Intellectual and Emotional Genocide Against Children

How does NCLB's high-stakes testing constitute an intellectual and emotional genocide against children? Let me count the ways.

A genocide is a systematic slaughter of an identifiable group of persons, often involving an ethnic group. An intellectual and emotional genocide, then, would be a systematic destruction of the intellectual and emotional contents or capacities among member of any such group. On both counts, the testing hysteria of NCLB qualifies.

Can anyone in his right mind argue that it was necessary to label these hundreds of thousands of fourth and eighth graders as failures in order to move them up a few points on a test? To have the joy of coming to school sucked out and to have learning turned into the same type of onerous mind-numbing that most of these children will inherit when they leave school. What are these few points on a test going to gain them as they move from school to jobs? No one can argue that these children of poverty are headed in significant numbers to university? For those few who do make to higher education, how many of them will have got there because these tests inspired to them do so? How many will have worked and scraped in these test preparation schools to enter college entirely unprepared for the thinking that will expected of them. And if that was the only way to raise their pathetic scores, has it been worth it for hundreds of thousands who now see themselves as the failures we have made them? Would it not have been better to let them have their childhoods and the fun that once associated with coming to school, to insist that their teachers expect, and to accept, the best that each child can deliver, to insist that they come to take part in deciding their own lives and putting the

McGraw-Hill Scores Again

When I was beginning a research study in Louisiana that is now in its fifth year, the Bayou State had the dubious distinction as the only state in the Union to use a single test to make promotion decisions in elementary school. Now that number is 10, and it includes the New York, specifically, New York City, the national bastion of liberalism and multiculturism that somehow manages to elect only Republican mayors. Begun two years ago for third graders after the Mayor rammed the program through by replacing dissident Board members with his own rubber stamps, the program has proved so politically popular that now it will be extended into the 5th and 7th grades.

Presently, 10,000 or so 3rd graders are labeled failures each spring in New York City, but about half of those who respond to the City's "invitation" to attend testing boot camp during the subsequent summer, end up passing on to 4th grade. It is a much kinder and gentler way to remind poor children that they are failures in more ways than they ever thought--and a way, too, to make it appear that the Mayor actually has a plan to improve the public schools of the City. The populace seems to have bought in, so much so that that their 5th and 7th graders will now now get an equal chance to demonstrate their failure, too.

In the meantime, McGraw-Hill has penned a five-year contract with the State, funded with $17 million from the US DOE, to fix all the scoring problems that McGraw-Hill created during the last five years. For a little history on New York's testing and scoring problems and its incestuous relationship with M-H, click here for Superintendent Bill Cala's summary of New York's efforts to scale the testing heights (what a great pun). The NY Times reported yesterday that

"the Office of State Assessment has hired six new staff members and signed a five-year contract with McGraw-Hill. Federal aid has helped pay for all the changes. New York received $17 million under No Child Left Behind to revamp its program."

For those readers wondering if Charlotte Frank, McGraw-Hill's Vice President, is still on the NY Board of Regents--no, she is not. She, like Reid Lyon, has moved on to greener pastures, if you know what I mean. She now is a prominent board member on, yet, another corporatizing school effort called, of all things, Teachers Network. Sponsored primarily by McGraw-Hill while using the motto, "For teachers, By teachers," this company site promotes corporate solutions to the problems created by corporate tests. This corporate lure should not be mistaken for Teachers.Net, which is an top-notch outfit run by teachers that offers free materials, discussion groups, etc.

Labor Wars and Labor Whores

The meltdown of the AFL-CIO has opened the door to a wide range of idealists, visionaries, snake-oil salesmen, and crackpots who know an opportunity when they see one. The fact that recent leadership of the labor movement has resembled Boss Tweed more than Eugene V. Debs says a lot about how the rise of Big Money in our institutions now makes political allegiance and ideological commitment seem like quaint, old-fashioned notions. Over at ARN-L, there is a discussion warming up between voices for the NEA and New Democracy editor, Dave Stratman.

NEA these days is particularly sensitive to criticism that they have been out of the loop, or too much in the Loop, busy, nonetheless, protecting their privileged positions at power centers in Washington, rather than speaking out against NCLB's planned destruction of public education and the intellectual/emotional genocide against children that has been the principal by-product of that effort.

NEA responds that, whoa, there, even Kennedy and Miller got snookered on the NCLB deal when they signed on, thinking that the elimination of the voucher requirement had meant a real victory. Well, it may be forgivable for a politician to be that stupid, but politicians depend on people who should know better, LIKE THE NEA. It seems to me that NEA got caught napping, not doing its homework, or, I don't know, playing golf with Ron Paige? Whatever the excuse, it is not good enough to take them off the hook for letting legislators, who might have acted differently had they had different information, do what they did--support the greatest educational boondoggle and assault against children in our history.

If the NEA's defense is that they are only now starting to "get it" in regards to NCLB's intent, then they have admitted to the inexcusable. Their chief tactic of resistance, suing the Feds for not fully funding NCLB, indicates that they did not get it. Court action along these lines only allows the White House more time to shovel out money for its stupidifying programs that become embedded in the fabric of school, and to continue their annual failure demonstrations that are documented ad nauseum by the lamest of media whores who will write any lie for nice lunch with a rep from the Business Roundtable.

If NEA is really "getting it," let Reg Weaver step out of the shadows and annouce a lawsuit against the DOE on grounds of civil rights violations, or for violating the intent of Brown v Board of Education, or for devising policies that encourage segregation, dropouts. There are enough crimes against humanity here to keep all of NEA's lawyers busy for the foreseeable future.

Political Power + Corporate Power - Civic Power = Fascism

In a recent post to the listserv for Fairtest's Assessment Reform Network (ARN-L), Peter Majoy shared his insights on the the Pauline Lipman piece that has been reprinted by Substance, by Susan Ohanian, and elsewhere. Here is part of Peter's post:

Ms. Lipman (backed by research) paints a picture of the
intrusion of centralized power into local life, "globalization".
In her broad view, she describes the encroachment of the
centralized government and theeconomic sector, corporations,
into the cultural/civic life of schools, housing, and jobs. This
intrusion is marked by elitist classism, racism and sexism.
In essence, I agree with all she spoke of.

Without mentioning the word, what Ms. Lipman was
describing was theevolution of democracy into a
form of fascism. This trend of the marriage of the
state (political sphere) with corporate power
(economic sphere) is the classical definition of fascism.
In our case here in America, it is the wolf in sheep's clothing.

If anyone who reads this gets the chance to read
Shaping Globalization: Civic Society, Cultural Power and
Threefolding by Nicanor Perlas, it will be obvious to the
reader how Mr. Perlas has nailed down what is at the
heart of Ms. Lipman's speech. Without the third arena
called civic power, the gradual wittling away of political and
economic freedom will take placeand the elite few will rule
the overwhelming many. I have met Mr. Perlastwice. He is
one of the nicest people I have ever encountered: gracious,
listens attentively, and a man who does what he says. His
ascendance in Phillipino life came when he organized a
massive mobilisation of the civic sector against Ferdinand
Marcos and the unethical/unjust partnership of the
political and economic sector and prevented the Marcos
regime from building 12 nuclear power plants located near
active volcanoes and earthquake faultlines.  In his speech
before Parliamnent where he received the 2003 Right
Livelihood Award, Mr. Perlas spoke of the "brave new world"
we are enteringwhich is "totally alien to history, totally alien
to our present experienceof the world." He goes on to say that
"This 'brave new world' will require more than ever our
harnessing of inner resources if we are not to plunge
ourselves into the abyss of destruction." His work and
movement is based onthree sectors working in harmony:
political, economic and civic. Currently,the partnership
of the political and economic spheres cast a wide global
net over the planet. Only when the civic sector rises to
share that powerwill the planet save itself. You can read
about Mr. Perlas and his work at www.globenet3.org as
well as at www.cadi.ph.

As for schooling, when the political and economic
interests overshadow the civic in the evolution of education,
we get NCLB. Only when the civic sector demands a seat at
the table will NCLB fade into oblivion and  its
centerpieces of standardized testing, pressure to
privatize, and thecreeping presence of the military fade
away to take their balanced place inthe matrix of our
lives. Without this taking place, school will slowly but
surely succumb to the security state appearing deceitfully
in an Orwellian semantic of democracy in order to justify
the removal of our civil and personal liberties. In this context,
NCLB can be considered a branch of a fascist tendency now
on the rise in America. 

Update from Congressman Miller's Office

Last Monday I posted on a story that Rep. George Miller's office requested in December 2004 that the GAO investigate the $40 million shoveled to ABCTE, the phony teacher preparation outfit that was the brainchild of former US DOE Undersecretary, Gene Hickok. Rep. Miller's office got back to me today with an update on that initial request.

The GAO reported back that the ABCTE giveaway will be part of a larger investigation of other DOE funding complaints and issues. Rep. Miller's office was told by GAO to expect a final report early in 2006.

Struggling Schools Face Sanctions as Private Tutoring Companies Reap Bonanza

If favored educational publishers are excited about the billion dollars of Reading First money pouring from the US DOE coffers each year, then double that yearly allocation and imagine how thrilled tutoring company execs must be with their target set on the $2 billion a year jackpot awaiting them as a result of NCLB tutoring (supplemental services) requirements for students of failing schools.

The tutoring requirement became the late-inning replacement for the favored privatization pitch, school vouchers, that was pulled from NCLB in the late stages of the negotiations that eventually assured passage in 2001. Privatization would have to take a more subtle route, embedded in the increasingly-draconian sanctions that would result from impossible test performance demands over time. In the meantime, the best that could be arranged for the eager education industry was a massive giveaway in the form of tutoring contracts to private ventures that have sprung up since NCLB passage.

Unlike the strict oversight of schools receiving federal funds to stringently implement the renewed phonics orthodoxy pushed by Reading First, there are no federal accountability enforcement measures for the companies who are now collecting the carloads of cash from NCLB's tutoring program.

And carloads there are. The Baltimore Sun reports that a local company, Educate, Inc. saw profits jump 402% in 2004, as more and more urban schools failed to meet their mandated testing targets for the third year, thus requiring these schools to set aside up to 20% of their Federal Title I funds to pay tutoring companies to tutor students who request extra help.

In a recent study conducted by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and the American Institute for Social Justice, researchers found that Louisiana is the only state that monitors the effects of the private tutoring services on test score performance. The study, which examined 91 separate districts, found that $300 million was paid to tutoring companies in one year “with almost no scientific evidence that this spending has contributed to academic achievement."

As the draining of Title I funds continues, The Center for Policy Alternatives reports these interesting facts, some of which are from the same study cited above:

Of the 1,000 tutoring providers on current state approval lists, 63 percent are private companies. In future years, the market for in-school services by for-profit companies is estimated to be $20 to $30 billion. One of the biggest tutoring companies, Sylvan Education Solutions, expected to tutor 20,000 students in 2004, at $20 to $40 an hour. Some companies try to take unfair advantage. In one case in North Carolina, a tutoring company submitted an invoice for providing 48 students a total of 56 hours of instruction at a cost of $37,455—a rate of $674 an hour.

It would seem, then, that NCLB's impossible demands that are advertised as accountability, and the draconian sanctions that are offered as remedies, really only apply to those public institutions that are in need of extremist makeovers or outright replacement. Left immune from these relentless bare-knuckled policies are those who are sure to profit from the resulting carnage.

The Big Business of Education Reform

There was good reason for educational publishing and testing corporations to celebrate Bush's arrival in Washington. After looking at the President's planned initiatives for state testing, Chief executive of Pearson Education, Peter Jovanovich, quipped to Education Week in February, 2001: "This almost reads like our business plan."

With the growing list of investigations and the widening coverage of complaints by those shut out of the insider feeding frenzy at US DOE (click here for news of another complaint filed by Robert Slavin in June), it is becoming easier to see the cozy relations among federal consultants and researchers, and the companies for which these same consultant and researchers devise solutions that are then recommendeded by US DOE, often receiving Federal money to sustain their product development and market their products.

Here is the way it works. The DOE recruits the true believers in the version of "scientifically-based" literacy that the President's advisor and enforcer, Reid Lyon, has placed front and center in the intellectually dishonest National Reading Panel Report. The DOE then sponsors studies, recruits academics, issues reports, and funds efforts to advance strategies that advocate the preferred solution. As the USA Today article points out, "since Reading First's inception in 2002, several well-known reading experts have both advised states on federal grant applications and worked for major publishers. Publisher Scott Foresman touts two former Reading First officials on its website."

In fact, McGraw-Hill, the Bush family favorite, is now taking on an assertive tone in their public financial pronouncements, or is that just a cozy confidence. They tout their "broad base of knowledge about what is happening across state lines." Indeed. And they are obviously proud of their overlapping roles as congressional advisor, grass roots consultant, policy expert, psychometric high priest:

While we have no interaction in creating general social policy, we do have conversations with members of Congress advising on technical issues. We work across all states, and are a contractor for 23 different states, so have a broad base of knowledge about what's happening across the nation for anyone drafting legislation at this time.

As states and districts implement NCLB--in the earlier grades and potentially at the high school level--we encourage educators, administrators, and policy makers to consult with us. CTB/McGraw-Hill can provide valuable policy resources, technical assistance, and advice. We are not only the leading publisher of educational assessments in the United States; we are also a key resource for information on standards and testing. Our national team of Evaluation Consultants is involved at a grass-roots level in each state-- meeting with educators, helping districts and schools understand the impact of the new law, and offering solutions that meet both the letter and spirit of the law--to improve teaching and learning.

Yes, yes, let's not forget teaching and learning.

It's Official--Reading First is Under Investigation

USA Today reported on August 7 that Senator Richard Lugar's office has confirmed that the US DOE's Inspector General has opened an investigation into allegations of impropriety and favoritism (in Iraq they call it profiteering) in the letting of contracts for Reading First's one billion dollars dispensed annually to make sure that phonics fanaticism becomes the operative literacy strategy in American schools. This is part of the letter that Lugar sent to Maggie Spellings on June 10:

"At best, it seems that there has been a lack of clarity" about what programs qualify for funding. "At worst, one or more officials contracted to work for the Department of Education may be working to further their own interests."

Imagine that!

More Investigations at US DOE

The Reading Recovery Council of North America (RRCNA), which offers a truly balanced reading alternative to the drill and kill phonics approach favored by the current regime in Washington, has requested a federal investigation into the implementation practices of Reading First. Reading First is part of the NCLB reading improvement initiative that shovels out a billion dollars a year to raise reading scores, most of it going to test prep and scripted teaching programs developed by McGraw-Hill (click here for an interesting article on the Bush/McGraw Hill connection), Harcourt, and other friends and large contributors.

Cited in RRCNA's letter to the Inspector General are these points:

1. State and local control. The implementation of Reading First has restricted state and local control in the selection of scientifically based reading programs.

2. One-to-one instruction. The Department has excluded one-to-one instruction in the Reading First program, contradicting the authorizing statute, congressional intent, and scientific research findings of effectiveness for the lowest-achieving children.

3. Selective application of scientifically based research criteria. In the implementation of Reading First, the Department has systematically favored some programs while excluding other programs with a scientific research base.

4. Misinformation about Reading Recovery. The Department has supported a quiet yet pervasive misinformation campaign against Reading Recovery despite a large body of research demonstrating Reading Recovery’s effectiveness and long-term results.

Complaint #4 focuses on an administration that has perfected the art of sliming its opponents, and the hacks running the show at US DOE are no different. The sham of "scientifically-based research" has been made clear by Gerald Coles (reviewed here) and others who have examined the propaganda piece, the National Reading Panel Report, that provides the foundation for all this fanatical phonics phenomenon that dismisses any study that does not echo the party line--and eventually disregards excellent well-documented strategies that improve literacy and thinking.

A Reporter Who Thinks and Feels

Michael Winerip of the NY Times comes through again with another thoughtful and compassionate piece on school, students, and community in South Central L. A. Presented as he does here, one can begin to discern the utter stupidity of treating school problems as if they are divorced from the grinding poverty of the communities they serve. After reading just this short piece, can anyone believe that more threats and more testing of students are going to do anything to address the realities faced of the people in these communities? Not even likely, but perhaps there is no clearer way to plant the message in these children's and parents' minds that they deserve the failure that more testing assures, particularly with its ever-escalating targets.

By MICHAEL WINERIP

LAST spring, not long after a ninth-grade girl was murdered in a drive-by shooting in front of Locke High School, Liza Levine, an English teacher, assigned an essay about what it was like being a student at Locke.

Teachers rarely know the full story behind their students, and this is particularly so at Locke, in South Central, one of the city's poorest and toughest areas. ''So much goes on away from school,'' says Ms. Levine, who loses students to homelessness, pregnancy, work, drugs and jail. She never knows which ones will make it through. Most don't. The ninth grade at Locke four years ago had 979 students; in June, 322 graduated.

The 657 who disappeared? Much of current education reform is aimed at developing a formula to accurately calculate their disappearance; creating programs and new schools to prevent their disappearance, and punishing schools that lose them.

But those who disappeared are teenagers and remain elusive, even when you can ask them why.

Ms. Levine's favorite ''Day in the Life'' essay was by Lesly Castillo, 15, who was repeating ninth grade, and, the teacher feared, on the verge of dropping out. The teacher liked the quiet honesty of the essay. Ms. Levine usually has three or four students in each class who cannot read and more who do not focus, but says, ''I can count on Lesly to be cognitively all there.''

Being physically all there is another matter. From Lesly's tattoos, Ms. Levine suspected she was a gang member. Lesly has a history of skipping, and has been taken to court by school officials for truancy. When she missed a few days early in the semester, Ms. Levine called home.

Lesly's mother came in immediately. The parents are Mexican immigrants who do not speak English, common at Locke, where two-thirds of the students are Hispanic, the rest black. Her father works nights for a demolition company removing asbestos, and her mother is a housewife. Lesly's younger brother and sister get A's in elementary school.

''Lesly has two responsive parents,'' Ms. Levine says. ''That's a big part of the battle. I told her mom, she's the kind of kid who can graduate, go to college.''

Lesly's attendance improved, which gave Ms. Levine hope. Her midterm grade was C. Then she disappeared the week the class was preparing for the final on ''Lord of the Flies,'' returning in time to try and bluff her way through.

''I gave her a mercy D,'' Ms. Levine says. ''Was it right to pass her? Probably not. But the course teaches them to write for the state test and she has the capability. If I gave her an F, it would have just put her five credits further behind.''

A Day in the Life. English, Period 3. Every morning I wake up around 6:30 and I tune in the oldies radio station My little brother runs to the bathroom first and he takes forever in there so me and my little sister just have to wait I wake up arguing with my mom for any reason, so I just can't wait to get to school, just not to be home any more. Once I'm in school I can't be there anymore. I get bored and sometimes that just makes me want to go back home.

When I get to first period it's boring throughout until third period, but not all the times, only sometimes when the lesson is hard to understand or sometimes it's just hard to concentrate in school when you have problems and you're thinking about when it's your next court date or after a whole day in court Or just thinking of a way to stay safe when you walk home.

Locke is one of the city's lowest performing schools, although the principal, Dr. Frank Wells, who is starting his second year, and several teachers say there have been gains in recent years. A new after-school program and night school give failing students the chance to make up credits; a second algebra class a day was added to help students pass the state test; a college-prep support program for midlevel students is credited with adding 100 graduates this year.

''Six seniors are going to Ivy League colleges,'' Dr. Wells says.

Even at Locke, the motivated find opportunity.

As with many city schools, a major obstacle to improving Locke is the exodus of veteran teachers. A quarter of Locke's teachers last year were new; three-quarters had been at Locke five years or less.

The principal is constantly filling vacancies. Lesly's summer school English course was taught by Ammarin Vacharaprusadee, 23 -- or Mr. V -- a recent college graduate, dispatched to Room 226 at the last minute. ''They just gave me the key the first day and said take the class,'' he says. ''They didn't give me a curriculum. No books. I'm making it up as I go.''

Several of the 23 students had their heads down much of the class. A few slept. They were supposed to do a half-hour of silent reading and write about it, but only a handful brought books. The rest, including Lesly, were allowed to write an essay on why it's important to bring your book. ''If I write, 'I ain't got it; that's why I don't got it,' is that worth points?'' asked one of three boys who taunted the young teacher the entire two hours.

Lesly arrived that day in late July having turned in only 5 of 11 assignments. In an hour she handed in the missing six, and Mr. V quickly gave her credit in his grade book. ''I was getting a failure and Mr. V said that boosted it to an A,'' she says.

Mr. V acknowledged that he barely skimmed the dozens of papers handed in that day. ''As long as they're turned in they get credit,'' he says.

THIS is why veterans like Ms. Levine, 47, who started at Locke in 2001, are so important. ''She's mastered her craft,'' says Dr. Wells, the principal, ''and I love her heart.''

Ms. Levine made a dozen home visits last year. When they read Elie Wiesel's ''Night,'' she took the class to the Holocaust museum in Los Angeles. When they read ''Romeo and Juliet,'' they translated it into modern speech. When a senior with a baby hadn't arrived to take the AP English test, Ms. Levine raced to the girl's home, dropped the baby off at day care and delivered the girl on time.

But it is hard to hold the Ms. Levines. At urban schools a major exodus comes by the fourth year, and Ms. Levine recently decided to leave, for a suburban job.

''I'm racked with guilt,'' she says. ''But you burn out. There's always this feeling that something else bad is going to happen to the kids that's out of your control.''

She was angry after hearing why Lesly missed the week before finals. ''I called the house,'' Ms. Levine says. ''She told me she'd gone to live with her boyfriend. She said, 'Don't worry, Miss, I'm not with him anymore, he's 24.' I said, 'Lesly, that's statutory rape, he can go to jail.'''

And Lesly? ''Didn't say anything,'' Ms. Levine says.

After fourth period is lunch and I like to kick back and just chill and talk about the problems we have and to find a way to fix them. We only get to kick it for a little while because sometimes we get searched just in case we have any type of weapons or drugs. Then the bell rings to go onto fifth period My friends have that class and we just make fun of the teacher.

At the end of the school day my mom picks me up and I go home and just talk on the phone until my dad gets home and starts ripping on me, then we all just start arguing over using the phone. Then around 5:30 me and my mom leave to go to the park to work out When I get home I take a look at my caller ID My boyfriend calls or just one of my friends calls to tell me about a new problem we have on our backs. Or I also receive calls from homies telling me that one of the homegirls or homeboys got shot or killed or just simply put in jail. Not long ago my homie Caprice, rest in peace, got shot and killed by the police It was all over the news.

The Castillos came from Mexico when Lesly was 4. As they struggled up the ladder, they moved eight times in 11 years. Her dad, Ramon, wanted to own a house, and the area he could afford was South Central. It is a small immaculate home on a street bordered by a freeway and junkyard. He says he hopes to sell for a profit, then move away, so his younger children do not have Lesly's troubles. ''Everything I do in this country is for my family,'' he says.

In eighth grade, Lesly says: ''My parents were real strict, they wouldn't let me go out. So I went out during school. I had a schedule. Monday I went to school. Tuesday to Thursday I didn't. Friday they gave tests; I went a half day and left after lunch.''

Lesly looks mature for her age and liked the attention of older boys, even if they were gang members. ''I was 13 they were 18, then like 20, 23, 24.'' She now attributes much of her trouble to her relationship with the 24-year-old gang leader. At one point, she was sent to court for truancy, another time for a fight when she kicked a girl's eye shut. She had her gang name tattooed in inch-high letters on her left breast. ''My dad wouldn't talk to me,'' Lesly says. ''He kept saying why did you do it? You have a family, why do you need them?''

Why did she? ''I don't know,'' Lesly says. ''I guess I was just hanging with the wrong people, doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.''

Moving in with the 24-year-old was a turning point. It was miserable, she says. He was lazy, wasn't around much, spent most of the time at the house of another girl he'd gotten pregnant. After a week, she returned home.

Recently, through a mutual friend, he sent back her love letters and photos. She tore them up. ''He has no power over me,'' she says. ''He can't force me to go back to him.''

I also have to go to counseling. Counseling is mostly given to you by court or your parents sign you up It's when you do bad in school or at home and in counseling they try to help you Personally I think it doesn't work.

When I get home I take a shower. I like to draw and listen to some oldies and start to worry on what you have done bad and the consequences. I also think on how to do things right and not to get caught doing bad things. I also try to find a way to stay out of probation, house arrest or do things right so I won't get locked up. After I get tired I put everything away and I go to sleep.

The guidance counselor told Lesly that she still does not have enough credits for 10th grade. Lesly says this fall she will go to after-school from 3:30 to 5 and night school from 5 to 8 to make up the credits. But Ms. Levine says it is a bad sign that Lesly dropped her second summer course, algebra.

''I hope she'll make it,'' Ms. Levine says. ''But I'm too much of a realist. I don't think so.''

Lesly's father, too, is guarded. He says he sees small signs of change, but wants to see the grades.

Lesly herself is not sure. ''Sometimes I think I can,'' she says, ''but I may not. I've been in ninth grade so many years. Ninth grade! What's hard about ninth grade? I think it's that I haven't been to school so much.''

The only person Lesly is allowed out with now is Stephanie Zamora, her best friend since seventh grade. Stephanie is in 11th grade with a B average and has plans for college. Stephanie takes Lesly to her church. Her boyfriend is a senior who plans to join the Marines.

''My boyfriend treats me right,'' she tells Lesly. ''He tries to help me in school. He shows me he cares about me. He's a serious person.''

''So serious,'' Lesly says.

''He cracks a little joke,'' Stephanie says.

''Only with you,'' Lesly says.

''Lesly's problem is she goes for the easy stuff,'' Stephanie says.

''I do.''

''She just thinks about the right now,'' Stephanie says.

''Yeah,'' Lesly says.

''I'm still worried she'll go back to this guy.''

''I'm not going back to him,'' Lesly says.