Fuzzy Math

Mishandled money adds up to a loss for students at Roosevelt schools

Comments (0) By Jennifer Markley Thursday, Nov 1 2001

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Now, parents and teachers are preparing for how they will pay the price for the administration's failures.

The loss of Title I funds in particular will be hard-felt in a district that struggles for every cent to help its students, 85 percent of whom qualify for free breakfasts and lunches.

$"If our goal is student achievement and we can't get adequate help from the top, some heads need to roll," says Esther Sanders, president of the Roosevelt Educators Association.$

Todd H. Lillard

"If our goal is student achievement and we can't get adequate help from the top, some heads need to roll," says Esther Sanders, president of the Roosevelt Educators Association.

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No one knows that better than Sanders, who teaches at Roosevelt's Maxine O. Bush Elementary School, where three kindergarten classes have 28 students. Crowded classes mean kids need more of the after-school tutoring and extra resources that Title I funds pay for.

"We're going to see no change in [the size of] classes, less supplies and programs cut drastically. That raises some big concerns for me because of how important some of these programs are to help students," says Sanders. "That's a little scary."