Two headlines in the Charlotte Observer today:
--->>>CMS student assignment and the public engagement puzzle
--->>>Commuters flood into Mecklenburg
...
--->>>CMS student assignment and the public engagement puzzle
--->>>Commuters flood into Mecklenburg
...
What's interesting is that neither of these stories really gets to one of the root causes of both, which is the failure of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools.
The only reason CMS is considering digging a deeper hole for itself is their unending quest for "diversity". We all know that horse left the barn decades ago, ironically to the surrounding counties.
This paragraph pretty much shows the "code" (reasoning) for living in an outlier county but commuting into Mecklenburg County:
~~Union communities near Mecklenburg attract executives and other Charlotte workers who prefer the lower taxes and quality of life Union offers, said Chris Platé, executive director of Monroe-Union County Economic Development.~~
To be blunt about it, the main "quality of life" issue is schools.
Mecklenburg County is about 58% White, but CMS is 29% White and declining. In 1987, CMS was 58% White.
The only reason CMS should be looking at school assignment changes is for population shifts FOR INCREASES OR DECREASES in specific school enrollments. In those cases, adjustments do have to be made - not for a continued failed diversity at all cost mantra.
Until CMS and this county face the real issues of White flight, Black flight (Black student percentage dropped from 42% to 40% over the past two years) and brain drain, nothing will change for the better.
CMS student assignment and the public engagement puzzle
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article34947450.html
The only reason CMS is considering digging a deeper hole for itself is their unending quest for "diversity". We all know that horse left the barn decades ago, ironically to the surrounding counties.
This paragraph pretty much shows the "code" (reasoning) for living in an outlier county but commuting into Mecklenburg County:
~~Union communities near Mecklenburg attract executives and other Charlotte workers who prefer the lower taxes and quality of life Union offers, said Chris Platé, executive director of Monroe-Union County Economic Development.~~
To be blunt about it, the main "quality of life" issue is schools.
Mecklenburg County is about 58% White, but CMS is 29% White and declining. In 1987, CMS was 58% White.
The only reason CMS should be looking at school assignment changes is for population shifts FOR INCREASES OR DECREASES in specific school enrollments. In those cases, adjustments do have to be made - not for a continued failed diversity at all cost mantra.
Until CMS and this county face the real issues of White flight, Black flight (Black student percentage dropped from 42% to 40% over the past two years) and brain drain, nothing will change for the better.
CMS student assignment and the public engagement puzzle
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article34947450.html
There isn't a school system in the country that's been able to entice the "flight" crowd back once they leave - with one exception. CMS gained a fair amount of students from area private schools during the initial launch of the now defunct Choice Plan. Even the most prestigious private schools in Charlotte lost students to the glorious promises CMS made after the lifting of court ordered busing. However, CMS quickly lost most of the private school students it gained as soon as the Borg of Education and the student placement office attempted to manipulate access to certain schools and programs thus limiting choices while solidly reinforcing the system's notorious reputation for student assignment instability.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the only realistic hope of reversing the systems steady loss of white students and higher income students would be to break up the system into 3 or 4 separate school districts which will never happen in Charlotte's current political climate because it isn't about what's best for kids its about what's best for adults in power.
Kay McSpadden's rural thoughts and experiences are lovely but creating the kind of community support needed to build the diversity nirvana found in her school district can't possibly happen in Charlotte due to the shear amount of competing interests caused by having something like 160,000 students under one governing entity.
So true. Plenty of research on optimum school district size shows that districts like CMS are RIDICULOUSLY large.
DeleteEven breaking it into four or eight pieces is still sub-optimal.
More like 50 pieces might do the trick. But it will NEVER happen.
I think most studies say that the maximum number of students should be about what 1 or 2 large high schools contain.
Somewhere around 2000-4000 students.
MAX.
Efficiencies follow a U-shaped curve in which costs per student start rising soon and rather quickly after the optimum. So the normal "economies of scale" just don't scale up as easily for schools.
Probably something to do with the lack of standardization in students, teachers, and everything else required for a school.
While having dinner with my son a couple of weeks ago in Charlotte, I overheard a young black father talking about his daughter's experience in the Bright Beginnings preschool program. He then went on to say that he and his wife were planning to look at Charlotte Country Day School despite the high cost of tuition although they weren't sure they'd commit to the school indefinitely if something more financially reasonable made sense. The conversation was interesting because at no point did this father speak of concerns related to diversity. Not once. His concerns were about providing the best education possible for his daughter. Diversity and someone else's student assignment political agenda wasn't part of this black man's equation just as it wasn't part of the equation for the Korean immigrant father I met with the fake driver's license in order for his son to attend Providence High School. And then we have those folks who will rent an apartment or purchase a condo somewhere to secure a spot at a particular school for their child and the thing is there isn't a darn thing the student assignment Gestapo can do about it. You can't force informed parents - of any color - to attend a school they don't want their children to go to.
ReplyDeleteAnn Clark is smart to want to expand seats at popular magnets with long waiting lists (gee-whiz, what a concept) in favor of adding additional magnets at schools that have no hope of attracting anyone. Take the best magnet schools and make them better. Then, focus on getting "C" and "B" schools up to an "A" instead of "F" and "D" schools up to an "A" which realistically can't happen in 5 years even with a billion dollars in backing because a major cultural shift has to occur first where parents value an education and see it as a means to a better life. Without this, no amount of money or resources will change a thing.
Actually, Bolyn McClung made a pretty good observation (despite his rather obvious liberal bias...) Bring ALL the schools up to A or B and you won't have a problem attracting parents.
DeleteOf course, I had to add that taking care of the discipline problem would help, too.
Because no sane parent (except perhaps Pamela Grundy, assuming she is sane) would deliberately put their child in a low-performing school with discipline problems if they had a choice.
Unless, of course, they were thugs and were deliberately raising little thuglets.
Or just didn't care as long as the checks kept flowing.
It's Like Everything Else Government Is Involved With, "We're Going To Taker Care Of You ".
ReplyDeleteThe Thing Is, They Aren't Really Helping, Only Adding ToThe Problems.
Yeah, see Puerto Rico as Exhibit A...
DeleteFor many, many years, I've been chastised for my outspoken disgust and opposition of how politicians and educrats have continued to push failed policies using "diversity", income and zip code to run public schools. I get the "yeah, he hates teachers" or he's a racist", etc.
ReplyDeleteWe now have a political climate where the truth, facts and non politically correct opinions have gained traction and large crowds for certain candidates on both sides of the party system.
I feel somewhat vindicated for all the times I have spoken against the status quo running public education. It's time to turn it on its head and start over by removing all those lame, liberal excuses as to why Little Johnny can't read and remove them from the process.
If Little Johnny winds up not being able to read after we do that, then it's his and his parent's fault.
While I agree that there has been a recent backlash against all the political correctness, I'm not sure it will stick.
ReplyDeleteI think last summer might have been a bit of a turning point when you saw so much bad behavior being "justified" just because people were minorities, mostly black.
And always painting the police (especially the white ones) as bad guys seems to be backfiring as well.
I think a lot of people are just sick of the BS when they can clearly see who and where the problems are.
Personally, I think a LOT of the disruptions we've been seeing lately are the work of people who are largely anarchists. It shows in "movements" from Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter. These people just want to destroy any semblance of civilization so that people can get away with whatever they wish.
And there have been people like that around for about a century or so, always instigating crap. Then they crawl back into their holes for a while until a new, gullible generation crops back up and swallows their crap.
A lot of this stuff was honed and refined in the 1960's and some of those guys are still around making trouble.
Alicia,
ReplyDeleteJust noticed that 7600 job applicants were notified of a data breach.
Just curious if you were notified since they do not say which "learning community" made this blunder.
So I'm assuming they're probably protecting the fools at Project Lift from more public embarrassment.
I wonder whose relative got the "contract" to build that database?
Maybe a relative of one of the "sisters" from that special church so many of the top ladies at CharMeck govco attend?
Anyway, just more non-transparency from the bloated CMS bureaucracy.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article35300451.html
Shamash,
ReplyDeleteMy pre-recorded, timed, and video taped application blunder that included scenes of my cat doing an arial act was through Project LIFT.
Based on a sight I posted my resume on, it appears CMS was having difficulty finding "highly qualified" teachers to work at "High Impact" schools this year. CMS kept extending the deadline to apply even after school started. There also appears to be a teacher shortage in Guilford County. Greensboro appears loaded with teaching jobs as well. Charter schools around the state also appear to have lots of jobs available.
I predict a teacher shortage starting to hit other school systems around the state unless NC starts to increase teacher salaries to a livable wage. NC has also adopted tougher and more expensive teaching license standards based on Massachusetts standards without Massachusetts pay ensuring that young teachers right out of NC colleges will want to stay in the state.
Define Liveable Wage
DeleteWhat Do You Think A Starting Teacher Should Make For A 190 Day Contract.
That's why I was curious whether you got a call about the data breach.
DeleteI can't think of any other CMS group which would need a database of 7000 or so applicants or who thought they could just go out and hire someone to do something like that.
Or who had the spare change just hanging around waiting for something to do with it.
Wiley,
ReplyDeleteThe median teacher salary in MA is $69,000 with one area topping over $90,000. Do you think it's possible that there might be a correlation between teaching salaries and student achievement in this high performing state?
Alicia,
DeleteI asked what living wage would you give a starting teacher for a 190 day contract.
I do not beleve there is a correlation between teacher salaries and achievement. Are there better teachers than the next one? Sure, but I believe the vast majority are competent to teach the curriculum.
You're using the same type argument educrats use when they say minority kids learn better when bused to the burbs to sit next to a White kid. 2+2=4 whether you live in zip code A or D or whether your household income is $10,000 per year or $100,000 per year.
Do you think Chicago teachers are worth the $80K to over $100K per year they make for such a dismal school system?
I'm hoping there is some correlation between the pay and the abilities of the teachers.
DeleteI don't know if ALL teachers deserve that high pay, though.
A lot of teachers still come from the bottom tier of college graduates, not the top.
I'm not so sure about Massachusetts in particular, though.
I tend to think the problem is more with the students and maybe the curriculum rather than the teachers.
Even though I've had some REALLY BAD and downright incompetent teachers in my day (my HS Fundamentalist Science teacher comes to mind).
There is also the question of cost of living vs. salary. Some places are just more expensive than others and a living salary is different for different places.
Wiley and Shamash,
DeleteYou both make valid arguments. American teachers in general do come from the bottom tier of colleges, not the top. You are correct about this. Do you think teacher pay has anything to do with this?
I still believe teacher pay has very little to do with performance in the classroom, but rather what Shamash said about curriculum and I'll add in the huge bureaucracy and the constraints that go along with it as THE major problem.
DeleteI know a man with an engineering degree that became belligerent because he couldn't figure out how to put paper in a personal printer.
Just because a person graduates from prestigious university A with a magna magna good laudy degree, doesn't mean they can teach worth a damn.
My ex-wife had a master's degree in early childhood education and it took her 5 times to pass the teacher's exam to get a license to teach.
Alicia,
DeleteYes, I do think teacher pay has a lot to do with the people who go into education. That and the "legacy" of teaching being traditionally "women's work" and also something that could be done by just about any warm body who showed the interest.
If you check into the history of teaching in the US, especially early last century, you will see that this was the case.
I know we aren't Finland, but I think they have the right idea about how to recruit teachers and how to treat them once they're hired.
They are treated more like independent professionals than "the help". But they only recruit from the top performers. I think that makes a lot of sense.
But it probably means a LOT MORE "white" people in those classrooms because the non-Asian minorities just can't seem to get the grades to be at the top of the class at a real college or university (HBCU's excepted for obvious reasons...)
Alicia sometimes you just say crap to say it. The highest population in Mass. is in the Boston area, which is one of the most expensive areas in the country to live. If a teacher makes $69,000 in Boston, they are lucky to live within 10 miles of their job. Mass is also a high performing state because of the intellect that comes out of the Boston area. Boston and surrounding area probably on average has some of the highest IQ averages by area in the world. Never base or compare anything to Mass, it is skewed. But you know everything there is because your dad went to Yale and your brother went to Princeton and you danced your way around the world and settled for a charter school in the arm pit of America.
ReplyDeleteYikes.
DeleteNational Geographic named the Lake associated with my charter school one of the prettiest man made lakes in the world. Not exactly an "armpit". I invite you to visit this beautiful part of Western NC since you obviously have never been here. What a shame.
DeleteAny chance you drive a truck? Lol.
LOL... you had to bring up truck driving didn't you?
DeleteI'm going to have to add a rule about truck driving school on this blog that if that particular person starts posting that here, they will be banned... LOL
Nothing wrong with truck driving...
DeleteBut it always reminds me of that old Ricky Nelson song, Garden Party.
I'm flattered that "that particular person" has followed me to Wiley Coyote's blog.
DeleteMoving, moving, moving, keep those trucks a moving...
Well, once again, I have to say that this is exactly why I prefer to remain anonymous.
DeleteToo many people seem to have issues with what other people say nowadays.
I try to avoid them all the best I can.
Mr. Wus apparently doesn't know that median teacher salaries in Boston are closer to $90,000 a year.
DeleteHave you ever noticed how this person never has an intelligent thing to add to the conversation?
The courage to teach.
You have enemies? Good. It means you've stood up for something, something in your life.
ReplyDelete- Winston Churchill
You would bring up Churchill...
DeleteLast evening I went to a "curriculum" meeting at our school which follows the English Curriculum modified for international students in Hong Kong (which means that it is not all about the UK).
On the topic of WWII, WHO do you think they are studying?
Well, NOT CHURCHILL.
Or Hitler, Mussolini, or any of the other major players.
But, of all people...
Anne Frank and Jesse Owens.
YIKES. Talk about your politically correct BS...
Man, there's just no escaping that liberal white guilt thing.
And, of course, the whole theme for the semester is something like "War and Discrimination".
Jeezus.
I think I'm going to show my kids some old Popeye and Bugs Bunny cartoons making fun of Nazi's and Japs just to counterbalance all the BS they teach kids today.
Man, people just would not understand how much the US "discriminated" against the Krauts and Japs during WWII.
And who the "good guys" were.
I think that's part of history, too.
The Chinese STILL HATE the Japanese for what they did during WWII.
Of course, the Chinese were roundly humiliated in many ways by the Japanese for decades and didn't get the satisfaction of nuking them into submission as we did.
Also, I might add that my dad was on a ship sunk by the Japs in the First Battle of Savo Island (part of Guadalcanal battle). That was probably the worst defeat the US Navy had in modern history.
DeleteSo, in a way, we're lucky to be here as most of the people on my dad's ship died during the attack. He managed to swim ashore and even helped rescue a few people as well.
And he was about 18 years old when it happened.
But, let's study about the "heroism" of Jesse Owens instead?
The funny thing is that even though most of the media reports that Hitler "shunned" Owens, Owens himself said that Hitler actually shook his hand as well as waved at him to acknowledge his victory.
I wonder if the PC History class will report that?
People sometimes forget that "propaganda" works BOTH ways during war.
I actually got into a bit of an argument with my teacher(and a "B" instead of an "A") on my American History paper on the topic of propaganda.
She claimed that Americans NEVER used "propaganda" during WWII and that ONLY the Nazi's and Communists did.
And she supposedly had a Masters degree in History.
Probably not a real university, though...
Just thought I'd mention one of the big news items on education here in HK...
ReplyDeletehttp://thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?art_id=161302&con_type=1
It's the topic of computers being a waste of time in classes.
Of course, one reason it's in the news is that Hong Kong, on average, spends less time with computers than most school systems and does relatively well on those OECD tests.
Of course, that DOES NOT include the international schools which usually follow some western curriculum (British, Australian, US, Canadian, French, etc.)
No Alicia, I did not follow you over here, I have always liked what Shamash and Wiley's opinions have been and enjoy reading their comments on this blog; but your comments as a teacher just bug the crap out of me. You make so many comments and they always pertain to yourself, but you haven't had stable employment in one place for more than a year, you have sent your kids to a different school every year, so I honestly would have not hired you as a CMS teacher or anywhere. I don't respect what your opinion is because you have never been in a stable teaching position.
ReplyDeleteAnd to tell you the truth, I think you are on here to get some male attention. I wish more people were on here, I really miss the CO blog. It had more of a community feel, with different kinds of opinions.
Well, feel to invite them over...
DeleteThis blog doesn't quite have the bully pulpit or the audience the CO had.
But occasionally we see a few new folks.
And I think the format is a little less formal in some ways.
Anynomous:
DeleteI taught for a major non/profit organization in Charlotte for over 20 years.
But BINGO! on your astute intelligence to point out the "stability" of teachers, principals and dare I mention revolving school superintendents associated with CMS. I can name last 6 school superintendents off the top of my head. Can you? I dare you. I can also name the three principles and four assistant principals my children had at one CMS elementary school within a four year period. And when did you arrive in the system?
Dude,
ReplyDeleteI've been on what was originally Ann's blog as long as Wikey. Shamash is a newcomer. I suppose Pamela Grundy is looking for male attention also? Lol. Because the thing is, those of us who have been a part of this community are able to disagree and agree with each other on a plethora of educational issues without personally attacking each other.
Just saying.
And your real name is....?
My name is Alicia.
I'm not sure how much of a newcomer I am.
DeleteJust posted under a lot of different names over the years as
I would get banned or otherwise shut off...
Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man's soul to waste
And I was 'round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game
---Sympathy For The Devil, Rolling Stones
Snoopy Dog loves the Stones!
DeleteDude,
ReplyDeleteAnd to help you with your reading comprehension;
Wiley does not think there is a correlation between teacher salaries and student achievement. Shamash thinks there might be. So do you agree with Wiley or Shamash?
Do you have anything remotely intelligent to contribute to the conversation besides attacking me?
Is it possible you have an issue with women?
The thing is, I miss Pamela Grudy being here more than probably anyone and I suspect you don't particularly like her either.
Alicia. My real courageous name.
Well, to clarify a bit, I think there is very likely a correlation between teacher salaries and the quality of teachers.
DeleteNot so sure that this always trickles down to student achievement, though.
Because I am of the opinion that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.
So, even the best teachers efforts are probably wasted on some kids.
Not sure how that would change, though, if an entire SYSTEM was overhauled to bring in only the top students as teachers.
But, public schools being what they are, having to take in all comers, I wouldn't expect a radical change for the diehards who are intent on not learning in school.
It just might make their lives a little less comfortable than the status quo.
Rule #2. Wiley is always right. HA!
DeleteShamash,
DeleteI appreciate the clarification.
Wiley,
Rock on, Rule # 2.
And for the record:
I love y'all - in my quest for "male attention" - because "You'll just have to do the thinking for both of us".
Bonus points if you can name famous American movie this quote is from...
Dude,
ReplyDeleteI vehemently agree with and vehemently disagree with Pamela Grundy on two major educational issues. And yes, she has a Yale undergradeate degree plus PhD book smarts that I can't hold a candle to. But guess what? Neither can you - obviously. I miss her passionate beliefs and insight related to Shamrock Gardens. I respect her as a parent and I greatly admire her courage to speak her truth using her real name. She has far more fans and enemies than I do. Good for her. It would make my day to have her take you on because she's smart enough to present her viewpoints without personal attack which you apparently can't - deminishing your credibility with every regular who's posted on Ann's blog and here.
Can't believe you haven't seen Pamela Grundy get personal.
DeleteShe does in the comments if not her articles. I don't think she's a big fan of Larry's. And occasionally, I am confused with Larry, which amuses me to no end since we definitely have some strongly opposing views outside education.
And sometimes within.
Speaking of folks who probably have lots of "enemies", Larry seems to attract them in hordes. Maybe he lives in a gated community with good security, though.
My old community just had an empty guard house and no gate or fence.
Still, personal attacks are not MY game...
But there are some fun characters out there.
(And I still think it's not such a bad idea to remain anonymous with all the kooks out there.)
Early on, I do remember a few comments by Pamela that were "removed" by the "blog administrator'.
DeleteIn Charlotte today to help my learning disabled son transfer an associates degree from CPCC to a 4-year college. He's looking to transfer into a NC state university while considering a couple of private in-state colleges. I'm very proud of him.
ReplyDeleteGood news.
DeleteWe're still concerned about how we're going to handle HS since we're in HK now.
But since our oldest is a fifth grader, we still have a few years to consider our options and see how the schools here pan out.
It's a different world, for sure. My wife wants the kids to go to HS in the US, so it may be CMS/Ballantyne for them with hopes of NC universities later.
But, who knows what will happen.
It's one reason I still keep my eyes on what's happening at CMS.
We may find ourselves within its clutches once again...
Alicia,
ReplyDeleteYou have nothing to apologize for to anyone, just as I will never apologize, unless I am wrong.
I will never apologize for being White and male or for any position I may take on a subject if I feel I have the facts to back it up. If I'm show verifiable facts on a subject I and my position was based on not enough info or incorrect data, I have balls big enough for an apology, something a lot of males don't have to be able to say "I'm sorry" or "I was wrong".
You have nothing to apologize for on here.
Thank you, Wiley.
DeleteOK. So, I'm still trying to grapple with the personal "stability" attack related to CMS. Is this anonymous person on drugs?
ReplyDelete"Stability" with teachers, principals, and superintendents within CMS? Dang. Maybe I'm on drugs?! Who knew?
At what point has CMS been "stable" with ANYTHING related to administration or teachers before we even get into the issue of student assignment?
I find the stupidity of anonymous' comments related to "stability" in CMS thoroughly astounding.
And if I had to wager a bet, this person does not have children in the CMS system.
Care to respond, Dude?
What CMS school do YOUR children attend?
I dare you to answer.
Alicia
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDude,
ReplyDeleteMy children attended Enhaven Elementary School for 3 years which had two different principals and three different assistant principals with this three year period. That's right, pal. AFTER being jerked around in two different reassigned controversies within a 4 year period in two different neighborhoods. And you have the gall to question my "stability" related to my children's education? Welcome to Charlotte!
And I can also name - off the top of my head - the numerous superintendents, interim superintendents, and temporary superintendents CMS has had since 1992.
Can you?
Oh, and I forgot. Endhaven also moved its 5th grade to Community House MS within the 3 year period we were there after 2 principals, 3 assistant principals, and two highly contentious reassignment boundary changes. How's that for stability? What a nightmare.
ReplyDeleteYep. My children finished their education in private school.
And some people think the "community" should embrace jerking families around again for the purpose of creating some ideal of divine diversity. Ain't gonna happen because that train has left the station. CMS would be better off trying to herd cats.