Following a series of unsuccessful emails regarding concerns about the inescapable priority status of “persistently low achieving schools” like Shawnee, we shared our concerns with Board member Chris Brady.
Date: Oct. 20, 2016
From: Gay Adelmann gadelmann@gmail.com
To: Board Member Chris Brady, Erin Korbylo, Roberta Vincent, Karin Bennett
Hi Chris,
This email is a follow-up to my reply to your tweet earlier this morning.
I and some other parents had requested a meeting with Dena and team to discuss the possibility of having Shawnee’s scores challenged as well. I do think we have a compelling case that we can make to the state. Pruitt has made comments sympathetic to the bottom 5% plight in previous statements. The Shawnee principal was on board, but we were brushed off. Why is the district continuing to cut Shawnee off at the knees? We don’t have SBDM decision-making power. We gave input on principal selection, but Hargens picked someone else. Instead of a champion for our students and school, we got a district puppet who cannot lead, who cannot make decisions, who has let behavior problems escalate out of control. We have NO PLAN or ABILITY to ever get out of the bottom 5%, and have received no support from the district to grow the school or change the student mix in order to become successful, so we are being set up for failure. It feels very deliberate and malicious.
I and some other parents had requested a meeting with Dena and team to discuss the possibility of having Shawnee’s scores challenged as well. I do think we have a compelling case that we can make to the state. Pruitt has made comments sympathetic to the bottom 5% plight in previous statements. The Shawnee principal was on board, but we were brushed off. Why is the district continuing to cut Shawnee off at the knees? We don’t have SBDM decision-making power. We gave input on principal selection, but Hargens picked someone else. Instead of a champion for our students and school, we got a district puppet who cannot lead, who cannot make decisions, who has let behavior problems escalate out of control. We have NO PLAN or ABILITY to ever get out of the bottom 5%, and have received no support from the district to grow the school or change the student mix in order to become successful, so we are being set up for failure. It feels very deliberate and malicious.
Not sure what else we can do, but I wanted to make you aware.
Thanks,
Gay
Follow up email:
Also, please see two documents attached. The first is a news story that came out when the district boundary lines were redrawn in 2008. Shawnee was set up for failure from day one. The second document is my speech I gave to the school board A YEAR AGO. This is not a new issue or a surprise. Opportunities to find solutions have largely been ignored and challenges have been swept under the rug. And another year has passed and now charters have their sights set on schools like ours. Is it intentional? It sure feels that way. But by the time we can prove we were right, it will be too late.
On a separate note, why are we comparing our district to troubled districts in states that have charters anyway, like Baltimore County? Why don’t we look at Omaha, NE, where charters are not yet part of the equation? Schools with similar challenges who we ASPIRE to be like and can learn from their example? Omaha has similar urban challenges and segregation, they are a district of choice, and in order to achieve diversity, they have magnets located in unpopular parts of town and forced busing. Sound familiar?
See the link below to understand the privatization and technology takeover happening in Baltimore County. Are we next?
https://dianeravitch.net/2016/
And this
Highlights of a High-Tech Takeover of a Public School System ( in 5 steps, 7 mins. and 30 secs.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?
(If you have more time, there is a longer, more in-depth version here, which I recommend due to some of the parallels we see in JCPS: https://www.youtube.com/
Lastly, this is a good summary of events: http://www.chicagonow.com/
On a separate note, why are we comparing our district to troubled districts in states that have charters anyway, like Baltimore County? Why don’t we look at Omaha, NE, where charters are not yet part of the equation? Schools with similar challenges who we ASPIRE to be like and can learn from their example? Omaha has similar urban challenges and segregation, they are a district of choice, and in order to achieve diversity, they have magnets located in unpopular parts of town and forced busing. Sound familiar?
See the link below to understand the privatization and technology takeover happening in Baltimore County. Are we next?
https://dianeravitch.net/2016/
And this
Highlights of a High-Tech Takeover of a Public School System ( in 5 steps, 7 mins. and 30 secs.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?
(If you have more time, there is a longer, more in-depth version here, which I recommend due to some of the parallels we see in JCPS: https://www.youtube.com/
Lastly, this is a good summary of events: http://www.chicagonow.com/
According to one commenter on a parent published video on the same topic: “This is nothing new. LA public schools and super John Deasy tried this and failed. Their board did wise up and fire Deasy three years into his contract. BCPS board has only two competent members; the rest are …
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Thank you for stopping by, owens1995. Yes, LA public schools tried this and failed. In fact, if memory serves, their initiative fell apart at the moment BCPS began theirs which really put BCPS on the spot to make this a success (no matter what). It seems that BCPS’ digital initiative was designed from the get-go to not only succeed (irrespective of the truth about it), but to also serve as an example for the country (and the world). Sound farfetched?? This video (link at end) really does put it in perspective. A little on the creepy side, but it does a good job demonstrating how high the stakes are for BCPS to succeed with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
There are vultures and opportunists hidden in plain sight all over the country pushing a privatization agenda, and there is no question they are here in Louisville, as well. I know we are preaching to the choir. Thank you for your support. Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help you with your campaign.
Gay