Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Gambling by the Numbers: Magic Tuition Money

Let's have an education lottery using the methodology now used by CCSD for Buist applicants.

So, those players who pay careful attention to all gambling opportunies would sign up to buy lottery tickets. Exactly one month later CCSD would notify the winners that they had won.

Oh, I forgot.

The ticket holders would not pick their own numbers. No, CCSD would assign secret numbers. In fact, only CCSD would know the names associated with each ticket number.

But that's okay, because CCSD would save holders the trouble of checking their tickets to see if they had won.

Then CCSD could announce through the media that the winners selected by the computer had been notified and were being paid (that's $6000 to $15000 per year for the following nine years).

Of course, due to privacy issues the winners' names would not be made public. A few well-known names might leak out or be subject to rumor, but no one would ever question if the process were fair.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's it on the button. So now you know why most downtown Black families gave up on Buist a long time ago. It just took Whites a little longer to figure it all out. It's a game that requires an invitation first. The truth is no verifiable residents of downtown need apply unless they're invited, especially been-here Blacks and come-here Whites.

Anonymous said...

Last night Sallie Ballard held a meeting at Buist to rally the troops against the city parents. This shouldn't be hard to do because most parents at Buist live in Mt. Pleasant. How many cheaters in attendance managed to get their children into Buist via the downtown admissions list they now hope to get rid of?

Anonymous said...

Why does this school, its principal and CCSD officials seem to have it out for other District 20 schools and residents? They're not the enemy, or are they?

Anonymous said...

If Sallie Ballard cares about the image of Buist she should have her parents at the school speak up for other downtown schools. District 20 is an emergency situation. No one wants Buist to have less. They only want the rest of the downtown schools to be treated fairly by CCSD.

Babbie said...

To the first commenter: I understand the reference to "come-here Whites," since we all know that unless their great-great-great grandfathers were members of the St. Cecelia Society, they're not important. But why not "been-here Blacks"? They've been here longer than the St. Cecelia Society itself.

Anonymous said...

When will Greg Meyers and Dr. Goodloe finally do the right thing? Greg's five children are all out of Buist now. Oh, that's right, Toya'skid has to get her education.

Anonymous said...

Addlestone St? St. Margaret St? Failing schools list or downtown list we know you weren't our neighbors. You took spots from real downtown kids. Don't you feel a little guilty?

Anonymous said...

Why is the SC Dept of Education not investigating? Does someone high up in the state government have relatives by marriage that used a fake address?

Anonymous said...

The African American poplulation has been her longer and they do think that Buist is a private school. The issue for District 20 isn't just Buist, it is a start becuase it is the only school in District twenty that provides an equal education for people of all colors. That is want I said equal we are still at Plessy vs Ferguson here in Charleston and "the powers that be" seem to want to keep it that way. They may win this war if people don't start working together. By people I don't mean the CCSD, I mean people of all colors across the county.

Budget concerns should not be the issue since there is a huge questions where all the money is going anyway.

Anonymous said...

To poster#8
BINGO

Anonymous said...

You're right poster #8. Many people know about that situation and that is why the crimes committed against real downtown residents last year in the Buist lottery were not investigated. The truth always comes out though not matter who you are or what family your sister married into.

Anonymous said...

I have known many people over the last ten years to use fake downtown addresses to better their chances of getting into Buist. You can't really blame a parent for wanting the best for their child. These people were middle class. The brightest kids need more of a challenge than they are given in a regular school. A good parent will do whateer it takes to get their child the best education possible.

Babbie said...

Does a "good parent" set a good example by cheating?

Anonymous said...

Babbie,
Did you miss the news last summer? Those were good examples. There was a time when you could visit birthday parties downtown and parents would openly talk about how they cheated.

Anonymous said...

Been-here blacks are people who have seen this all before. They know everybody's dirty linen and are not likely to be asked to join the party because of it. This is in contrast to BUMPY come-here's who are willing to perform on que and lend themselves to photo ops with all the right people. And if you haven't noticed, come-here whites include just about everyone not in a policy making position regardless of when they arrived. BYW I don't know of any present-day St. Cecelia members who are making any real policy decisions that matter these days.

Anonymous said...

They don't want downtown kids at Buist because they don't want parents looking over their shoulder-black or white. Also, they couldn't use the false address list to help their friends get in if downtown people were represented in the school. Someone would have figured it out before last summer.

Anonymous said...

The Post and Courier, other media outlets and dozens of downtown parents have seen the Buist list from last year. It names all 40 children, the address on their application and what list they came in on.

A quick property tax search yielded shocking results. People were clearly violating the intent of the law. So why did the Post and Courier not publish the names? Maybe someone should put all of that information on this blog.

In case you were wondering the list was given because of a FOIA request. Anyone could do that still today.

While we are at it let's do a FOIA request for everyone of those lists for the last five years.Downtown people might have shut up last summer if the school system had kept out at least the most obvious address cheats.

The big question is: if they are cheating so flagrently (or looking the other way when it comes to Buist admissions)can we trust these people with out tax dollars? What else is going on in the Charleston County school system.

Anonymous said...

That last one is really good. If CCSD lies and cheats regarding how students are admitted to Buist, how can we trust them to be honest about where our public school money is being spent? What about it P&C?

Anonymous said...

Everyone who ever used a fake address should be kicked out of Buist. If their younger siblings got into Buist on the sibling list they should be kicked out too.