The Thurgood Marshall Academy charter school proposed by the Urban League was unanimously approved by the state charter school board yesterday. FWCS board president Mark GiaQuinta predicted the school would ultimately fail because FWCS has a "better product" and those in charge of the new school "don't have a clue" how to run a school. Maybe he should wait until we see what the Thurgood Marshall "product" looks like before pronouncing the FWCS product better. Most of the FWCS board doesn't have a clue about how to run a school either. They don't have a clue about what goes on in a classroom. That's what determines the quality of a school, not what the Superintendent tells them.
We'll see. The first, key task will be to hire a principal. Then find a building with suitable "infrasructure" (air conditioning). Then, fortunately, parents will ultimately decide on the quality of the product. Not GiaQuinta.
In related developments FWCS has been sued to stop the transfer of the former Pleasant Center building to the Airport Authority. The building is supposed to be kept available for charters for four years. Apparently the Tomothy Johson Academy had expressed an interest. Nice try though, Wendy. And the voucher lawsuit had another day in court with a decision promised in thirty days. Nate Snellenberger, president of the the ISTA, whose mission is to preserve the separation of church and state, said they would take it to the Indiana Supreme Court if necessary.
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15 comments:
The sad part of a charter school in the SE side will be the death of a private school. I predict Unity Lutheran will shut its doors in 2 year. Unity will provide stronger education, but parents will not have to foot the bill, nor pay for transportation.
Timothy Johnson killed off Zion Lutheran, Bethlehem Lutheran and Benoit Academy.
Had vouchers been available earlier, those schools might have survived. With vouchers Unity may survive. But vouchers are still iffy while the lawsuit is still in the courts. No matter which way it goes, the lawsuit shows once again that teachers' unions are only about preserving union jobs. And for FWEA and the board members they bought (Corona, Hill and Peirce), also getting air conditioning.
Timothy Johnson must provide a superior product to have closed all those schools. 2011 Language Arts pass rate is 41% and Math pass rate is 40%.
Timothy Johnson has been struggling for a long time. I'm surprised Ball State hasn't pulled their charter. It also shows that charters are not selecting their students. In fact it looks like they're getting some of the most challenged kids in SE Fort Wayne, kids who couldn't function in FWCS. Imagine Broadway is probably seeing the same demographic.
Thurgood Marshall Academy will have to do something different to succeed. That's why I don't understand FWCS' strident opposition to charter schools. It looks like charters are making their life easier but their opposition makes it obvious that they only care about the money and preserving their monopoly on k-12 public education.
Or... FWCS knows that these charters are not working and they are trying to stress to parents that FWCS is the better alternative.
So your theory is that student selection is the key to the success of a school? That does not bode well for any school system in our country, private, traditional public or charter.
I don't know if it is the student selection is the key. I do know that Benoit Academy had a 100% pass rate on their ISTEP scores before most of the kids went to Timothy Johnson.
I agree that Timothy Johnson needs to have the plug pulled.
The key is how they perform with like demographics. I don't know the Timothy Johnson or Imagine Broadway demographics so I can't compare and neither can FWCS unless they take that into account.
Last time I looked, FWCS was doing about the same as Gary and Indianapolis with blacks. They can't claim to be a better alternative to anything despite 20 years of using their building money for "racial balance". GiaQuinta, who keeps mouthing that claim, didn't think FWCS high schools were acceptable for his kids.
Timothy Johson should pass on Pleasant Center. It's out in the sticks and, even worse, it's not air conditioned.
Pleasant Center is out in the middle of the manufacturing center, not in the sticks. The situation is that TLJ would loose about half of its students due to lack of transportation, and the majority of the families in Pleasant township send their children to St. Al's/Bishop Luers or Ossian/Norwell.
It seems like it's long way out there, and as you say would present a transportation problem for many Timothy Johson kids. Five years ago the parents who sent their kids out there were pretty passionate about keeping Wendy from closing it.
Those parents put their kids at St. Al's or Ossian.
I can't blame them. I heard they were carpooling to Ossian instead of sending their kids to Maplewood or Waynedale elementary. But they should have realized that as long as Corona was on the board he wouldn't lift a finger to keep Pleasant Center open if Wendy was determined to close it . Same with Elmhurst.
So are those people and the former Elmhurt parents going to vote for Wendy's air condidioning bond referendum in May?
Hell no we are not going to vote for any FWCS improvements. We have done enough for FWCS. We pay taxes too, but our kids have to go to a failing school while they close a performing school like Elmhurst. Corona is nothing but a piece of shit. I hope the voters will flush him and his BFF GiaQuinta from office.
Evert,
Why is it necessary for charter students to have air conditioning but not FWCS students?
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