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Re: Student Assignment Plan Proposal

Posted by jcpswatch on December 6, 2020
Posted in: Accountability, District Boundaries, Police Free Schools, Privatization of Public Education, Student Assignment, Teacher Shortage. 
This message was sent via email to Board Member James Craig on Dec. 1, 2020, ahead of the Work Session on the Student Assignment Plan proposal discussion.

Good evening, James,

I wanted to reach out as your constituent, first to congratulate you on the tremendous strides toward equity and racial justice that the district is making under the collective leadership of you, Dr. Pollio and the rest of the board. I also wanted to express my support for the proposed changes to the student assignment plan, as well as some additional requests for consideration.

From the reconfiguring of the map and the addition of a close-to-home “no-application required” school choice for West Louisville students, to putting an end to push outs from our traditional schools and to resetting diversity targets, these changes are to be heralded and will no doubt improve situations and outcomes for many of our district’s most underserved students. We must continue to pursue them as urgently as possible.

My overarching concern with the proposal is that these changes still don’t go far enough, still lack “the notches in a new belt,” if you will, and as a result, still have potential to backslide and/or cause unintended harm.  I know neither of us want that, which is why I wanted to continue bringing feedback and concerns from the community.

First, the district was very responsive to the earlier demands that were brought forward by the Coalition for the People’s Agenda, which is why we were pleased to extend our support for the tax increase (congratulations, again!). These demands still resonate as we move forward with the implementation of the student assignment plan. As a reminder they were “EARN”, or:

  • Evaluation and presentation of inequities in current plan, in its entirety. We have seen great efforts being made here and I was moved by the public forum that was held. However, this needs to be ongoing, intentional and more community driven. We would like to talk with you in the future about what that looks like going forward.
  • Anti-racist budget (divest from policing, testing, harmful curriculum; invest in counselors, smaller classes, recruitment/retention).
  • Resolution in support of the Coalition for the People’s Agenda and the movement for Black Lives. (Board Member Shull has offered to take the lead on this and the Kentucky Alliance Education Committee will consult. I hope you will support or even consider co-sponsoring it with him.)
  • No wholesale return to in-person schooling until it’s safe (safe from policing, racist teachers, and COVID). Would like to update you on some examples of how the internal investigations process broke down, and suggest a form of intervention/restorative practices with teachers who exhibit harmful behaviors.

As my board member, I would like to ask you to see if you can determine if there is any feasibility to implementing the following “emergency provisions” with the proposed changes expected to be voted on at the next board meeting. You see, these are barriers that have prevented, and continue to prevent, some of the proposed changes from happening organically, and the coalition believes that removing them prior to the start of the 2021-2022 school year would allow the district to ease into some of the proposed changes, and also right some of these identified wrongs even sooner :

  • “Dual resides for everyone!” Not just West Louisville students, but all students could automatically have Shawnee as one of their two choices. Simply providing dual resides for West Louisville students risks further resegregation, but offering that option to families outside of West Louisville might set the stage for “flipping the script” for further voluntary integration in the future. “More carrot, less stick.”
  • “Ban the box!” Remove the application barrier for families that do not have a resides school that is close to home while we wait for the dual resides plan to be fully implemented across all grade levels (and even now while learning is virtual). This is a barrier that disproportionately impacts black, brown and poor families and now that it has been identified, it should be removed without any additional study necessary. It, in effect, allows the district to baby-step into the dual resides plan, accomplishing the same end result, but during this interim could still leave the decision-making ability up to the school’s principal. It would simply allow impacted students to apply, when in the past, they needed a 2.0 GPA and no behavior or discipline issues. For our West Louisville families, these are hurdles that were likely exacerbated by the discriminatory system in the first place.
  • “Guaranteed curriculum.” Please research Marzano’s guaranteed viable curriculum to explore if this concept can be incorporated into the above implementation of dual resides, hubs or any other emergency situations as we try to mitigate the remainder of this school year without gaps widening any more than they already are.

I do hope there will be a way for the public to submit 3 minute videos or join the zoom meeting on the evening the board intends to vote on such a historic decision. During this extraordinary time we are living in, in the midst of a pandemic and as ground zero participants in the movement for Black Lives (with Breonna Taylor and many other victims of police brutality and corruption being JCPS graduates), and on this day our mayor declared racism a public health crisis, I am proud to bear witness to one of the nation’s leading urban school districts also leading the way. Let’s continue to be a shining example of how to deconstruct and dismantle structural racism in public education.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Gay

Gay Adelmann

Co-founder, Dear JCPS
Co-founder, Save Our Schools KY
Charter Member, Network for Public Education
2014 Governor’s Commonwealth Institute for Parental Leadership (GCIPL) Fellow
Board Member, Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
Chair, Coalition for the People’s Agenda Education Committee Decision-Making Council

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We Support Philly Students’ Demands!

Posted by jcpswatch on November 1, 2020
Posted in: Accountability, EARN the People's Vote, Police Free Schools.

Imagine a world where ALL children feel safe in their schools and not fearful of becoming the next victim of racial profiling or police brutality. Help us get the message to those who have the power to correct the injustices that our BIPOC students across this nation face every day.

Philadelphia Student Union Representatives write:

We are writing with a request to support our family at the Philadelphia Student Union. As you may have heard, Philadelphia police murdered Walter Wallace Jr, a young Black man in the middle of a mental health crisis, in West Philly, not too far from PSU’s office and the site of the MOVE bombing. Since then, folks have been mobilizing and protesting, including young people. The police, like they always do, have been violent against protestors. PSU youth have drafted a statement and continue to demand police free schools and the end of racist policing in their schools and communities. School policing is a violent system. Street policing is a violent system. PSU has known this first hand.

Below is their statement:

https://www.phillystudentunion.com/post/our-statement-on-the-murder-of-walter-wallace-jr-by-the-police

PSU is also asking folk who can, to call the Board of Education demanding they abolish the school safety office that employs to school police. 

Call, email, or write a letter!

Phone Number: 215 400 4010

Email: schoolboard@philasd.org

Twitter:

@PHLschools
@SDPHite

Sample script and contact info provided below!!  Also tweet this story using icon at the bottom of the page.
#JusticeForWalter #PoliceFreeSchools

JCPS VOTERS BE FOREWARNED: 

Posted by jcpswatch on October 24, 2020
Posted in: EARN the People's Vote, Student Assignment.
Over the past several months, Chris Kolb failed to return calls or meet with key Coalition for the People’s Agenda Education Committee representatives. In a Sept. 2, 2020 email addressed to 12 Black and Black-allied leaders who had expressed objections to not being able to be heard at board meetings since March in order to voice concerns about the proposed student assignment plan changes not going far enough (https://dearjcps.com/we-the-people-object/), he responded with:
 
“It is very difficult for me to imagine how investing over $50 million in West Louisville and giving families in West Louisville more choice will have anything but a positive impact on students and families that live in West Louisville.”
 
To which Tyra Walker, co-chair of the Kentucky Alliance replied,
 
“What is also concerning is for someone to think that putting $50 million for new schools and school choice is all the Black community wants. The Black community is woke and they see clearer than they have ever seen before. They understand that it is going to take more than money and new buildings to create equity and a quality education for their children/students. They want more and that is what [we have] been working towards.
 
Jody Hurt, on the other hand, has not only attended Coalition meetings, he has listened and expressed explicit support for the demands coming from these grassroots groups and would vote in favor of the Resolution in support of the People’s Agenda. For this reason, Dear JCPS endorses Jody Hurt, instead of Chris Kolb. If you live in the Highlands/Crescent Hill area and haven’t already voted, please consider a vote for Jody Hurt.
 
And if you’ve already voted, (or still insist on voting for Kolb), at least give him a call and ask him “WTH?” If you would like to read the email exchange in its entirety, you may request a copy by email at moderator@dearjcps.com.
 
Dear JCPS endorsed Chris Kolb in 2016, as evidenced by this opinion piece written by our co-founder, Gay Adelmann. JCTA and the Courier Journal did not. How ironic.

All Eyes on Kentucky

Posted by jcpswatch on October 16, 2020
Posted in: Uncategorized.

All eyes are on Kentucky! And on Louisville, in particular.

 

Not only is there national interest in unseating the Country’s Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, who hails from our state, there’s also a badly needed tax measure on the ballot that will support racial equity in our public schools.

Just like the Kentucky Derby, once it starts, you won’t want to take your eyes off of us! Well, Kentucky began early voting across the state on Oct. 13, and mail-in ballots are also available. We have every indication Kentucky voter turnout will be high among all of our impacted communities. Jefferson County is home for half of the state’s Black population. And Black voters in Louisville are credited with the Governor’s narrow win in 2019. If positioned properly, this tax measure has the potential to drive a lot of Black and Black-allied voters to the polls, which could have significant impact on races up the ballot. Not to mention, there is a tea-party candidate running for our school board in District 7, who has been documented making anti-immigrant and anti-teacher comments, who thinks “privilege” is “politically correct bullkrap.”

 

We need all eyes on Kentucky! They may try to pull a fast one. You’ve seen our corrupt Attorney General and former Governor. These are folks with close ties to Mitch McConnell. With Breonna Taylor, a graduate from Jefferson County Public Schools, at the forefront of the movement for Black lives, and in particular Black female lives, Jefferson County is ground zero. This election creates a never-before seen window of opportunity to drive energized voters to the polls to bring meaningful change up and down the ballot.

 

In 2016, our organization successfully backed underdog school board candidates who vowed to hold the superintendent accountable. In 2017, we spearheaded a rally calling for her to step down, which she did. Since that time, Dear JCPS has been involved in successfully fending off many other predatory attacks, including a state takeover of our district, charter schools and vouchers, and removing ineffective and predatory public servants up and down the ballot. The 2020 election is no exception. 

 

Please see the attached information regarding our grassroots organization’s position on the issues and candidates for the 2020 election.

 

https://dearjcps.com/2020-endorsements/

 

The release goes on to explain that the decision-making council for the People’s Agenda has not yet held a vote regarding their position on the tax increase. One could come as early as tomorrow.

 

Thank you,

Gay

Passing The Buck

Posted by jcpswatch on October 16, 2020
Posted in: Uncategorized.

This parent writes,

Have you ever questioned the JCPS school system? I’m going to share my story with you. Last year we decided to take our youngest son out of JCPS traditional school and put him into a private school. As the school began for this year I started receiving notifications that they had placed him as a student at Moore middle. I didn’t respond curious of how long it would take them to notice that he was not doing his school work. Long story short, yesterday I finally received a text saying that may son had not completed any work for this school year. I notified the school letting them know that it was very disappointing that it took them 7 weeks to notify me that my son had not did any work. Then I informed them my son was not even a student at their school and we have placed him in a private school. I thought that was the end of the story until today. Let me remind you my child does not go to Moore Middle and never has, today he received grades from Moore Middle!! They gave him a 60% for each week for four weeks. He does not even go to this school! The moral of this story is to be involved in your child’s education, no one cares about their education as much as you do. Ryan Bancroft

At another JCPS school, educators are instructed to give a 50% score, “even if a student has not attended a single class or submitted a single assignment.”

Could this be another harmful example of how in a system of “choice,” already punishing students and schools that don’t score well on high-stakes test scores, where disparities are exacerbated by a structurally racist student assignment plan, schools are forced to “compete” with each other? Could it be that administrators don’t want their low participation scores to show up on anyone’s radar? Is this a possible “work around” to prevent anyone from noticing that some of their students are falling behind?

Instead of a system that rewards players for their ability to pass the buck or sweep things under the rug, we need a system that empowers adults to stand up and advocate for our children. If not, why not?

Send your personal experiences to moderator@dearjcps.com. All responses are kept confidential unless we are instructed otherwise.

Timeline of Recent Events

Posted by jcpswatch on September 30, 2020
Posted in: Accountability, EARN the People's Vote, Student Assignment.

The public has been denied the opportunity to speak at JCPS board meetings since COVID forced all public meetings to be held virtually in March.

On July 16, Gay Adelmann and Tyra Walker met with Dr. Pollio over Zoom, to make him aware that a handful of powerful players were continuing to derail grassroots groups’ efforts to support the tax increase. Gay sent a follow-up text message to Dr. Pollio demonstrating these concerns. To date, there has been no reply to these text messages.

On July 27, Dear JCPS severed ties with the local chapter of the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, due to continued microagressions from leadership delaying and dismantling grassroots efforts to coalition-build.

On Aug. 6, leaders from four Black-led and Black-allied organizations requested an “URGENT” meeting with Dr. Pollio to let him know we had concerns that the consulting firm’s strategy for the tax increase was out of touch with many in the Black and West End communities and could backfire. With major changes to the Student Assignment Plan anticipated to be voted on at the August 17 board meeting, it was imperative these voices be heard before that meeting.

On Aug. 10, this article was published, “Louisville voters to decide on JCPS tax increase after petition collects enough signatures”. It states,

A group of teachers and community members that has been calling petition signees to verify signatures are finding several petitioners who say they didn’t sign the petition and want their names removed. 

Emilie McKiernan Blanton, a JCPS teacher and leader in the local teachers union, estimated that about one-fifth of people who have been reached by phone have asked for their signatures to be withdrawn.

The effort is not officially tied to the union, she said. Murphy said the district did not organize the coalition, either, but was aware of the effort.

On Aug. 11, the co-chairs of the Kentucky Alliance sent a request to district leadership to allow public comment.

On Aug. 17, we continued to express our concerns about not being heard, and invited allies to join us in next steps, which included reaching out to Board Members to demand Justice for Black JCPS Students. We learned that the Student Assignment Plan decisions would not be made at that time.

On Aug. 18, “JCPS to challenge petition against proposed tax increase” was published. It states,

The findings come after a group of teachers and community members, not tied to an official union effort, found several people who said they didn’t sign the petition and wanted their names removed, The Courier Journal previously reported. 

Multiple school board members said the analysis’s findings concerned them.

“It’s not clear to me that Jefferson County voters received a fair review of this petition,” board member James Craig said in a message. “This petition process seems to be completely devoid of any integrity. I am alarmed at what I’ve seen unfold during this debate.”

On Sept. 1, members of the Coalition for the People’s Agenda sent the following email to the JCPS Board, asking that it be included in the minutes: We, the People, Object!

Later that night, during the Sept. 1 board meeting, Dr. Pollio told the board and the public that a REAP had been done on the current student assignment plan, when in fact, it hadn’t. We published a summary here: Where’s the REAP?

The following morning, the Coalition received a tone-deaf response from Board member Chris Kolb that completely dismissed the concerns of the group leaders, who were mostly Black. 

On Wednesday, Sept. 23, more than a dozen Black-led and Black-allied grassroots leaders finally had their first opportunity to share their concerns with Dr. Pollio since July 16.

On Friday, Sept. 25, Dr. Pollio sent a text message explaining the misunderstanding and has agreed to conduct a REAP on the current, entire plan at the next Student Assignment task force meeting, but we still don’t know when that is. We are running out of time!

On Tuesday, Sept. 29, in lieu of being able to speak publicly at that night’s board meeting, Dear JCPS co-founder, Gay Adelmann, sent another email regarding the REAP to the JCPS Board and allied organizational leaders, to be included in meeting minutes. It included Friday’s text message from Dr. Pollio and four follow-up questions. 

During the Board meeting, @JCPSSuper appeared to be responding to some of the Coalition’s demands for an “anti-racist budget” during the budget discussion, further defining the resolution that was passed on Sept. .

  • “New and innovative learning spaces in schools throughout the district, especially in West Louisville. We will be breaking ground on two schools this coming month.”
  • “New investments in our athletic facilities all over the district.”
  • “All of our AIS schools with more teachers, smaller class sizes, multiple mental health professionals in the school and social workers.”
  • “This is the work to provide those mental health professionals. I’d like  to see three [mental health professionals] in each of our AIS schools, more time for professional development, and extended learning in our AIS schools.
  • Fund the racial equity initiatives, like bridging the digital divide, expansion of restorative practices across all of our schools, providing quality choice for every student in the district and expansion of our teacher residency program, so that our teacher demographics directly reflect our student demographics.“
  • “Finally, we’ll see 10,000 targeted students in summer learning programs to increase outcomes for students, especially in reading and math.”

On Thursday, Oct.1, we received an email from Dena Dossett letting us know they were planning to conduct the REAP at the Oct. 7 task force meeting.

 

 

 

Join us for a watch party on our Facebook page beginning at 5:00 PM Wednesday.

On October 14, we met with the district’s communication chair and asked for introductions to the tax increase strategy team so that we could collaborate the last two weeks of the campaign. This effort has been hit or miss. Mostly miss.

On Oct. 21, this bombshell was dropped. https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/education/2020/10/21/jcps-tax-petition-leader-theresa-camoriano-says-nemes-gave-her-access-to-republican-voter-database/5998019002/

JCTA decided not to rescind Jason Nemes’ endorsement.

On Friday, Oct. 20, the judge ruled that the petition did not have enough signatures and that it would be thrown out.

On Nov. 2, this article detailing some of the involvement from SCALA and David Jones, Jr. was published. This was denied previously. District leaders have some explaining to do, but we will get to that when the time is right. 

2021

In January, 2021, several rank and file teachers who have been less than complicit with the continued abuses listed above decided to challenge status quo and run for JCTA Board of Directors. When the election results were reported, some of those teachers filed a legal challenge to the election results, based on a number of factors.

 

JCTA Election Challenge

Meanwhile, the Coalition for the People’s Agenda Education Committee continues to meet and refine our list of demands. Email moderator@dearjcps.com for a Zoom link to our next meeting.

Daquan’s First Weapons Charge

Posted by jcpswatch on September 23, 2020
Posted in: Accountability, EARN the People's Vote, Teachable Moment.

A true story about microaggressions, racism and feeding the pipeline to prison.

“Dear JCPS,

Before I start to disclose the contents of the topic of this letter, I want to state that everything in this letter is a FACT!  Not some hypothetical situation.  Not some situation that happened somewhere else in America (although it could have).  But this is a true story that happened in the not-so-distant past right here in Louisville, KY.  While all of these facts can be proven (the very definition of a fact) as they are documented in various emailed documents to the district (making them subject to open records) and I have seen them with my own eyes, the name of the minor will be protected including adult names and locations. Furthermore, so that we are clear on the facts, I will provide other evidence such as photographs and policies from inside and outside of the district to substantiate the facts in this case.  

A fifth grade black male student brought a disposable razor to school.  The disposable razor was not out and the only reason anyone knew he had brought it to school was because he needed to get a pencil or piece of paper out of his locker. “

Read the full story here: Daquans First Weapons Charge

Where’s The REAP?

Posted by jcpswatch on September 11, 2020
Posted in: EARN the People's Vote.

A “live REAP” is one of the reasonable demands that is evolving as part of the Coalition for the People’s Agenda. Therefore, it is imperative that the public not be misled about the existence of this document ahead of the anticipated Board vote on the Student Assignment Plan changes on Sept. 29th. Please contact your board member and remind them that when it comes to the proposed tax increase, they need to #EARNthePeoplesVote.

Read more.

Dear JCPS Severs Ties with AROS

Posted by jcpswatch on September 2, 2020
Posted in: Accountability, EARN the People's Vote, Student Assignment, Teachable Moment.

When efforts to reconcile differences over support of West End and Black families continued to break down, Dear JCPS was left with no other option than to withdraw from the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, Louisville.

Full story.

“Instead, Dear JCPS is honored to be working with the Kentucky Alliance Education Committee on their revival of the People’s Agenda, to include a list of demands for JCPS. Their organization meets Monday’s at 4:30 PM via Zoom,” Adelmann said. “When the dust settles, we want to be standing on the right side of history. AROS Louisville, under its current leadership, is on the wrong side of history. And we wanted to distance ourselves as quickly and vocally as possible.” 

#StandWithBlackJCPSStudents #BlackJCPSStudentsMatter

“Back to NTI 2.0” Survey

Posted by jcpswatch on August 26, 2020
Posted in: Uncategorized.

Please give us your feedback following your first two days of NTI in JCPS. If you are a teacher and a parent, please complete the survey twice. If you have students in more than one school, please complete the survey once for each school.

[gravityform id=”15″ title=”false” description=”true”]

Your name is not required, however, we ask for your email address in order to minimize duplicates or false entries, or to follow up. Thank you!