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PRESIDENT OBAMA VISITS MIAMI CENTRAL SENIOR HIGH President Barack Obama visited Miami Central Senior High School with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush this afternoon. Miami Central Senior High was chosen for the visit as a result of its improved school performance grade. The school was previously an “F” school and threatened with being taken over by the state. However last school year, Miami Central High was classified as a “D” school and this school year moved up to a “C”. The school has received funds from U.S. Department of Education’s Title I School Improvement Grant (SIG), which provide support to schools which are in need of improvement. Alberto M. Carvalho, Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, chose a rehabilitative model for the school which included replacing the school principal, not renewing contracts for more than 50 percent of the staff, and providing the new principal with enough flexibility to put in place strategies which would bring about the greatest improvement on the part of the student body. Miami Central has implemented rigorous plans and produced continuous achievement since the 2005-06 school year in part through the additional resources available with federal grants which have supported such efforts. “With first-in-the-nation academic achievement, Miami-Dade County takes very seriously the task of implementing changes,” said Superintendent Carvalho. “We need to make sure that every child in Miami-Dade is ready for the global economy of the 21st century.” The school district created the Education Transformation Office (ETO) to fully support the nineteen schools in need of improvement. ETO offers intensive and individualized support for those “Rising 19” as the schools are known. ETO support includes school operations, curriculum and instruction, professional development for teachers and strategies to promote parental participation. Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) students outperformed students in many large U.S. cities in the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Trial Urban District Report (TUDA) in science, reading and math. During his speech on the State of the Union and his budget for fiscal year 2012, President Obama described a plan to make sure that the education of our students is above par. “The success of our economy depends on the triumph of our students. We have not only a moral obligation, but a financial obligation to educate our future.” Obama’s plan proposes major investments in education to be able to win the race to educate our children. Editor’s Note: Photo attached.
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