  Detroitman Member Username: Detroitman Post Number: 1001 Registered: 06-2004 |
Detroit schools' woes fuel talk of drastic action by lawmakers September 26, 2006 Email this Print this BY CHASTITY PRATT and PEGGY WALSH-SARNECKI http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs .dll/article?AID=/20060926/NEW S01/609260316/1003/NEWS | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 4492 Registered: 10-2003 |
Rep. Lemmons III is talking about flooding the market with charters to, in essence, strangle the district and hoping that will force changes at the administration? I don't like the sounds of that one bit, and Lemmons comes off sounding like a jerk. Personally, if push comes to shove I like the idea of breaking the district into smaller pieces, but keeping it under central administration, but giving the smaller pieces a large amount of autonomy. Central would make the big, district-wide decisions, but each sub-districts schools would have much more say over their personal, day-to-day runnings and such. | ||
Bob Member Username: Bob Post Number: 1166 Registered: 11-2003 |
The charter expansion will happen regardless. By law once DPS goes below 100,000 students (which will happen soon) it will cease to be what the state calls a Class A School (only one in the state). That allows for the number of charter schools to be raised, because it allows community colleges in the area to also charter schools. Can't remember where I read that. | ||
Citylover Member Username: Citylover Post Number: 1808 Registered: 07-2004 |
comm colleges can already charter and they are not limited to any number; universties are. | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 644 Registered: 11-2003 |
Bob's right-- there was an article in the paper that discussed the community college limit a few days ago. | ||
Citylover Member Username: Citylover Post Number: 1809 Registered: 07-2004 |
whoops did not read article about detroit and charters and comm colleges_ sorry | ||
Bob Member Username: Bob Post Number: 1167 Registered: 11-2003 |
No biggie, I always thought the same thing you did Citylover. The question is will DPS go below 100,000 this year? | ||
Citylover Member Username: Citylover Post Number: 1810 Registered: 07-2004 |
comm colleges can charter unlimited schools any where else in the state | ||
Citylover Member Username: Citylover Post Number: 1811 Registered: 07-2004 |
comm colleges can charter unlimited schools any where else in the state | ||
Bob Member Username: Bob Post Number: 1168 Registered: 11-2003 |
Yes, I just got a clarification on that because the rest of the district in the state are not considered Class A due to not being over 100,000. ISD's can also charter schools, but tend not to because they don't want to tick off the biggest clients, the public schools. This is probably the reason Craig DeRoche suggested an alternate school district of charters chartered by WCCCD as a solution to the DPS problems/strike. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 2849 Registered: 08-2004 |
Lmichigan, they tried the decentralized way of running the Detroit Public Schools in separate regions about 25-30 years ago. The old Region 7 office building on the far east side on Marseilles Ave. at Mack Ave., next to Hanstein School still exits. That experiment was tried, but it was not a success. | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 5012 Registered: 02-2004 |
So what is going to happen if DPS students make a flight to those suburban and charter schools? DPS will will be turned into state run charters school. | ||
Goat Member Username: Goat Post Number: 8826 Registered: 10-2003 |
...and the suburban schools will have less money due to the failed "no child left behind" crap. | ||
Bob Member Username: Bob Post Number: 1170 Registered: 11-2003 |
There is not enough space in all those suburban public schools unless the parents physically move there. There is a limit by law on how many students a district can take by Schools of Choice. So they will end up in charter schools, either in Detroit or outside of it. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 1493 Registered: 10-2004 |
There are tons of available school buildings in Detroit--either surplus DPS or parochial. There were some two million people with kids in school in Detroit before the Market Crash in 1929. Staffing won't cause any problems either. Just hire any of the nonincompetents from DPS who get fired or hire any competents who apply. Besides, it's really a buyer's market for labor (in the school's favor). Those striking DPS teachers could have easily been replaced. Too bad for the taxpayers and parents of schoolkids that the administration doesn't have balls to do that. And don't overpay them as now... | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 5017 Registered: 02-2004 |
Well the future of The DPS will lie at the our bureaucratic leaders which they will not spend any more lottery tax money on at risk Detroit ghetto students. So remember count day, for whatever the student is in school, they bureacratic system of paying the every school district " FREE MONEY" per child will begin. | ||
Ltorivia485 Member Username: Ltorivia485 Post Number: 2801 Registered: 08-2004 |
If Engler had not signed that charter school law, we would not be in this mess today. Children are not leaving Detroit; they are leaving the district and it's showing a cripplin' domino effect. | ||
Jenniferl Member Username: Jenniferl Post Number: 334 Registered: 03-2004 |
When I graduated from ed school in the 1990s, everyone said that there were 250 applicants for every teaching job in the metro Detroit area. The job climate may have changed some with the advent of charter schools, but my guess is that there are still plenty of unemployed teachers out there. The suburban schools are paranoid about their MEAP scores. They're not about to take a bunch of kids from failing Detroit schools. Also, most of the inner ring suburbs have downsized to the point where they don't have a lot of room for outside students. In Ferndale, for example, the junior and senior high kids are in the same building. In Royal Oak, the two high schools have merged into one school that is reportedly overcrowded. | ||
Fnemecek Member Username: Fnemecek Post Number: 1993 Registered: 12-2004 |
No, if Engler hadn't signed the charter school law, things would be even worse. Even more parents would've left Detroit in order to get their children in a decent school. That's a loss to both the city and the school district. | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 5021 Registered: 02-2004 |
...and more Detroit Public Schools will LOSE out on student enrollment. That means the Michigan legislatures will cut more money out from DPS. Reversing their ciricular activites back to the Mid 19th Century era, missing out on the 21st Century education which those kids who are in those EVIL charter schools and suburban schools are getting more. | ||
Keith Member Username: Keith Post Number: 4 Registered: 10-2003 |
I had an interesting convsersation about one of the charter schools. One of my patients the other day was a young man from University Prep Academy near WSU. He was telling me about his experience there and it sounds like a model that DPS should certainly be looking at. Smaller class sizes. Many kids taking college classes at WSU. Utilizing community resources for internships and other experiences which enhance learning. Much more individualized attention and no one slips through the cracks. They apparently are turning out very well prepared students. I believe a 90%+ graduation rate for this years first graduating class. DPS does this at schools such as Renaissance or Cass Tech. It easy to look good when you skim off the brightest and most capable from a city of almost 1 million people. University Prep is doing it with kids who were previously average or below average performers. I belive this was designed/ founded by the guy that wanted to do more but was run out of town on a rail by the "statusquofacists"...sorry.... the current administration must have rubbed off on me. I think his last name was Thompson. We have alternatives out there that the DPS could learn from if they are interested in actual inmprovement versus fighting to maintain the status quo. Find models that work well and spread them throughout the system. Perhaps a model could be designed that even works better than surrounding districts and maybe Detroit could attract rather than repel new residents. I am a long time Detroit resident (40 years)and a parent with 2 college age kids who both spent some time in the DPS. I would have liked to support the system the whole time but we came to the conclusion that we simply were not willing to sacrifice our kids. For those who have the choice of sending kids to a private school, Friends School is a wonderful K-8 school. PS - How long will Kwame's kid remain in DPS. Was it just for the day? Why did he sacrifice only one child? | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 5030 Registered: 02-2004 |
The American educational system today is a apt full of bureaucratic standards that free education is being processed to provide " FREE MONEY" for every child, Solidarity for Teachers for money and power and cultural baised information for interlectural fools for interlectural schools, educated fools from educated schools and uneducated fools from uneducated schools And the corporation wants to step in and be the Pharisees to see if the child's human psyche is well trained. | ||
Bob Member Username: Bob Post Number: 1173 Registered: 11-2003 |
I was thinking the same thing myself, is Kwame's kid just in DPS for the day. I have heard great things about University Prep Academy also around educational circles. It is known around as being one of the charters to look at when people are setting them up. Unfortunately, too many are not as well managed and run as University Prep, but those will eventually have their charters revoked if they don't make AYP, and new charters will be allowed to open in their place. |
