Priority Schools

The evidence shows that most public schools are working very well, but the National Education Association believes this progress must not distract attention from our nation’s struggling public schools, which are found most often in our most disadvantaged communities.

Despite the growing successes of America’s best public schools, a stubborn gap persists between poor school districts and affluent ones. The fact is that too many schools serving minority, low income, and rural students have overcrowded classrooms, uncertified teachers, and low student achievement.

NEA believes that a quality public education must be accessible to every child. To help make that happen, NEA has been placing a growing level of emphasis on building support systems and providing resources to NEA affiliates around this issue. These efforts range from NEA’s Family School Community Partnership program to Minority Community Outreach and NEA’s School Safety Program. An NEA task force on low-performing schools created a plan of action, NEA’s Priority Schools Initiative, to help guide the Association in responding to this challenge.

NEA Makes Low-Performing Schools a Priority

NEA and its state and local affiliates are making low-performing schools "priority schools" by urging fundamental changes-changes that will create a safe, orderly environment that focuses on high standards of teaching and learning for all students. We believe that by working together, we can help struggling schools build the commitment for improvement and then implement the strategies necessary to raise student achievement.

In addition to increased investments in current federal programs, such as Title I, which is designed to help students in disadvantaged communities, NEA is working to provide additional resources and opportunities for improving the quality of struggling schools. NEA supports:

• Reducing class size in the early grades
• Taking steps to enhance teacher quality, including professional development and higher entry standards for those entering the teaching profession
• Building school-community partnerships to create/expand after-school extended learning programs for school-age children.
  

NEA has worked to provide these resources and also provides Making Low-Performing Schools a Priority: An Association Resource Guide (6.16MB, 79 pages) that specifically addresses low-performing schools.

Across the nation, there are examples of schools that, with a bold set of strategies, are focusing all their efforts on learning and improving student achievement.

Turning around low-performing schools is hard work, but we share the responsibility to make it happen.