Does anyone seriously believe that Superintendent McGinley doesn't already have a list of schools she's planning to close? [See Schools Might Be Closing in Tuesday's P & C.]The so-called six-area ranking strategy has already been manipulated to produce the preplanned results. Don't think so? Statistics can be manipulated to support ANYTHING. Some of us are old enough to remember the title of the manipulator's game plan, How to Lie with Statistics.
This dog-and-pony show will be taken on the road to the constituent districts, where "stakeholders" will have the opportunity to state their concerns, or as McGinley puts it, the district will "gather feedback on the criteria." Don't hold your breath for real dialogue because it won't be allowed. I do hope, however, that blog readers will attend and make an attempt at penetrating the educationese blather that will emanate from the podium.
The truth is that what will have the biggest impact on which (and whether) schools will be closed and their property sold off is the November election. The P & C seems determined to mention the CCSD School Board contested seats as little as possible.
That said, ask the candidates where they stand. Pin them down. Your school's existence may depend on their answers and their success in getting elected.
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7 comments:
Is the superintendent gay? Really curious. There are some people who say that this is true. If so I wonder why no body has made this an issue when we think about the direction of our schools. The former superintendent's good name was destroyed when she got pregnant before being married. Help me understand. As for the consolidation effort. It is a done deal. Look for the mostly black downtown schools to be consolidated first. I predict Sanders Clyde and Fraser as a merger, with the latter shutting down. Lincoln High is likely a done deal as well.
I don't see the point in getting into personal issues. What's more important to me is what happens to the students in the schools. Are parents more likely or less likely to be involved in their school community if Fraser and Sanders-Clyde are combined? Is CCSD really PLANNING to have ONE mega-sized elementary school (Sanders-Clyde) for all District 20 students in the future, a de facto segregated one at that? Is the land that Fraser and Memminger sit on just too valuable to pass up for development by Joe Riley's friends? To me, those are much more important questions.
McGinley (and those who came before her for that matter) all seem to have a tin ear when it comes to what really works. What is it about people who leave the classroom and step into public school administration? Mega schools are not the answer unless it's just to manipulate the numbers involving money and school report cards. All of this flies in the face of her campaign for so-called partial magnets and neighborhood schools. One thing is for sure, McGinley knows how to keep her half baked school experiments moving through the revolving door.
I also like Clisby's recent comment. McGinley can close these schools but that doesn't take them off the table for charter schools. State law implies they will be that much more pressure to turn shuttered schools over to charter schools that request them. Too bad McGinley doesn't seem to recognize that this alternative could be her success story instead of her undoing.
Curious what readers think the statistical or objective methods should be for deciding consolidation. The 6 factors do not rely on cost alone, but also on other factors such as the significance as a community center - Chicora comes to mind. How else should the district determine closure? Roulette? Walking through so many schools reveals not just classrooms, but entire corridors that are empty. Consolidation is responsible. Mega-schools like those in E Cooper are able to offer so much more to the students and community by virtue of synergy.
I question the value of mega-schools to the average or below-average student. In a system where dropout rates are horrendous, efforts should be made to personalize education as much as possible so that a student does not become just another number. I can see the synergy in monetary cost savings, but at what cost to the well-being of individual students?
For anyone interested CCSD has scheduled the District 20"Community Engagement Sessions on CCSD School Redesign Initiative" meeting on Monday, September 15, 2008 at the Burke High School in the Auditorium from 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm.
Any wonder why D20 is being scheduled first, and with such short notice (6 days)? What can be said in an hour about schools that have been the focus of their neighborhoods for generations? Nancy McGinley is trying to railroad this whole process and Toya Green is happy to play her Judas goat. Babbie is correct. The November school board election will be the ultimate test for this school closure plan, not the Superintendent's dog and pony show, "stakeholders" or "community engagement".
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