Both papers today reported on a "frank" presentation Wendy gave at last night's board meeting on the loss of students (money) to charter schools. I didn't tune in myself because the mute button on my remote is flaky so I'm just relating what was in the papers. Funny thing, a couple of years ago, in a discussion about Imagine Schools, I heard Mark GiaQuinta say he welcomed the competition (as long as they didn't have air conditioned buildings of course). Now they're changing their tune but as usual the blame for their problems lies elsewhere. .
Wendy should have done this presentation ten years ago. Now she wants to talk to parents who want to flee the district to get them to stay. She could have been talking to white parents who have been fleeing for years, but parents and taxpayers don't know squat and losing 400 white kids a year apparently is not a problem. In fact she could still ask GiaQuinta why he pulled his kids out and maybe in private he would give her a straight answer. But now it seems minority parents are finally waking up and looking for better options, or a "better product" as GiaQuinta puts it.
She claimed the district has been making progress academically for the last three years. Let's see, that would coincide with the time the state finally lowered the boom. That would be about the time she had a conversation she couldn't ignore because the state was ready to move in and the money was on the line. No ignorant parents or taxpayers whining at the end of a board meeting even with the TV cut off. This time it's about self preservation.
And so now she's losing minority kids to charter schools because those schools are spreading "misinformation" about FWCS. Really? The Urban League is lying? Former SSHS principal Thomas Smith is lying? If I said that they'd be calling me a racist (again). Even Karen O'Frisco would dance around that one. FWCS is going to go door to door to spread the truth. Can't wait 'til they get to my door.
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I can't wait to see whom will show up at my door. Will they be paid over seventy thousand? I'll apply. But, hey I'm not a good liar so I don't think I could even say anything positive.
I noticed on the job board the other day that Wayne and SS had 28 job openings. Very interesting. I'm guessing anyone that can get out and get a job elsewhere will do so, or obviously have.
Or they could be anticipating Title I money if those schools have fallen into that category.
I think they're overreacting. Neither charters nor vouchers will have a major impact on their enrollment for a long time. It just shows it's only about the money.
The problem is Imagine is worse than FWCS in ethics. Imagine is full of crooks that make Wendy look like a Saint. I spoke with a more than one Imagine's ex-staff who have been fired from the school, for being highly ethically, questioning why the school was overpaying it's real estate arm hundreds of thousands of dollars, expelling special education students, the principal harrassing staff members, etc.
If that's true, they should go out of business and probably will if they can't do better academically than FWCS for the same cost. A charter is probably better off being run by a non profit if only to avaid distrust.
FWCS should let nature take it's course and take care of their own issues. Their paranoia about money makes them look bad, like that's all that matters. Until the state got their attention, that was all that mattered.
I would never send children nor work for Imagine schools. Imagine schools nationally are in financial decay. There first intent was to make big bucks. Not happening. Second was to produce better students/test scores, not happening either. Imagine schools will show the nation why corporate America has no place in education. I just wish our Govenor and Bennett did more national research. Those that are trying to open more charters here will crash and burn eventually. Many FWCS teachers who are being called to hop the band wagon have done their research and telling Charter leaders, no thanks. Not much stability. Once anyone leaves FWCS for a charter they will be black balled and never be able to return.
Sorry, "their" first intent.
And if i had children i would not send them to Imagine or FWCS and I would not have kept my family home inside the district. However with vouchers to access private schools without extra cost, living in the district with kids would have been a viable option.
Ft. Wayne residents are fortunate to have many viable options for educating their children. My two kids attend FWCS and are receiving an excellent education (as is evidenced by their pass+ scores on the latest ISTEP tests). The have caring teachers who push them to excel. I don't begrudge anybody who sends their kid to a private, parochial, or charter....we have friends and relatives who do so.
But, the constant FWCS-bashing is growing old.....their test scores have increased every year for the last three years (ahead of the state increase), as has their graduation rate (above the state average). Do they still need to improve?...absolutely.
However, Evert, your rhetoric is tiring...despite quantitative evidence that they are improving, and have the support of the community (successful building campaign supported by the Chamber of Commerce), your criticisms are the same as always....a broken record-player.
For those of us who are proud of our children and FWCS, allow us our sense of pride. For those who are unhappy, they have choices to send their kids elsewhere (and, admittably, 400 have left). You and I agree that competition is good....I'd be willing to bet that FWCS will still be the largest district in Indiana five years from now.
The charter school and voucher bashing by the district and the JG is also growing old. As is the distict's constant campaign to spin everything in their favor. So why not let the scores speak for themselves and spare us the BS.
I'm happy you believe your kids got a "great" education. I have no idea what "great" means but we'll see how they do in the future when they go up against their suburban competition.
The trend between 2000 and 2010 showed the district losing 420 white kids a year. That's 4200 in total over ten years. That will continue, although I agree that the overall size probably won't change much in the near future as it did in Gary and Indy. But it's increasingly becoming a minority district which will make it increasingly difficult to improve. And the board and administration have shown no ability to adapt unless change is forced on them externally through their purse strings.
If WFCS was a business they would have disappeard long ago. But then who would I bash?
Again, the generalities in your position weaken your argument. I'm not worried that my kids will be able to compete against their suburban counterparts...in fact, I did quantify one of the reasons they are getting a "great" education...their ISTEP scores are pass+---these scores are far above the average score and since the majority of Indiana schools are either suburban or rural, it would appear to me that the results of their FWCS education seem to indicate that they are doing comparatively or exceeding well to the majority of their counterparts.
Likewise, the implication that becoming a "minority district" is going to make it difficult to improve seems counterintuitive, given the latest trend data. While I don't have the figures in front of me, if FWCS is increasing in the number of minority students, it also has increasing ISTEP scores and graduation rates over the past three years....if our minority population is rising, your own argument contradicts itself.
Frankly, I don't see a negative impact in the increase in diversity. I went to Northrop's graduation last year and the valedictorian, a black or bi-racial young man, was going to attend Harvard the following year. And, I just read in the paper a couple of weeks ago about the three Burmese students who graduated near the top of their class at North Side...each of them with scholarships to study pre-med.
If I recall, banks, lenders, and the auto industry (with the exception of Ford) weren't much interested in change either until it was "forced on them externally through their purse strings"...let's stop pretending that the private sector isn't exempt from the same issues as the public sector.
Sorry Evert...we're not going to agree on much of this, but, that's the beauty of living in America...happy Independence Day
Well, the "real" increase in FWCS ISTEP scores (vs. the state average) is on the order of 1-2% a year. That's OK, it's about all we can expect and if it continues for another ten years they'll be fine. But looking at a specific, the IRead passing rate for FWCS black third graders was 66%, exactly the same as it is in Gary which is 97% black and has 20 schools standing empty. That to me doesn't bode well as we see more minorities. And I don't think progress will continue unless the state keeps the pressure on and with changes in the political winds that's far from certain.
With respect to generalities, if you tell me your kids SAT scores I can give you a pretty good prediction of how they'll do in college. Or send them over and I'll tell you if they can do math. I recruited engineers at Pudiue for the oil company for ten years and that was the first thing I asked about. It wasn't their grades in high school or even in college. I always looked for kids from Fort Wayne to talk to. I found kids from the parochial and suburban schools but never found an single one in mechanical or chemical engineering from FWCS and that was twenty years ago.
You're absolutely right about the auto (or any other) industry. No one wants to change because it's painful and no one is willing to inflict pain on themselves. The difference is that GM and Chrysler went into Chapter 11 and could easily have disappeared. FWCS is not going to go belly up any time soon because the taxpayers have no choice but to but to keep subsidizing them.
And how can Burmese kids who came here out of refugee camps without knowing a word of English end up outdoing 2000 native kids at North Side? Were they bringing Kleenex to class every day?
Keep in mind the Burmese kids have been able to receive a ton of extra assistance, because of their status. Their pre-med scholarships may or not be such a great thing, if they can't do the work, and were given the funds for compassion over smarts. It happens a lot. Then, again, if you merely show up at N.S. and do all your homework you will be on top of you class, without much effort.
When I immigrated to the US at age 9 (not knwing any English) the two things that I loved about American school was that it was easy and the teachers didn't slap you around. The easy part held through Jr. high at Harrison Hill (before that we lived in Delaware). My math and English classes at SSHS were tough but they were honors classes which you only got into based on the Iowa tests in 8th grade.
The emphasis at FWCS, high schools and middle schools at least, has changed (over decades) from challenging kids to passing them through grades and classes and giving them a cheapened diploma. But you would have to have been there 50 years ago to get that perspective, so I guess that's my problem.
Test scores are in. No bragging on the news thats for sure.
Haven't seen them yet. Remember though to look at how they did vs. the state. #here are they given?
Good article in the latest Economist magazine (for those of us in the intelligensia and jihadis on trial at Guantanamo) about charter schools. They're working for inner city kids in K-8. Not as well in high schools. Could be that without control of who comes to high school, they are in the same boat as FWCS high schools.
If you complete a data analyse of FWCS' high schools student enrollment rates, one shall notice from freshman year to senior year each high school loses 100 - 150 students. The majority exit after the freshman year, can anyone explain? (The only increase accounts for Elmhurst transfers in 2010.)
http://compass.doe.in.gov/dashboard/enrollment.aspx?type=school&id=0105
http://compass.doe.in.gov/dashboard/enrollment.aspx?type=school&id=0101
I believe the new calculation for graduation rate is based on how many of the incoming freshmen get a diploma in four years. It's running about 85% for FWCS high schools which have beweeen 1000 and 2000 kids, depending on the school. Most kids drop out but some stay longer than 4 years so your numbers seem to make sense.
South of Coliseum about 20% of the "graduates" do so with waivers, which means they never pass the two high school proficiency tests. That's getting to be a major concern in Indianapolis, where the number is growing, especially among black students. There may be legislative action to deal with it.
My math shows a 4 year graduation rate between 67-72%. Who is lying? Not you. Not me.
Charter High Schools don't do well because of the population often comes from public schools. Charter schools have not been able to mold the students like those in K-8th schools.
personally I don't put much faith in graduation rates, either in the numbers or their meaning. They say nothing about what kids have learned. You can say (like Horace Mann did 150 years ago) it keeps them off the streets for a few more years. The whole concept of traditional 4 year high schools needs to be reevaluated.
Signature charter high school in Evansville is ranked in the top ten high schools in the US. No other public Indiana high school is in the top 100. So where do their students come from?
Looks like FWCS ISTEP passing both Ma and LA came up 3.8%. The state just came up a hair, so that looks pretty good. So why couldn't they do that before the state lowered the boom? No pain, no gain?
Signature was a magnet of ESD for gifted students. It was made a public charter for increased public and private funding.
5.0% in a two years. I smell a cheat!
I doubt that. Apparently the state number went upabout 1%, while FWCS went up 3.8% this year so there real gain is just under 3%. That's not unreasonable for 1 year. The numbers will jump around so we'll have to watch for a few years and see how they average out.
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