Speed Gibson Full Steam Ahead
Speed Gibson Does Open Enrollment Work?
G2A Blame vs Contributions
G2A's ViewTo add to my view, the older and smaller housing available in these neighborhoods also contributes to the flight to the suburbs.
"I don't think I have ever heard of someone open enrolling or moving because of a bad curriculum, bad building or poor Teacher."
J's View
"Of course not, because most of the other problems, the "social problems" and their side-effects, are secondary problems caused by the failure of schools to focus on education."
What do you think? Did poor schools cause the Urban decay or did the Urban decay cause poor results in Urban schools?
6 comments:
Laurie,
Per your last comment. I am not sure if we would have still been here if it was not for the pre-AP classes in the middle school. It helped to ensure the girls were scheduled with other students that were doing well and interested in learning.
There are still class clowns, passing notes and other misc issues, but they seem to have fewer serious misbehavior issues.
Opinion: Most teachers that work with that 6th to 8th grade age group should probably be given sainthood. Those little angels are most interesting as they are growing, changing and maturing...
Please define "urban decay." The "social problems" I referred to were those that appeared in the classroom-- disruptive behavior of all kinds, plus a seeming unwillingness to learn among some.
J. Ewing
I use Urban Decay very loosely here. I mean the situation that occurs when a neighborhood changes in such a way that the middle class and affluent citizens decide they would rather move than raise their kids in that community. Therefore after awhile the community consists of older folks, young folks and those families that can not afford any more.
As I look at the community demographics, academic performance statistics, home values, news, etc, my "Urban Decay" and your "Social Problems" seem to be very closely releated.
So are schools a prime motivator for Parents that leave their community or is it the Student mix?
I am betting on the Students as 90% and School as 10%. Though some Middle School Teachers were severely lacking, most were great. However the concern of the girls getting caught in one the fights has always been more worrisome.
When we were looking to move to Orono, we talked to one of their Principals. Ironically they were a friend with one of the RAS Principals. They made an interesting comment that went something like this. "Thank heavens I don't have to deal with the same types of issues as my friend does...." It seemed to pretty well sum it up.
I think almost every decision to Open Enroll is 1. usually personal (case by case) and 2. often prompted by an incident. In our case, we got out of 281 over a couple of "some are more equal than others" situations. It proved to be a great decision as it turned out, as 281 itself fell into a declining enrollment funk in the 1ate 1980's / early 1990's.
Therefore, trying to spot a common motive can be difficult, especially with the small cohorts here.
I agree that I do not think we will resolve the issue with any certainty, however I am interested in what you all think about the topic and why?
Repeatedly yourself and others are critical of the Minneapolis school system, yet all they have for students / parents are those that can not afford to go somewhere else, and/or those that do not value education. I am not sure how any district can succeed under these conditions. They can not even kick out the worst students unless they go to jail...
This seems like a pretty important topic since the RAS student and community demographics are certainly not shifting in the ideal direction.
Regarding this comment. "It proved to be a great decision as it turned out, as 281 itself fell into a declining enrollment funk in the 1ate 1980's / early 1990's." What do you think drove the significant change?
- Schools
- Student Demographics
- Community Demographics
- Housing available
- Loss of good parents/students
- Other
- Some
By the way, where did you go when you left?
We open enrolled to Brooklyn Center 286, partly because it was smaller and local. As a result, we knew everyone - staff, parents, schoolmates. No getting lost or ignored like at huge Champlin-Park. Conferences were as much social and always helpful because we all could take the time needed and compare notes with other parents. Their limited funding also meant they couldn't afford fads like language immersion. And - they used letter grading from 1st grade.
We couldn't see this happening at 281. The falling enrollment was bad enough but the totally unexpected closing of Robbinsdale High School split the district, a wound that still festers today.
Minneapolis Schools are drowning in politics and expert theories, like discipline, social promotion, etc. Don't do your work - you get an F at Brooklyn Center and don't graduate. That Minneapolis City government is so messed up is certainly another factor. We hold prayer vigils for kids being shot, but the mayor lays off cops.
Post a Comment