With growing private and parochial schools surviving and/or struggling with tuition costs, school choice would provide vouchers that afford students quality education and qualified staff. Dr. Perry looks into the existence of tenure teachers, unions and teacher certifications and how he believes they hold back the progress of student achievement.

                Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of Washington D.C. school district is discussed for her bravery in closing failing schools and firing non-productive school staff. Rhee was fired for her nontraditional tactics to improve the school district. “Michelle Rhee sought to institute a novel evaluation system that combined accountability and rewards…union fought this proposal because it gave too much power to the principal to determine who is or isn’t a good teacher.” There are so many issues surrounding our public schools and unfortunately the solutions fail to focus on the most important variable in the problem, the students.

                Our public schools are designed to protect all staff and to educate as many students as they can.  These unions fight for staff as they fail to educate and prepare our youth for college and/or society. Some people disagree with the methodology of Rhee by focusing on the numerous unemployed teachers and closed schools instead of increased achieving students and manageable class sizes. Just like the outcome of Brown v. Board of Education it is time for our education system to see radical change for the success of our future.  I salute those in education such as: Michelle Rhee and Dr. Steve Perry; change is just as necessary for our future as it was for our past.

Our education system is drastically changing in the 21^st Century. The newest trend in education is the Charter School system. For those that do not understand the difference between public and charter school, let me clear it for you now, NOT MUCH! While the curriculum has been updated, more programming, higher standards and younger teachers are involved, Charter Schools are funded and have the same expectation as our current public school system. Charter schools are the 21^st Century public schools of the United States and are better preparing students for a competitive work force.

 How do private schools differ from our public/charter schools? According to The New Oxford American Dictionary public is defined as: concerning the people as a whole, while private is defined as: belonging to or for the use of one particular person or group of people only. When parents are seeking specialized education or a more holistic educational environment they often register their children in private schools. Private schools differ from public education in that they are supported by private organizations and private individuals rather than by the government. There is also a fee that is associated with private schools which parents are responsible for, to assure their children are receiving that personalized education. There is often an emphasis on religion in which learning goes beyond the scope of academics. The curriculum is designed to challenge and benefit the particular population of families it serves, while public schools seek to satisfy government expectation.

Standardized testing scores fuel the money machine which funds our public school system; high test scores translate into matching funds. Schools are required to cover a certain amount of material in a given time to be prepared for these tests.  In private schools, students are given personalized attention to master given concepts which in turn teaches them to be better learners. While standardized test scores are still important to the private school system it is only an assessment of the progress being made and a blueprint for areas that will need more attention for the following year. The pressure on public schools to achieve high test scores will NOT assure that NO Child is Left Behind but will increase special education programs which fail to challenge students.

No matter private or public, all schools do their best with the resources they are given.  It is a fact however that some students need a different learning environment to be successful. Some students may need more of a challenge, smaller class size, extra- curricular programs, intense structure or a spiritual environment in which will benefit them holistically. Parents just need to know that there are choices for them and understand which choice will better serve their children. A fee should not discourage parents from enrolling their child into a private institution, seek financial assistance (which most private schools offer) and assure that your child will not be Left Behind.

                The design of Virtuous Academy has the potential to be so much greater and still is being occupied by only a handful of students due to funding concerns.  However, the students of Virtuous Academy have small requests to make a big difference in their lives at school.  “More teachers to help us would be nice,” says Ashley(6^th grade).  Different teachers will give Tennon the ability to be a more effective administrator. “The food is good here, it would help Ms. Iyana to have a lunch aid,” says Jayante. (6^th grade)  Multi-tasking is one of Tennon’s strengths however they can be used in a more beneficial way if she could focus just in the area of teaching.” I like my friends here and I don’t have any dislikes so far, it would be nice to have more kids,” says Shental (7^th grade) The students appreciate the personal attention and need the extra help that no one person can supply

                Virtuous Academy can use a few trusted sidekicks to better serve the students and increase funding and enrollment.  Not only are staff needed, but also dedicated board members to provide the necessary funding and resources to keep the doors open and to keep Virtuous Academy growing. Visit our website and see what we have accomplished so far at www.virtuousacademy.org   For more information please contact us @ 412-896-4415 or email us @ virtuous_academy@live.com

Teachers that desire a decent salary gravitate towards more prominent neighborhoods with working and upper class citizens to guarantee financial security for their families. No teacher desires to work twice as hard for half the pay. Salary should be standard across the county, giving underserved districts the opportunity to receive up-to-date resources and qualified staff.  Instead we find teachers with no empathy for the environmental stressors students face or respect for the community. They teach to standard without regard to ability level or academic weak areas. 

The goal of No Child Left Behind is to increase performance based on ability level. Hiring qualified staff members with the ability to teach appropriate content and manage classrooms through differentiated lessons and reinforcement is the formula to success.  At Virtuous Academy we focus on God as a means of guidance to provide each child with an individualized and appropriate education.  With our faith we believe that God will provide us with provisions needed to assure No Child is Left Behind.

I know the Lord doesn’t smile or even ignore disobedience but His forgiveness is key. People want to judge and condemn one another, but we all fall short. My students were not born into a perfect world with perfect people so we take it one day at a time and help one another. That’s what families do, love and support one another. However, families aren’t perfect either. I want my students to be aware of the realities of their environment, so they can make smart decisions in life. I want them to become learners and positive thinkers. Understanding that they are not perfect I expect them to get tripped up. I also expect them to dust themselves off and try again. Virtuous Academy is here to stay, this is for Duquesne!

Virtuous Academy has a new site.  Above is a photo of our old site so you can see how far we’ve come.  Our site and our web hosting has been donated to us by Soul Pitt Media, a minority owned web design company located in Pittsburgh PA!  You can visit them at www.soulpittmedia.com

Now the VA site has room to grow and we also will have this cool blog so we can inform you of what’s going on with VA.  Thanks again to Soul Pitt Media!  And stop back often to read our blog and post comments of your own as well.

Hopefully you have been voting for Virtuous Academy on refresheverything.com. We were approved to compete for $50,000 in grant funds. These funds will be used to fund our art program over the summer and extended through the school year. Backstage is our after school program that is designed to offer academic tutoring and to celebrate art. With these funds we can extend Backstage into the summer so that children will be exposed to art and academics all year long. We also will have the capability of visiting art museums, plays and musical con-certs. In these last days please continue to vote for Virtuous Academy @ refresheverything.com.

This opportunity is ongoing in different categories, so we will continue to apply for these funds as they apply to different areas of Virtuous Academy. We appreciate your continued support. I am so grateful of how far we came from the beginning of the month until today. The support we received from supporters forwarding their emails and posting the link on their face-book pages was encouraging. I am so thankful that the word is being spread about Virtuous Academy and people are becoming aware of who we are and what we offer. I am faith-filled that funds will come in His time and so everyday I look for new ways and new opportunities to receive the blessing from God. Thanks again for your continued support of Virtuous Academy.