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But are the existing schools worse than before or the same? If they are the same, its all a plus. Some get a big step up while the others don't suffer.
Many of these people wouldn't live there or would choose private schools if the only option were the old public school.
The existing public elementary school has improved, but I suspect even that even most of the vocally supportive Toomer parents may quietly have their kids in the Drew lottery every year, because King and to a lesser extent Jackson are bigger unknowns. The frustration is that if you get one kid in to Drew, or one of it's daycares that get preferential admission, you are essentially set for K-12. Add that addition on the back of the house, and upgrade the HVAC, because you can stay awhile. Some people's number may come up on the first try, others may never. It's really divisive, and makes neighbors feel like they are competing against each other. I know people who won't put the Drew stickers the school hands out on their cars because they don't want to feel like they are "bragging" to neighbors who were not as lucky.
Families with one working parent really have some decisions to make. Now you are faced with the choice of putting your kid on waitlists for daycares before they are even born, because it's another path to Drew admission. So now you've got to decide what to do if you beat the odds and get a spot. Do you start paying for daycare that may not mesh with the way you wanted to raise your kids, simply because 3 years from now it'll land them at Drew?
Drew could do a lot by simply publishing some admission numbers. They don't ever reveal how many kids from East Lake and Kirkwood make the cut every year. Parents have to sort of piece it together via Facebook. Just knowing how bad the odds really are might help calm nerves. Drew had sever K classes this year. Less than a dozen kids got spots via the lottery, and about another 10 or so got spots after classes started due to no-shows.
The existing public elementary school has improved, but I suspect even that even most of the vocally supportive Toomer parents may quietly have their kids in the Drew lottery every year, because King and to a lesser extent Jackson are bigger unknowns. The frustration is that if you get one kid in to Drew, or one of it's daycares that get preferential admission, you are essentially set for K-12. Add that addition on the back of the house, and upgrade the HVAC, because you can stay awhile. Some people's number may come up on the first try, others may never. It's really divisive, and makes neighbors feel like they are competing against each other. I know people who won't put the Drew stickers the school hands out on their cars because they don't want to feel like they are "bragging" to neighbors who were not as lucky.
Families with one working parent really have some decisions to make. Now you are faced with the choice of putting your kid on waitlists for daycares before they are even born, because it's another path to Drew admission. So now you've got to decide what to do if you beat the odds and get a spot. Do you start paying for daycare that may not mesh with the way you wanted to raise your kids, simply because 3 years from now it'll land them at Drew?
Drew could do a lot by simply publishing some admission numbers. They don't ever reveal how many kids from East Lake and Kirkwood make the cut every year. Parents have to sort of piece it together via Facebook. Just knowing how bad the odds really are might help calm nerves. Drew had sever K classes this year. Less than a dozen kids got spots via the lottery, and about another 10 or so got spots after classes started due to no-shows.
The covertness of Drew's lottery is very frustrating and can cause to kids starting at Toomer, then 2 weeks into the school they get pulled out of Toomer because their number came up at Drew, which effects Toomer's numbers.
The existing public elementary school has improved, but I suspect even that even most of the vocally supportive Toomer parents may quietly have their kids in the Drew lottery every year, because King and to a lesser extent Jackson are bigger unknowns. The frustration is that if you get one kid in to Drew, or one of it's daycares that get preferential admission, you are essentially set for K-12. Add that addition on the back of the house, and upgrade the HVAC, because you can stay awhile. Some people's number may come up on the first try, others may never. It's really divisive, and makes neighbors feel like they are competing against each other. I know people who won't put the Drew stickers the school hands out on their cars because they don't want to feel like they are "bragging" to neighbors who were not as lucky.
Families with one working parent really have some decisions to make. Now you are faced with the choice of putting your kid on waitlists for daycares before they are even born, because it's another path to Drew admission. So now you've got to decide what to do if you beat the odds and get a spot. Do you start paying for daycare that may not mesh with the way you wanted to raise your kids, simply because 3 years from now it'll land them at Drew?
Drew could do a lot by simply publishing some admission numbers. They don't ever reveal how many kids from East Lake and Kirkwood make the cut every year. Parents have to sort of piece it together via Facebook. Just knowing how bad the odds really are might help calm nerves. Drew had sever K classes this year. Less than a dozen kids got spots via the lottery, and about another 10 or so got spots after classes started due to no-shows.
Thanks, arjay. I just searched this thread again to make another post, and didn't previously see the article you posted. I think it is interesting that the author self-identifies as a life-long conservative, but still sees how bad an Opportunity School District (OSD) is. WABE just posted an article that is basically advertisement for Deal's plan (doesn't have many of the facts beyond logistics), but does conclude by stating that many education professionals and districts are very much against OSD's.
I actually didn't realize this would be voted on in the November election. Obviously, I'll be voting a big NO and I hope that others actually do their own research beyond the Governor's propaganda and see how terrible OSD's really are. Here is another article out of Cherokee County, where the superintendent there speaks out against the Governor's plan for OSD's, and hits on a lot of good points about why they are extremely bad for students and communities, and why the only beneficiaries are for-profit charter companies, as I have argued is the case in New Orleans.
"Dr. Petruzielo added the state takeover plan is just another attempt by lawmakers to siphon money away from the at-risk children who need it most in order to receive a high-quality education and instead turn it over to for-profit companies.
“Every few years, there’s a new labeling system devised by the federal or state government to negatively categorize schools that struggle with extra challenges like poverty or families learning English as a second language,” he added. “We don’t need labels to know which of our schools face these challenges... our teachers see it when their students come to class hungry or when their parents can’t help with homework that’s in English. We also don’t need the threats that always follow these labels... like the governor’s ‘opportunity’ state takeover plan. What we need is for Federal and State government leaders to give traditional public schools the full funding that our children and grandchildren deserve and allow us the same flexibility that is served up without question to profiteering charter companies.'"
Keep in mind, not all charters are created equal! In the case of OSD's, the charter companies are FOR-PROFIT! This is very different from the public charters we see in Atlanta today.
Thanks, arjay. I just searched this thread again to make another post, and didn't previously see the article you posted. I think it is interesting that the author self-identifies as a life-long conservative, but still sees how bad an Opportunity School District (OSD) is. WABE just posted an article that is basically advertisement for Deal's plan (doesn't have many of the facts beyond logistics), but does conclude by stating that many education professionals and districts are very much against OSD's.
I actually didn't realize this would be voted on in the November election. Obviously, I'll be voting a big NO and I hope that others actually do their own research beyond the Governor's propaganda and see how terrible OSD's really are. Here is another article out of Cherokee County, where the superintendent there speaks out against the Governor's plan for OSD's, and hits on a lot of good points about why they are extremely bad for students and communities, and why the only beneficiaries are for-profit charter companies, as I have argued is the case in New Orleans.
"Dr. Petruzielo added the state takeover plan is just another attempt by lawmakers to siphon money away from the at-risk children who need it most in order to receive a high-quality education and instead turn it over to for-profit companies.
“Every few years, there’s a new labeling system devised by the federal or state government to negatively categorize schools that struggle with extra challenges like poverty or families learning English as a second language,” he added. “We don’t need labels to know which of our schools face these challenges... our teachers see it when their students come to class hungry or when their parents can’t help with homework that’s in English. We also don’t need the threats that always follow these labels... like the governor’s ‘opportunity’ state takeover plan. What we need is for Federal and State government leaders to give traditional public schools the full funding that our children and grandchildren deserve and allow us the same flexibility that is served up without question to profiteering charter companies.'"
Keep in mind, not all charters are created equal! In the case of OSD's, the charter companies are FOR-PROFIT! This is very different from the public charters we see in Atlanta today.
Its a state sponsored program. That doesn't necessarily mean "for profit." And "for profit" is not profanity. These schools might do better than some of the "for the board member's profit" public schools we have now.
The Cherokee superintendent has been very opposed to charters of any type and has been a pretty controversial figure. Cherokee has had a lot of in-fighting. One pro-charter board member got removed because of her actions accusing the superintendent of trying to run her down in a car.
Its a state sponsored program. That doesn't necessarily mean "for profit." And "for profit" is not profanity. These schools might do better than some of the "for the board member's profit" public schools we have now.
The Cherokee superintendent has been very opposed to charters of any type and has been a pretty controversial figure. Cherokee has had a lot of in-fighting. One pro-charter board member got removed because of her actions accusing the superintendent of trying to run her down in a car.
If they are getting charter companies involved for school take-overs like every single OSD that is out there right now, that does mean for-profit. And in the world of education, for-profit is indeed profanity. For-profit schools have been proven not to work on a district level, and not provide equitable education for citizens. It results in economic segregation (in the US, read: racial segregation), and destroys the middle class. Look up the Chilean Student protests if you'd like more information on for-profit education models. The Chilean model is exactly what you are saying MIGHT work better here, and rather than using their failure to learn from when building our own education system, we pretend it doesn't exist.
For more common knowledge, right here in the states, look at places like the University of Phoenix, or Acappella University. Do you respect degrees from these for-profit institutions like you do from most any other public institutions? Probably not. For-profit schools, grade school levels and university level, pray on the poor and profit for those in power. They pit schools against each other at the detriment to students and communities. Again, there is a ton of existing research on this - you act like you know everything about education, but you can't back up a single one of your claims with facts. I'm giving you a country that uses the model that you say is OK - look up the results for yourself. I'm not being extreme or alarmist in my views - this exists, and the results are clear.
The only reason the Cherokee superintendent is mired in controversy is because he opposes what most conservatives (and probably a lot of democrats) view as a good thing - charter schools. Maybe because he tried to run someone down too - I don't know. His decisions aren't my problem, and I don't know much about him to be honest, but I do agree with his view on the OSD, and his reasoning is soundly based in educational research. He speaks out against them, and his speaking out is based on his own education and experience - something people like you do NOT have in the world of education. We should start to listen to those who are in this world every single day, working with students, studying education policy, studying the consequences of both bad and good policy. Look to other cities, and even countries in this case, and see what works and what hasn't. OSD's do not work anywhere, period.
So is the state going to provide extra funding at these schools they take over or just reshuffle the leadership at a school and hope for the best?
Re-shuffle and privatize is my guess. That's what they have done in other OSD's in New Orleans, Tennessee, and a few other places using the model.
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