APS parents challenge redistricting. Let the changes begin.
APS parents spoke out about the proposed redistrictings at a public board meeting last night. It is interesting to note how much of the parent reaction in Atlanta replicates the response in DeKalb, where protesting parents caused a dramatic scale-down of the proposed closures and redistricting there.
I would assume that the APS scenarios will be modified accordingly, although Atlanta, like every other district in the country facing demographic shifts, has to address growth patterns and overcrowding.
One argument likely to resonate with the Atlanta board is that school communities are still reeling from the CRCT cheating mess and can’t withstand another blow. As this account shows, some parents are making that argument, and I think it’s a valid one. The management of Atlanta Public Schools is, in effect, rebuilding its reputation and restoring customer confidence, and has to be mindful of that in redistricting.
I have been reporting on schools long enough to know that there is a perceived value in keeping middle-class parents committed to their local public schools. Last week, when the NAEP scores for the urban districts voluntarily participating in a trial assessment were released, two systems stood out for outperforming not only their urban peers, but the nation in math. They were Charlotte and Austin, both of which have kept a socioeconomic mix in their schools.
From the news story on AJC.com today,
I would hate to see this community destroyed,” said Cameron Ford, who was speaking against the rezoning of Bolton Academy in North Atlanta. “I believe redrawing the lines would tear the community we’re in apart.”
Four scenarios were released in late November to start discussions about new school boundaries. Each scenario calls for multiple school closures and for additions or new schools to be built in crowded North Atlanta. School lines across the city will have to be redrawn to accommodate the changes.
But many parents don’t like what’s being proposed. “The past year has been a difficult one for the families of the Atlanta Public Schools system,” said Grady High parent Anne McGlamry. “We were just beginning to emerge from the ugliness of the cheating scandal and the accreditation debacle, when this demographic nightmare hit.”
District leaders have said they are open to making changes, and that the maps were intended only as a starting point. Consultants hired by the district will take the input, modify the maps and narrow the options down to two. Financial estimates for the remaining options will be released, and a second round of community meetings will be held in January before a final recommendation is given to Superintendent Erroll Davis.
The changes will have to be approved by the school board before they go into effect during the 2012-13 school year. Chairwoman Brenda Muhammad said the board is committed to getting public input before making a decision. The board will also consider academic impact and cost.
“By the time everything is evaluated, said and done, the scenarios may not look anything as they look now,” she said.
Melody Cook-Blount said she moved out of DeKalb so her daughter could attend Beecher Hills Elementary, a school listed for closure on two plans. But the school is thriving and should not be closed, even though it is small, she said. “I ask you consider the quality and not the quantity of schools,” Cook-Blount said.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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121 comments Add your comment
atlmom
December 13th, 2011
8:54 am
the worst that can happen would be that parents would opt for more private schools. and property values would drop. and then revenue to APS will drop. They certainly don’t want that, I would suspect.
How about some crazy ideas: like, um, make the schools that aren’t performing better. wow, so out there. It was a start in firing all those teachers that were cheating (we certainly want zero teachers out there who say: oh, those kids can’t learn anything, so we had to cheat for them…so wrong on so many levels). We need to clean more house. get rid of more administrators. i don’t know that i have it in me. the board elections aren’t for two more years. that’s two more years of my kids getting a substandard education (in a ‘fantastic’ school).
Good Mother
December 13th, 2011
9:07 am
The reality is people will vote with their feet.
I can already hear the pitter patter of little feet going to Saint Thomas More, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Saint Pius.
I can also hear the rumble and whir of the trucks–the moving trucks–backing up into those driveways so that parents can easily load their furniture and their lives out of that school district they no longer want to be in.
The school board can redraw the lines all they want to.
They can color the map and sprinkle glitter on it for all I care…
…but if you think you can take my children out of their current school filled with teachers, staff and parents with integrity and honesty…
…and plop them down into a school rocked by scandal, cheating and thievery….
You. Are. Wrong.
carlosgvv
December 13th, 2011
9:13 am
If parents aren’t wealthy enough to afford private schools, they must face up to the prospect of sending their kids to schools where teaching quality is poor, disicipline is mostly non-existent, thefts and assualts are common and real learning prospects are about zero. In case you haven’t noticed, Americas” best days are long since in the past.
Joy in Teaching
December 13th, 2011
9:26 am
Here’s a thought:
APS is consolidating schools to SAVE MONEY during this economic downturn. People gripe about school boards wasting money and they gripe when school boards attempt to save money.
Also? If people think they can sell their houses easily in this economy in order to move, then more power to them. My sister has had her house up for sale for the past three years with few nibbles. She lives in a good neighborhood with an awesome school.
To carlosgvv from Good Mother
December 13th, 2011
9:28 am
You’ve said “If parents aren’t wealthy enough to afford private schools,….”
there is another option —
A boycott and a protest.
Anyone who cannot afford a private school or afford to move can get out their picket sign, walk in front of the school with their child and protest.
The right to redress grievances is a fundamental right of the people.
In the United States the right to petition is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the federal constitution, which specifically prohibits Congress from abridging “the right of the people…to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Get out your sign and protest.
To Joy in Teaching from Good Mother
December 13th, 2011
9:31 am
Joy you write “People gripe about school boards wasting money and they gripe when school boards attempt to save money.”
NO ONE is griping about school boards attempting to save money.
This is NOT about saving money.
This is about tossing your kids into a hell-hole of an environment. No parent who has a right to use the title “parent” would impotently stand by and let their children’s education and safety be compromised by a bunch of bureaucrats.
Beverly Fraud
December 13th, 2011
9:38 am
Maureen, you’ve never addressed why you “respect” Brenda Muhammad, who gave Hall (literally) an ovation as at her final board meeting. What message did Muhammad send to parents, teachers, and students by applauding Hall? Is the message Muhammad sent worthy of “respect”? More to the point did it SHOW respect to those people?
Now if you had said “I respectfully disagree…” that would have been one thing. But you said “I respect” her.
Care to share with your readers, reasons why, as when you consider her PUBLIC actions, “respect” is not the word that first jumps to mind.
Thank you in advance for not banning this comment LOL
Beverly Fraud
December 13th, 2011
9:41 am
Here’s a thought:
APS is consolidating schools to SAVE MONEY during this economic downturn. People gripe about school boards wasting money and they gripe when school boards attempt to save money.
JoyinTeaching, the problem with that thought is for APS to express it, it comes across as COMPLETELY disingenuous, given the waste and administrative BLOAT that permeates the system.
frustrated APS mom
December 13th, 2011
9:45 am
Standing ovation for your last comment, Bev.
Beverly Fraud
December 13th, 2011
9:57 am
Standing ovation for your last comment, Bev.
Probably NOT from Maureen…or Brenda Muhammad LOL. It does upset me, that APS won’t accept, free of charge the cutting edge technology that has been offered:
Employing Research Achieving Sustained Educational Results
Beverly Fraud
December 13th, 2011
10:00 am
Re: Employing Research Achieving Sustained Educational Results
You think MAYBE it’s the acronym that makes them hesitant to use the technology?
frustrated APS mom
December 13th, 2011
10:06 am
Ha! Love it. And seriously, it is pretty hard to believe they expect us to swallow these changes after everything they have put us through this year. How much do they expect parents to take? Are they just trying to see how fast they can get us all to abandon the system?
Maureen Downey
December 13th, 2011
10:06 am
@Beverly, I did address it. But I will repeat what I wrote yesterday. She first came to the public stage as a grieving mother whose son was shot and killed for his jacket. Rather than retreat — as many of us would have done if we lost a child in that way or any way — she reached out to other parents who lost children to violent crime.
I tire of people hiding behind aliases attacking people who openly lay claim to their statements and their views. And then these so-called courageous masked voices ask other people to justify themselves.
Beverly Fraud
December 13th, 2011
10:27 am
My apologies to Maureen. I misunderstood your response yesterday (I thought it was another poster who lost their child, not Mrs. Muhammad. You may recall I even offered my condolences to that poster, before I responded to her)
This is why I thought you had avoided the issue about Mrs. Muhammad. Now I can see why you have respect for her, at least for her willingness to engage in the process.
Still, I must ask, if someone raises a point, how does raising it anonymously make it any less legitimate or less valid? I don’t get that, ESPECIALLY if it’s an opinion based on PUBLIC record.
I see your point-entirely-if a poster comes on here to say “I saw board member X in a drunken stupor, making rude comments to people in the town square” THAT, done anonymously deserves condemnation, because it is an UNFOUNDED accusation, which is unfair to hypothetical board member X since the accuser can’t be confronted.
But, this is a comment on easily verifiable PUBLIC actions. And what Muhammad (and the rest of them, including the Furious Five) did was sit on their hands for YEARS, when it was OBVIOUS something fishy was going on. If they didn’t know, it’s because they didn’t WANT to know. And this is a matter of PUBLIC record, not someone throwing out UNFOUNDED accusations, is it not?
So respect for Mrs. Muhammad for channeling her energy. But does her loss give her a “free pass”? I don’t think it should. And KNOWING the damage Hall’s policies wrought, and KNOWING the damage the LACK of discipline has done to the Atlanta Public Schools, I think, with all due respect, it was EXTREMELY disrespectful for the board to give Hall an ovation upon leaving.
What kind of message does that send to parents, teachers, and students, when you APPLAUD Beverly Hall?
So, I concede, if you are talking about her actions concerning her loss, I can easily see why she deserves respect. But as far as her performance as a board member, I think there is some convincing evidence that NONE of them deserve to have the word “respect” attached to their ACTIONS, not even the Furious Five who were the epitome of “a day late and a dollar short”
I don’t think that’s an unfair statement to make, even if some disagree with it.
skipper
December 13th, 2011
10:27 am
Nobody wants to send their kid to an urban hell-hole. Therfore, they are branded as racist or whatever, even if they ARE a minority. The “sho-nuff” bad schools where discipline and parental guidance are absent need to be addressed. Everybody avoids the topic…. and I admit I do not have a total solution. I also will get the “You ain’t ever been to these schools…how do you know” deal. I never met George washington, either, but I know he was the first president. Until accountability and decent upbringings are instilled, a solution is not going to happen. Just another shift, another argument, and the same old non-productive rhetoric that got us here to start with. While folks rant and rave, the kids in bad schools, bad neighborhoods, and being raised (or ware-housed) by crappy parents will suffer.
James
December 13th, 2011
10:35 am
Budget issues, including a decline in next year’s revenues, is a key component of the changes in APS. That issue is the elephant in the room that no one seems to realize.
There’s not enough money to keep operating underutilized schools or to operate new ones – SPLOST money only builds the schools, it does nothing for the yearly operation, transportation, and employee costs.
Beverly Fraud
December 13th, 2011
10:40 am
Here’s what concerned parents may have to do. Raise a STINK. Make it UNCOMFORTABLE for the board to not address their many legitimate concerns. Maybe Atlanta Media Guy will weigh in on this, but I’m thinking you have to have the LEVERAGE that comes with MEDIA attention.
That means you get LARGE groups of people (something the media can film) asking TOUGH questions at MULTIPLE appearances. Make sure you get “face time” for people who can ARTICULATE your concerns in nice sound bites.
You’re basically going to have to discipline the board and Errol Davis the way you would a wayward child, by making it UNPLEASANT to do the politically expedient thing; in other words turn the path of least resistance into the path of MOST resistance.
Maybe someone has a better idea, if so maybe they will post it.
grammy97
December 13th, 2011
10:49 am
Maureen, thank you for the clarity of statements, especially concerning your opinion of Ms Muhammad.
In today’s post, you mentioned the “demographic shifts” that are being used to justify this bizarre proposal from the APS. I have questioned that these shifts are real. In a recent email to the members, I asked them to question all of their own basic assumptions. My neighborhood, Berkeley Park, was founded in 1926. We’ve been here for 85 years, not shifting. More than half of the children in this neighborhood attend private schools. We don’t have anything resembling a neighborhood school. All of the children who attend public school have to travel 3+ miles each way to E. Rivers; and the school bus stop is on frantically busy Bellemeade Avenue. The parents here have coped heroically with a lousy situation. They have devoted hours and dollars to enriching E. Rivers school in every possible way. For what? POOF! The school board will arbitrarily uproot the children, and all of that parental dedication will benefit children from . . .?
There have been vague statements from school board members about “structurally unsound” buildings at E. Rivers. This must have been intended to create panic, so that we would not try to change the bizarre re-zoning. If there is any verifiable unsoundness in those school buildings, the children should be evacuated. NOW. Not shifted to another school next year, or the year after.
carlosgvv
December 13th, 2011
10:57 am
Is Brenda Muhammad a Black Muslim? Just asking.
liberalefty
December 13th, 2011
10:58 am
@carlossgvv
americas best days arent behind her. u sound like an ole angry person clamoring for the perfect mythical “good ole days”
cris
December 13th, 2011
10:59 am
“…but if you think you can take my children out of their current school filled with teachers, staff and parents with integrity and honesty…”
Ummm…correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this the same “Good Mother” who always complains about APS, particularly her children’s teachers, who don’t speak or write plain English? I’m confused….
frustrated APS mom
December 13th, 2011
11:01 am
Grammy, I have a few friends with kids at E. Rivers and they say the building is literally sliding down the hill. Apparently you can feel it walking down the lopsided halls in the back of the school. I don’t know this for certain, I’m just repeating what they say. They got the shaft with the last SPLOST and the building wasn’t renovated, so they are first in line this time around. But the big question is where the heck are they going to put those kids while they rebuild? They can’t use portables because part of the property is in a flood plain. They are going to have to build up, and they can’t do that during the school year. What do the Rivers parents ideally want? What do your neighbors think the best solution is? I don’t have a good answer other than the idea to use the Sutton building when it is vacated (I have heard the whole 9th grade center thing that the demographers threw at us is already off the table since it was so dumb). But that doesn’t help Rivers until 2013.
liberalefty
December 13th, 2011
11:03 am
i dont blame you white folks, i wouldnt want a bunch of ghetto kids coming to my kids’ school either. i know thats not politically correct but its the truth. blacks need to get more involved in the education of their kids. most black kids have the disadvantage of having only one supportive parent, which stacks the odds against them.
Dr NO / Mr Sunshine
December 13th, 2011
11:11 am
It will do no good. Your children will attend school where the incompetent APS decides.
““By the time everything is evaluated, said and done, the scenarios may not look anything as they look now,” she said.
Mmmm hmmm. Yea right. ALLLLLLLLLLLL RIGHTY then. You betcha!!
carlosgvv
December 13th, 2011
11:19 am
liberallefty – 10:58
I guess American History is pretty much foreign to you. Right boobie? OK – go back to your Black History books now.
JustAskWhy
December 13th, 2011
11:24 am
How did school systems redistrict before “consultants”? It seems APS farms out many decisions to consultants. Are there not people in the school system capable of making these decisions? And if not, why not eliminate the APS and hire consultants to make all decisions?
Paulo977
December 13th, 2011
11:28 am
They were Charlotte and Austin, both of which have kept a socioeconomic mix in their schools.
______________________________
Have they really ? Would like to see the facts!
Former SPARK parent
December 13th, 2011
11:33 am
If ANYONE from APS (and especially our BOE) thinks they have enough credibility to try to sell a plan requiring the forcible busing of children from affluent families to underperforming schools, they are in for a big wakeup call. It will NEVER happen, and trying to sell it to us on a short deadline with the argument that it’s the only way APS can balance its budget is, as Beverly Fraud points out, a characteristically cynical and brain-dead move by people who violated our trust in the past and don’t deserve it going forward.
We do have options, and civil disobedience is just one of them (and not the first one, either, Carlos). We can attempt to force-convert our neighborhood schools to charter schools. We can start NEW charter schools. If APS doesn’t want to play along with that plan, we can tie them up with litigation.
Listen, APS:
Do not EFF with Honey Badger.
You think you’re a bad-ass cobra, but Honey Badger don’t care. He will rip that cobra’s head right off. Oohh, that’s NASTY.
You will have to find another way to make the money work out. Start by suing Bev Hall for the bonus money she stole from us.
Former SPARK parent
December 13th, 2011
11:38 am
Those of you who didn’t get the Honey Badger reference: what, you don’t watch SEC football? : ) Okay, go to You Tube and do a search for Honey plus Badger plus Randall. Warning: NSFW!
Beverly Fraud
December 13th, 2011
11:38 am
JustAskWhy it’s a well known fact that Sir Issac Newton FLOUNDERED in school until a DOE official traveled back in time to offer his teachers “expert training” in how to make instruction more “engaging”.
It was shortly after he received a self-esteem certificate that he formulated his theories on gravity.
Maureen Downey
December 13th, 2011
11:40 am
@paulo, Go to the NAEP site. Demographics are listed.
Beverly Fraud
December 13th, 2011
11:45 am
Former SPARK, I hope you saw the post (on the other redistricting blog) concerning the Step Up and Cover Up crowd moving faster than anything CERN could create when confronted in the blogsphere.
The thought did cross my mind, would that reference have gone COMPLETELY over the heads of some of the educrats you’ve had to deal with.
Honey Badger
December 13th, 2011
11:59 am
Maureen, which public meeting are you referring to in your first sentence? Why so vague? Why not specify which meeting? If you’re referring to the Virginia-Highland Civic Association board meeting, which devoted 90 minutes to the discussion of APS redistricting, here’s the video from the meeting, for those interested in the topic: http://virginiahighlandconnect.org/2011/12/our-coverage-of-the-virginia-highland-civic-association-december-2011-board-meeting/
Midtown Parent
December 13th, 2011
12:01 pm
Agree with @Former SPARK parent – I’m not going to buy a house for $550k in a great neighborhood in Midtown and then have my kids bused to a school off Boulevard that is filled with Section 8 housing. Section eighters pay no property taxes while I pay through the nose. Don’t even get me started about how the stretch of Boulevard between Ponce and Freedom Parkway needs to be bulldozed to the groud. We will fight like you have never seen and we have the financial means to do so.
Beverly Fraud
December 13th, 2011
12:03 pm
If Maureen can tolerate me at this point (if NOTHING else, her patience is remarkable, you have to give her that)
There have been repeated assertions on this blog that no Hispanic students in APS took the NAEP. What was asserted was, that around 5% of the systems students are Hispanic, so indeed it would be ODD if not a single one took the test.
Of course there COULD be some legitimate reasons-maybe the 5% (if accurate) are clustered in a few schools and those schools didn’t participate.
But there COULD be some not very legitimate reasons as well; it’s not like APS doesn’t deserve a public that takes any news they put forth with a huge BOULDER of salt at this point.
Plus, when you have people like Michael Casserly (isn’t he at least tangentially related to NAEP?) STILL singing the praises of Beverly Hall, I don’t know that NAEP deserves a free pass because THEY assert the testing protocol is foolproof.
So what’s the deal with APS and Hispanic students not taking the NEAP. Any truth to it?
Maureen Downey
December 13th, 2011
12:04 pm
@Honey, Sorry. I have a link now but it was the regular Monday APS board meeting.
Mauren
grammy97
December 13th, 2011
12:04 pm
@frustrated APS mom: Thanks for your input. But if your friends’ observations are correct, then the children should be evacuated from that building. NOW.
Honestly, I don’t believe anything they say about money, either. Budget problems? Really? How much money comes in every year? Are they counting all those fundraising activities that the parents perform? When they play ‘musical schools’ and treat our children like the rubber ball on a paddle-ball toy, are they even counting the extra costs of the busses? Why did they spend how much money turning the E. Rivers auditorium into classrooms, instead of taking measures to prevent a catastrophe with an unsafe building?
I had to smile at the stream of previous comments about bailing out and going to private schools. The vast majority of public school parents don’t have that option. My children are stuck with sending my grandchildren to Atlanta Public Schools. But I’m retired: maybe I could spend some time on the boycott + protest option!
Inman Park Boy
December 13th, 2011
12:08 pm
One correspondent writes that the “worst that coulf happen would be that more parents would opt for private schools.” Gee, whatever happened to free choice? Besides, if more parents voted with their feet, maybe the poubolic schools administators wouldl wake up and face the fact that they have been doing a losy job for too long and be on the front end of reform!!
Beverly Fraud
December 13th, 2011
12:14 pm
How much credibility can APS have when they cite “budget” when they have a Taj Mahal downtown and enough bureaucrats in it to run an intergalactic consortium…in multiple parallel universes?
Beverly Fraud
December 13th, 2011
12:21 pm
Poubolic school administrators? Why does “poubolic” just RESONATE? lol
Understanding Atlanta
December 13th, 2011
12:33 pm
With the housing bust, I’m sure there are demographic shifts. I was driving through the neighborhood my mom grew up in during the 60’s and it is the epitome of distressed. While driving down a quarter-mile strech I counted 20 yes 20 boarded up homes. While this is an antecdote, it is seen in many areas of the city, especially the one’s with some of the worst effects of cheating. APS at this point has several problem. – 1) Neighborhoods that are years from stablizing to the point schools will dramatically improve from community involvement. – 2) Underutilization of schools, again many of which are in areas without stablity. What do you do with these schools and those students. – 3) Overcrowding in other schools that are stable and have great community involvement. Many of these school may not be overcrowded now, but based on projections might be within 5 years. This also has to be taken into consideration when looking at district lines.
The bloating in the central office can be eliminated, but it wouldn’t answer the questions on stability, underutlization, and overcrowding in others. When DCSS went through this, it would have been far better to tackle the hard issues and create schools that provide the most resources to students. IMO I prefer the model Gwinnett has with fewer larger schools. It pools resouces and instead of having teachers that travel – you have full-time dedicated resouces especially for things like art and music.
Kyle
December 13th, 2011
1:27 pm
It is short-sighted to close some of the schools being proposed (i.e., Burgess-Peterson — award-winning school and principal, new building, high volume of 0-5 year olds); others make sense (dilapidated, underperforming).
Parent, you want to have a great public school: GET INVOLVED. A few parents holding the school’s feet to the fire can make all the difference in the world. It takes more than signing a petition.
There is a sickness in GA
December 13th, 2011
1:27 pm
Here are the facts as I understand them:
1. The school stock is not in-line with either Atlanta’s current or future demographics.
2. Schools in the north are generally over-crowded, schools in the south are generally underutilized.
3. APS is facing a huge budget gap next year, possibly as high as $61 million.
So, my question is, are those accepted facts? If so, the status quo is a non-starter right? Beverly Fraud you could eliminate all those jobs at the central office and still not even make a dent in the budget deficient that the school district is facing? To all of those going crazy over these demographic maps that are supposedly intended to be a staring point, how would you prefer APS to begin this process?
APS parent
December 13th, 2011
1:34 pm
I definitely think that when deciding which schools to close they should take performance into account over and above attendance. If a school is working it should stay open and if it is under capacity then it should take in kids from schools that are not working. I don’t think demographers would have looked at school performance when they drew their maps.
Kyle
December 13th, 2011
1:35 pm
@sickness – There are many legitimate questions surrounding the methodology and, therefore, the conclusions drawn by the demographic studies.
Former SPARK parent
December 13th, 2011
1:35 pm
I think my fellow parents are starting to realize that a divorce in on the horizon. When that happens, just like with the other kind of divorce here in GA, yes, you have to live in a trailer for awhile, it sucks, you worry how your kids will handle it and the lawyers get all your money. But then time passes, your life is better, your kids are better off because you’re no longer a dysfunctional family, you move out of the trailer and into a nice house, and a couple years later you’re exponentially better off than before.
Parents, you didn’t want to do it, you didn’t think you’d have to do it, you’re pi&&ed as hell that you’re gonna have to do it, but you’re going to have to run your own schools in your own neighborhoods if you want to be free of that lying, cheating, stealing soon-to-be-ex-spouse.
Frustrated Taxpayer
December 13th, 2011
1:44 pm
@Beverly Fraud: You are spitting in the wind and your comments ignore a few key points:
1. APS is the epitome of bloat and that will not change anytime soon unless stakeholders take action.
2. APS does not need credibility. They have the MONEY, therefore they hold the cards.
3. Civil disobedience? How’s that working for the Occupy Wall Street folks?
4. Suing Beverly Hall for what amounts to a drop in the bucket will only cost me and other taxpayers more money. Remember all those “fired” educators? We’re still paying for many of them, and the litigation required to give them a fair trial.
If you want real and tangible CHANGE from this or any school district, you need to:
1. Have a consistent presence in your child’s school.
2. Attend those board meetings, read the fine print on the agendas and ASK QUESTIONS about our money.
3. Follow, email, call, visit your board members. They Tweet, they are on Facebook, and they are out in the community. Make sure they get your feedback about proposed changes and issues affecting your school.
You say that board members sat on their hands and did nothing while Beverly Hall sold them a bill of goods. All she did was tell everyone exactly what they wanted to hear. No one (parents, community leaders, teachers or administrators) took time to check Hall’s work for PROOF of performance. But the results are all around us.
The same standards we apply to businesses should be applied to this and any school district. Follow the money. Find out how administrative fees chip away at millions of dollars in grants and federal money, so that schools wind up with pennies on the dollar. They are squandering our money by the minute, because no one is demanding otherwise.
Let’s get together and follow the money.
There is a sickness in GA
December 13th, 2011
1:49 pm
@kyle Are you voicing concerns that other have raised about the impartiality of the demographers? Are there other question you have? Have you been to any of the meetings where the demographers where present to answer questions and posed your questions?
Clearly there is a deficit of trust between APS, the BOE and the public, what is the a solution to this? Parents hiring their own demographer possibly. Then, presumably, you will have the poorer parents who are not part of the hiring clique complaining that the “parent hired demographer” lacks impartiality. How can we solve this problem when we lack a basic level of trust across the board?
APS parent
December 13th, 2011
1:56 pm
“…two systems stood out for outperforming not only their urban peers, but the nation in math. They were Charlotte and Austin, both of which have kept a socioeconomic mix in their schools.”
Charlotte was one of the districts I read about that had a system in place for dealing with failing and/or high poverty schools that included transferring an entire team — principal and a group of teachers — with a history of success to those schools. That makes a lot of sense to me.
Dr NO / Mr Sunshine
December 13th, 2011
1:57 pm
APS and APS type attitudes are far too entriched. Todays Bev Hall is tomorrows anybody and the day after anybodys somebody else. Dekalb, Fulton, APS are the result of Johnsons grand experiment gone awry and reversal is not an option.
The bottomline is there is nothing anyone can do about it except move from the affected areas.
And kiddies, thats the bottomline.