Recapping the COW meeting

I think they made a good decision to follow the state on this. The problem is that if there is not a major overhaul of the GP the way it is implemented now, next year will just be a repeat of this year- mentors next to impossible to find, topics hard to choose and get approved, and to top it off next year, teachers with larger classes and less funds will still be required to be the advisors to the students. Since there will be more students per teacher, the teachers will have even more responsibility over and beyond their classes. Wake county needs to consider this before they make the decision to make it mandatory next year with their "no matter what the state does" attitude. Also, any money spent will come out of the school's budgets, since as far as I know this is not one of the things that the state or county commissioners will fund. Will Wake co. be able to do any better job next year of funding it? Remember, each and every mentor has to have a background check at the highest volunteer level. This is not cheap! So again, some schools will have resources and spend lots of effort and money helping students and others won't.

I still believe that until there is sufficient funding for all schools and more clarified wording and expectations, with no mentor or product requirement, the GP should be shelved. When and if these things are done, and we are not cutting other proven beneficial programs to make a flawed project work, THEN and only then, I think the county could consider making it a requirement.

The legislature is looking at the money (funding) part of it and the fact that it is a major deterrant to students who are working their hardest just to graduate and are probably never going to go to a college. Please let them know if you still think the GP as it is, is still not a good idea.