Woodland Hills ranks in top 10 nationwide for elementary student suspensions (Pittsburgh: 2015, renting)

[jfds]

Woodland Hills ranks in top 10 nationwide for elementary student suspensions | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Not surprisingly Woodland Hills elementary schools are at the bottom in terms of academic performance.

There seems to be a strong correlation between school performance and student suspensions.

[gg]

That worked out so well for Churchill and Edgewood. Two BEAUTIFUL places destroyed because some moronic judge sentenced those two nice places to the death penalty. What a shame. They should try and get their schools back!

[jfds]

There is a recent update to this story.

Woodland Hills superintendent: 'We're trying to change the culture. ... we

A week ago, The Center for Civil Rights Remedies at UCLA issued a report saying that the Woodland Hills rate of 23.8 percent of elementary students suspended out of school one or more times during 2011-12. The national average is 2.6 percent, and the state average is 2.0 percent.

The report — “Are We Closing the School Discipline Gap?” — also showed racial disparities in Woodland Hills, with 30.2 percent of elementary black students and 8.51 percent of elementary white students suspended one or more times. A student who is suspended more than once counted only once in the report.

Woodland Hills has been trying to reduce its suspension numbers and the national report prompted Mr. Johnson to ask staff to compute the most recent rate to see how much progress has been made.

The district’s 2013-14 rate shows that 16.48 percent of elementary students were suspended one or more times, a drop of more than 7 percentage points from 2011-12. Racial disparities remained, although rates had dropped to 22.93 percent of black students and 7.23 percent of white students.

[Geeo]

Wonder what would have happened in the early 80s after the merger if the upper middle class white parents of Edgewood, Churchill and Forest Hills had not panicked and pulled all their kids out of the new school district?

[villageidiot1]

Originally Posted by Geeo

Wonder what would have happened in the early 80s after the merger if the upper middle class white parents of Edgewood, Churchill and Forest Hills had not panicked and pulled all their kids out of the new school district?

First, do you know this for a fact that they, "pulled all their kids out of the new school district," or is this a rumor you heard? If so, where did they send them? The Catholic school option was limited and how many could have gone to Shadyside Academy, Sewickley Academy, Winchester Thurston, The Ellis School, St. Edmunds Academy, or Kiski Prep.

Second, suppose 200-300 upper middle class white kids are not pulled out of Woodland Hills School District in the early 80s. How does that improve that improve the behavior of the remaining white and black students?

What I have observed first hand is an overall decline in discipline in schools since I graduated in 1973. What is tolerated in schools today would not have been tolerated in 1973. Education in the majority of schools is greatly compromised by this lack of discipline.

So what is Woodland Hills administration to do? You need to remove disruptive students from the classroom to allow other students to learn. If you don't suspend them, you give them in-school, after school or Saturday detention. The only other option is an alternative school, which Woodland Hill is already doing. What many people don't realize is some kids are no interest in learning and you aren't going to force them to learn or not be disruptive.

[gg]

Originally Posted by villageidiot1

First, do you know this for a fact that they, "pulled all their kids out of the new school district," or is this a rumor you heard? If so, where did they send them? The Catholic school option was limited and how many could have gone to Shadyside Academy, Sewickley Academy, Winchester Thurston, The Ellis School, St. Edmunds Academy, or Kiski Prep.

The people that I know either moved or sent their kids to private schools. They knew what would happen and they ALL were correct! It is such a shame they destroyed Edgewood and Churchill's districts and to be honest neighborhoods. Can you imagine the housing prices in Edgewood right now if they still had their nice school? It would be really pricey and wonderful. Truly a shame to do such a thing to that area. If I were in Edgewood, I would try and start a movement to get their school back!

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by villageidiot1

What I have observed first hand is an overall decline in discipline in schools since I graduated in 1973. What is tolerated in schools today would not have been tolerated in 1973. Education in the majority of schools is greatly compromised by this lack of discipline.

S

I agree with this comment. it's just an overall change of the predominant culture of the US. It goes way beyond discipline problems in school. It's in the NFL, the Congress, everywhere. If i were to suggest "decency" and behavior, I might be called: fascist (thank you, actually!), racist, old-fashioned, anti-woman, whatever. None of those are true, except maybe "fascist", but that's my own definition, not the classic one.

I'm not suggesting what people should do in their personal lives, but in public, just behave and don't hurt anyone else.

School districts and municipalities really should start taking draconian approaches - taking truancy seriously, and even promoting policies that might encourage the economically-dependent refrain from having more children.

Or, go the other way - make public school optional, and to hell with them. Public benefits would be tied to enrolling and attending, and succeeding w/ a B- average.

[gg]

Everyone running around looking at schools and how people can improve them or whatever, but the real problem is parents! If parents are on drugs, dealing, don't care about anything or whatever, the child will not care about school. It is more parenting than anything. Once you get past 10% of kids that don't want to learn, the district will most likely end up like Woodland Hills. A place not to send your kids. It isn't the teacher's fault, it is just too big of a drag to deal with.

[eschaton]

I think we need to be careful not to equate the initial white flight from Woodland Hills after the court-ordered merger with the District's more recent issues. I know several people who graduated from Woodland Hills in the 90s. Although it was getting rough then, it was still a racially mixed district, and they went on to do great things. One is a writer for Politico today. The bottom line is the district was *not* doomed by the merger alone, although it indeed may be at the point of no return today.

Originally Posted by gg

The people that I know either moved or sent their kids to private schools. They knew what would happen and they ALL were correct! It is such a shame they destroyed Edgewood and Churchill's districts and to be honest neighborhoods. Can you imagine the housing prices in Edgewood right now if they still had their nice school? It would be really pricey and wonderful. Truly a shame to do such a thing to that area. If I were in Edgewood, I would try and start a movement to get their school back!

Edgewood couldn't get back their own school district. They probably could merge with Pittsburgh Public Schools though. I've done out the math and it would lower taxes for the average household there considerably. It would also result in their being in the Alderdice feeder (a big step up), and allow access to Pittsburgh magnets and the Pittsburgh Promise money. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

[SuburbanPioneer]

Originally Posted by eschaton

... One is a writer for Politico today...

I wonder if what was done to the school district motivated him to choose this career path and specifically join this particular news organization.