That the issue posed is that the gravest struggle the students of Godscobh and their families are facing is that of a lack of means with which to afford their higher education is a realization that had not occurred to him immediately but one that, now that it has, appears to him to be as easily resolved as the matter of the funding, or the lack thereof, of local schools — but the solution to this is one that he wishes to hear coming from them, not from himself.
Despite his request that they be frank with him, in his eyes, it almost seems that they are still reluctant to speak in his presence. That they believe that simply because he holds all of the power and authority that he does, he will dismiss them out of hand — and they are not entirely wrong to be reticent because he might have, had they not made a compelling enough case as to why he should continue to listen to what they have to say.
A scholarship fund. Now that can be easily arranged by a man of his means, but what did they have in mind, exactly?
A more generous sum for the few in the form of a merit grant for only those select students who prove themselves gifted enough to earn the town’s support? A lesser sum for the many, in the form of a stipend for each and every student who graduates from the local high schools, so long as they commit themselves to the continued pursuit of their education or professionalization, in whatever form that takes for them? Something else entirely?
“I would like to hear more about your scholarship idea. Reiterating, once more, that this is under the assumption that money is no object of concern as to this plan of yours, how would you see that implemented? What safeguards would you put in place to ensure that the most students become successful and these funds are not misappropriated or misused?”
@spendfcrever
When Elinor realizes Zander is actually listening, something shifts. Sure, they had gotten the meeting, but internally they'd still expected this to be nothing more than a charade of effort so that the council could say they at least attempted to fix something this fiscal year.
"Okay, well, I do have some ideas I've mapped out," Reaching into the depths of their teaching bag, Elinor produces a thick three ring binder to thump onto Zander's desk. They only hadn't brought it out before because they figured the meeting would be over before either of them sat down.
"The issue I began to see in lots of scholarships is in how they reward students for good academic showing. Of course, grades are a measurement of success in one sense, but Godscobh has so many students that have adult responsibilities as early as 14 or 15 years old. They don't really ever reach traditional forms of academic successes because they're too busy just plain surviving."
Knowing all this, Elinor didn't really believe in making small changes to an already broken system. Any more short-term initiatives at Cove to fix things up would only put further, harsher pressure on the teachers. You couldn't just "fix" the kind of rot that had soaked through Godscobh over the past several decades. You had to cut the rot out completely.
"Starting junior, maybe even sophomore, year, students opt in. Each student is paired with a mentor from the community, like tradespeople, small business owners, healthcare workers, city planners, you get the idea. The intention would be to show them what adulthood really looks like, and by extension would give more adult role models for the kids who don't have any. This way, it's also more milestone based, marked by how well students can employ the skills they've learned into workshops or building a portfolio by the time they graduate."
A moment passes, and Elinor realizes they've spoken quite a bit all at once. They pause, trying to remember if they'd answered all of Zander's questions. He's very right to have questions. Luckily, Elinor has answers.
"As far as safeguards go, I think a board of teachers mixed with the tradespeople volunteers is fair, to avoid misuse. But on some level, I suppose it would be an honor system. I think we could trust students to want to better themselves if we show them how much it can change things."
