0.62%

I first read this story and thought 62% of H.S. graduates entering our local Gavilan Junior College have college level math skills, a number I thought was low but very workable. Wrong.

It's 0.62%!

LINK
Less than half of the Gilroy High School students entering Gavilan College this semester were prepared for college-level English classes and a paltry 0.62 percent - less than one in 100 students - of those students were ready for college-level math. The majority of these GHS students ended up in remedial classes - classes they should have mastered in high school or even junior high.

The problem with students being unprepared for college is compounded by the fact that more than half of all students doing remedial work at Gavilan cannot pass the classes with a grade of C- or higher, according to the college's own statistics. Further, these students are not English-language learners, who statistically tend to score lower. English is the first language of these students.

Pat Midtgaard, president of Gilroy Unified School District's board of trustees,
gasped when she heard that less than 1 percent of GHS students going to Gavilan were ready for college-level math.

"I didn't think that the math would be that bad, and I'm very surprised at the level of English, too," she said. "I think I'm even more surprised because these students have always spoken, read and heard English. It is alarming."

That's approximately one person out of 160 applicants and 160 is a good estimate for an entering class. That means 0.62% is likely one person.

The entering class for our local Junior College didn't get a HS math education.

The CSU system's policy refuses to offer long term remedial classes and UC actively screens out college motivated non-performers to a Jr. College. Gavilan is obviously getting those who can't get into UC or stick in CSU schools like CSUMB and SJSU. Still, I fear that's too optimistic an explanation.

Jr. College is also a low cost spring board into CSU so there should be a nontrivial fraction of entrants at Gavilan who can perform at college level but don't have the time or money to attend a CSU institution. Think NFL's Jeff Garcia who attended Gavilan to play football before transferring to SJSC. Where are these students?

0.62% is scary low. Maybe this math failure is a matter of screwed up priorities, not disinterest in the local and world events. What is filling their time and lives?

Gavilan College should test pop-culture knowledge.

"Name three American Idol winners?"

I can name three and I hate the show.

If they're learing the wrong things well, it's at least a start but if there are a significant fraction that isn't learning anything... wow.

GUSD gets an F for failing to try.

Fill out the application and try for chris'ake. GUSD should apply every year. Two children have died.





GilroyDispatch.com of Gilroy California

School and city officials opted not to seek coveted federal safety funds this year, despite ongoing concerns about kids' safety in Gilroy crosswalks.

...

This year, SRTS' requests for proposals came out in October. One month after Gilroy Unified School District Superintendent Edwin Diaz mentioned possibly applying for the grant in his winter bulletin, school officials decided to drop the idea, put off by expensive engineering assessments and looming deadlines. This is the first time the school district has considered applying for the funds, said Freedman, who estimated that engineering conducted by outside firms would cost $5,000 per school.

The assessments are not required to receive grant money, but could give Gilroy a leg up on the competition.

"You're competing with every other city in the state, and the funds are scarce," said city traffic engineer Don Dey, who consulted school officials on a possible application. "Last year, they awarded about one grant per county."

But other cities have snagged funding without costly assessments, said Wendi Kallins, program director of the Transportation Authority of Marin, which administers Marin County's SRTS program. Marin County laid the groundwork for the nationwide program, cutting their own school-zone congestion by 13 percent, Kallins said. Among the county's most successful programs are "non-engineering" efforts such as Walk to School days and crosswalk safety education.

It is the first time GUSD considered applying for aid. Gilroy just added a huge shopping complex across town and our Mayor used this development to increase traffic congestion in the City core as part of his downtown business rennovation, "Drop a few bucks".



Shouldn't we have been trying to adapt to the increased traffic before this devleopment was finished?

HW 152-156 fix pending

Jan. 10, 2007
HIGHWAY 152-156 INTERSECTION GETS FEDERAL FUNDING.
By Gary Richards
Mercury News

Motorists who endure 10-mile backups before the Highway 152-156 intersection ... might finally ease.

Plans to upgrade two of the biggest traffic nightmares in the South Bay cleared major hurdles on Wednesday, with federal officials signing off on the 152-156 upgrade east of Gilroy ... .

Moving ahead first will be building a flyover ramp at 152 and 156, with the Federal Highway Administration signing the final paperwork after a five-month delay that frustrated local officials. The Valley Transportation Authority will advertise contracts for the $36 million project on Friday, with construction set to begin in April.

...

If the state gives its go ahead next month, it could come at the expense of widening 101 from Gilroy to the San Benito County line, removing left turn pockets and converting that section to a six-lane freeway. The price tag is $284 million.

But the traffic backups there are minimal, compared with other freeways in the nine Bay Area counties.

``It's pretty tough case to make that this is where all the congestion is,'' Rentschler said of the Gilroy area. ``That is not true. Our view is that there is a lot of congestion across the Bay Area and in Santa Clara County. This just doesn't happen to be one of them.''