Union mayor presses BCLUW board on at-risk students

Dr. Cynthia Knight, the mayor of Union and an education professional by trade, took the BCLUW board to task over what she perceived as a lack of attention to three struggling teenagers in her city during last Wednesday night’s regular meeting.
           
“I see these kids who have been told they’re not worthy, told they don’t have funding and then those children have no hope. They have no future,” Knight said. “We have to figure out a way to educate them so they are productive citizens. Those three boys are not making good things happen in my community.”
           
Board President Mary Beth Neff shot back at the characterization that the district was indifferent to the needs of those students, and Superintendent Ben Petty touted alternative school options in Marshalltown and Grundy Center.
           
“I really do not like that statement, and I’m offended by it personally,” Neff said. “I’ve seen kids that we’ve bent over backwards for. We’ve done a lot. If we want to help, there’s a better way to do it.”
           
Ms. Knight also pointed to statistics that show less than half of BCLUW students are currently achieving college readiness and yearly growth goals based on their assessment scores. Board member LJ Kopsa, however, argued that the numbers painted an incomplete picture.
           
“Do we want to train our children to take standardized tests, or do we want to train them to be good humans in the real world?” he asked. 
 
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