Why are there no magnet schools in NE TN? (Memphis: homes, best schools)

[Starman71]

I see that Knoxville has one, Nashville has several, and others are scattered across the state. But with the number and type of students we have, not one magent school in our area. Is it that we feel we don't need it? I'm a science teacher involved with academic competitions. We go against schools in Kentucky, Georgia, and middle & west Tennessee, many of which are magnets. Overall, we have certain amount of success against them, but imagine if our students could attend a school locally that could really challenge their potential. Just curious what others thought.

[kamoshika]

Isn't Innovation Academy of Northeast Tennessee a magnet school? I know it's just for 6th & 7th graders but it appears to be one according to this article.

We have some excellent/outstanding public high schools (e.g., Dobyns-Bennett, Science Hill, University High, Tennessee High, etc.) and a relatively low minority population, so there probably isn't sufficient incentive to create a magnet school at that level.

[jchometeam]

Because we have this ignorant idea that we need to make our city schools huge like Science Hill instead of build another school

[Serious Conversation]

Each of the schools listed with the exception of University High is the default for each city. I'm not saying performance isn't comparatively well to other schools in the same "league," but they still have to accept whomever is in their district and shows up. These schools may be good generalist schools, but they are not for the talented and gifted.

Population density is factor #1. There may be only enough gifted students from Greeneville east for one "magnet" school. Due to distance and low population density, it's unlikely that parents with gifted children on the Virginia side of I-81 will be able to take their kids to school in Johnson City, which is where I would give the magnet school the greatest likelihood of locating. It's also unlikely that parents beyond exit 50 or so of I-81 would go back to the Tri-Cities either.

Lack of parental support is factor #2. If all your family members have done nothing but work in factories, coal mines, or tobacco fields, it's easy to become jaded about education and not encourage it, even among those who have high potential. When I was in high school, those of us who had college educated, middle class parents really pushed us to do well in school, and most of us went to college and have done relatively well. Those who came from poorer or more blue collar backgrounds often lacked this kind of support. These family disparities are largely still evident almost a decade removed from high school.

I saw a lot of very intelligent people where I used to work in Lebanon, VA who never considered higher education because it was never encouraged by their families. A lot of these folks ended up shortchanging their talent. That's part of the beaten-down culture of the area.

Local governments getting behind magnet schools and better education is factor #3. Even if you educate your locals well, they have to have a reason to stay, and pay/benefits closer to the national market rate is factor #4 in keeping quality locals in the area, which also helps attract outside talent. No one is going to come to the area if pay is half to two-thirds of what it is in an equivalent COL area. They will laugh it off and move on.

Local municipal and county governments have yet to recognize that any of these issues are detrimental to the area, much less address them. Until the government becomes interested in the welfare of the area, only very minor progress is possible

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by Emigrations

Lack of parental support is factor #2. If all your family members have done nothing but work in factories, coal mines, or tobacco fields, it's easy to become jaded about education and not encourage it, even among those who have high potential. When I was in high school, those of us who had college educated, middle class parents really pushed us to do well in school, and most of us went to college and have done relatively well. Those who came from poorer or more blue collar backgrounds often lacked this kind of support. These family disparities are largely still evident almost a decade removed from high school.

I don't know if I would agree with this. My kids attended a magnet school in Memphis and while it's true that a large number of students come from middle to upper class homes, there were also a substantial number coming from blue collar families and some from poor families too.
I think those families place as much, or possibly more, emphasis on getting a good a good education in order to improve their lives.

It's just that there the public schools were so bad that it created a demand for some way to make a good education available to students that couldn't, or didn't want to go the private school route.
What I'm trying to say is that if there were not good public schools in this area I think you would see a cry for magnet schools as an alternative to expensive private schools. You aren't stuck having to choose between really bad public schools or expensive private schools, so there are not a lot of worried parents demanding that things be changed.

[jchometeam]

Dubble you make a good point. Memphis is one of maybe 10 cities in the country that it is this bad, but literally if your kids are not physically safe in a public school, you will create demand for alternatives. The public schools in this area are generally good.

I also agree that the parental influence is most important. The simple truth is that some kids are motivated and can learn even in crappy schools. Others come from environments which makes it difficult even in the best schools. They dont want to be there, will never use the info that they get in school anyway, etc. And while not the only factor, parents are a biggie. And by the way, its not the school's place to pretend that this is not the case, and that everyone can/will succeed. Our capitalist economic system isnt even set up to support that kind of fantasy.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by jchometeam

Dubble you make a good point. Memphis is one of maybe 10 cities in the country that it is this bad, but literally if your kids are not physically safe in a public school, you will create demand for alternatives. The public schools in this area are generally good.

Many of the Memphis magnet programs are physically in the same building as the "bad or mediocre" public schools so it's not so much a matter of concern over physical safety (although that is a worry at the worst schools) as it is over the availability of a good education. When most of the student body ranks between the 30th and 70th percentiles on standardized tests a worried parents concern becomes "where can I send my bright/motivated student to really learn?" Viola, magnet program!
( TBH politics play a part in that too, can't lose all your best and brightest students to other districts or to private schools and lose all the funding that leaves with them.)
I don't really see those as issues in the schools in the tri-cities.