  Gplimpton Member Username: Gplimpton Post Number: 273 Registered: 05-2007 |
Channel 7 reporting Calloway was fired minutes ago by a 7-4 vote of the school board: http://www.wxyz.com/news/story /BREAKING-Calloway-Fired-as-DP S-Supt/wdFH3vPuZ0Ogr617I027Fg. cspx | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 2938 Registered: 07-2007 |
So the board took a year to find someone, picked her and know use her as a scapegoat for the failed system the DPS is. Great. What will the failed system do next. Cry for more money. | ||
Urbanfisherman Member Username: Urbanfisherman Post Number: 60 Registered: 07-2008 |
And yet they've still got a retarded, negligent parent making decisions for the school district. Way to go Detroit! (Message edited by urbanfisherman on December 15, 2008) | ||
Jams Member Username: Jams Post Number: 7278 Registered: 10-2003 |
Yeppers, that will encourage a competent candidate to accept that position, but there are plenty of toadies out there that will play the Detroit politic game for the money. | ||
Ruxy17 Member Username: Ruxy17 Post Number: 39 Registered: 08-2007 |
i remember thinking when they hired her "who would be nuts enough to take that job?" I feel bad for her. she never had a chance. | ||
65memories Member Username: 65memories Post Number: 450 Registered: 10-2003 |
Connie Calloway was in way over her head...she never should have been hired in the first place. She never displayed a real knowledge of the system or a real interest in dealing collaboratively in solving the district's many problems. The people she hired had no clue. | ||
1953 Member Username: 1953 Post Number: 1009 Registered: 12-2004 |
She was a bozo...where was she when everything was going to hell? I never heard but a peep from her. She deserved to be fired, but not to be paid. Then again, its not her fault the board was stupid enough to hire her. | ||
Crumbled_pavement Member Username: Crumbled_pavement Post Number: 618 Registered: 08-2007 |
The board partially did the right thing today, but they stopped short of total reform. Right after they voted to fire her, they ALL should have resigned. They're all worthless... (Message edited by crumbled_pavement on December 15, 2008) | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 3908 Registered: 10-2003 |
And, on and on goes the mindless carousel that is the DPS school board. Keep that revolving door spinning, folks. Was Calloway the best super for the district? Nope. Will firing her significantly change anything? Nope. It gives the board just enough breathing room (again) to further delay real reform. The car is still in neutral, all the while reving its engine; and for what? Calloway wasn't the source of the problems of the district. Not even close. | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1706 Registered: 12-2006 |
The record of DPS over the past, I don't know, thirty years runs something like this: (1) Hire a superintendent; some have been well qualified and some not, but it doesn't matter because the rest of this plays out the same regardless. (2) Undercut him and withhold support on any truly difficult decisions or significant reforms (such as closing the necessary numbers of schools, or reducing the size of the stifling, expensive and unnecessary bureaucracy). (3) Become upset when the super doesn't serve as toady to your every unreasonable demand. (4) Fire him very early into his regime. Channel 4 - I think that was what I was watching - pointed out that DPS goes through superintendents more often than the Lions go through head coaches. Nice, and the two organizations have had a similar track record to boot. The super is a staff person; keep that in mind. He/she/them/it can only do what the school board is willing to allow. So all they can do is try to preserve some semblance of the status quo and keep getting paid as long as possible, since the school board won't ever permit any true reform or restructuring. | ||
Jams Member Username: Jams Post Number: 7284 Registered: 10-2003 |
Agreed. It's a shame the education of its students is secondary to the politics of the DPS. | ||
Crumbled_pavement Member Username: Crumbled_pavement Post Number: 619 Registered: 08-2007 |
Very nicely put Professorscott. That's why I believe DPS will forever be worthless. The Board and all the politics that go along with it all need to go away. All they will do is continue to repeat the cycle. One of these fools from the Board had a letter in the Freep today (I forget which one) where he says all of them have failed, yet it is Calloway that is the lone termination. They all need to be terminated because none of them are helping the situation. Instead they throw parties for their buddies out of money that is supposed to be used to educate students. | ||
Townonenorth Member Username: Townonenorth Post Number: 474 Registered: 10-2007 |
They need to do, in no particular order: Stop paying board members. That removes the blood sucking leeches. Leaves (hopefully) the sane ones that care about a great school district. Hire the best available administrator. And I mean the best they can find. Nationwide search. And a TRUE best available search, not race contingent. | ||
Ashdetroit Member Username: Ashdetroit Post Number: 58 Registered: 08-2008 |
Crumbled_Pavement, you are right--except DETROIT will forever be worthless if this school system doesn't come under state control. | ||
Novine Member Username: Novine Post Number: 964 Registered: 07-2007 |
"except DETROIT will forever be worthless if this school system doesn't come under state control. We already did that. How did that work? | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1707 Registered: 12-2006 |
Novine, the last state takeover wasn't ruthless enough. The state receiver pussyfooted and didn't get enough done. Next time put the Professor in charge and see what happens. It takes cojones to fix something this broken. The important thing isn't so much that "the state" controls the Detroit schools - it's that the worthless locally-elected board of self-serving idiots does not. And, sadly, nobody runs for DPS board except for self-serving idiots. By the way, if anyone on DY is a member of the DPS board, let me know - I'll type more slowly so you can keep up. If this offends you, fuck you: you are destroying hundreds of thousands of young lives every year by your incompetence and greed, so the Prof frankly does not give half a shit what you think. | ||
Thecarl Member Username: Thecarl Post Number: 842 Registered: 04-2005 |
it was also mentioned that dps has until friday to challenge the state's appointment of an emergency financial manager. that challenge is essentially moot in a district without a superintendent. and, that district stands to lose millions more when the wrongful termination suit comes calling. oops! | ||
Firstandten Member Username: Firstandten Post Number: 544 Registered: 05-2006 |
This Calloway saga turned out about how I thought. The board blew this plain and simple. By doing the search themselves and not doing enough due dilligence they hired the wrong person. If the board had done a simple google search of her when she was a finalist you would have seen enough red flags concerning her management style to have warrant extending the search. Given the fiscal problems of the district one of her first acts was to bring in her crony bookkeeper from her last district instead of going out and finding the BEST financial person she could get. She did that with most of her inner circle. These people brought there small district management style to try and fix the massive problems here. I don't blame Calloway in this at all. She is what she is.. a small district super who has a funky management style. She hit the lotto with Detroit and after she wins her lawsuit a comfortable retirement for her is assured. The school board is the one your anger should be directed to. Problem is I don't think electing new people will make a bit of difference. The district system of governance is so flawed the state needs to step in and make this district do what it is suppose to do. | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 5034 Registered: 06-2004 |
"that district stands to lose millions more when the wrongful termination suit comes calling." The board probably has cause. If nothing else Calloway was responsible for getting the paperwork filed to avoid the state stepping in and the paperwork didn't get completed properly, according to the state. I'm sure there are other incidents, too. | ||
Detroitteacher Member Username: Detroitteacher Post Number: 1343 Registered: 06-2006 |
If they fired me and gave me 400 grand, I'd be a happy camper. Perhaps I SHOULD run for super! I'd get fired but I'd get a nice lil compensation package. She worked little time for big bucks (I'm including the 400 grand in this). Admin in DPS is a joke. Many teachers are a joke. Some parents are a joke. I'm really starting to agree with some forumers that DPS needs to be imploded and built from scratch. We can only expect the kids to follow our lead and we aren't setting a good example. | ||
Novine Member Username: Novine Post Number: 965 Registered: 07-2007 |
"Problem is I don't think electing new people will make a bit of difference. The district system of governance is so flawed the state needs to step in and make this district do what it is suppose to do." The system can work with good people. As Professorscott noted, the problem is that the people running and get elected don't have a clue and even if they do, don't have the guts to make the hard decisions. The problem I see is that state oversight doesn't guarantee that you're going to get any better caliber of people running the show. Look at the mess in Lansing. It's not like there's been a coming to terms with what needs to happen to change the direction of state government. | ||
Sumas Member Username: Sumas Post Number: 437 Registered: 01-2008 |
Nice analysis, Professor | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 4500 Registered: 02-2004 |
Connie Calloway was underqualified to be DPS Superintendent. Lack of pricinciples to reform our struggling Detroit educational system. She was all talk and no walk. A show horse rathar than a work horse. She would be better off back where she came from being superintendent of a small public district. It was a awful ideal for the DPS school board to pick a lame duck to become leader. I want Detroitteacher to become DPS superintendent. (Message edited by danny on December 16, 2008) | ||
Bobby08 Member Username: Bobby08 Post Number: 104 Registered: 09-2008 |
I agree, the district needs a comeplete overhaul! First get rid of the whole board. You rarely heard of any retention programs for the students, and no to mention the violence. Yet, this woman was paid over a quater of a million to run it? | ||
Genesyxx Member Username: Genesyxx Post Number: 609 Registered: 02-2004 |
How can you fire somebody after 18 months when this debacle of a school system took decades of corruption? | ||
Firstandten Member Username: Firstandten Post Number: 545 Registered: 05-2006 |
In many big cities such as LA,Chicago, Boston NYC and DC there is either talk of the mayor controlling the school board or it is actually happening. In DC's case the mayor dismissed the school board and the chancellor reports directly to him. I feel this is the best way to go at this time. In Detroit the board job only pays a small stipend per meeting. You do have some good people on the board,however the politics of DPS is too toxic for a independent board to be effective. The board did an inadequate search which produced Calloway partly because of money and partly because they wanted to get rid of Coleman so badly because he was going to get indicted. I believe they restricted the candidates to AA which was a bad move. If you looked at the finalist for the position Calloway WAS the best of a bad lot which tells you the process was flawed. The problems of DPS are too critical to be intrusted to a part time board My selection for the next mayor will hinge greatly on the willingness of that person to be accountable for the schools, given that without a functioning school district the city will not come back. | ||
Novine Member Username: Novine Post Number: 966 Registered: 07-2007 |
State law doesn't currently allow the Mayor to have any direct say in the schools. So any candidate for Mayor can talk about the importance of the schools but the law doesn't give him or her any tools to turn that talk into action. Want change? Get the state legislators to give that power to the Mayor. But I think DPS is beyond what any one person can fix. I think we've seen over and over in large urban school districts across the county that the size of these districts are more of a negative than a positive. I don't know what the magic number is but I think a Detroit city served by more than one school district (or at least with authority divested to a smaller geographic region) would better meet the needs of the students. I know that in these times everyone is pushing for consolidation of services. But DPS is a perfect example of when bigger is NOT better. | ||
Firstandten Member Username: Firstandten Post Number: 546 Registered: 05-2006 |
Even though Kwame had the right idea he was the wrong person and the voters correctly voted down the proposal that the mayor take over the schools. However I would want the mayor to legislatively pursue that option. The problems are large but key is accountablity which is what we don't have presently and is something a mayor controlled school district would have. I worry that if Detroit was broken up into.. lets say three districts all you would get is drama times 3. I would like more information on cities such as Warren which is serviced by more than one school district as to how it works and if there are huge differences between the districts. | ||
Benfield Member Username: Benfield Post Number: 78 Registered: 06-2008 |
So the incompetent Connie Calloway is axed by the incompetent DPS board which was elected by the incompetent voters of the City of Detroit. Since I don't see the electorate improving any time soon, I also don't see the DPS Board improving (or city council). Therefore I don't expect a better superintendent to be hired for this undesirable job. The solution is... there is no solution. Stop kidding yourselves if you believe there is. No light at the end of this tunnel. Act accordingly. | ||
Novine Member Username: Novine Post Number: 968 Registered: 07-2007 |
"I worry that if Detroit was broken up into.. lets say three districts all you would get is drama times 3." Maybe so. But is there one school district in the country that is Detroit's size that is a model for education? I know there's a million factors that affect the education experience, especially in urban districts, but I just think the huge urban district model is a failure, no matter who's running the show. | ||
Urbanpioneer Member Username: Urbanpioneer Post Number: 49 Registered: 10-2007 |
DPS needs radical reform and the reality is there is nothing to lose at this point. Let a renowned university use DPS as a massive experiment at urban education reform. One of the most interesting ideas tossed about in various forms is to have Wayne County Community College take over DPS and have chancellor Curtis Ivery run the whole thing and DPS instead of k-12, could now be a k-14, with the last two years letting kids either earn college credits or an associates degree. Most kids in DPS don't graduate on-time anyway. There would be more time to educate and get-to the problem kids; other kids would earn college credit, which cuts down on college education costs; and other kids, who may not be cut out for college, get real job training. Can things get worse? Never. | ||
Retroit Member Username: Retroit Post Number: 591 Registered: 04-2008 |
Benfield is right. The Circle of Incompetence is complete. Watch a school board meeting and look at all the parents shouting out-of-turn. And we expect their children to behave? | ||
Firstandten Member Username: Firstandten Post Number: 547 Registered: 05-2006 |
urbanpioneer- The WCCCD model would be interesting as it stands most DPS grads are using it as a grade 13,14 anyway since most students with the exception of Renaissance, Cass and maybe King are not prepared to go to a four year colllege upon grad. Now a lot is about funding but I've seen 3.0 plus students from some DPS schools just struggle at schools like WSU and EMU. I would also keep an eye on the Green Dot schools in L.A. and what Michelle Rhee is doing in D.C. All of this represents some of the radical reform in urban education that badly needed. I do not want to keep doing something that has proven not to work. I do get calling the super incompetent, you can even make a case for calling the board incompetent even though I don't feel they are. However calling the voters of Detroit incompetent is out of line. The people of Detroit with the exception of a couple of board members voted for competent people. The institution they are involved with needs fundamental overhaul, and in many cases some board members could use a little more political courage. If you want to call a group of voters incompetent lets start with the people of Illinois since there last 2 or 3 governors went to prison so lets not go down that road. | ||
Retroit Member Username: Retroit Post Number: 595 Registered: 04-2008 |
^^Let's make it easy: People are incompetent. | ||
Townonenorth Member Username: Townonenorth Post Number: 493 Registered: 10-2007 |
Saw Calloway at the hearing today, along with the school board. The state (or so she said) said that the draft paperwork submitted to the state was "on the right track". I wonder what the reaction would be if the state appointed Connie Calloway to the financial job? | ||
Detroitej72 Member Username: Detroitej72 Post Number: 968 Registered: 05-2006 |
Sure would be nice if they brought back David Adamany, he did a pretty good job the year he was in office. With his ties to Wayne State, maybe he could have had some sort of tie in with job training on the high school level. What I remember that was disturbing, were comments made by someone(can't remember who) that said his biggest fault was that he was white. I would think that given the state of DPS, the color of the super should be irrelevent. | ||
Bobl Member Username: Bobl Post Number: 291 Registered: 07-2008 |
I don't mean to dump on Ms Calloway. She inherited a mess. But, what a concept! Replace the CEO of a failing enterprise. Perhaps this might catch on in corporate America. Imagine the stockholders demanding excellence, and discontinuing the habit of rewarding failure with huge bonuses! |
