Too sanguine over the sale of property owned by the Charleston County School District--that's what the editors of the P & C are in claiming that "There is nothing to lose" from those sales. [See Sell Surplus School Property in Wednesday's editorial section.] Depends on what you mean by "nothing," I guess!
County residents should contemplate whether the district should have centrally-located schools or neighborhood schools. The first cut down on busing costs and wasting students' time being bused. The second allow parents, especially poorer ones, greater access to their children's teachers and a better environment for their children.
Further, older campuses paid for with public taxes should be readily available for the new public charter schools so desired by taxpayers. The Rivers building is a prime example. The present School Board is totally out of sync with public opinion, still smarting over Rivers' use by CSMS and still determined to stymie CSMS's success at every turn.
The P & C's just a bit too trusting of how the proceeds from capital asset sales will be used. No reputable business would take the proceeds from selling off capital and put them into the operating budget! So why does CCSD not deserve opprobrium for having done just that in the past? What is to stop it in the future?
Why shouldn't CCSD be required to put the proceeds from sales of capital assets back into the capital fund? Then maybe CCSD would not need to raise either of its taxes next time around.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
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38 comments:
Are you on the payroll for the National Association of Charter School Authorizers? You certainly have a one track and one-sided mind toward them.
Charter schools work because they draw students from parents who care about their children's education, and are willing to work for this privilege. This is not an evil thing (parents wanting their children to be away from negative influences), but these are students who have been and will be just as successful at neighborhood schools.
When these family-motivated students leave in clusters to charter schools, the schools show gains over the neighborhood schools. It should also not be a surprise that the schools they leave have lost some of their better students (read: test-takers) which necessarily leads to a decrease in those schools' test scores and report card defined performance.
They also often show gains in revenue since charter schools are often guaranteed district-average funding per student which is usually higher than if only the socio-economic status of these students were taken into account.
Charter schools are an interesting concept, however, if all schools were allowed to go charter, the state education budget would likely swell to higher levels.
For a moment, though let's understand the nature of statistics. If you eliminate higher performing students from a particular group of children in a neighborhood school, the remaining student performance average will decrease.
If you draw these higher performing children from several schools to make up your student body, their scores will be higher. It has nothing to do with school performance, it has to do with student performance.
So what happens to the children who do not have the parents to move them to charters, they remain at schools that are now deemed less than satisfactory.
Isn't playing with statistics until you get the outcome you desire fun...
By the way, I agree with you that the sale of these properties should not go toward the operating budget.
As you must know, "students who have been and will be just as successful at neighborhood schools" happens only if the discipline and academics in that neighborhood classroom permit it. Such is not always the case. I'm with the parents who want the best for their child whose education is on the line right now.
Of course this blog is a charter cheer-ocracy. Have you forgotten the modus operandi here? To review: if something originates from 75 Calhoun Street/CCSD, no matter what it is, it's bad. If a program, school or initiative doesn't come from CCSD--i.e. charter schools--it's good! (Forget about places like Boykin, Greg Mathis, and SIYB.) And remember this simple rule: newspaper articles that support CCSD are "newsless" and either poorly written or researched; those that are negative or critical are brilliant. This is kind of like the GEICO commercial: "it's so easy, a caveman could do it." To those actually working in Charleston's public schools (knowing just how hard people work, and just how much they care about students), perusing the ramblings on this blog is sort of like watching shows on Sasquatch, UFO and sea monster sightings--there is a perverse entertainment value to the conspiracy theories that get drummed up by people who are undeterred by reality.
Cheerleaders for CCSD can't see the woods for the trees. To suggest that there are no problems is to suggest perfection. You may characterize this blog any way you wish; it certainly isn't perfect. But those who follow it regularly know that your evaluation is quite skewed.
His "evaluation" is more than just "skewed." It is bought and paid for by CCSD, the mayor and the Chamber of Commerce. It must be a painful, conflicted life to be THE EDUBLOB - to make ones living as a lobbyist for the worst managed school district this side of the Mississippi.
Blob, Blob, Blob, all you want, Mr. EDUBLOB! We understand. It's your job. It's all about your paycheck and the people that make your paycheck happen.
Meanwhile, the people who are fed up with decades of CCSD mismanagement will continue down our path of rational response to decades of CCSD failures - which is "GO CHARTER!" to use the words of Arthur Pete Lawrence in his commentary in last week's Chronicle (7/1).
I never said there were "no problems" in the district. From my perspective, CCSD has its good and its bad--like ALL public school districts. But forgetting this clear-sighted, rational view, three years' worth of one-sided posts prove irreducibly that the primary focus of this blog is to bash the district (or the newspaper, should it dare report something less-than-excoriating). I'm not asking for perfection, just a dash of honesty and self-awareness. Heck, y'all be proud of who you are and what you do. The blog makes it clear. You're slavishly devoted to the verbal stylings of a private school teacher who doesn't work, volunteer or otherwise contribute to Charleston's public schools, but revels in their challenges, mistakes, or failures. This is who you are and what you do, no matter how repulsive to the doers of the world. Some choose to tackle problems head-on; others choose to criticize them from the quietude of their computers, with no accountability to speak of. Stand proud! Either way, it's entertaining.
I prefer reading arguments i don't need a dictionary for.......c'mon!
"Some choose to tackle problems head-on; others choose to criticize them from the quietude of their computers, with no accountability to speak of."
A large group of stakeholders actually did choose to tackle the problem head on; and you, Jon Butzon and/or Elliot Smelley, chose to fight us every step of the way with every made up excuse of an objection that your NEA brainwashed bosses could regurgitate to you! Babble on about differences between action and commentary. Committed parents, supported by Babbie, created a school over your dead body - and Goodloe-Johnson's and McGinley's. So what in the world have you really got to say about action versus criticism. Nothing! Zero. Nothing whatsoever. Less than zero. You are less than zero. You are a detriment to Charleston County Society. You need to go away! But you won't because YOU ARE ON THE PAYROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Babbie said...
"As you must know, "students who have been and will be just as successful at neighborhood schools" happens only if the discipline and academics in that neighborhood classroom permit it. Such is not always the case. I'm with the parents who want the best for their child whose education is on the line right now."
Completely understand the sentiment. So what do we do with the other children? Continue to bash the schools that have a slew of students whose parents do not care about their education "right now."
Again, I understand the premise of a charter school...a vehicle for parents to remove students from neighborhood schools without having to pay private school tuitions, nor beholden to the oversight of larger entities. There is always a value inherent in ammassing like-minded parents ans students.
But do not, for a moment assume that they are more successful because they are more innovative, have better programs of study and better teachers. This is erroneous. It is simply a function of having more motivated students and families in the educational community.
What do you do though, Babbie, about the neighborhood schools who are left with underperforming students from families who do not have the desire to care, or education to help?
In fairness as an addendum to my comments above...
Charter schools are likely to see more teachers apply for jobs, and can therefore be more selective as time passes...
So again, what to do about the neighborhood schools?
"What do you do though, Babbie, about the neighborhood schools who are left with underperforming students from families who do not have the desire to care, or education to help?"
Far from "bashing" those schools, if mr-anonymous-employee-of-CCSD would have actually read this blog over the last few years, he or she would know that those are the schools and parents for which I have the most sympathy! Many of the parents are those whom CCSD failed in past generations and as a result don't "have the education to help." Listen to your own self-righteousness in your blanket epithet that they "don't have the desire to care."
Let's take Fraser for an example. CCSD bused in failing students from outside of its attendance area who should have remained in their own neighborhood schools. Then it was assigned half a principal (and as it turned out, a dishonest one) by 75 Calhoun. What does that fiasco say about the administration of the district? As a final insult, to avoid having failing schools in her portfolio, McGinley conned the School Board into closing it. What it really needed was a good principal given the authority, along with its more dedicated teachers, to discipline students appropriately and provide a content-enriched curriculum to compensate for the enrichment its students were not getting at home.
The building itself was treated like a poor stepchild; the park nearby was off-limits to the school's use because of drug and gang activity. Even the parking lot was a mess.
Imprisoning those students whose parents selected charter schools instead would have changed none of the outcome, as you well know.
I'd love to hear how you justify magnet schools to yourself. Since it seems you're so keen on keeping "parents who care" at neighborhood schools, how about closing the Academic Magnet and Buist Academy?
And thanks for spicing up my blog.
"What do you do though, Babbie, about the neighborhood schools who are left with underperforming students from families who do not have the desire to care, or education to help?"
Far from "bashing" those schools, if mr-anonymous-employee-of-CCSD would have actually read this blog over the last few years, he or she would know that those are the schools and parents for which I have the most sympathy! Many of the parents are those whom CCSD failed in past generations and as a result don't "have the education to help." Listen to your own self-righteousness in your blanket epithet that they "don't have the desire to care."
Let's take Fraser for an example. CCSD bused in failing students from outside of its attendance area who should have remained in their own neighborhood schools. Then it was assigned half a principal (and as it turned out, a dishonest one) by 75 Calhoun. What does that fiasco say about the administration of the district? As a final insult, to avoid having failing schools in her portfolio, McGinley conned the School Board into closing it. What it really needed was a good principal given the authority, along with its more dedicated teachers, to discipline students appropriately and provide a content-enriched curriculum to compensate for the enrichment its students were not getting at home.
The building itself was treated like a poor stepchild; the park nearby was off-limits to the school's use because of drug and gang activity. Even the parking lot was a mess.
Imprisoning those students whose parents selected charter schools instead would have changed none of the outcome, as you well know.
I'd love to hear how you justify magnet schools to yourself. Since it seems you're so keen on keeping "parents who care" at neighborhood schools, how about closing the Academic Magnet and Buist Academy?
And thanks for spicing up my blog.
Wow...did I tickle the angry bone?
"Far from "bashing" those schools, if mr-anonymous-employee-of-CCSD would have actually read this blog over the last few years, he or she would know that those are the schools and parents for which I have the most sympathy!...Listen to your own self-righteousness in your blanket epithet that they "don't have the desire to care."
Since you have already annointed me as an "Educrat", "Edublob" and now "Mr-anonymous-employee-of-CCSD"...
I am certainly not a fan of Magnet schools. You would easily see that if you'd followed the strand of thoughts I have posted about charters...Magnet schools suck the life blood from neighborhood schools honors programs and arts, which reduces opportunities for children who could really use them.
I'd also like to ask...What have you done to improve the education of Charleston County? Where do you teach? Are you in public schools. Have you taught at Brentwood, Burke, Rivers, Stall, Burney, North Charleston High, Morningside, Haut Gap, Burns, North Charleston Elementary, Dunston, or Ladson, etc...?
Have you sat in at a parent conference at one of these schools when the parent says the child cannot come to school because they need to watch their younger brothers and sisters while the parent gets their hair fixed. Or watched as a child's teeth rot out of their mouth because the parent refuses to allow them to go to the dentist. Or watched as students and parents get arrested for drug trafficking. Or when the parent slaps the child across the face at a conference for wasting their time, when you know they do not work.
If you are an employee of one of these schools, please accept my humble apology. If not, well then, who's the self-righteous one? "Sympathy" is not synonymous with "action" on behalf of these families and their children.
Thank you, by the way, for providing a forum for talking about schools. Agree or disagree, more dialogue needs to take place.
Anyone who is a resident of Charleston County should be concerned about CCSD's failing schools. To suggest that no one should have an opinion without working or volunteering in the district is ridiculous. Most who do work for the district know that they must keep their mouths shut or risk their jobs.
Are YOU a product of Charleston County's schools? I am. As such, I want to see better performance from those schools for the good of the whole community. It's my community, too.
Any teacher with common sense will teach, if possible, where his or her talents can be utilized fully to make students the most successful. Most who teach in high school know that they would not make good elementary school teachers and vice versa.
Diocesan and parochial schools are not private schools, but perhaps that distinction is lost on you. I don't know why you presume to the either-or dichotomy that all parents in so-called private schools are perfect while those in public schools are not, but it can't be from experience!
If you care about public education, you do what you can to be most effective to change it. How presumptuous to suggest that change comes only through those who are hired by the district or have the time and money to volunteer. Sometimes words do matter, and having a forum where people can argue and compare notes and experiences is also valuable to improving education.
And you didn't answer any of my points about Fraser. Tell me where I'm wrong.
Except you dismiss my words as educrat-babble because I think Charter schools are restrictive entities to remove talent from neighborhood school, while entrenching students without active parents in "failing" schools.
You'd be surprised at what I think of the decision-making at the district level. Fraser was a debacle. You are correct. I thought it was implicit in my not disputing it, but it really has nothing to do with the issue of charters.
Successful charter schools are successful when they are able to remove a certain "element" from their student body, that neighborhood schools cannot, either by admissions policies, or through the de facto process of charter rules and regulations.
If a charter school is able to maintain the same demographics as its neighborhood, and is successful, bravo, I'll be the first to stand and applaud. But maybe we should look at the demographics of CSMS before we make judgments about their effectiveness.
"Anyone who is a resident of Charleston County should be concerned about CCSD's failing schools. To suggest that no one should have an opinion without working or volunteering in the district is ridiculous. Most who do work for the district know that they must keep their mouths shut or risk their jobs."
No kidding! Our tax dollars are paying for these failing schools and CCSD's employees are afraid to tell the truth. I live in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the South; yet none of my neighbors send their children to our neighborhood school, Memminger.
Why? Because we are racists? No! We simply want our children to attend a school that will prepare them WELL for their next step - ie 9th grade.
We are fed up with the fact that our neighborhood school cannot do that job. Why in the world is the school in a neighborhood that is majority white have a student body that is 99% black? Is it racism?
No! It is much more plain and simple. The parents in this neighborhood refuse to send their children to a failing school and are willing to spend the money to do otherwise.
That does not mean that they are racists or would not send their children to a good public school. In fact, they have shown up in droves to sign their children up for the most diverse school in Charleston County, the Charleston Charter School for Math and Science, which is 55% minority.
Play the race card all you want, CCSD apologists. It doesn't play in district 20! Parents simply want a school that will educate their children well. The elementary school for the south of Calhoun Street neighborhood, Memminger, should be such a place. It isn't.
Concerned neighbors on the Memminger Neighborhood Planning Team tried to guide that process toward a program that would attract children who actually live downtown - IB. Needless to say, our Superintendent found numerous reasons why that was "just not feasible." Blah. Blah. Blah. The money was there; she just wouldn't listen.
Ask the constituents what they want. Then ignore them. Sounds like a reasonable strategy - to EDUBLOBS. Ignore the parents! Leaving us with just one choice:
GO CHARTER!
"How presumptuous to suggest that change comes only through those who are hired by the district or have the time and money to volunteer."
How "presumptuous" to suggest that as a non-participant in the day-to-day workings of the district that you assume you know the full stiory of what is going on. I am sure you have a few friends in the district to ask about their experiences, but that does not equal experiential evidence, only anecdotes limited by sample size.
I am sure if you asked district officials about a certain returning principal, some would say, "Awesome guy, glad he is back", some would say, "Meh, not impressed, but oh well", and others would have a very negative view. Yet you distribute the later view onto all district officials. That is "presumptuous."
Further, I believe the entire community, including you and I, as members of the community are culpable for the educational system's disarray. As a long-time resident and teacher in a "parochial" school, I'd hope you'd see your part in the mess, as well as mine, as well as the full community.
As an aside, do not "presume" to think that your readers do not understand the difference between Diocesan/Catholic/Parochial schools and private schools, nor that they knew you taught at a Catholic School--it so happens, I fully understand the difference, and disgree with your distinctions.
Nor do I believe all parents are model citizens at these schools. But they are likely to be more invested since they have to foot a bill for tuition.
Lastly, aren't you anonymous as well?
:wink, wink: smile, smile:
"If a charter school is able to maintain the same demographics as its neighborhood, and is successful, bravo, I'll be the first to stand and applaud. But maybe we should look at the demographics of CSMS before we make judgments about their effectiveness."
CSMS is 55% minority and 40% FARM. It is the most diverse school in Charleston County. So why aren't you "the first to stand and applaud"?
Babbie, your blog hasn't been this busy since you supported Sandi Engleman for saying Superintendent Goodloe Johnson was on "CPT" back in 2006 (the newspaper, of course, tried to say Sandi meant "Colored People Time"--we know Sandi meant something different). You were right then and your right now. Ignore these edublobs.
I keep hearing the charter people say that their school is the most diverse in the county. I don't know about that. I'm no expert, but my best friend's daughter just graduated from West Ashley High School (very nice graduation!), and have you checked their numbers lately? I'd be willing to bet they're about half black, half white, with many students qualifying for reduced lunches. A lot of parents over here in West Ashley are very proud of the high school's excellent progress this year. I wish this blog would help celebrate things like this, the school and district try hard to share good stories, but a lot of people don't seem to listen.
I also wish we could get to a point where we work together to fix all schools, and not have this constant "charter against not charter" debate pitting two sides against each other.
"Charter schools work because they draw students from parents who care about their children's education, and are willing to work for this privilege."
Wrong again, Mr. EDUBLOB! That is just ONE of the reasons that charter schools "work." (But thankyou for this plug for public schools that actually do "work.")
There is another major reason that charter schools work; but first, let's dwell on your statement that "charter schools work."
Are you suggesting that there is some form of public school in Charleston County - other than the cherry picked magnets - that actually does work?
So why don't you support them?
The other, rather important, reason that charter schools work is AUTONOMY.
Autonomy from what? Autonomy from the school district! That's what makes innovation possible! Rather than having to convince a PhD from Philadelphia what will work well in Charleston, SC, charter schools operate on a campus by campus basis - the way schools used to be run, before these consolidations of too many schools (80+ in Charleston County.)
You might know how to solve the problems of all of these schools - from McClellanville to Edisto - but wiser people realize their limitations.
Breaking our system back down to the old way - school by school - might be the only way to make real progress. But that's antithetical to the top down CCSD command and control system; so we know that ideas like this - from the rank and file parents - are DOA.
"if all schools were allowed to go charter, the state education budget would likely swell to higher levels."
Wrong again, Edublob. Do some homework. Read the law. The SC charter school funding formula is very simple. Charter schools receive the average.
If all schools in a district were charter, there would be no increase (or decrease) in the budget. The money would just be distributed differently. for example, the same sum would be allocated to every student in Charleston County (then adjsted slightly based on their grade, needs, etc.) There would be no increase or decrase in the total sum received for the Charleston County Schools.
However, if every public school in Charleston County was a charter school, there would be $0 allocated to the administrative staff at 75 Calhoun Street, including the superintendent. The administrative duties of each school would be covered by each school. DECENTRALIZATION! Could this explain the superintendent's opposition? What do you think?
"Successful charter schools are successful when they are able to remove a certain "element" from their student body, that neighborhood schools cannot, either by admissions policies, or through the de facto process of charter rules and regulations."
Wrong again, Edublob. Read the law. SC charter schools are open to all. No testing requirements, etc, etc.....
Edublob is attempting to confuse charter schools with magnet schools. Edublob is also forgetting that CCSD has all but destroyed the neighborhood school over the past two decades (or more) with its selective transfer policies. Show me a failing school with a majority of its current enrollment living within its assigned boundaries. It will be the exception.
It is more than presumptuous to say who is qualified to be a critic of this grossly failed system we call CCSD. If Edublob's argument for qualifying those who have standing is valid, then two thirds of the present board would have to step down...immediately. A Buist parent would not be qualified to address any non-magnet school issue. A downtown resident couldn't possibly speak about schools in North Charleston. Private bank board members who actively serve the interests of the Chamber of Commerce couldn't possibly understand the challenges and demands presented by LD or ED students. An alumnus of a private school or a graduate of an out of state public high school can't begin to comprehend "our" local schools.
Here's a news flash. This describes Toya Green. Much of the same could be applied to Nancy McGinley. So where does Edublob put them among those who are allowed to speak of our schools?
The truth is many of the strongest and most vocal critics of CCSD's continued pattern of failure are people who sincerely believe in public education and the value it can represent for the entire community if public schools are successful. These same critics have also had their hopes dashed on the failed promises made by people who call the shots for the entire school system but who have never experienced the same disappointments. These are the policy makers who tell 95% of the other parents they must be patient while change is just around the corner. In the mean time the Educrats continue to experiment on the children who can't opt out under NCLB or a magnet school as long as CCSD tells them where they can and can't go.
Now this is the apex of self-righteousness. Edublob is carelessly (or deliberately) confusing the issues. Charter schools are self directed but they can't be any more selective than a true lottery will allow. It only needs a lottery when the school's success is broadly accepted.
Magnet school not only can be selective, they can openly exclude. I should correct Edublob's statement to more accurately reflect what magnet schools under CCSD's most perverted practices have done, especially at Buist.
Edublob puts it this way (more correctly applied to Buist Academy, under its present management).
"Successful [magnet] schools are successful when they are able to remove a certain "element" from their student body, that neighborhood schools cannot, either by admissions policies, or through the de facto process of [magnet policies,] rules and regulations.
Change, add or substitute just two words or phrases and Edublob's statement can become true. Unlike magnet schools which are operated purely at the whim of the county board and the superintendent, charter schools must adhere strictly to state rules that bar admissions policies or "de facto" practices designed to remove a certain "element". Sort of like the Buist practice of limiting the number of District 20 admits to its entering classes or redefining what makes for a legal resident of District 20. No charter school would ever be allowed to pull off such a scam...not without loosing its charter and its board facing criminal proceedings initiated by either the state's attorney general or the US Justice Department.
Edublob seems to be ignorant of this important distinction. Knowing the differences isn't as difficult for most contributors to this exchange or to those who have been outspoken in their criticism of CCSD's neglect of downtown schools. The latter includes some dedicated Fraser parents who chose the Math and Science Charter for their children after CCSD bailed on Fraser.
Edublob and Educrat, please get a real job, not in public or private education, but in a field far removed from the public till and one that is less likely to inflict permanent damage on the future of our communities and our kids. Give us back our schools. Then close down the wasteful and intellectually dead teacher mills operating at our colleges and universities. Don't blame the teacher unions...unions don't really exist in SC and the NEA has long ago sold out to management and teacher mills. You can tell Eli Broad to take a hike and quit pushing his Stepford-like administrators on gullible school boards, too. Finally, go charter. Give our kids a genuine chance not another broken promise.
"I keep hearing the charter people say that their school is the most diverse in the county. I don't know about that. I'm no expert, but my best friend's daughter just graduated from West Ashley High School (very nice graduation!), and have you checked their numbers lately? I'd be willing to bet they're about half black, half white, with many students qualifying for reduced lunches."
So you'd be "willing to bet" that there is a school in Charleston County with a student body that is more diverse than that of the Charleston Charter School, which is 55% minority and 40% FARM.
That would be great! Prove your claim; and we will celebrate the fact that there are 2 public schools in Charleston County that are really diverse.
Which proves what? How wrong you, CCSD and the NAACP were in its "concerns" that the Charleston Charter School for Math & Science was some kind of segregationist plot. WRONG AGAIN, EDUBLOB!
After all your machinations to saddle Math & Science with illegal quotas, your supposition that there might actually be a school in Charleston County that is more diverse than 55% minority and 40% FARM is absolutely pathetic. It shows that you will grasp at any straw - no matter how meaningless.
If the angry respondents are a cross section of the parents and educators at CSMS, I'd hope that this is not the way you'd like your children and students to debate when they leave your charter program.
Resorting to insulting name-calling rather than facts...tsk, tsk, tsk. Obviously civility was not bred into you, Mr. Peronneau. I shall chalk up the abhorable behavior of respondents to the frustration of overcoming obstacles set by CCSD.
Although my name is not "Edublob", nor "Educrat", and I am not the author of all of the responses that seem to have you defending your position with such vitriolic bile...I shall respond once again with ideas rather than insults
The assertions made are incomplete, much like the edublobs' assertions you seem to dislike so much. See if you can report on the rest of the picture accurately without the extra anger, if you will:
(1)What is the SPED population at CSMS? What disabilities do these students have? What is the percentage of giftedness at CSMS? Nationwide averages say that between 8 and 12% of normalized student bodies will have special needs students (even higher in high poverty populations--17%), not inclusive of gifted children (which comprises an additional 4-7%of normalized populations.)Yet, I notice you have no Resource/ SPED teacher on your current staff.
(2)Where do the children come from? Are they all from the zoned district for the school? Are other children welcome to attend? How many students attend the school who are not from the neighborhood?
(3)What is the free/reduced lunch status of the student body?
(4) What was the per student expenditure for the school this past year? How many students attending CSMS were attending a private school previously? How many were at higher income schools (and lower per pupil expenditures).
Upon further reflection, if all schools went charter, children from depressed areas would actually see a reduction in per pupil expenditures, but total expenditures would remain the same, so I concede that point.
In the case that they did, the law clearly states all schools would receive the average allocation (there would be no adjustments for additional resources based upon need)so the neediest students would see a decrease in funding (in order to distribute all funding equally). It is, however, unclear how federal special education monies, and title I funds would be distributed. I guess we both have some homework to do...
(5) What particular programming has made the school perform better? I see that resources have been allocated toward Project Lead the Way, which looks interesting (I assume these are professional experts, rather than certified teachers?).
What percentage of your school student population reads at or above grade level? Lots of great programs can exist when the overwhelming number of students read at grade level, and have no need of allocated resources for remediation.
It would seem that a charter schools' best asset is the commitment of the parents, which again, is the greatest predictor of success at any school. So if this is true how is CCSD culpable for all failures of the schools. If all parents were as committed to their schools as those of CSMS, would we even need to speak of charters?
I would surmise that the same community that is bashing or defending the CCSD is responsible for the demise of the schools. "White flight" certainly has to be somewhat responsible, right? Decades of separate and unequal facilities? Are we so offended to admit our community culpability?
(6)What outreach programs have you instituted in the most depressed neighborhoods on the peninsula to make the parents there aware? It would go a long way with me as a skeptic to see some active recruitment of parentless children in serious need of an excellent education provided at CSMS.
(7) What is the ethnic make-up of the staff? Does it reflect the diversity of the school? Are all highly qualified under NCLB guidelines?
(8)How many volunteer hours are expected of families/parents, dedicated toward the school?
(9) Are preferences given in admissions to any particular group based on attendance lines, siblings, etc
The process for admissions to CSMS/ lottery does create de facto barriers to the most needy students. It requires somewhat diligent parents who are willing to meet the deadlines outlined in the school website. Also, part of the process (albeit a small part) requires access to the internet. I quote:
"Confirmation of receipt of applications will be provided by email. Please ensure the email address you provide is current and legible on the application."
I would assume and hope that the registration package arrives by regular mail rather than email.
The website also requires access codes to read information. Seems pretty exclusive...
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"Edublob and Educrat, please get a real job, not in public or private education, but in a field far removed from the public till and one that is less likely to inflict permanent damage on the future of our communities and our kids. Give us back our schools. Then close down the wasteful and intellectually dead teacher mills operating at our colleges and universities. Don't blame the teacher unions...unions don't really exist in SC and the NEA has long ago sold out to management and teacher mills. You can tell Eli Broad to take a hike and quit pushing his Stepford-like administrators on gullible school boards, too. Finally, go charter. Give our kids a genuine chance not another broken promise."
Sigh...the ramblings of someone torn up by narcissistic rage.
When you wish to debate points, rather than sling insults, please, I'd love to.
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Lastly, since I have not brought up race at all, it seems a very touchy subject. Diversity means many things, yet some of the insult-spewers continue to bring up race. It pertains to socio-economics, Gifted education versus Regular education versus Special needs education, parentless versus parented, community diversity, et. al.
Continue to drop the angry digs at the NAACP, who I see as a non-entity in the discussion...
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This might come as a shocker to the closed minds that seem to respond with anger rather than assertions, I hope the school is successful.
As an educator, I hope good things for all students. I am actually not anti-charter at all. I am, however, anti-privilege and exclusivity (which explains my distaste for Magnet schools), and if you wish, I'd love to hear your well-reasoned and open arguments that CSMS is not restrictive to the children who most need it.
I advocate for children who are not going to benefit from such programs. But no one here has made an effort for those students have they?
Perhaps if you are so committed to the charter concept, you might wish to go to other more depressed and broken areas and organize parents there?
Wow, not an insult in the entire post...astounding. Let's see if we can keep it that way, shall we?
Anonymous 12:31 PM said, among many other things: "Sigh...the ramblings of someone torn up by narcissistic rage."
Anonymous 12:31 PM concluded with:
"Wow, not an insult in the entire post...astounding. Let's see if we can keep it that way, shall we?"
Did I miss something here?
Anonymous 12:31 PM obviously is missing a lot in his/her in what appears to be their highly selective reading of the discussions about charter schools, magnet schools and CCSD's poor leadership. It may well undermine his/her argument to admit a community based charter school can and is meeting its goals. It may further complicate their arguments that a charter school is successfully addressing some of the very same student needs that CCSD has largely ignored. CCSMS has worked with parents to help set up internet access for them using public facilities, including access points at neighborhood branches of our public libraries. This is a work in progress and by no means is the only solution.
I accept that charter schools will continue to face additional challenges and may not always be successful in responding to some of them. I also believe CCSD has made progress in some areas, but compared to its large size and the many resources at its disposal these gains have been very limited. The failure in reading rates of so many students moving between elementary and high school in just the last 5 years is a prime example. The vast majority of students in the system haven't seen much progress over the time they have been enrolled.
What charter schools and the individuals and communities that support them have been willing to do is sit down with CCSD officials in order to devise innovative plans to address everything from special education to student transportation. Instead of seeing charter school groups as partners, CCSD has continued to approach them as adversaries. The result has been little or no innovation coming from them jointly to benefit more students. What the superintendent does not want to make public is she has used much time and energy to build obstacles instead of bridges.
An unintended consequence has been charter school supporters have built lines of communications with other equally concerned school support groups who have felt isolated. Many of these groups have found common cause. When the superintendent continues to ignore them, they have gone over her head with their complaints. This has been unnecessarily time consuming and has caused CCSD to expend resources defending its mistakes before federal investigators and the courts. It would have been far more effective if the superintendent had chosen to sit down with these groups with an open mind and a sincere willingness to consider new ideas.
It is CCSD, not the charter schools and their loyal supporters, who must initiate a sincere dialogue. CCSD holds most of the cards, including one that governs the direction the county schools as a whole and the majority of our public school students are going.
No one here has been unwilling to have a dialogue with Dr. McGinley. Many have tried unsuccessfully. It is she who has no desire to discuss this openly with the community. Her handling of the future of the Rivers campus meeting in May 2007, and every public meeting since, makes the case.
This, Mr. Peronneau, is civil discussion. I thank you. I shall not make digs either.
As to your points, I disagree with very few of them, but it did not address some of the questions I asked. Charters can be an innovative way of gaining local control for a neighborhood school. This used to be known as autonomy.
The problem with autonomy (at least in the two schools in the north area), was that it really did little to address the downturn in the socio-economic status and social fabric of the community.
I'd hope that charter schools would pop up in neighborhoods like those around North Charleston, because it would show initiative in action for that community.
Judging by some of the responses within this thread regarding CSMS, it reads more like a group of parents who have flown the public school system has banded together with some disgruntled other parents to take back "their" schools. To truly do so, it must include those who did not abandon them (the ones who were "stuck" in the neighborhood schools.
Thus the reason for the question above about students at CSMS who were formerly at private school.
The answers to those questions would give significantly more detail as to what the charter will be about. It also will say something about its exclusivity, which would make me, as a taxpayer, as angry as I am at Buist, the Academic Magnet and School of the Arts which is means of elitism.
James Island, Orange Grove, the East Cooper Montessori and have some de facto exclusivity, as evidenced by expellees from JICS being placed at other neighborhood schools, and two Latin children being denied space at OG via some pretty stinky tactics.
Anyone who could provide that data to the questions above would allay community concerns that it is simply another magnet school to separate.
Garett Tech is as bad as any of the others the way they throw kids to the curb and then rejoice in their manufactured grad rate.....
In fairness to the pro-charter folks, Garrett IS a magnet school. Their admissions policies are somewhat equitable, though CE Williams kids, and magnet rejectees seem to be getting preference. The policy to stay is very clear...two failed courses, or a failed course in your tech area and you are out.
I wonder if Charter schools are beholden to the same due process afforded to the children at neighborhood schools. Do potential expellees appear before the board (or Office of Student Placement), or is that eliminated as part of the autonomy.
I ask, because that would affect neighborhood schools, since students MUST have due process (so they might have to be placed back at a neighborhood school after expulsion from a charter)
From the S.C. charter school law:
"If a charter school suspends or expels a student, other charter schools or the local school district in which the charter school is located has the authority but not the obligation to refuse admission to the student."
So no, the neighborhood school doesn't have to admit children expelled from a charter school.
The first question stands however...
do Charter schools have to follow the same due process standards as other non-magnet schools?
Are there expulsions review by a district board/committee?
Of course the process isn't the same - a charter school isn't run by the school district. One obvious difference is that any appeal would be to the governing board of the charter school, not to some school/constituent district body.
Again, from the S.C. charter school law (which is easily available online), a proposed charter, which is a proposed contract with the school district or other sponsor, must include:
"(13) a description of student rights and responsibilities, including behavior and discipline standards, and a reasonable hearing procedure, including notice and a hearing before the board of directors of the charter school before expulsion;"
If you are interested in the procedure at a particular charter school, you'd need to read the charter.
If you are interested in learning more about charter school law, I recommend the S.C. Legislature's site:
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/cgi-bin/query.exe?first=DOC&querytext=charter%20school&category=Code&conid=4840678&result_pos=0&keyval=1182
Re: There's no doubt that East Cooper Montessori is exclusive. Located in I'On and purposely so. My son was a student their first year in operation, facilities were in two trailers in I'On (best looking trailers you ever saw). When discussion came of where are we going to locate, because I'On won't allow trailers for more than certain amount of time, several parents advocated moving outside of I'On, looking to rent space somewhere more affordable. Well, forget that!! For whatever reason, the principal was married to the idea of having an I'On school. And, let me tell you, its present enrollment is the progeny of doctors, lawyers and indian chiefs. Silly to suggest it's not cherry-picked/exclusive enrollment.
Another thing: accountability for charters. I've followed East Cooper Montessori for years, ever since that chaotic and awful first year (we left), and I see that their website, which used to provide access to board minutes, no longer does. If you base your decision as a community of the strength/effectiveness of the school on their annual report cards, that's also hard to follow. They don't test all of their students in Social Studies and math, don't report teacher retention rates (many teachers leave within one year, pay sucks, administration's even more difficult to deal with than sorry pay), and numbers don't add up (percentages are to add to 100% and don't!!).
These people sing peace songs and Kum Ba Yah all day, praise the cosmos and other hey-wow sorts of activities. This is charter school accountability? I don't think so.
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