Like it or not, more than a few parents remain committed to saving the KCPS at all costs . . . And they continue talks amid what seems to be an imminent dismantling of the district . . .
- KC parents meet with CEE-Trust again
- Fox4: "Statistics show 70% of children in KCMO are below proficiency in reading and math."
- Charter school leader: Decentralization could help KC Public Schools
Recently, TKC SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH suggests that this blog community suggests that the members of this blog community aren't buying the turnaround plan.
Developing . . .
The best thing that could have happened to KCPS, although it's probably much too late now, was to have had the Board of Education, administration, teachers, students, and parents actually focus on learning in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteInstead the whole mess has been, and continues to be, a swirl of contractors, consultants, grifters, unqualified people looking for jobs, and hangers-on with all sorts of ideas and no responsiblity for much of anything.
There is such a thing as knowing what you're talking about whether the issue is education, or police work, computer training, or anything else.
The CEE-Trust plan or some other major reorganization of KCPS are about the only chances of clearing out endless swirl of unqualified people with lots of advice and no responsiblities and FINALLY actually focusing on educating the kids.
The best thing that could have happened was to remove disruptions from the classrooms and provide them the services they need.
ReplyDeleteI promise you that any lagging in reading stems from parents not reading to their children and a language barrier; not any bad decision the school board made.
That is a small group of people, mainly those tied to West and other members of the school board. Unfortunately though, they are the most vocal out of the bunch, and they don't seem to realize THEY are the minority. I don't have a single friend, black or white, that has kept their children in KCPS. They are either in Charters or moved to specifically get their kids into better schools. This whole "stay the course" has been the theme of EVERY KCPS school board for the past 30 years. Staying the course is doing NOTHING. If they ruin chances for something that could really change the face of education, not just here but everywhere, I hope people call for the boards resignation.
ReplyDeleteEnough is enough.
Where is the rebuttal to the disturbing analysis of the historical data on KCPS test scores/achievement by CEE trust? I understand it was pointed out that at least some of their info wasn't completely accurate, but that report crushes anything the district has said about improvement. KCPS would do good to rebut that report, if they can.
ReplyDeleteI still think the writing is on the wall regardless of protests by a select few. I noticed the states new goal is aiming to get test scores back to districts within 20 days (I think it said..I know it was under a month). That way the scores will be out well before August 2014 giving time to initiate the new plan, as opposed to waiting until August for test scores and then debating on starting anything during the school year that would be just starting.
ReplyDeleteAs a somewhat bruised veteran of the departed Dr. Covington's "Community led Strategic Plan development process I'm attuned to the fragrance of "Creeping Corporatism" of which the Broad Foundation and the CEE-Trust Alliance are aggressive proponents.
ReplyDeleteThe question to keep asking is: Where are the quality jobs at the end of the pipeline of any reform?
At least with a conventional school board we can recognize that this question doesn't even belong primarily on their plate.
Might we not agree that the Kauffman Foundation and its local commerce allies - as well as the Covington-type carpetbaggers from Public Impact - who expect business interests to end up in control of education policy - owe us some description of how this unprecedented turmoil they recommend turns out well in the end?
You'll find not one word about "good jobs awaiting" those kids and families who are being challenged to make the two decade long up mountain struggle CEE-Trust envisions.
Are good jobs waiting for them now, with the current system?
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't it belong on their (the board) plate? And if it truly doesn't, why have them at all?
Give it a chance. It couldn't be worse than the constantly-in-a-state-of- turmoil, violent, shady-board-member having system that serves them now.
Although I may be in the minority, as a parent with a child in the district, I agree. I feel I do need to point out that my daughter took the ACT last year as a junior and scored a 29. She's going to be fine. Some of her friends probably not.
DeleteSo leave it like it is because you can't envision better for the kids? Makes a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteBut you know, KNOW under this plan West et all will get their hands on at least one of the schools. At least it won't be all if them though.
ReplyDeleteThe CEE report states that only qualified people will be allowed to operate the non-profits. That would not be West. He would need to stop mooching off of his roomie and other women before I could ever support him running one of the schools.
ReplyDeleteWe've "stayed the course" and one of my children can read and understand Spanish, and I have two children enrolled in one of the top schools in the country.
ReplyDeleteSo dismantle it because some white people are scared to send their kids to school with kids who have shitty parents?
Can we have a serious discussion? The people offering these solutions don't have a solution for the "weakest link." They just want to run from the problem.
Bryan- I value your opinion and would discuss this with you any time- just say when. Can we agree that the schools your children attend are the exception to the rule? Can we also agree that every student in KCPS deserves the same excellent education that your children are receiving? How do we make everything equal? Why not at least try it? What does the district have to lose? It's NOT stable, always in some form of turmoil or another. The district itself predicts it will lose 2000 more kids by 2017 and I think that's without the transfer law that could impact them.
ReplyDeleteHave you read the CEE report in its entirety? What parts of it don't you like?
I quite frankly get tired of all the Lincoln Prep parents shouting how awesome the school district is. Yes, for YOUR children it is. But what about the kids who don't attend a signature school? Lincoln seems like a separate school altogether as far as the student body goes, the income of the families (as compared to other high schools in that general area), the way they are treated etc.
ReplyDeleteKids at the other high schools have complained that they don't even have books. Forget about music programs or any other type of enrichment...last I heard they don't have those either.
After all this time, 70%,
ReplyDeleteSEVENTY PER CENT!,
of KCPS students perform below standards in math and basic language skills.
That's an awful lots of functionally unemployable young people our on the streets.
Long past time for a total change.
El Bryan, it sounds like your kids don't even go to their neighborhood high school? You haven't run from the district...... you've just run within it. The logic u use about not running from the district & that when families do thats part of the problem, could most certainly be applied to you & your neighborhood high school, which I'm presuming is Northeast. Why not stay & strengthen that school? It could use more parents like you. No, you want the best education your child can get, so you looked for other options, and you are lucky to have that choice but not all parents in kcps are that lucky. Also, you mentioned that another one of your children speaks and writes in Spanish. I'm just presuming this is an elementary school child you are talking about. So you're saying at a school where 50% or greater of the student body already speak Spanish, that they are teaching it as a part of the curriculum???I don't know, I'm asking. Sounds like some backwards stuff kcps would do.
ReplyDeleteAcadamie Lafayette is a full French emerision charter; among the best in KC. My child attended Carver Dual Language, a great KCPS school which splits the days between English and Spanish lessons. My other daughter went to James, the neighborhood school I attended when I was young.
ReplyDeleteNow my kids attend Lincoln, because why not? They've focused on their education and studied hard for seven years. I shouldn't send the to my wife's alma mater because Northeast High School needs parents like me?
Dismantling KCPS isn't going to improve Northeast HS; most of the same students will go there. There's no solution in this plan for improving schools like Northeast other than to give the $ to someone else to manage. By supporting it, all you're going to do is create a bunch of individual, similar problems.
So again I ask, what is the solution? The current system is not working for 70% of the students.
ReplyDeleteLincoln Prep, academy Lafayette, border star are all exceptions to the rule. Not that there aren't other schools that I would consider "good", but not on the scale of those. The majority of the parents that so vigorously defend KCPS are generally from those schools.
And again, you want better for your kids so you send them to a better school. Don't knock other parents that wish to do the same and don't have these schools as choices for their kids.
You're acting as if the parents DON'T have the same choices I do.
ReplyDeleteThat's ridiculous.
I carefully considered five different elementary schools for my children, and if my kids couldn't get into Lincoln, Paseo Academy isn't a bad second choice.
If a parent doesn't care about their kid's education, then they're probably going to get back what they put into it. On the other hand, if you ARE concerned about your kid's education (and I mean seriously, not just "I want my kid to have a good education so I'll whine about it,") KCPS already offers more opportunities and options than most other surrounding districts.
I've already told you what I believe the solution is; to remove the disruptions from the classroom. These are problems that come from home, not from the schools. Dissolving the district but having the same families exhibiting the same problems isn't going to change anyone's outcome.
Like it or not, the public school system can work IF we're willing to make it work. Dissolving it indicates that we're NOT willing to make it work. We're just pointing fingers at administrators.
Ok Bryan, you win. Lets just use your situation/family stability/literacy level/lack of needing special needs services for your family/english speaking and just pretend like every family is the same.
ReplyDeleteHave you studied the school models that are given as examples in the proposal? Those schools have the same students as before, but are doing considerably better with the new type of school. Obviously, this isn't always going to be the case, but I still think its worth a try. We just have to agree to disagree. I'm interested to hear the other proposals presented at the DESE meeting later this month.