In a recent interview with U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, NEA Today's Dave Winans asked, "What role do you see yourself playing as secretary of education?"

Paige responded, "The big goal of this department can be wrapped up in two words - 'access' and 'excellence' for all. This means assuring access to quality education, primarily to those who face barriers to this access, and excellence for all."

In the Rome City School System, one has only to look at the city's two low-performing schools and the zoning maps for school attendance at these schools to know that we have many children who "face barriers to this access." These zoning maps have been drawn under the guise of "neighborhood schools" - a legacy passed down from our immediate past city school superintendent and boards of education to our present city school superintendent and board of education. The present superintendent has been ordered to pass this legacy on.

As a result our children have suffered academically and are continuing to do so. We have lost several generations of children, many of who are now adults roaming our streets or who are now incarcerated. I have not seen any innovation from our present superintendent. Certainly, he has allowed some of his teachers to be innovative, but where are his innovative ideas?

If one will take a very close look at East Central Elementary, one can wonder how it is that certain children living 5- to 10-plus miles away could possibly be considered part of the East Central school "neighborhood," whereas many African-American students and other minorities living within two or three blocks of East Central Elementary are not considered a part of this school's neighborhood.

Rather than give these minority students access to a "School of Excellence," these students are forced by a zoning map to attend one of our two lowest performing schools in this city. Zoning maps have put up a Berlin Wall denying many East Rome elementary students access to a quality education.

On a personal note, my granddaughter is a victim. Her parents were denied a transfer request this school year (2001-2002).

The neighborhood concept in Rome has only tended to re-segregate our children. According to a recent report, if a school has more than 60 percent minority students, it is a segregated school. According to another report, whereas the U.S Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision has never been reversed, the neighborhood school concept continues to resegregate our children.

Also, Gary Orfield, principal author of a new report from the Harvard University Civil Rights Project, "Schools More Separate," says that it is foolish to bet that separate but equal can work. According to Orfield, "We tried this from 1896 to the 1960s. The equal part was never enforced. Further, in the 1990s court rulings released districts from long-standing desegregation orders."

A 2001 editorial in the Rome News-Tribune commended the school system for improved scores on the CRTC at one of our low-performing elementary schools. What we do not know is, improved to what degree? Is that a fifth-grader now reading on a third-grade level rather than on a asecond-grade level or worse? This is not sufficient. Our children deserve much more.

Rome City School administrators attributed the improvement to smaller classes and more one-on-one instruction. Smaller classes are not just happening. These low-perfoming schools have had small classes for several years now, especially with the renovation taking place at the Graham Homes Public Housing causing many residents to seek housing elswhere.

In the wake of the March 22 release of names of failing schools in the state by the Georgia Department of Education, we find, once again, that our two lowest-performing schools made the list. What a challenge for our superintendent and board of education to do the right thing to ensure that "No child is left behind."

Our school superintendent has repeatedly stated that the reason for most of the failure of our low-performing schools is that these students have lots of "hurdles" to go through. My question at this juncture is how is it that a predominantly African-American elementary school on the northern side of town can have three public housing complexes feeding into it yet scores at this school have shown a steady rise in the last few years. How could this be true at one predominantly African-American school yet not evident at our two lowest-performing schools?

I have my theory - high expectations and excellence in teaching. If we expect little of our students, this is what we get. When parents are told that state curriculums are not followed because "our children cannot do this curriculum" and when teachers will not even bother to expose students to these materials in an effort to challenge them, then our children have already failed.

My sincere thanks to all teachers who give it all they have to help students succeed, but I am deeply hurt to see teachers expecting little and giving little. In the words of Gov. Roy Barnes, "Don't tell me our children cannot learn."

Furthermore, I feel that priorities are all wrong. For example, at one of our lowest-performing schools, a gym was recently built. This is a tremendous waste of taxpayer's money. Why not allocate funds to hire specialists in language arts, reading, science, social studies and math?

A gym? This is ridiculous.

As a grandparent and a mentor to several city elementary children, I challenge our city superintendent, assistant superintendent and board of education to become more sensitive to the needs of all our children. Perhaps as my husband and I have already suggested to our superintendent, we may need to pair our schools, rotate faculties or simply shut down those schools that are not performing well.

A structured after-school program for all eight elementary schools is a step in the right direction if the programs are not merely holding stations for children until parents come to pick them up. However, such programs will never be a substitute for quality teaching during the normal course of the day. A good after-school program should complement good teaching, not attempt to replace it, for indeed it cannot.

Far too many of our students in the city school system are receiving certificates of attendance rather than high school diplomas - sad to say. Students begin dropping out early in their school careers. They drop out when early in their school careers they do not acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in middle school, high school and eventually in life.

As the adage goes, "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link." Until we raise the academic levels of all our children and help them to reach their greatest potential, we should not consider ourselves a successful school system.

Until we rid ourselves of all failing schools, we are all losers no matter how many "school of excellence" signs we display.

Laney Montgomery Stevenson is retired after teaching in the Rome City Schools for 31 years, including 10 years at Main Elementary and 20 years at West Rome High.