Let's begin with June of 2006. Burke was almost taken over by the State Department of Education, Inez Tenenbaum then Superintendent. It had failed to implement recommendations made by the state review board during the previous year. What happened next? Promises, promises! In fact, Mayor Joe Riley promised at the time to make (and I quote!) Burke "'a renowned national model for excellence.'" Goodloe-Johnson promised that, after a string of six principals over seven years, the new one would do the trick.
Barely three months later, the P & C (of all sources!) broke the scandal that Burke has been used as a dumping ground for troublemakers from other schools in CCSD. [See my posting of You Can't Make This Stuff Up! for details.] Is anyone on the school board following up on these questionable transfers? What percentage of Burke's students do not live in District 20? Do these transfers continue? How about telling us how many students who live in District 20 are bused to CCSD high schools in other parts of the county? Now, that number would be revealing.
Of course, in May of 2007 CCSD held its famous $77,000 meeting at Burke regarding the use of the Rivers High School building. During that meeting (and at various times since) CCSD has hinted that Burke may get an "AP Academy" or other speciality program. As it is, Burke doesn't even offer enough world language courses to qualify students for USC or Clemson, not to mention other deficiencies in its course offerings.
If plans exist to improve Burke, it appears now that the Superintendent will spring them by surprise upon the residents of District 20. Is she going to meet with District 20 constituents (especially PARENTS) to ask what they would like to see with the restructuring of Burke? Surely that's an important step that needs to be part of any restructuring!
Meanwhile, Burke has plenty of room in its practically-new building.
Why not take all those applicants to Academic Magnet who will be rejected for the coming year's class but meet the old generic standard and create a second "academic magnet" at Burke?
Don't like that?
Why not take all 75 students from Sea Islands YouthBuild Charter (who don't have a school building) and create a spectacular building trades program in the space at Burke?
Don't like that either? What about replicating some vocational programs now at Garrett and offering them at Burke?
Most importantly, what does the downtown community as a whole see as the best solution for Burke? And I'm not talking about NAACP officers who live west of the Ashley!
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15 comments:
Why not place those Sea Island Youth Build students in the half empty St. Johns High
Since you mentioned one infamous quote from the Mayor, I have to bring attention to his quote in today's paper. He promises in his next four years to "make the city the best place in America to live, work and raise your children."
Wow, the first 32 years he was working on gentrification, hotels, chain dept./shoe stores, palm trees, and brick crosswalks on King Street.
Now, he's interested in families? Give me a break.
The problems facing Burke are metaphors for what's all around us. Think positively. These challenges (and setbacks...including yesterday's election) are really great opportunities for a lot of different interests that are beginning to converge.
Three years ago, who would have thought that Porter-Gaud grads would be joining with the Friends of Burke to help plot a course for that school? Or that people left out of Buist would take up the banner for Chas. Progressive? Or that Burke & CA Brown grads would support a new charter high school for downtown and help guide its organization BECAUSE it will advance demands for expanded quality programs at Burke? Or that downtowners would become informed about issues on Johns Island, James Island or N.Charleston? Different people, talent and resources are coming together on their own without the blessings of the old power brokers who don't seem to "get it" yet.
Burke High School and Buist Academy, too, for that matter, are parts of a much bigger challenge (yes, this is also an opportunity) to improve public education downtown. Dist. 20’s fight is the same fight that other constituent districts should be waging as well. CCSD wants to divide the issues. By doing so, they hope to keep the public confused and separated by playing on traditional fears and prejudices. It’s also an age old dilemma.
“We” have long known there was a hole in “Your” life boat. After many decades of CCSD’s slow destruction of our downtown schools (using dumping, cherry picking & gradual stripping away of quality educational programs), “We” have finally realized that all of us are in the same boat with the hole in it. Now, what can all of us do about it? And will the newly expanded “Us” make it happen?
Communication is the key here and quality schools are part of a common goal. Tolerance of differing agendas and discovering where they are tangent correctly describe the paths we're all trying to find to reach the same shared prize. This is what is so important to each of us who come from many different communities and backgrounds all located within a short distance from each other downtown. This blog has been a great help. The Chronicle, sometimes the P&C, Ma Bell, e-mail & many other tools are helping turn our paths into well traveled highways, too. We are proving that if the people lead, the leaders will follow. This will happen, one convert at a time. Eventually we hope there will be no one left to stand in the school house door attempting to block progress toward restoring quality education in all of our schools downtown.
I appreciate the positive comments and I think Babbie offers some interesting suggestions for Burke. But, I'm having a hard time believing anything will change. It's a sad day when the federal govt. has to get involved because our State Department refused to hold CCSD accountable for the mess they made. I don't beleive the mayor OR CCSD have clue on what to do with our schools. And I'm also afraid they don't care.
I like the comments by Anonymous 8:26 about how much more of Riley's accomplishments we can take. "Wow, the first 32 years he was working on gentrification, hotels, chain dept./shoe stores, palm trees, and brick crosswalks on King Street." I think the author is using eupamisms.
1) Gentrification translates as "ethnic cleansing", part of a 32 year & ongoing effort to suburbanize and depopulate the inner city to make more room for tourists, their cars & parking lot operators.
2) Hotels translates as "more low paying service industry jobs for poorly educated workers on a 21st century plantation".
3)Chain Dept./Shoe Stores translates as "souvenier T-shirt shops designed to fleece the newly rich and part time residents of 2nd, 3rd & 4th homes".
4)Palm Trees translates as "elevated rats nests", "living utility poles", "cute & exotic" novelties according to come heres & "weeds" that should to left at the beach according to been heres.
5)Brick Crosswalks translates as "job security", "trip & fall magnets" & "pedestrian traffic calming devices" by plaintiffs' attorneys & ambulance chasers representing hundreds, if not thousands, of clients who sue the city following unnecessary accidents & injuries.
I hope these translations will help make His Honor's true intensions better understood.
Just trying to add some humor to the discussions...I don't want to change the subject. Burke High School is very important to the people who live here. It's future should be directed toward sustaining the community and not just toward sustaining the tourist industry...which is what the City of Charleston seems to be all about these days.
Correction: "I think the author is using euphemisms."
Burke is at a critical fork in the road. I’d like to know how CCSD will decide which way to go and if community representatives will be involved. It would be a shame if the Super doesn’t meet with the downtown groups first. I agree she should give weight to the views of real downtown stakeholders. Factional and short term political interests have not worked. G-J & others have mostly locked out those who really know the school and its potential.
Don't look now but your local school district may be considering a lawsuit to shut down blogs like this. The one in Galveston TX under the name GISD Watch was served earlier this week with a threatening letter from the GISD (school district) Attorney alleging damages for liable. This would be laughable if it wasn't such a serious indication of just how out of tough public school officials have become. School blogs like this one are covering this all across the US. The First Amendment is my shield. No liable here.
Threatening letters? I'm quaking in my boots, uh, shoes. Bring it on is what I say. It's nice to have a lawyer in the family.
State regulations require that CCSD take specific action (hasn’t CCSD already done this?) including one of the following (at least as far as I understand the regs): 1) close the school outright and move the students to other schools; 2) close the school…fire everyone…hire a new staff…reopen the school…essentially START OVER as a different school on the old campus; 3) fire the principal (been there; done that…more than once); 4) ….sorry but I forgot this one… and 5) convert to a Charter School (this last one’s buried in the fine print). CCSD’s handling of this case is more a poor reflection of CCSD than it is of Burke. Why not pull a “Nixon goes to China” move and have CCSD initiate a plan working directly with Burke parents & supporters to convert to a charter school? It’s being done by African-American community leaders in cities all over the country. When its not saying “it’s for the children”, CCSD is usually saying “it’s the parents’ fault”. So why not let the parents & alumni have a shot at fixing this once and for all?
Has anyone read the paper this morning?
They're pretending they have residency requirments at Buist similiar to the other magnet schools. I guess we should be glad CCSD is actually enforcing something...unfortunately is only at St. Andrews Math and Science NOT Buist. We all know CCSD is only requiring students at Buist show proof of living in Charleston County.
What happened to the District 20 list and the low-performing list? What's the purpose of those lists if you only have to live in the County?
The whole truth about public education in downtown Charleston is too dangerous to everyone currently in power. They want to keep a lid on it all and are willing to play all the factions against each other in order to hide behind all the smoke. One day the truth will come out on the Buist admissions scandal, CCSD's dumping students on Burke and the apartheid policies to creat "safe" enclaves for a few while abandoning neighbors schools and all the rest. The people who set all of this up may be dead or just gone, but the people in charge today are more to blame every day that goes by with their silence.
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