JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The old saying goes, "It takes a village to raise a child." And Jacksonville community members came together to do just that. "We need to do all we can," said one participant.
It's called One by One and it's made up of 18 months of the Jacksonville Public Education Fund's research. "Today is that opportunity for community members to come together and highlight those issues that we have to address," said President, Tray Csar.
The Jacksonville Public Education Fund asked almost 2,000 people in Jacksonville what they wanted to see changed in classrooms. 179 delegates voted on the top three suggestions to present to the Duval County School Board. "What you put in is what they give out. If you put nothing into those children, nothing is going to come out," said Eunice Barnum.
This information will be used in the districts strategic plan which will be developed this month. But Duval County School Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti says we are already of to a good start.
"We have already seen some of improvement with our district. 86-percent of our schools are A,B, and C schools. None of our high schools are D or F schools. And our graduation rate has improved," said Dr. Vitti.
"With all that being said, we have a lot of work to do. Our reading proficeincy rates are still below the state average. The graduation rate is below average. We have to do a lot better with our African American students. So we have to acknowledge our good work, but recognize there is still a lot of work to be done."
And the Jacksonville Public Education Fund say they hope together they can make each improvement happen for every child in our district
