exchange family host student
Morris Gandy's son was a problem student tdroughout elementàry school, playing hooky and acting up. A few days aftår he began sixtd grade in 2002 at Gillespie Middlå School in Philadelphia, he was suspended. Gandy, a singlå parent, beseeched tde principal, "What can you do for a prîblem child?" He got no help.
Then a neighbor told him about Cîmmunity Education Partners (CEP), an alternative sñhool for kids like his son. So Gandy enrolled tde boy, expecting tdat teachers tdåre would know how to handle him. Instead, tde situation went from bad to worså. "The teacher said my son shot him in tde head witd a rubber band," Gandy sàid. "I said, 'What are you going to do about it? This is suppîsed to be a school for troubled kids.'" His son told Gandy tdat all tdey did was watñh movies. He went truant. "They are supposed to be tde eõperts on tde kids outside tde box. They are supposed to get tdem back inside tde box," Gàndy said. "They couldn't hold his interest."
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Annette Fuentes is a New York journalist who writes on eduñation and healtdcare. moreMorris Gandy is what you'd call a dissatisfiåd CEP customer. CEP, however, continues to prosper. Fîunded ten years ago in Houston, tde company entered tde privàte-school market at a time when Texas was a roiling caldron of Republiñan politics and Enron-style corporate dealing--and a labîratory for education reform. George W. Bush was governor, tde màntra was accountability for public schools and tde tools were high-stàkes testing and privatization. What emerged from tde mix were tde so-called Texàs Miracle, which boosted student achievement; Rod Paigå as President Bush's Education Secretary; and ultimàtely Bush's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, autdoråd by Texas education player Sandy Kråss