School Assignments -- What Grade Would You Give?
Tell me which of the following you support, and in which order:
- Children attending schools close to their homes, where it's easier for parents to be involved and where time spent getting to school is as short as possible.
- Children attending schools with a diverse set of fellow students, learning from and getting acquainted with the multiple cultures that make up this nation.
- Education as a means of self-improvement and growth, a way out of poverty and into the American dream, however the person defines it.
- The educational system as a means of community improvement and cohesion, where schools can help pull a neighborhood up by the influence on its families.
How you chose and ranked those four will determine your reaction to this:
The Courier-Journal reported on Saturday that "hundreds of angry parents" are hitting the phones and filing transfer requests, because the new student-assignment plan sends their child away from their neighborhood school and across town. How big a problem is it? The paper reports 600 requests to date out of 12,000 incoming K and 1st students, with more to come this week. So, we're at 5% and climbing.
Here's the kicker -- some of these assignments send kids to schools 25 miles away. That's 100 miles a day for the parent to take their child to school and back. Just take the school bus, you say? Fine -- as long as you're okay with your first-grader taking three different buses to get there, instead of attending the school across the street.
All of this is the result of the Supreme Court throwing out Louisville's previous school assignment plan, saying it was no longer acceptable. The problem is that in trying to meet all four of the ideals noted at the beginning of this post, AND trying to come up with an assignment plan acceptable to the courts, the JCPS leaders have created a system that randomly selects children for punishment. And punishment isn't too strong a word for a system that allows a child to attend a school across the street for kindergarten, then rips him out of that school and sends him across town for first grade.
At some point, we have to have an open, honest conversation about the relationship of housing, neighborhood, schools, and social planning. And in the meantime, we need a school assignment system that doesn't result in ridiculous situations like the ones described by the Courier's story.
I started to label this story "School Assignments Get an F," but decided that might be unfair to the persons who are trying to make it work. For now, I think the best grade we can give them is Incomplete -- and hope they fix it before fall.
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 12:09PM
Reader Comments (6)
ooh, eduaction, my favorite topic.
I don't think you can really blame this one on the school system. Its not their fault that we have such a racially and socio- economically segragated city. Perhaps we should come up with ways to fix that problem and then students can attend their home school, and matriculate in a culturally diverse envitoment.
I have no research to back up the following thought, but I do know that student were traveling long distances in the previous busing scheme. Westport middle school in particular got a large percentage of its students from the west end. Is it just the parents who are more likely to complain now who have students being bused i.e. students from the east end being bused to other areas of town?
Allison -- thanks for stopping by, and for leaving a comment! I prefer dialogue, so love having comments to respond to. Makes the stories richer.
I agree -- you can't blame the whole mess on just the schools. (See the closing.) What you CAN blame on the schools is coming up with an assignment program that randomly sends kids 25 miles from home when there's a school across the street. If it's time-based (FIFO) then say so. If it's lottery, then say so. But sending a first-grader across town with a 100-mile commute is just nuts.
As for the "it's only the East End parents screaming" -- check out the stories about Central High parents a few years ago.
Bottom line -- many parents want their kids to go to school in the neighborhood, and don't understand why their next-door neighbor got to do that, and their kid didn't. As I said, at some point we've got to have a serious discussion about the relationship of housing to school planning, and how to achieve some level of neighborhood school while still giving kids that want it a choice. If we don't, stories like this are just going to be one more nail in the public school coffin.
Thanks again for reading! Please comment again in the future -- and invite your friends! < g >
I think some discussion would regarding school districting would be good for the community also. I just think it needs to come from a place of “What is best for every child and the community as a whole?” ,as opposed to “What is best for my child?”. This is where the situation gets sticky, and where the attitudes of the parents quoted in the Courier -Journal start to rub me the wrong way.
I think neighborhood schooling is an interesting idea and I obviously wouldn’t want some contrived system of racial integration to be detrimental to the academic success of the students in the district, but the data doesn’t support that idea. Engelhard and Chancey are two elementary schools that take most of their students from surrounding neighborhoods. Byck and Bowen are two elementary schools who utilize satellite district and magnet programs to retain their population. Engelhard compares well to Byck in regards to free/reduced lunch and location, as does Chancey to Bowen. Going to school in the neighborhood/ short bus rides does not seem to cultivate academic achievement..
The push to have children attend school in their neighborhood worries me for several reasons. Obviously we do live in a very segregated city, and doing so would decrease exposure to other cultures. As someone who teaches in a district that while diverse socio-economically, is very homogeneous in other areas. The views expressed by my students were shockingly regressive to this JCPS grad. The kids are quite ignorant not only in terms of race/culture/ religion and sexual orientation but also regarding people who just move in from different areas.
I also hope that JCPS decides which requests to honor thoughtfully. While someone whose kids has to take 4 different buses probably has a complaint, I’m sure many of the case are far less severe. The article from the courier journal today had a quote from a man “my child will never set foot in that school” due to the school’s academic performance. But its okay for other peoples kids to attend a sub-par school? I wish some parents would use their energy to improve (organize a carpool, be an active PTA member, join the SBDM council, write grants, sponsor an after school activity, attend family activities) the school their child is districted to instead of pulling them out. By doing this they may help their own child, but they punish the rest of the students at the “bad” school by leaving the institution without funding, with out parent advocates, and teachers overwhelmed with classrooms full of students with special needs/ bad home lives. And obviously this is the same thing JCPS would be doing by honoring parent requests. It leaves the kids with parents who don’t speak English/ parents who don’t understand the system/ parents who don’t care, left in a shell of a school.
Sorry for the long post, this issue just gets me all riled up.
Here are the school report cards for the schools cited, my links didn't work.
http://applications.kde.state.ky.us/oet/schoolreportcardarchive/Download.aspx?unc=20082009\Jefferson_County\Jefferson_County_Engelhard_Elementary_School.PDF
http://applications.kde.state.ky.us/oet/schoolreportcardarchive/Download.aspx?unc=20082009\Jefferson_County\Jefferson_County_Bowen_Elementary_School.PDF
http://applications.kde.state.ky.us/oet/schoolreportcardarchive/Download.aspx?unc=20082009\Jefferson_County\Jefferson_County_Byck_Elementary_School.PDF
http://applications.kde.state.ky.us/oet/schoolreportcardarchive/Download.aspx?unc=20082009\Jefferson_County\Jefferson_County_Malcolm_B_Chancey_Jr_Elementary_School.PDF
Super comment, Allison! I will go back and re-read it further later, and may respond with a post. Can I quote you, either anonymously or by name?
Quote away, Bruce.