Disparities in CCSD's High Schools: Not Teachers' Fault

Stop blaming teachers.

Oh, if only Lincoln High's teachers had been more rigorous in their expectations, former Lincoln students at Wando wouldn't be having such a hard time adjusting.

That's just plain nonsense. Forget high turnover. Forget inexperienced staff.

Faced with a classroom full of students who are already below grade level in achievement, what teacher will cause all of them to flunk? Which principal would allow that to happen? Low achievement doesn't begin in high school; it starts in kindergarten. Then it snowballs. Ask any middle school teacher. 

Two recent articles, one on these former Lincoln students and one on Prestige Academy's problems, honed in on teachers as the root problem. 

Low pay. Disrespect. No wonder teachers leave the profession.

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/report-shows-former-lincoln-students-under-prepared-for-wando-s/

Great News for CCSD's Laing MS; What About North Charleston?

Laing Middle School's recognition as the top  STEM middle-school in the country impresses us all. Nothing should detract from the hard work of the Charleston County School District and its administration and teachers. Great news for Mt. Pleasant, once again.

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/mount-pleasant-s-laing-middle-named-top-stem-school-in/

What about North Charleston? When comes the day that one of its schools gets such recognition? Judging by the present, never. 

Mayor Summey needs to put pressure on the district to fix his city's failing, in some cases, almost empty, schools. More and more young families in the city choose to homeschool rather than attend their local schools, elementary, middle, and high. It's no good saying that most of CCSD's greatest magnet schools are in North Charleston. Hardly any locals get into those schools.

Can you imagine what the outcry would be if Mt. Pleasant's schools were in such disarray? So many parents in North Charleston feel the same way, but they don't have the big bucks or the powerful friends that Mt. Pleasant does.

It's time for radical change. Let's hope CCSD's school board soon focuses on North Charleston's problems.

Grown-ups Now in Charge of CCSD Finances

It's about time. 

Even mentions Michael Bobby's name. Of course, she-who-cannot-be-blamed-for-anything remains anonymous, even though in charge of the whole shebang.

See http://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/editorials/keep-school-budgeting-sound/

Sad Start to Prestige Prep: No Discipline, No Security, No Learning

A school for at-risk boys from kindergarten through fourth grade can work, can save boys from disadvantages over which they have no control. So it's sad to see that Prestige Prep Academy got off to such a rocky start this school year. The most important question, however, is, "What were they thinking about discipline?"

To some, discipline ranks almost as a dirty word, dredging up visions of paddling, in-school and out-of-school suspension, and stultifying robot-like behavior. To dedicated teachers, however, discipline does not envision negative environments. Consistently applied, rules to follow cause children to feel secure, both physically and mentally. They stop worrying about being poked (or worse) behind the teacher's back or stop remaining silent in fear of ridicule. The classroom becomes a place where they can relax, knowing what's coming next will be positive.

Much angst occurs over the limited vocabularies that at-risk children bring to their schooling, but just as important, maybe more so, is their lack of knowledge that rules help them learn. Physical safety is paramount; comfort comes next (food, clothing, classroom), and predictability of reward or punishment comes third. These factors must be present for any group of children, at-risk or not, to achieve. 

Our hearts go out to those teachers who are trying every day to make a difference in these boys' lives. Let's pray that this much-needed school figures out the proper way forward.

Note to SC Legislature: Pay Up for Sales-Tax Shortfall to School Districts?

Is he correct? Has the South Carolina legislature failed to follow its own laws?

I see yet another article in The Post and Courier blaming the financial problems of the school district on Act 388. Section 11-11-156 of the State Code was amended by Act 388. The pertinent subsection is: (A)(6) “To the extent revenues in the Homestead Exemption Fund are insufficient to pay all reimbursements to a school district required by subsection (A) and subsection (B) the difference must be paid from the state general fund.” 

Since the state has a surplus of about $1 billion this year the funds should be available to make up for any shortfall in the sales tax as required by the act. A more thorough discussion of the issue by a legal scholar is required to fully explain the total impact of Act 388, but it appears that the act makes allowances in the reimbursement to the school districts for the number of students in poverty, and for increases in school districts’ population and the consumer price index.

David C. Cannon
Point Street

Another Cost of CCSD's Segregated Schools: "Top Talent" Pay Bump for Teachers

The list of schools that the Charleston County School District is considering for "Top Talent" teacher pay reads as a list of CCSD's most segregated middle and elementary schools. 

"The Top Talent schools would be Sanders-Clyde Elementary, Chicora Elementary, Burns Elementary, Mary Ford Elementary, North Charleston Elementary, St. James-Santee Elementary, Northwoods Middle, Morningside Middle, West Ashley Middle, Baptist Hill Middle/High, St. John's High and Garrett Academy of Technology. Those schools would also receive additional support and professional development from the district office."

Interestingly, the cost of what used to be jokingly called (in Newark, NJ) "combat pay" will be covered by "an existing $2.3-million annual stream of federal Title II grant money." Nowhere does the reporter say how that money has been spent in the past. 

Maybe higher pay will attract the best teachers; maybe not. It's one more sign that serious changes must occur for the county's schools to be as integrated as those in the rest of the state.

See http://www.postandcourier.com/news/charleston-county-could-pay-extra-for-top-teachers-in-struggling/

CCSD's Status as Most Segregated in SC Produces Desperate Measures

Don't get me wrong: WINGS for Kids is a great organization that has positive effects on the Charleston County School District. 

Nevertheless, its latest program expansion emphasizes what's wrong in the district while attempting a cure around the edges. In order for children who attend North Charleston Elementary, Chicora Elementary, and (soon) Burns Elementary to know white children, WINGS for Kids has a special program introducing them to each other.

Sorry, you can't make this stuff up.

You've got to ask yourself, though, why these three elementary schools in North Charleston have no white students. It's not as though the North Area, as it was previously known, has no white residents or white residents with elementary-age children. In fact, the city is majority white at this point, as it has been in the past. Further, the area around North Charleston Elementary includes Park Circle, where older small houses and newer large ones are being snapped up by yuppies. It's much more complicated than merely dismissing people as racists.

So why aren't these schools integrated? Why aren't the all-black schools on the peninsula integrated?

When will we realize that the present system must be relegated to the junk heap of history?

See http://www.postandcourier.com/news/wings-for-kids-combats-racism-by-fostering-friendships/

SC's Ongoing School Bus Scandal

Some activists believe that all school buses should be retrofitted with seat belts at the cost of millions.  On the other hand, South Carolina's legislature believes it's ok to send public school buses out every morning knowing that they are older than the students who ride them.

Now the US Environmental Protection Agency has stepped up to the plate to do what state legislators promised almost a decade ago--replace the oldest and worst of SC's buses. 

How embarrassing is that? "Under state law, the Department of Education is required to replace about a 15th of the state’s bus fleet each year with new school buses with money from the Legislature. But laWwmakers have only fulfilled this mandate twice since the law was passed in 2007." WHY?

We're Number 1: the worst polluting school bus fleet in the nation.

SC: take a bow!

About $1.1 million will replace 57 of our oldest and worst polluting buses. 

See http://www.postandcourier.com/news/south-carolina-recieves-million-from-epa-for-cleaner-school-buses

[BTW, headline writers still refuse to use spell check. "I before e except after c"?]

CCSD Now Hates Violins?

 

Charleston County School Superintendent Gerrida Postlewait has some 'splaining to do.

Local headlines scream, "Charleston County schools eliminate elementary strings programs."

What's up with that? School Board member Chris Staubes claims the Board didn't vote on that policy. Maybe it handed over the right to do that as it strengthened the superintendent's powers?

Maybe administration decided that if all elementary schools in the district couldn't have strings programs, none would. That's about the only reason that makes sense.

Make 2017 the Year of Radical Change in Education

This journey through the Charleston County School District, its triumphs and foibles, began almost a decade ago as I learned to my chagrin that the district I believed to have been long ago integrated was still de facto segregated for the poorest and least advantaged among us. Despite the best efforts of many in district administration, three superintendents, and numerous elected school board members, no meaningful change has occurred. Too many students are still stuck in failing schools.

If you are reading this blog, you probably are not among those whose children face that disaster every year. The disadvantaged lack the power and perhaps even the will or hope to see a better future. The system not only doesn't work for them yesterday and today; this system won't work for them tomorrow either. 

It is time for change, change that doesn't merely nibble around the edges of the problem. Fred Hiatt's op-ed reminds us that radical change is necessary. (See http://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/commentary/trump-has-chance-to-promote-right-kind-of-school-choice/ )

The situation in a nutshell, or paragraph as it were: "Millions of parents choose to send their children to parochial or other private schools. Millions more decide where to rent or buy a home based on the quality of the local public schools. The only people who do not enjoy this right are those who are too poor to move out of neighborhoods where public schools are failing. A disproportionate number of these are people of color."

If we adopted the system now used in the Netherlands and other countries, money for schools would be tied to the student, not the district. That means poor students (in both senses) would bring more money to the school to meet their needs. For example, a child of well-off parents with no disabilities might bring $5000, while one of a single-parent household on welfare might bring $15,000 or more. 

That difference shifts power to the poor. Isn't that what is needed to effect true change? Further, regardless of the school selected, the district would provide transportation to meet that need as well. 

Think change doesn't need to be radical? You don't have a child in a failing school.

Have a better idea to bring about radical change? Let's hear it.

SC Must Fund Busing for Charter Schools

A bird's-eye view on any given school day will show yellow school buses crisscrossing the streets, highways, and bridges of Charleston County. What it won't show is buses for CCSD's charter schools, with the exception of the Charter School for Math and Science (CSMS), the most integrated school in the entire district. Perhaps there's no magic to CSMS's distinction, merely that provided by busing.

Let's get real. The Charleston County School District must provide busing for all public school students, both charter and non-charter. They're all attending public schools, after all. 

In the poorer neighborhoods of Charleston County, parents and guardians frequently have no recourse to cars or taxis to transport their children to the wide selection of charter schools that they might hope to attend. 

It's time to end this discrimination that imprisons them in failing schools. 

Little wonder that Charleston County has the most segregated schools in the state!

Hope for Change at US Department of Education

Freedom of choice heads the agenda of the newly-nominated head of the US Department of Education. Betsy DeVos wants parents in charge of where their children get educated. 

What a thought! Zip code won't determine whether a child receives a good education!

As columnist Paul Greenberg has noted, "Who knows, it may just be the beginning of a bright new era in American education instead of the end of one." 

Why, if zip code doesn't matter, even segregated housing patterns might change. 😮

Time for CCSD to Fix Jane Edwards Elementary, After Apologizing

A last-minute rescue from the chopping block has energized folks on Edisto Island to think bigger for Jane Edwards Elementary in hopes of saving it permanently. The disgrace is what previous Charleston County SchooI District administrations have done, or should we say, not done, to get the school where it is today. 

Wonder why it's not attracting more students?

"Jane Edwards doesn't have a real gymnasium, so students take physical education in an empty classroom filled with some basic equipment. Their baseball field desperately needs repairs. One volunteer described the pre-school playground as "a disaster." 

"The school doesn't even have a teacher for every grade after the district changed its staff allocation formula. This year, two teachers are charged with managing "combination classes," one for second- and third-graders, and another for fourth- and fifth-graders. Until last fall, with Edisto resident Jack DiLuna's help, Jane Edwards hadn't fielded athletic teams for years.

The Friends of Jane Edwards, led by Paul Oakley, have some great ideas. We wonder why the school district hadn't come up with any of them:

"stronger academics, gifted and talented programs, and investments in early childhood education, including Head Start and on-site child care. For teenagers and adults, they propose literacy, GED, English for Speakers of Other Languages and virtual high school programs.

"They also want to form partnerships with Trident Technical College, College of Charleston, businesses like Boeing and nonprofits like the Edisto Island Historic Preservation Society. They want to redraw attendance lines and add middle school grades to boost enrollment. And they want programs other elementary schools in the county take for granted, such as after-school sports and extracurricular activities.[italics mine]

Now it's your turn, CCSD.  

SC Educators Oppose Schools' Being Graded

If North Carolina and Georgia can do it, why can't we? In fact, 17 states now rate schools on an A through F grading system. They use that because "non-educators" readily understand what it means. South Carolina educators say we can't do that! We want a grading system that's not so transparent.

Well, actually district superintendents, state Department of Education officials, and teachers' representatives avoid using the word "transparent." Instead they have told the Education Oversight Committee that "grades are subject to interpretation."

Unlike in other states, don 'cha know.

Instead, a spokesman for the Department of Education wants "rating how schools perform in each category with phrases ranging from 'exceeds expectations' to 'fails to meet expectations'--without giving a cumulative rating."

There. That'll confuse everybody. Furthermore, if our expectations (non-specified) are low enough, we'll never need to use the lowest category.

The Education Oversight Committee hopes to replace the present system with one that's "simple to understand and more informative."  

Good luck with that.

Give Charleston County Residents the Edge for Popular Magnet Schools!

The statistics speak volumes: Berkeley and Dorchester County residents have figured out that they can take advantage of Charleston County's Academic Magnet and School of the Arts without living in the district. 

One third of Academic Magnet's ninth graders did not attend Charleston County public schools.

One quarter of the School of the Arts sixth graders did not attend Charleston County public schools.

What those statistics prove is that many Charleston County students have been frozen out of these selective schools. Why must CCSD put up with it?

Yes, we know that out-of-county students can become eligible with parents' owning as little as $300 worth of county property. That's bad enough, but it's the law. Even if the number were raised to $30,000, these students most likely would still be eligible to take places from county residents. 

There must be a way to improve CCSD's students' chances in addition to improving its academic standards. Surely all the talent at 75 Calhoun can propose a plan that will meet legal requirements.

Time to get to work! Make Emerson earn his keep.

CCSD Takes Top Honors as Most Segregated in SC

In case you were under the illusion that the Charleston County School District, consolidated in the 1970s to force integration, actually is integrated, one look at the latest state statistics should disabuse you of that chimera. Of course, students need not fear being shut out of Wando because they are black; they simply live in other parts of the district and go to high schools that are de facto black. Those who do live in its attendance zone or whose parents know how to work the system win the lottery.

See, we have strange anomalies such as Memminger Elementary, the school closest to the wealthiest white neighborhoods on the peninsula. It's also de facto black. According to a spokesman for the State Department of Education, "Charleston is a strange anomaly. I think Charleston, of any of the districts, has the largest discrepancy between, I guess you would say, rich and poor. You have some of the wealthiest of the wealthy and the poorest of the poor, and they're not that far away from each other." The richest are white; the poorest are black.

When was the last time attendance zones changed in the heart of the district? What prevents the attendance zone of under-utilized Burke High (another segregated high school) from extending across the Cooper to take in older neighborhoods in Mt. Pleasant? Please don't say distance, not when thousands of students are bussed hither and yon all over the district every day.

Part of the problem is lingering racial attitudes. Part of the problem is low academic and behavioral expectations in historically black schools. Part of the problem is housing patterns. Part of the problem is historically black schools' wishing to keep their identities. 

If you're looking to turn over a new leaf in 2017, surely these obviously segregated educational patterns are the place to start.

CCSD's Minnie Hughes Students in the Great Outdoors

It's a relief to see that collaboration does take place between the College of Charleston and the Charleston County School District. Some of us have wondered why the district does not partner more frequently with C of C. A case in point is the recent project on 18th-century naturalist and artist Mark Catesby at Minnie Hughes Elementary. Included in the project is SCETV, all working under the aegis of the Catesby Commemorative Trust. 

The C of C Education Department developed the project's parameters, and C of C education professors help its implementation. Early this month second-graders of Minnie Hughes visited Dixie Plantation, also owned by C of C, to practice Catesby's methods of first drawing from nature and then filling in more scientific details. 

Needless to say, these students were thrilled to be out of the classroom and in a natural setting for their project. One professor suggested that, "Some of these children had never been in 'real' nature before. They were amazed."

I'm also amazed that students who attend a school that most Charlestonians would consider in the "boonies" have never experienced "real" nature.  No parent or caregiver has ever taken them out into the woods, fields, and marshes practically within sight of Minnie Hughes? 

That's just plain sad.

West Ashley High Reveals Progress in Gender Equality

This week's cafeteria brawl at West Ashley High School succeeded in setting a new high (or low) in equality of the sexes. Probably after an incendiary social media post, staff had to break up a fight, and 10 students were suspended.

What's new about that, you ask?

Girls. That's 10 girls who were suspended. 

Got 'cha, didn't I?

CCSD Should Resign Itself to Including a Charter School at Burke

 

Does anyone else remember the building war over space for the Charter School of Math and Science? It seemed to be never ending. Now that CSMS enjoys its place as the most integrated school in the entire Charleston County School District, voices are quiet over its use of the former Rivers High School building.

How about Allegro? Steve Bailey's op-ed this week lays down the gauntlet to the school district over providing space at Burke for this up-and-coming charter school.  Burke's enrollment at 95 percent black on a peninsula that has been majority white for decades and its largely empty building are emblematic of what's wrong in CCSD. What will it take to break the logjam and create another integrated high school downtown?

Bailey states, 

"Burke and Allegro together may be able to do what Burke could not do alone. “They have an opportunity to make a community that will serve everyone,” says Pete Lawrence, who was captain of Burke’s football team in 1967 under legendary Coach Modie Risher. “It cannot be a school for just one segment of the community."

"The Charleston County School District — and thus Burke — didn’t want to talk about any of this. A host of people didn’t want to see this in print. But tell me this: If we can’t even talk about what divides us, how are we ever going to make it better?

See the rest here:
http://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/commentary/burke-and-allegro-could-make-beautiful-music-together

CCSD Must Step Away From the Edublob

 

Just in case anyone has forgotten, let me remind you that the Charleston County School District suffered an $18 million shortfall not too long ago. The chances that the district will soon ask for a tax increase are overwhelming.

Wouldn't you be curious to know why the Lastinger Center received a $350,000 contract to retrain CCSD's literacy coaches "as part of the district's planned literacy overhaul"? Since 2002 this start up from the University of Florida has gobbled up millions of dollars from the State of Florida as well as the US Department of Education. Now it believes that the State of South Carolina should follow its lead by implementing Algebra Nation at a cost of $1.5 million. Really? I hope our state legislature has more sense.

Perhaps Superintendent Postlewait does. She suggests a pilot program combining CCSD with Berkeley and Dorchester County School Districts.

While South Carolina's oversimplification of end-of-course tests for Algebra lulled parents into a false sense of security, the low scores on the national college-ready benchmark ACT stripped off the mask. If only one-third of juniors met the mark, how did 89 percent pass the Algebra exam?

Rather than sending millions to Florida, let's look in-state for solutions.

Forget the edublob.