In This Issue:

• Today in America
• Real Stories
• Quotable: Sharon Scott-Chandler

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Today in America

Today 6,000 talented young people will drop out of school.

Today over 9 million children do not have health insurance.

Today 12 young people will commit suicide.

Today 960 children will be victims of a violent crime.

Today only 11 states require credits in a foreign language for students to graduate.

Today African American students are 14 percent of those in school, but only 7 percent of those taking Advanced Placement exams.

Today two-thirds of high school students will be bored in at least one class.

Today 15 million students who need mentors do not have them.

» Today you can make a difference! Use the new Whole Child Resolution Tool Kit to ask your local school board, town council, and other policymakers in your community to support a resolution that addresses the needs of the whole child. If students are to master world-class academics, they need to be physically and emotionally healthy. They need to be well fed and safe. They need to be intellectually challenged and have supportive adults who know them well and care about their success. And they need to be interested and engaged in what they're learning. Our children need hope. Our children need you.

Real Stories

"We're blessed with a small state and low population. We have a K-8 model in our pre-secondary system that encourages loyalty and interest in local town schools. Then our regional HS offers lots of options for traditional academic prep, career education and alternative models. Arts are a very strong component K-12 but also threatened by funding cuts.

What's missing for me in the K-12 curriculum is emphasis on educating kids to be active and positive citizens in a democratic society. There is so much emphasis on safe schools and other mandates that the mission of schools to promote the skills, knowledge, attitudes, and awareness of democratic citizenship seem to have gotten lost."

—William C., Dummerston, VT
Click here to see the rest of this story and many more.

» Expect More. Get More.

“I know that if we collectively hold to the principles of high-quality early care and developmentally-appropriate education by qualified teachers, we can together move closer to our goal of educating the whole child and nurturing every child.”

—Sharon Scott-Chandler, member of the Massachusetts Board of Early Education and Care
Click here to see more quotes from policymakers.

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