Unity Plan: Exceptional Choices
Building Burlington's Future supporters worked together with parents from the Barnes Elementary School community to combine their suggestions for 2 magnet schools into one proposal. This proposal was presented to the School Board by parents from every elementary school at the June 13th board meeting.
Building Burlington's Future:
In October and November of 2006, a group of parents came together to develop a joint statement about Excellence and Equity for all of Burlington's children in response to the task force report and community conversations.
The statement below was signed by over 100 community members was submitted to the board at the November 14, 2007 board meeting.
As Burlington citizens we believe that academic excellence and cultural diversity in our schools are the very foundation for a healthy, thriving and vibrant community and we are committed to building a strong future for all of Burlington’s children.
We further believe that strategies for bringing social and economic equity to Burlington’s schools that will clearly benefit all our children are important and vital to our community’s future and our children’s well-being and success. It is critical that our city welcome all families and our schools provide the highest level of education to all students.
As a community built on the concept of neighborhood schools, we would encourage development of an equity plan that encompasses the continuing tradition of neighborhood schools with an ongoing commitment to small class sizes. At the same time, we support investigating further the potential for innovative ideas such as magnet schools and University lab schools, including an analysis of the potential costs associated with such programs.
We know from research that success in school is linked to the development of critical thinking skills so children can accept what they are learning and process information productively. This can best be accomplished with early childhood intervention and modeling at a young age. For this reason, we strongly support further investigation and the development of cost effective proposals making preschool available to all children in Burlington.
We support involving senior citizens, retired persons, students and community volunteers as invaluable resources to assist our children with reading, math and enrichment programs. We also support parental education programs, extended school day options and providing district-wide homework support in each school for children who would benefit from it. Effective organization, coordination and communication among these resources will enhance our entire school system.
We further support the concept of sister schools in Burlington . Children from, for example, Barnes and Edmunds could do joint field trips and the like. Learning from one another and building knowledge of other backgrounds helps all children to grow and become better citizens of the world.
We envision a process to evaluate these and other proposals that is based on collaboration among the School Board, the Superintendent and many community stakeholders. We stress the importance of devoting time and energy to those proposals that have the greatest impact on excellence and equity but also have the lowest impact on tax rates and affordable housing.
We encourage the School Board to go about this process methodically and slowly, taking care to communicate clearly and to bring the community together. It is our belief that all parents and community members want the best for all our children and we will creatively arrive at the best solutions together.
We are committed to working in partnership with school and city officials to achieve a vision that combines educational excellence, diversity, and equity for every Burlington student, now and into the future.
Position on Superintendent's Proposals as presented on May 8, 2007:
In the context of the statement that we drafted together in November, Building Burlington's Future drafted a position on the Superintendent's Proposals as presented on May 8, 2007. Read more.
Building Burlington's Future
