Channel One
The San Diego school board set back the level of trust with the community after the Nov. 12 meeting when it voted against the Channel One news program. The Channel One pilot program was supported unanimously by the district’s Inter-divisional Curriculum Committee and the 27 people who testified at the meeting.
Channel One keeps students on top of the events shaping our world. Coverage of the crisis in Yugoslavia and the historic Middle East peace talks helps to bring students’ textbooks to life and sparks interest in national and world affairs. For many students, Channel One is their only source of information on current events, and to deprive them of this is a mistake.
In addition, Whittle Communications would have provided the TVs, VCRs and satellite dish needed to show Channel One and other education programs at no cost to our school.
Private-public partnerships have proven successful at our school. And with the state’s present fiscal crisis, working with the private sector to get technological education innovations such as Channel One has become essential for schools to even keep their heads above water. It is unfortunate that students in San Diego City Schools be denied this opportunity.
TONY ALFARO, Principal, Memorial Academy
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