Promise the Children recently wrote about the decrease in public school funding—and the simultaneous increase in the number of students—that makes teaching so challenging today. Fortunately there are many charities that have dedicated themselves to helping with homework and strengthening the literacy skills of our nation’s children, like the Boys & Girls Clubs, Girls Inc., The YMCA, The YWCA and many others. One of our favorite partners focused on literacy is The REAL Program, a charity that works closely with Brickett Elementary read more…
Promise the Children is partnering with The Real Program of Lynn to help enable their free children’s literacy program to thrive and flourish! If you’re interested in supporting these efforts, please consider donating to The REAL Program via the Promise the Children website or by purchasing raffle tickets—where you’ll also be given a chance to win prizes! Join Promise the Children in supporting The REAL Program! Donate Online: Promise the Children PayPal Donation Purchase Raffle Tickets: If you’re interested in purchasing raffle tickets, email rkr@promisethechildrenuu.org and let us read more…
One year ago, my son E. was struggling with language development. The school district evaluated him and the speech language experts felt he was in a grey area where his delay was significant, but not severe enough to get him special education. He qualified for Head Start due to the language delay, but we were not high on the wait-list because of our family income status and college-education. Our pediatrician strongly felt he would benefit from the social interaction and read more…
While many schools opt for the use of punitive justice, more and more schools are shifting toward a new method of addressing bad behavior: restorative justice. Instead of focusing on punishment, restorative justice seeks to facilitate communication between “problem” students and their peers. Students have opportunities to confront the consequences of their actions and find and fix the root of the problem. By teaching students how their actions can negatively affect others, schools can prevent future conflicts. In contrast, punishing read more…
Please contact your legislators locally before April 23rd. Congress is recessed from April 8th to April 23. Phone or email him/her, or send a post card locally. Attend a local meeting with your legislator, if possible. Half of our families earn the median income or less (about $50,000 annually). This is not enough to pay for basic needs. The President’s budget subsidizes childcare for those with high salaries, but leaves those struggling financially with no support. Also,the republicans talk of read more…
“It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men”, said Frederick Douglas more than 150 years ago. Today he would add women. He would know that children are born with millions of disconnected brain cells and that most cells connect in the first five years of life. These connections don’t just happen. The full attention of parents, teachers, and caretakers is required so the infant can become a strong child who can cope with kindergarten and beyond. U.S. read more…
Many of us, including our policemen and women have become accustomed to solving conflict with violence. There is too much violence in our lives. We are losing our ability to resolve conflict verbally. Many adults and children live in terror that they or a loved one will be killed or maimed by a gunshot. We can change this by; curbing all gun sales, teaching gun safety at home in school, and using internet resources, linking schools to local community mental read more…
Traditional and charter schools can cooperate so as to improve our children’s education. One example is in the town of Lawrence MA where cooperation resulted in increased rates of graduation, and a reduction of school drop-outs. The relationship between traditional and charter school occurred after the Lawrence school district went into receivership because of extremely poor performance. This occurred five years ago when fewer than one-half of the students graduated from High School. The receivership focussed on student achievement rather than internal bickering. Additional read more…
President Elect Trump speaks of eliminating the U. S. Department of Education and national standards for public education – as did President Reagan. Our last four presidents worked on national standards. Their work improved public education and high school graduation rates, but more needs to be done. Our high school students often graduate with poor preparation for technical jobs, and immigrants are hired whose education is relevant. You can sign up with Promise the Children and support education. You can get to know your read more…
Each state defines their zero tolerance policies. Sometimes, these policies may be enforced by police officers employed as school resource officers or SROs. SRO’s are paid for by the federal government. They supposedly enforce Federal Gun Free School Act that was signed into law by President Clinton in 1994. It’s purpose was to mandate that states design their own zero tolerance policies to make schools safer. This law focussed on punishing students who brought weapons and drugs into schools. In certain states, SRO’s read more…
Please sign up and join 500 other volunteer advocates who support the safety net for our nation's children. We send monthly emails suggesting ways to help. Too many parents are working for low wages that prevent them from paying for safe childcare, early education and adequate health care. They need support!
