tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post8753449060130458032..comments2024-03-01T07:43:16.529-06:00Comments on Smart City Memphis: Herenton Holds The Stage For School ReformUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post-70322310897736333072008-05-07T18:13:00.000-05:002008-05-07T18:13:00.000-05:00Has to be GeorgeHas to be GeorgeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post-15470980306019972092008-05-07T15:22:00.000-05:002008-05-07T15:22:00.000-05:00Two very good anonymous comments. Who was the sec...Two very good anonymous comments. Who was the second one?jccvihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05308158236628593739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post-72682506893692142632008-05-07T12:34:00.000-05:002008-05-07T12:34:00.000-05:00Commissioner Carpenter, I believe you, like Mayor ...Commissioner Carpenter, <BR/><BR/>I believe you, like Mayor Herenton and so many others, missed the point of the college bound message that former superintendent Johnson created; it would be fair to say that it was one of the few things in her tenure I supported. In short, every student will need education beyond high school in the economy of the future; be it a trade school, a beauty school, or a PhD. The data on this is far too clear to ignore. I believe this is consistent with what you are thinking but too often the tirade against the push Johnson created looses this in translation.<BR/><BR/>Toward this end the new high school graduation standards the state is creating, and for that matter the ACT as a measure of abilities going forward, are both good for the future graduates of public schools in TN. The ACT is a good indicator of mastery of the knowledge base a student needs to move forward if that be to college or straight in to the labor force. <BR/><BR/>Reducing the over staffed central office will emerge as the most difficult accomplishment of those listed by the mayor. The nature of the hiring process at MCS is still tainted by nepotism and what we used to call a "good ol' boy system," or the relics of the boss system used by Crump. The only difference is that instead of Crump and the white power elite doing the hiring of their friends, relatives, and neighbors a new group of administrators, most african american, are hiring using the same approach. Result is that this hiring has created a large segment of the african american middle class in the city which is employed at MCS. To create wholesale change in this will be to create a political nightmare that no one wants to see. There are already enough political problems between the races in the city to begin this process.<BR/><BR/>However, to say we expect the system of hiring to change going forward is far past due. This is true for both MCS and City government as well. The systems of patronage, rooted in racial politics in the past and now, are what the majority of Memphians dislike. <BR/><BR/>Like others, for the most part, I liked what the Mayor proposed; though I don't agree regarding corporal punishment, too much data to show this is wrong, nor do I agree with the sexist comment that being superintendent in an urban district is a "man's job." <BR/><BR/>At the center of what we need going forward is a process for data-driven decision making in the schools. The district has not moved into the 21st century in this regard. Suggesting, as the mayor did, that the much smaller IT department at City hall will resolve this is naive at best. However, MCS has not filled the position of director of IT for a number of months and desperately needs someone who can help in this regard. In addition, the call for local universities to step forward in assisting the district in doing the necessary analysis and moving in this direction is imperative to the future. Toward this end there is a need for a research consortium similar to the one in Chicago.<BR/><BR/>If the City Council were to make any changes in the funding they provide to MCS they should consider two things (1) provide the "gift," as councilman Flinn accurately called it, with strings attached for accountability and specific outcomes, and (2) direct some portion of the money to creating the aforementioned consortium.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post-78401105329013426142008-05-07T12:04:00.000-05:002008-05-07T12:04:00.000-05:00Smart City,I attended the Mayor's speech yesterday...Smart City,<BR/><BR/>I attended the Mayor's speech yesterday and support the vast majority of his proposal, though at the moment it needs more details. While his proposal may be back to basics, he put some of our community's "sacred cows" on the table and set the stage for major reform.<BR/><BR/>What I think is most significant is the one thing that to this point has been talked about the least. That is his call for a change in how we fund capital projects for schools. Currently, those funds are dispersed on an approximately 3 to 1 basis between City School and County Schools. In other words to build a $10 million elementary school in the County, County government has to issue $40 million in bonds to make sure the City School system gets their share. It, of course, works the other way if a project is constructed in the City Schools, the debt issued is increased so the county school system can get its share. This system combined with other factors has led to the majority of the County's $1.8 billion debt.<BR/><BR/>The County, nor the City has the power to eliminate the ADA formula. However, the school systems can agree through a number of means to forgo ADA and allow schools to be built and repaired based on need and predetermined critera. The County Commission and City Council, as the funding bodies and in this current budget crunch, have the leverage to bring both systems to the table and demand reform -- if we will work together.<BR/><BR/>On another topic: I agree that we don't want to create a caste system within schools. On the other hand, we should not tell students that vocational education is inferior to a college education. They should be given equal opportunity to choose a vocation. With a higher level of standards that the state is imposing for all students, vocational students presumably will have to meet teh same basic standards of college bound students. Wages and benefits have risen sharply in skilled trades and skilled trades are portable. Many of the skilled trades require significant understading of math and science and there is a shortage of qualified workers in many industries using skilled labor. The goal of our schools should be to produce well-rounded educated young people with the knowledge and confidence to make a career or educational choice that best suits the individual student.<BR/><BR/>Respectfully yours,<BR/><BR/>Mike Carpenter<BR/>County CommissionerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com