Left Behind......

I had a "parent conference" this afternoon. The "parent" in attendance was not the students 'parent', it was his half-sister. She explained to us that they have the same Mom. However, "Mom is a drug abuser." His "Father" is currently "incarcerated" and will probably get out sometime this year. He lives at the house of his father's mother (his grandmother), who has several other grandchildren living with her. He has a bed and chest of drawers set up in the utility room, ("but there are no washers and dryers in there," we were told.) He has to keep the door to this utility room locked to keep his aunt (Fathers sister) from stealing what little bit of stuff he has to help support her drug habit. This being said.......

Half Sister has been having him go to her apartment after school to do his homework. This is a start. But this kid is so far behind. He failed his core classes for the first semester and is currently failing most of his classes this semester. The number one reason is failure to turn in work. From the sound of it, this kid has been Left Behind from the time he was conceived.
I wonder how many more like him we have at our school? I can think of several students in my classes who are probably living like this. Is that living ? They say we are supposed to "relate" to our students. I cannot relate to this. Such a life was no where to be seen in my environment while I was growing up. So, U.S. Secretary of Education Spellings, what would you suggest the schools do to advance kids like this ?

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