CMS quizzed about its diversity

CMS is so concerned about diversity, they manage to leave out Asians and Indians in their talking points by lumping their numbers in with Blacks, Whites and Hispanics.

Another you can't make this stuff up garbage.


CMS quizzed about its diversity

Questions raised about teachers, administrative staff

By Andrew Dunn
adunn@charlotteobserver.com

03/24/2015 2:43 PM

 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools leaders faced questions Tuesday about whether they are doing enough to bring in racial diversity both in executive staff and in the classroom.

Speaking at the weekly Tuesday Morning Breakfast Forum in west Charlotte, Superintendent Ann Clark and Rakeda Leaks, sourcing and onboarding executive director, said the district has set ambitious goals to bring in more black and Hispanic teachers over the next three years.

Clark also said she will hold her executive staff accountable for meeting those goals. More.... http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article16186439.html#/tabPane=tabs-b0710947-1-1

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article16186439.html#storylink=cpy

 

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article16186439.html#storylink=cpy

CMS projection: $27.6 million more needed to preserve programs

Gotta love it. Need $27.6 million more to "stay whole".

I suggest they eliminate Bright Beginnings and pickup $20 million of it right there...


By Andrew Dunn
adunn@charlotteobserver.com

03/24/2015 8:42 PM

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article16224239.html#/tabPane=tabs-b0710947-1-2#storylink=cpy

CMS projection: $27.6 million more needed to preserve programs

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is projecting it will need an additional $27.6 million from the county to keep its programs and staffing the same next year.

The increases are largely driven by expected raises for beginning teachers, preserving teaching assistant positions and the required funding for enrollment growth at the county’s charter schools.

The figures were presented to the school board Tuesday as part of a budget workshop.
That number does not include any money for staff salary increases or to launch any new initiatives. School board members have expressed their support for requesting increases as large as 5 percent....  More...   http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article16224239.html#/tabPane=tabs-b0710947-1-1

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article16224239.html#/tabPane=tabs-b0710947-1-2#storylink=cpy

Bill would require health exams for all new public school students

Dashew votes no. Seems to me that anyone moving from one state to another faces all sorts of new laws and regulations they have to deal with.

Getting your child an exam to be able to attend a NC school for the first time seems like a no-brainer to me, especially if the state you just left didn't require one...

By Andrew Dunn
adunn@charlotteobserver.com

A new bill progressing rapidly through the N.C. House would require all new students to get a medical exam before starting school, not just kindergarteners.

Should it pass, the bill could create some logistical problems for areas like Charlotte, which see a lot of newcomers each year. But it could also mean that more students get the special attention they need when they begin school.... More http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/your-schools-blog/article15285602.html

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/your-schools-blog/article15285602.html#storylink=cpy

CMS launching 18-month student assignment review

From the Observer. Another issue to add to the mess in CMS.

I wonder if they will take getting more White kids back into CMS schools or driving more away into account when they go through this process..... we shall see.

By Andrew Dunn
adunn@charlotteobserver.com

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is taking the first steps in a wholesale review of how it assigns students to schools, and everything will be on the table – from school boundaries to the rules for the magnet lottery.

The whole thing will likely come to a head just as a new superintendent is being hired. At this point, the final vote on new policies and boundaries is scheduled for just four months after a new leader is expected to take office. Full story: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/your-schools-blog/article13858598.html#/tabPane=tabs-b0710947-1-1   

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/yourhttp://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/your-schools-blog/article13858598.html#/tabPane=tabs-b0710947-1-1-schools-blog/article13858598.html#storylink=cpy
 

WELL IT'S TOURNAMENT TIME! NO, NOT BASKETBALL. CMS AT-LARGE ELECTION ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!

Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water, the status quo sharks are circling around the upcoming at-large seats for the CMS Board of Education.

Here are the current candidates lining up for one of the prized seats:

Amelia Stinson-Wesley
Jeremy Stephenson
Elyse Dashew
Levester Flowers

I will update this list as it grows - and it will.....

NAACP battles Latino groups over push to open public schools for non-English speakers

Another "you can't make this stuff up" story...

NAACP battles Latino groups over push to open public schools for non-English speakers

WASHINGTON – A plan that would dedicate two public high schools in suburban Washington to immigrants and students struggling with English is pitting black and Hispanic communities -– usually allies -- against one another
.
The Prince George’s County, Md., chapter of the NAACP is strongly opposing the plan -- which would take effect next school year, and cover about 800 students having English language difficulties -- claiming it will pull resources from other students and unfairly redistribute them to Hispanic students. Some critics go so far as to compare the plan to segregation.

Ross believes the proposal to open two new schools violates the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision that ruled separate schools for black and white students violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
“It risks turning Prince George’s County into a segregated school system,” Ross said, adding that he realizes the need for better education in the county but believes it should not come at the cost of existing students..... full article link below
.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/03/11/maryland-naacp-tries-to-block-two-public-schools-for-immigrants-calls-it/

I'm siding with the NAACP on this one.

SINGLE GENDER SCHOOLS?....AND THE EXPERIMENTS CONTINUE WITH KIDS AS LAB RATS

Here's my favorite paragraph:

But the evidence is not concrete on whether single-gender education offers a measurable benefit, according to research highlighted by the National Education Association.

That sounds like Bright Beginnings, so why should that stop CMS from implmenting a program and wasting tens of millions of dollars on it?

These people have nothing better to do than pull out the same garbage over and over again while taxpayers and kids get screwed.

CMS exploring single-gender schools

Considerations also include Montessori secondary schools

By Andrew Dunn
adunn@charlotteobserver.com

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is considering offering single-gender schools as a magnet program parents could apply for.
The concept is one of several new themes the school district is exploring as CMS turns its eye on its magnet programs......
.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article13272707.html

MORE OF THE SAME, JUST A DIFFERENT SCHOOL DISTRICT 90 MILES DOWN THE ROAD

It seems Richland School District 1 in Columbia (that's the urban equivalent to CMS) is having similar issues with hiring a new superintendent...

...and the status quo continues.

Why the rush, hush in hiring of new Richland 1 chief?

Richland County, SC — THE STEALTHY manner in which the Richland 1 school board hired a new superintendent was not only unacceptable, it robbed the public of an opportunity to learn more about the candidates and sowed seeds of discontent that could be long-lasting.

The poorly handled process also did about as much to undercut the potential for success of the gentleman chosen to lead Richland 1 as any critic could do. Even if Craig Witherspoon were the perfect candidate, the school board’s ham-handed handling of the process set him up for failure. The former head of the Birmingham, Ala., public schools, will enter this community facing a trust and confidence deficit not totally of his own making....... http://www.thestate.com/2015/03/10/4036203_editorial-why-the-rush-hush-in.html?rh=1 

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2015/03/10/4036203_editorial-why-the-rush-hush-in.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

UPDATE: Richland 1 superintendent gets $205K contract

You can't make this stuff up.....

The Richland 1 school board formalized its contract with its new superintendent Tuesday night, but not without some pushback from the community.
The board emerged from executive session shortly before 10 p.m and announced its final decision to hire Craig Witherspoon, a former Birmingham, Ala., administrator, who will be paid at least $205,000 a year..http://www.thestate.com/2015/03/10/4038008_richland-1-superintendent-gets.html?rh=1

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2015/03/10/4038008_richland-1-superintendent-gets.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

School Adds Ice Cream After Nutritional Lunches Don't Sell - ABC NEWS

More on the ongoing school lunch program.

When are the powers that be going to stop the madness? ANYONE getting free or reduced lunches need to be verified they qualify and if they don't eat the nutritious meals provided, then they can go hungry.

$2 BILLION in plate waste is abominable.

A Kentucky school reportedly has turned to ice cream to help fund its school lunch program.

A letter from school principal Cathy Stover to parents of students at St. Joseph Elementary School in Crescent Springs, Kentucky, announced that frozen treat would be added to the menu in an effort to encourage more students to buy food.

 

Stover wrote in a letter posted by local news station WXIX-TV in Cincinnati that under 2012 federal nutrition guidelines, fewer elementary students were buying lunches. The lunch program is run by the diocese, so in order to keep it financially afloat the school was introducing the ice cream as an option for kids, according to the letter.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/school-adds-ice-cream-nutritional-lunches-sell/story?id=29443068

 

 

Battle Over The School Lunch Program

It looks as if the fight over school lunch nutrition versus waste is heating up.

Does anyone really believe students are clamoring for more fruits and veggies?

From McClatchy:

WASHINGTON — Nothing is more exasperating to Brad Kramer than watching high school students take mandatory servings of fruits or vegetables in the cafeteria line, saunter past the cashier and dump them in the trash can.

“We have some of the healthiest trash cans in the nation,” Kramer, director of food services for the Grain Valley R-V School District, in a suburb of Kansas City, Mo., quipped Wednesday.

Behind the joke, frustration simmers. Kramer and other critics of the federal standards for healthy school lunches say the rules, imposed in 2012, are too costly and restrictive, and that Congress should loosen them........  http://www.thestate.com/2015/03/04/4024622_food-fight-brewing-in-washington.html?rh=1

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2015/03/04/4024622_food-fight-brewing-in-washington.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

Taylor Swift Gives NYC Schools $50,000

Taylor Swift bought a place in New York not too long ago and donated $50,000 to the New York City School System, prompting Cal Thomas to say this in his article:

According to the Huffington Post, citing U.S. Census Bureau data, “New York spent $19,076 per student in the 2011 fiscal year, as compared to the national average of $10,560.” In 90 of the city’s public schools, Families for Excellent Schools found that not a single African-American or Hispanic student received a passing grade on state tests.

If there were a correlation between spending and achievement, it ought to show in grade and graduation performance and state test scores, but it doesn’t. A Heritage Foundation study concludes: “Continued spending increases (on public education) have not corresponded with equal improvement in American educational performance. Long-term National Assessment of Education Progress reading scale scores and high school graduation rates show that the performance of American students has not improved dramatically in recent decades even though education spending has soared.”

If Taylor Swift is looking for a return on her investment in the currency of better student achievement, she might consider donating to the Children’s Scholarship Fund (CSF). It takes students out of failing and underperforming New York schools and places them in private schools where, in addition to academics, they learn virtues that teach them not only how to make a living, but how to live a productive life.

Perfect example of more money does not always equate to more learning.

The feed to Cal Thomas' article is listed above.

New Suspension And Crime Rates From NCDI

The NCDI has released the latest suspension and crime statistics for the State's LEAs.

Suspensions, dropouts and crime are down, but African American students continue to be suspended at higher rates.

Will someone please look at and report the facts of the matter?

In 2012/2013, West Charlotte had 97.88 short-term suspensions per 100 students. 1,664 students were suspended that year short-term.

West Charlotte is about 1% White, so how do you make an argument that African American students are being suspended at higher rates than Whites at West Charlotte?

Here is the link to the report from the NCDI:

https://eboard.eboardsolutions.com/Meetings/Attachment.aspx?S=10399&AID=35525&MID=1730

This goes hand in hand with the lowering of credits required to graduate and a ten point grading scale.

What are your thoughts on this?

Hey, Let's Give It A Whirl!

Why not? Why not give this a try?

We can have our own discussions based on the current topics in education locally and nationally.

The great thing about this is, we don't need advertising!

If you have a topic you want to discuss, send it to me and I can start the thread rolling.

WC