No Child Left Behind? These Kids Just Want to Come in From Cold

Not to be too dramatic, but the situation we were in made me want to cry because we should not be suffering like this.

The city was supposed to build a new H.D. Woodson High School years ago, but it never happened. The city is changing, and it seems like lower income African American communities, like surrounding Clay Terrace, Lincoln Heights, Huntwood and others in the H.D. Woodson neighborhood, along with others across the city, are being pushed out by expensive new housing developments. We are just not a priority for the city. Any new school that will be built will not be for us.

Even if a new school is built, it will not happen in time for me to graduate from it. I am speaking out for the benefit of Woodson students who come after me because I know half of my classmates probably are already going to be lost. I want something better for the students coming after us so that they will not have to go through what we have been through the past two weeks.

We should not have to be worried about our education. We should be able to focus on positive things in the tradition and spirit of the Woodson Warrior.

-- RODNEY MARTIN

'Leaving a Whole School Behind'

I have serious concerns about my education. It's up to each student as individuals to learn and be successful, but we don't have the facilities to help us prepare for our futures. Woodson does not have the tools and materials that many other schools have. Therefore, we don't have the same opportunities.

We don't come from wealthy families that can send their children to fancy private schools. Many students like me get up every morning to get to school on time. We use public transportation that we have to pay for to take advantage of our free education, but our efforts do not further our education. The obstacles that we have to face daily discourage many from learning. Having to be transported from Woodson to Evans every morning only made us lose more valuable learning time.

As the only public high school in Ward 7, Woodson lacks the proper funding and support from the government. President Bush enacted a law called "No Child Left Behind," but he is not living up to his promise because he's leaving a whole school behind.

These issues go beyond Woodson. We live in the nation's capital, which is a city with a lot of wealth and power. So why are schools in the District not getting adequate funding and support to allow its students to receive a quality education?

As I thought about what my schoolmates and I faced the past two weeks, this poem came to me: