KLRU
Smaller High Schools Better
RECEIVED Fri., Jan. 13, 2006
Dear Editor:
Reading this article [“AISD Gets the Ball Rolling on High School Redesign,” News, Jan. 13] gives me hope for the future of high schools, because I am a 31-year educator and longtime advocate of smaller high schools. This story takes me back to AISD in the 1970s, when Superintendent Jack Davidson and Principal Ron Beauford implemented the "schools within a school" idea at LBJ High School.
This is not, therefore, a new idea; however, it has always been a good one. Large high schools are a nightmare. Smaller ones under 1,000 enrollment are the dream. And, if they cannot be that small due to existing large facilities now, then by all means let us move now to break all the big ones up as described by the current movement. I hope it gains the critical mass needed for broad reform and an end to the 2,000-student behemoths we have far too many of throughout Texas and the USA.
Reading this article [“AISD Gets the Ball Rolling on High School Redesign,” News, Jan. 13] gives me hope for the future of high schools, because I am a 31-year educator and longtime advocate of smaller high schools. This story takes me back to AISD in the 1970s, when Superintendent Jack Davidson and Principal Ron Beauford implemented the "schools within a school" idea at LBJ High School.
This is not, therefore, a new idea; however, it has always been a good one. Large high schools are a nightmare. Smaller ones under 1,000 enrollment are the dream. And, if they cannot be that small due to existing large facilities now, then by all means let us move now to break all the big ones up as described by the current movement. I hope it gains the critical mass needed for broad reform and an end to the 2,000-student behemoths we have far too many of throughout Texas and the USA.
Dale Summitt
Rockport
Rockport
