DarkStar Spouts Off

BCPS vs "The People": The People Win One

Brian Morris resigned from the $175K job.

Former Baltimore school board chair Brian D. Morris, who was appointed to a high-level post in the school district this week, resigned Saturday after his hiring came under increasing public scrutiny about the process and his own financial problems.

Morris released a statement at 3 p.m. saying, "It disturbs me greatly that this matter has become a distraction to the public's appreciation for the enormous progress our school system has made under my tenure."

He said in the statement that he had notified schools chief Andres Alonso on Saturday morning that he had "rescinded my acceptance of the position of deputy CEO for operations. I encouraged him to do a thorough search and identify another highly qualified person to perform this important role."

This appointment was shady. Morris is part of the Baltimore Economic Council, which Martin O'Malley is indepted to in so many ways, political and especially financial. Many people are saying, and I have to agree, that O'Malley was probably the hand behind all of this.

Morris had resigned from the volunteer position he had held on the school board since 2003 on Monday and was appointed to the $175,000-a-year job of deputy chief executive officer on Tuesday at the regular board meeting.

The text of Morris' resignation.

This morning I notified Dr. Alonso that I have rescinded my acceptance of the position of Deputy CEO for Operations. I encouraged him to do a thorough search and identify another highly qualified person to perform this important role. I have spent six years working to improve the integrity and quality of the school system for our children and I believe we have taken great strides toward achieving that goal.

It disturbs me greatly that this matter has become a distraction to the public's appreciation for the enormous progress our school system has made under my tenure. I am very proud of my service on behalf of Baltimore's children, and I feel a sense of pride knowing how far we have come over the last six years. I will continue to be an advocate for our children as my record of service indicates. I look forward to determining the ways in which I can continue to serve the youth of this city.

The text from Alonso. You can read it at the link.

I think "The people" won one. Actually, I think the BEC forced the resignation because if people started following the money trail, they would be further exposed, only this time, the public would be paying attention.

More On Baltimore City School Scam

So, the person you create a position for, who will be responsible for the millions of dollars budget, is in a personal financial mess? And HE is the one who got the school CEO hired? And the CEO is now the guy who created the position?

Brian D. Morris took a gamble when he led the city school board in the hiring of Andrés Alonso.

Not only was the leading candidate for school system chief executive an outsider from New York, he wasn't African-American, as parents, teachers and administrators were expecting.

And Alonso was demanding unprecedented authority from a board that had a history of micro-managing.

But Morris, the volunteer school board chairman and a young developer, pushed the board to make the hire, and then protected Alonso when the going got rough.

Yeah, this stinks to high hell.

Financial trouble you say?

Brian D. Morris, who resigned as Baltimore City school board chairman this week to accept a six-figure job overseeing school operations, has been the subject of dozens of lawsuits and bad-debt claims the past 15 years, including foreclosures, garnisheed wages, unpaid taxes and other cases involving his personal finances and business ventures, according to city court records.

The city school board hired Morris, 38, as a deputy CEO on Tuesday, giving him a $175,000 annual salary and oversight of all the school system's central operations, including finance.

Yet a review of dozens of court records by The Baltimore Sun shows a lengthy struggle to manage his own businesses and affairs. Bill collectors garnisheed Morris' wages and bank accounts, and tried to repossess his cars. Creditors won judgments against him for rent payments, medical bills and homeowners association dues. In one case, a potential business partner said Morris walked off with $12,500 intended for a new venture. In another, a couple said he rented them a house he didn't own and collected their monthly payments until the real owner ordered them to leave. At least two creditors say they plan to seek a portion of his school system salary to settle old debts.

A COUPLE PAID DUDE MONEY ON A HOUSE HE DIDN'T OWN!!!!!

[ UPDATE ]

To make this even MORE unbelievable, the Baltimore City Public School System sent out layoff notices a few days before this. LAYOFF NOTICES to about 80 people, and then turn around and give a financial goof and, if what the couple says is true, a THIEF, a $175K job created JUST FOR HIM!!!!

Baltimore School Politics Is Straight Gangstah!

When a person on the volunteer government appointed school board, which everyone knows is ineffective and has actually done things that HURT Baltimore city public school students, leaves the board just as his time is up, and gets a NEWLY CREATED job that pays about $175K/year helping the Baltimore city school CEO, a position he used to oversee, then that is nothing but straight gangstah ish right there.

More later. I don't live in the city. I don't have kids in the city school system. But I'm fired up and PISSED

[ UPDATE ]

This is a bunch of straight up in your face graft.

The city school board hired its departing chairman, Brian D. Morris, last night for a newly created, high-ranking position based on the recommendation of schools chief Andrés Alonso.

Morris, a real estate developer who has served on the board for six years but does not have an academic or professional background in education, will become deputy chief executive officer for operations. He will be one of the highest-paid employees in the system, making at least $175,000.

Morris would report directly to Alonso, whom he pushed the board to hire and has vocally supported throughout the CEO's tenure. Morris' tenure with the board was to end July 1, when he would have reached the six-year term limit.

Morris said he would be in charge of ensuring that the systems of the district, from human resources to food services and building maintenance, work more smoothly. He said that he had resigned Monday and that he did not take part in the closed executive session before the meeting when personnel matters were discussed.

More later...

How Do We Get People To "Wrap IT Up"?

Someone PLEASE tell me how we get people who are just going to have sex without benefit of marriage or outside of marriage, to do what is necessary to "protect" themselves?!?!?!

ESPECIALLY BLACK PEOPLE as is, YET AGAIN, demonstrated with the HIV/AIDS rate, this time in Washington, D.C.

The first 3 paragraphs:

At least 3 percent of District residents have HIV or AIDS, a total that far surpasses the 1 percent threshold that constitutes a "generalized and severe" epidemic, according to a report scheduled to be released by health officials tomorrow.

That translates into 2,984 residents per every 100,000 over the age of 12 -- or 15,120 -- according to the 2008 epidemiology report by the District's HIV/AIDS office.

"Our rates are higher than West Africa," said Shannon L. Hader, director of the District's HIV/AIDS Administration, who once led the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's work in Zimbabwe. "They're on par with Uganda and some parts of Kenya."

OK, so that's the "hyperbole" to get people's attention to keep reading. So, now comes the "pc" component:

The District's report found a 22 percent increase in HIV and AIDS cases from the 12,428 reported at the end of 2006, touching every race and sex across population and neighborhoods, with an epidemic level in all but one of the eight wards.

But, then a little further down, comes the REAL DEAL:

More than 4 percent of blacks in the city are known to have HIV, along with almost 2 percent of Latinos and 1.4 percent of whites. More than three-quarters -- 76 percent -- of the HIV infected are black, 70 percent are men and 70 percent are age 40 and older.
Heterosexual sex was the principal mode of transmission for blacks with the disease, 33 percent. Men having sex with men was the chief mode of transmission for white residents, 78 percent; and Latinos, 49 percent. Black women represent more than a quarter of HIV cases in the District, and most, about 58 percent, were infected through heterosexual sex. About a quarter of black women were infected through drug use.

People know what's out there. The question is, WHY continue doing what will kill you?

Roland Martin: Dems Standing In School House Doorway

I've said before that the Congressional Democrats are standing in the school house doorway as did George Wallace, years ago.

Here is Roland Martin in his own words.

D.S. co-signs.

Standing In The School House Doorway, AGAIN

I have a post, date September 2, 2006, where I wrote:

It isn't a white man who is standing in the way of education, it is a Black Democrat.

I'll say this again: Black Democrat politicians in the state assembly of Maryland, don't give a damn about the education of Black students.

I touched up the picture of Wallace standing in the school door and put a Black face on it. I'm keeping the picture, but now the face represents not Black Democrat politicians in Maryland, but congressional Democrats who are going to kill the voucher program in Washington, D.C. because their masters the public education unions don't like the idea. Who cares if there are Black students have achieved under the program? Who cares if the Democrats know the students are going to be sentenced to put back into poor public schools?

As long as the masters are happy, the slaves don't matter.

Open Season On Teachers In Baltimore

A judge's ruling, in my opinion, means open season on Baltimore teachers by out of control students in the Baltimore City Public School system.

In April of 2008, I wrote about a situation where a teacher was beat up by a student. However, this time, as other students cheered, another student video taped the assault with a camera telephone.

The trouble began, Jolita  Berry said, when she asked a  girl in one of her art classes at  Reginald F. Lewis High School  to sit down.

The student did not obey,  coming closer to confront the  teacher. "She said she's gonna  bang me," Berry said. "I said,  'Back up, you're in my space. If  you hit me, I'm gonna defend  myself.'"

But Berry, who is 30 and  started her job teaching art at  the Northeast Baltimore  school in December, did not defend herself. The girl caught  the teacher off guard as other  students cheered her on and  screamed, "Hit her!"

"She just started beating on  me relentlessly," Berry said, recalling the Friday morning incident that left her with a sore  shoulder and a broken blood  vessel in her eye.

...

Part of the public outrage  stemmed from how Berry said  her principal responded to the incident. She said the principal told  her she'd provoked the attack by  telling the student she would defend herself.

I found that hard to believe. Well, I find this even harder to believe:

Baltimore City Circuit Judge Paul Smith called the ordeal, which ignited national uproar last April after another student recorded the fight on a cell phone camera and broadcast it on YouTube, "outrageous and deplorable," but he ruled Tuesday that too many conflicting accounts from witnesses prevented him from finding the student guilty of assault.

This "good child" beat the crap out of a teacher. An adult. Got up in that adult's face because the adult told her to turn down or off a radio. 

Students won't lie for another student for a cover up?

A videotape, even if started after the fight, that shows the woman covering up while the student is still banging away? Even for self defense, you can use violence only to the point where you are no longer in danger.

You know what is going to happen? That girl's parents are going to hire a lawyer and sue the city. Meanwhile, knucklehead students who don't like a certain teacher, are putting their heads together to jump the teacher and then say, "The teacher started it."

With the "conflicting information," a judge is going to have to find the next student(s) not guilty.

And even though this happened in Baltimore City, it needs to be noted that assaults of teachers is rising in Baltimore County, Anne Arundel County, Howard County, Cecil County, Harford County...

Black Parents Group Aims To Fight School Stereotype

Black Parents Group Aims To Fight School Stereotype

Nathan Stephens had heard just enough of generalizations about black parents - talk that they don’t care about their kids and claims that they don’t attend school functions.

It was time to form the Black Parents Association of Columbia Public Schools to empower and inform black parents, Stephens said. An organization that has been talked about for decades is finally having its first meeting at 7 p.m. tomorrow at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.

"What really brought it to a head on a personal level was when I felt like black parents had been attacked in the local media," said Stephens, who has children at Parkade Elementary School and Hickman High School. "That’s the term I use - ‘attacked.’ "

Stephens said he was referring to recent news stories and online forums in which school officials and others talked about black parents not being sufficiently involved in the lives of their children. He said black parents are active, but their participation just might be not visible.

Other parents ask Stephens questions in church or at the store, he said, and he knows black parents care about their children’s education. "How dare someone say black parents aren’t involved," he said.

Among its goals, the new group will work with black parents, answering any questions or just support them in general. The association also wants to increase the visible participation of black parents, which could include having some parents fill in for others who might be working during back-to-school functions or parent-teacher conferences, Stephens said.

More at the link.

I Thought Kids Didn't Want To Learn?

Didn't someone say that a school was created in Africa, as opposed to an area in the U.S. because U.S. kids don't want to learn?

ATLANTA -- A letter from Oprah Winfrey last week seemed like the world's best Christmas present _ until teacher Ron Clark noticed an extra piece of paper flutter out of the envelope.

That's when the Atlanta educator saw the $365,000 check for the innovative private school he opened in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods in 2007. It was, quite literally, an answer to a prayer.

"We teach school all day and fundraise at night," said Clark, who finds private donors to pay most of the $14,000 annual tuition for each student. "To have an unsolicited gift come like that is incredible."

Clark surprised his students with the news of the donation Wednesday morning in a gathering at the south Atlanta school. The children, parents and teachers erupted in deafening cheers when he showed off the check.

Several cried at the news.

Was that too snarky for the new year?

This is good news for that school.

Spelman Kicks Butt

Spelman Students Sparkle In Sciences

Which Atlanta institution produces the most African-American graduates who go on to earn doctoral degrees in science and engineering?

a) Morehouse College

b) Georgia Tech

c) Emory University

The answer is d) None of the above. That distinction goes to Spelman College — a small, historically black, private liberal arts college for women.

Spelman, with a student body of about 2,200, sent 150 black students on to Ph.D. degrees in those traditionally male disciplines from 1997 to 2006, according to a survey released in August by the National Science Foundation. That’s more than any other undergraduate program in the country except the much larger, coed Howard University, with 224. Howard, also historically black, has about 7,000 undergraduates.

For the record, Morehouse ranked fifth in the country with 99; Georgia Tech came in 48th with 32; and Emory didn’t make the top 50.

More at the link provided.

Education Effort To Watch

As someone who supports vouchers and charters and REAL "school choice," I think this move by D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee and D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, is important and necessary.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee are discussing a dramatic expansion of their effort to remove ineffective teachers by restoring the District's power to create nonunionized charter schools and seeking federal legislation declaring the school system in a "state of emergency," a move that would eliminate the need to bargain with the Washington Teachers' Union.

If adopted, the measures would essentially allow the District to begin building a new school system. Such an effort would be similar to one underway in New Orleans, where a state takeover after Hurricane Katrina placed most of the city's 78 public schools in a special Recovery School District. About half of the district's schools are charters, and it has no union contract.

Pursuit of the ideas would intensify the considerable national attention that Washington has drawn as a staging ground for school reforms. The moves could force a major confrontation with the union and its parent organization, the American Federation of Teachers, which has denounced the changes in New Orleans. The proposals also could place Fenty (D) and Rhee at odds with President-elect Barack Obama, who has praised their reform efforts but who also counts federation President Randi Weingarten as a major supporter in the labor movement.

And, I think this shows a "new school" way of dealing with long standing problems by young Black Democrats. In this case, the public school teachers unions need to be neutered.

FedEx African-American Network launches new mentoring program

FedEx African-American Network Launches New Mentoring Program

“Every child is entitled to an education that prepares them to compete in a global economy,” said Supt. Kriner Cash.

About 200 FedEx employees recently attended a kickoff luncheon to celebrate a local mentoring initiative sponsored by the FedEx African-American Network. The African-American Network will coordinate the program through Memphis Cares, a part of the National Cares Mentoring Movement that encourages able adults to mentor at-risk youth via a trusted mentoring organization.

The luncheon highlight was the keynote message by Dr. Kriner Cash, superintendent of Memphis City Schools. Dr. Cash told the FedEx group that he would like to see all segments of the community come together to uplift the city’s children and give them new hope for the future. “Every child is entitled to an education that prepares them to compete in a global economy,” he said.    

Through Memphis Cares, the African-American Network will work with five well-established area agencies to sponsor one-on-one as well as group relationship-building opportunities for Memphis-area youth. The participating agencies are the U.S. Dream Academy, Streets Ministries, Memphis City Schools – CONNECT; Exchange Club Family Center, and Kappa Alpha Psi - Memphis Alumni Chapter’s Kappa Days of Caring. Each agency has subject-matter-experts, screening processes and training materials already in place

Project 21 Hit On HBCUs (Part 2)

A commentor criticized my post here, stating I didn't address the overall point. What follows is my reply to TBM who wrote:

The article was about forsaking sports for more science and technology in the curriculum. The example of the NCAA money example is part of showing how much the schools are losing by keeping athletics. You don't address the overall topic in your post.

The author does a poor job of addressing it himself, instead using implications about the NCAA to support an idea he has, but the use of the NCAA angle was poorly thought [out] and and just plain wrong.

I mentioned that state HBCUs have to get approval from a governing board before approval is given, and if most are like the board that oversees FAMU, Morgan, Coppin, and Bowie, then it isn't a simple thing of creating a science or engineering program and offering it as an option.

Morgan University had to fight UMBC and Univ Maryland College Park to get its engineering program. Coppin had to fight UMBC to get its computer science program. Morgan and Bowie are still fighting to maintain certain MBA programs. FAMU was penalized for not having PhD programs, which were stripped from FAMU years ago, when Florida implemented a 3 tier program for its colleges and universities.

Let's look at what happens at the half-time portion of football games at Howard, FAMU, Grambling, Hampton University, and other HBCUs. The bands during 1/2 time actually are the bigger draw than the games themselves in some cases. Howard, FAMU, Grambling, Hampton, Morgan, and others, have bands that are known across the country and in some cases, are internationally known. The "Battle of the Bands" is a big yearly event at HBCUs and there is an attempt in Prince Georges County, Maryland to use the Battle as a marketing tool to bring students to HBCUs.

The author is suggesting FAMU scrap it's football program, where its world famous Rattlers Band shows off its stuff. It doesn't make too much sense when the marching band is a marketing tool.

Black students in high school aren't taking the math and science courses that lead into engineering, science and math majors in college. Programs such as The Algebra Project has the right idea by starting there. The author would have done better to highlight The Algebra Project and others like it to increase the number of Black students in the pipeline to get science, engineering, and technology degrees.

Project 21 Hit on HBCUs and Sports

From a Project 21 article:

We need not look further than George Washington Carver for inspiration.  To serve the greater good, Carver passed up other opportunities to head the agricultural program at Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute and helped revolutionize farming.  How wonderful it would be if today's HBCUs could begin producing scientists and engineers with Carver-like potential.

Given that their budgets and access to resources are limited, how can HBCUs increase their science and technology focus?  They should not "Rob Peter to pay Paul."  They should simply take "Peter" out of the equation.  The HBCUs' Peter is money-losing athletic programs.

HBCUs should consider converting resources set aside for athletic programs into resources for scientific research and development.

For example, Howard University reported that its athletic program in fiscal year (FY) 2006 would have incurred a nearly $1.1 million loss without revenues from the NCAA and sponsorships, which cut the overall loss to a little over $100,000. 

For FY 2007, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) reported that, without $1.4 million from the NCAA and sponsorships, it would have incurred an operating loss of $1.8 million.  As a result, FAMU's athletic program lost around $400,000. 

Preserving the status quo won't change anything.  Consequently, if black Americans desire a different set of outcomes, they must take new and different action.

High-quality scientists and engineers are in demand, and their compensation level rank high on the nation's wage scale.  To gain access to these salaries, to improve job prospects and to contribute to our nation's progress, shouldn't HBCUs implement programs to produce more scientists and engineers?  Isn't it logical to accomplish this outcome by converting financial, physical and human resources from the cultivation of athletes to the cultivation of scientists and engineers?

It is not clear from the author of this piece, why Howard and FAMU received the money from the NCAA. It is written as if the money was given to these schools to prevent the programs from losing a lot of money. However, I remember hearing the NCAA gives most of the money it receives to member schools. From the NCAA website:

The Association believes that the amount of revenue an organization generates should not influence its tax-exempt status. Instead, that status should be determined by how those funds are used to support an organization’s mission. The Association’s 1,200 member schools receive 95 percent of the NCAA’s revenue. The remaining funds are spent to maintain the day-to-day operations of the Association.

The Association in this case is the NCAA. Was the money given to FAMU and Howard part of the regular distribution of money? Take a look at the pie chart

Look at how the money is disbursed.

Should that raise a flag about the writing of the article?

The author also doesn't say that many schools, HBCUs included, have to go to a college board to get permission to offer certain programs. I know this is true of FAMU, Morgan, Coppin, and Bowie. I suspect this is true for most state HBCUs, while it's soley up to the private HBCUs.

I understand the intension of the article, besides just hypercriticism, but the article, from my POV, is poorly written and researched.

NCLB: Figures Don't Lie But...

The idea behind No Child Left Behind is good, but like many people said, school systems will find a way to scam the intent because not all schools are equal. Maryland scammed the intent:

State education officials acknowledged yesterday for the first time that they had changed the Maryland School Assessment this year in a way that experts say contributed to an unusually large rise in student test scores.

According to experts, the test was shorter though not easier, which might have meant that students taking it were less tired. The tests have been given in grades three through eight in reading and math for the past five years."There was a psychological advantage," said Ronald A. Peiffer, Maryland deputy state school superintendent. "They weren't as tired this year. ... It doesn't mean it wasn't as difficult."

In addition, some test questions were more directly aligned with the state's curriculum than before. That change occurred because Maryland substituted locally written questions for a small number that had come from a national standardized test in previous years.

...

Such large increases had not been seen before during the five years that the test has been administered and were a red flag to a standing panel of education testing experts - known as psycometricians - hired by the Maryland State Department of Education to advise them on the validity of test scores.

It's easier to scam the results than deal with and correct the results.

Hard Times...

I don't have much time but that documentary laid it out very clearly. Parents/guardians/students are a major component in the failures of Douglass High School.

The entire household saw the show. Mrs. D.S. and I are STILL talking about it. It confirms EVERY. DAMN. THING. I have said about the Baltimore city school system, plus some. Passing kids along to pass them along! What the hell are the degrees worth? Nothing! I've also mentioned the parents/grandparents/guardians not doing what is required for their children.

And then to say NCLB is to blame? There is no way a school can meet the NCLB requirements under those circumstances. None. But even saying that, the movie did a SEVERE injustice in not going into the details of the attempted take over of the school by the state and how the state assembly blocked the plan simply because the assembly is dominated by Democrats and the take over was attempted during a Republican governor's administration.

Like I said before, to hell with the students! Democrats can't look bad!

Or was NCLB really just a hook to really show "inner city school" dysfunction and non-participation by students and parents/grandparents/guardians without having cries of "racism!" being made?

Hmmmmm.....

NCLB Failure

This hurts because every older adult in my family who grew up in Baltimore went to the high school profiled in the HBO documentary. This show was about failure of a school because of failure by the students and the parents/guardians of the students.

Hard Times At Douglass High

If you missed it, you have to catch it.

Baltimore Schools Chief Alonso Is A Putz

About 6 years ago I attended a Baltimore City school board meeting addressing the fact that students who don't live up to magnet school standards, such as those at City, Poly, and Western, were being sent back to their zoned schools. The meeting included students who were sent back. I do not exaggerate or lie when I say THE STUDENTS ADMITTED THEY DIDN'T DO WHAT WAS NECESSARY TO STAY IN THOSE SCHOOLS!

So, when I read this, I went postal!

Baltimore schools chief Andres Alonso is making it harder for the city's elite magnet high schools to remove students who are struggling academically.

Alonso says that the schools are already getting the city's brightest students and that they have an obligation to work with them. Historically, he said, a significant number of students who began as freshmen at Polytechnic Institute, City College and Western High were not still enrolled four years later at graduation.

"That's unacceptable," Alonso said in an interview. "It represents a lack of accountability on the part of the school given the fact that they begin with students who by definition are the most academically able students in the city. ... My expectation is that they succeed with them, that they put in place not only extraordinary educational programs but also the interventions that are necessary."

Alonso is a putz! There ARE interventions in place! Students cannot be returned without having not met the interventions!

Sure, ruin the magnet schools just like the regular schools! AGAIN: Blow up the damn system and let the magnets become charters!

He Has More Sense Than Adults

This "kid" has more sense than the Baltimore City Public School administration and teacher's union. I include the teacher's union because it seems to me if teachers are getting regularly assaulted in school and the administration regularly returns the offenders to the same school, the teacher's union should be raising hell and calling for strikes.

This opinion article is written by a Baltimore city public high school ninth grader:

Take my life, for example: Every day I come to school with a fresh mind and am ready to complete my work and do the right thing in school. But other kids behave differently when they are not around those with authority.

Students want to test who will stand up for themselves. A lot of good kids are trying to fit in (by being like everyone else) and, therefore, they decide to become gang members or drug dealers.

Gang members are jumping kids for no reason at all, and so other kids say to themselves, "Well, they are jumping me anyway, so I am going to become one of them to be safe."

I think it is easy for a good kid to turn bad. But it is hard for a bad kid to turn good. And sometimes it is hard to find the other kids who really want to do well.

I think that students will be motivated to do well if others will stand up with them. It takes one person at a time, but it's scary to start.

As I've explained to my mom and dad, it is hard to do good things when kids are messing with you. Kids want to tell adults what is going on, but then other kids will consider you a rat or a snitch. Then that's a problem for the person who told.

So a good student sometimes feels stuck because he or she does not know what to do. That scares a lot of students.

To the people of Baltimore, I say: Save the kids who want to be a part of something good and keep them from being influenced by others who are making bad choices. Help the good students to know that they are not the only ones who are trying to do the right thing.

A lot of kids are trying hard but need some help or advice. We are not a waste of time.

In September of 2006, I wrote about a meeting I was having with then Gov. Ehrlich's aides concerning education. The first three bullet points dealt with controlling the school.

• Disruptive students get suspended. The parents must go to the school to get the students back into school.
• Kids with multiple suspensions are suspended and not allowed to return to school until the students are tested to find academic deficiencies. This is done because many kids who are disruptive in school, are also having academic problems. They may also be having personal problems but that is a fine line that I don't want to cross with government intrusion.
• School and parents/guardians must agree to a plan to bring kid back up to speed. This may include being transfered to another school just for that purpose.

I made that the first bullet points for a reason; in order for learning to occur, a learning environment must exist. A learning environment does not exist with disruptive students. All of my writing comes down to

Read the entire article.

Blow up the damn Baltimore City Public School System!

This Really Ticks Me Off!

In September of 2006, I wrote about a meeting I was having with then Gov. Ehrlich's aides concerning education. The first three bullet points dealt with controlling the school.

• Disruptive students get suspended. The parents must go to the school to get the students back into school.
• Kids with multiple suspensions are suspended and not allowed to return to school until the students are tested to find academic deficiencies. This is done because many kids who are disruptive in school, are also having academic problems. They may also be having personal problems but that is a fine line that I don't want to cross with government intrusion.
• School and parents/guardians must agree to a plan to bring kid back up to speed. This may include being transfered to another school just for that purpose.

I made that the first bullet points for a reason; in order for learning to occur, a learning environment must exist. A learning environment does not exist with disruptive students. All of my writing comes down to this opinion article written by a Baltimore city public high school ninth grader:

Take my life, for example: Every day I come to school with a fresh mind and am ready to complete my work and do the right thing in school. But other kids behave differently when they are not around those with authority.

Students want to test who will stand up for themselves. A lot of good kids are trying to fit in (by being like everyone else) and, therefore, they decide to become gang members or drug dealers.

Gang members are jumping kids for no reason at all, and so other kids say to themselves, "Well, they are jumping me anyway, so I am going to become one of them to be safe."

I think it is easy for a good kid to turn bad. But it is hard for a bad kid to turn good. And sometimes it is hard to find the other kids who really want to do well.

I think that students will be motivated to do well if others will stand up with them. It takes one person at a time, but it's scary to start.

As I've explained to my mom and dad, it is hard to do good things when kids are messing with you. Kids want to tell adults what is going on, but then other kids will consider you a rat or a snitch. Then that's a problem for the person who told.

So a good student sometimes feels stuck because he or she does not know what to do. That scares a lot of students.

To the people of Baltimore, I say: Save the kids who want to be a part of something good and keep them from being influenced by others who are making bad choices. Help the good students to know that they are not the only ones who are trying to do the right thing.

A lot of kids are trying hard but need some help or advice. We are not a waste of time.

This "kid" has more sense than the Baltimore City Public School administration and teacher's union. I include the teacher's union because it seems to me if teachers are getting regularly assaulted in school and the administration regularly returns the offenders to the same school, the teacher's union should be raising hell and calling for strikes.

Read the entire article.

Blow up the damn Baltimore City Public School System!

Black Or Not, Off The Hook, Suspend 'em!

I really am sensitive, shall we say, to this situation. My daughter had a teacher who wanted her put on Ritalin because she thought my daughter talked too much. Well, my daughter DID talk too much, especially when she wasn't challenged enough, but for a girl, in kindergarten and first grade, talking too much is normal! For us, her parents, the final straw came when the teacher, again, suggested Ritalin and said if we didn't do it, my daughter's punishment may get more severe which would cause a permanent entry in her school record. My daughter was in the first grade and a woman who had no medical experience at all, was demanding my child be placed on a drug. The school said although there have been complaints by some parents suggesting the woman didn't know how to handle a class, the school would back the teacher. At the end of the school year, we pulled her from the Lutheran school and placed her in a Catholic school.

However, if your child is misbehaving, Black or not, there have to be consequences.

Schools address black students' suspensions

Under pressure to reduce the suspension rate of black students, Anne Arundel County is making progress by training staff in how to work with people of different backgrounds and giving troublesome students more support.

Experts say such training is a key to keeping African-American students throughout Maryland in school. Last year, 13.9 percent of black children were suspended statewide, compared with 5.8 percent of white kids. Studies have linked suspensions and expulsions to lower academic achievement and higher dropout rates.

Teachers and administrators may misinterpret the body language and occasional confrontational behavior that some African-Americans learn in their neighborhoods and use at school as a way of standing up for themselves, veteran educators say. They will often back down if they're made to feel safe.

"Being rude means one thing to you and another to me," said Ella White Campbell, a retired city school teacher and an education advocate in Baltimore County.

While I understand the concern, MAYBE instead of "cultural training" of the teachers, training of the kids may be in order. Again, this seems to come down to home training. Rude is rude no matter what your race.

Their Kids Aren't In Baltimore City Public Schools

A recent article appeared in the Baltimore City edition of The Examiner asking "Where is the outrage"?

In light of the recent ongoing episodes of school violence, I am wondering whether there are any parents left who care. Are any parents willing to rally together to help their schools, or are they resigned to the notion that they can’t make a difference?

An assault on a teacher or a photographer at school is everyone’s problem. When children no longer respect authority and teachers are no longer safe to teach, everyone suffers. Children still go to school to receive an education, right? We have a responsibility to protect both the students and — yes — the teachers from assault and abuse.

So, what can parents do? For starters, parents can volunteer and encourage other parents to do so. If a few parents do a little, it will lessen the burden on the already taxed school staff. Parents also can let their children know that safety is a basic requirement, not a luxury. Parents can unite together to keep their children safe. Parents who care, that is.

I've been saying for some time that the Baltimore City Public School system needs a core of parents who give a damn. The core doesn't have to be the majority of parents, but it has to be large enough to be not only heard, but feared. The structure of the school system makes it hard for the administration, be it at the school level or at the administration level, to fear the parents, but that fear component has to exist. Right now it doesn't exist.

And where is the outrage? Well, the parents who give a damn either have their children in the magnet schools which don't have issues or the parents don't send their children to the Baltimore public schools because the parents moved or use fake addresses to send their children to county schools.

Baltimore City Schools

There is a news story about a Baltimore City Public School teacher being beaten up by one of her students while other students cheer. And, it's on YouTube.

The student should be tried as an adult and the parents(s) should also do some time.

More later.

[ UPDATES ]

Here's a link to a Baltimore Sun article.

The trouble began, Jolita  Berry said, when she asked a  girl in one of her art classes at  Reginald F. Lewis High School  to sit down.

The student did not obey,  coming closer to confront the  teacher. "She said she's gonna  bang me," Berry said. "I said,  'Back up, you're in my space. If  you hit me, I'm gonna defend  myself.'"

But Berry, who is 30 and  started her job teaching art at  the Northeast Baltimore  school in December, did not defend herself. The girl caught  the teacher off guard as other  students cheered her on and  screamed, "Hit her!"

"She just started beating on  me relentlessly," Berry said, recalling the Friday morning incident that left her with a sore  shoulder and a broken blood  vessel in her eye.

Here is a link to the news video.

Kids cheered. All of the kids who cheered and encouraged that girl should be charged with inciting a riot.

Comments R Me: Cali and Home Schooling

Concerning this bit of news, over at P6's spot I wrote the following comment:

How about this?

When we lock up the parents and teachers and school officials involved in public schools when TayKwan graduates functionally illiterate, then I'll support your point. Until then, Cali is practicing facism.

Yeah, then I'll be down with that ruling.

Leave Cali Now

When a parent has to have credentials in order to home school their own children, even if the parent is using a program from a credentialed school, something is wrong:

A California appeals court ruling clamping down on homeschooling by parents without teaching credentials sent shock waves across the state this week, leaving an estimated 166,000 children as possible truants and their parents at risk of prosecution.

The homeschooling movement never saw the case coming.

"At first, there was a sense of, 'No way,' " said homeschool parent Loren Mavromati, a resident of Redondo Beach (Los Angeles County) who is active with a homeschool association. "Then there was a little bit of fear. I think it has moved now into indignation."

The ruling arose from a child welfare dispute between the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and Philip and Mary Long of Lynwood, who have been homeschooling their eight children. Mary Long is their teacher, but holds no teaching credential.

The parents said they also enrolled their children in Sunland Christian School, a private religious academy in Sylmar (Los Angeles County), which considers the Long children part of its independent study program and visits the home about four times a year.

The Second District Court of Appeal ruled that California law requires parents to send their children to full-time public or private schools or have them taught by credentialed tutors at home.

And it is telling when the teachers union hails the ruling:

The ruling was applauded by a director for the state's largest teachers union.

"We're happy," said Lloyd Porter, who is on the California Teachers Association board of directors. "We always think students should be taught by credentialed teachers, no matter what the setting."

Damn, it seems like we are moving closer to having the government raise our children. Think about how the government responded to Katrina or how the government responded to this.