, and are possibly not academically superior. Part of the problem seems to be that our districts are setting these students up to fail, through their negative attitudes, failure to respond in a timely manner to their concerns, and lack of accessibility to a variety of classes to assist our students in obtaining practical daily skills.
When I questioned why my son, who has a learning disability, was scheduled for Algebra 2 after he failed Algebra 1, I was informed that the principal had chosen to only offer this math track because it was what was required to learn for PSSA scores. In my math book, taking a child who fails A-1, adding them into A-2 equals setting them up for failure. She didn’t feel vocational math was “necessary.”
I asked if there was a business math for students wishing to pursue the business field, and was told they would get that in college. It took countless frustrating conversations to get him into a more appropriate math class, which I was then informed was ‘beneath him but would give him the credits he needs to graduate.”
I don’t want him to just get the credits. I want him to have a practical, useful understanding of math required for everyday life.
I requested his IEP be reopened three times to no avail, and have contacted the state Department of Education to assist in getting the Uniontown Area School District to comply.
Finally, UASD has a 23 percent dropout rate for students that have an IEP. I was told that I couldn’t fairly use that statistic, that I needed to understand we live in Fayette County. Parents here have figured out how to get an IEP so their kids can get SSI, and the kids have no motivation to graduate.
I was shocked at that negative attitude, lack of compassion, and sense of defeat. Admittedly, there is a higher-than-average rate of unemployment, disabilities, and poverty, but if our schools are giving up before our kids even graduate, then what chance do they really have?
We do not receive SSI, my husband and I are both educated, and gainfully employed, and are certainly not trying to get something for nothing. We are simply attempting to assist our son in receiving the best possible quality education to which he is cognitively capable of achieving. I believe we have a right to expect that.
If the teachers are facing the same barriers with the administration, possibly they do encourage the “non-academic” students to attend FCCTI so that they have some practical career skills. Before we judge FCCTI too harshly, we need to understand why it has gotten the reputation that it has, and what our districts need to do to modify that?
UAHS just spent millions of dollars on their buildings, while apparently failing to provide adequate educational opportunities for anyone who, for whatever reason, is going to college. If we eliminate the only option many of our young people have to learn a trade and become a productive member of society, where will this leave us in 25 years? We’ll have a really nice building in the midst of a negative, depressed city with an even higher rate of unemployment, SSI, and poverty.
Bev Roscoe is a resident of Uniontown.