Submit Your Open Letter to Jefferson County Public School District Board and Administrators
Magnet “programs” will not be protected under this new law. Many families will lose out on choice.
Be sure to see where your board members stood on this discussion prior to the unanimous vote to support local control over student assignment (opposition to HB151).
Remarks on HB151
Dr. Chris Kolb
JCPS Board of Education Special Called Meeting
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
I’d like to share an email I got from one of my constituents this morning.
One of the reasons my family returned to Louisville to raise our children is JCPS’s vibrant system of magnet programs. My daughter’s middle school will prepare her for wherever she wants to go next—she’ll have the academic preparation if she wants to focus on language at Atherton’s IB program, she’ll have arts experience if she wants to pursue art at YPAS or Manual; if she’s interested in learning more about law and politics, Seneca, with its legal work magnet, is her resides school. What a great selection we have! Thanks to JCPS our city is full of people who want to venture into new-to-us areas. My children go to school with kids who have similar life experiences and kids who don’t. Thanks to JCPS families have been allowed to choose the educational approaches that will best help them succeed. Please don’t allow Frankfort’s legislators limit my kids’ friendships to those we already have met. Don’t send us back to our isolated islands, segregated again.
Thirty-eight days before I was born, white pro-segregation rioters in Louisville burned school buses, threw rocks, and attacked police. The Ku Klux Klan organized and led several such riots in Louisville, all in the name of “neighborhood schools.” Many in the all-white crowds held Confederate flags while they threatened, harassed, and assaulted black children.
But our city persisted, led by the courage of African American parents and children. And thanks to their sacrifices, I was able to attend high-quality, integrated public schools in Louisville, as have my children. Thanks to their bravery, I have lifelong friendships with people from all over the city I never would have met. I am extremely grateful for their sacrifice and struggle.
But now we are facing the very real possibility that the hard-won progress of the last 42 years will be undone through government overreach into local affairs by state legislators, the overwhelming majority of whom do not live in our community.
House Bill 151 threatens a core principle of our democracy: local control of our school system. It’s curious that many of the lawmakers who just spent eight years consistently complaining about what they perceived to be federal overreach of the Obama Administration are now some of the most vocal supporters of state overreach into local issues.
The voters of Jefferson County elected the seven of us you see before you. I would ask our state legislators to remember that seven of the fourteen candidates for the JCPS Board of Education in 2012 ran on a platform of “neighborhood schools.” They were all defeated, most of them handily. The voters and families of Jefferson County have spoken on this issue time and time again and the state should respect the democratic will of Jefferson County voters. It is simply not acceptable for state legislators with little or no experience in Jefferson County to undermine the democratic will of Jefferson County voters in dictating where our kids can and can’t go to school.
In addition, there are several reasons why HB151 will have significant negative impacts on our families. It will lead to less choice, less predictability, less equity, and wider achievement gaps. These are not debatable points. This is what data, evidence, and logic tell us will happen.
But on top of all that, HB151 will not even accomplish what it sets out to do. For instance, if HB151 is implemented, the closest school with guaranteed openings for some students who currently attend Shawnee will be Waggener. Instead of a 1.9 mile walk or a 19-minute bus ride to Shawnee to participate in after-school activities, these students will endure an hour and a half ride on two different TARC buses to do so. While Waggener is over eight times farther away than Shawnee, Waggener will be the closest “neighborhood school” for many kids.
Families who live as little as 0.8 miles away from King Elementary will not be guaranteed admittance, nor will families living 0.73 miles from the Academy at Shawnee, 0.9 miles from Frayser, 0.84 miles from Rutherford, or 2.6 miles from Carrithers. And these boundaries will change every… single… year. The only way to guarantee you will get into your neighborhood school is to move, literally, across the street from it. On top of the dozens of other reasons HB151 is unwise, HB151 is not even a neighborhood schools bill.
In closing, I want to share something from an article in the Atlantic magazine in 2015 comparing Louisville to Detroit. In 1974, Detroit largely abandoned school desegregation efforts.
By 2000, … the average black Detroit student went to school with less than two percent white students, while in Louisville, the average black student went to a school that was half white. In 2011, 62 percent of Louisville fourth-grade students scored at or above basic levels for math; only 31 percent of Detroit students did.
As researcher Gary Orfield states,
Go to Louisville, go to Detroit they’re just different planets today. … These are places that had the same percentage of black people, they had the same percentage of poor people, they were almost identical, racially and socially. And Louisville is thriving. And Detroit’s collapsed.
HB151 is a threat to local democracy, to school choice, to student achievement, to a more integrated community, and to the economic livelihood and the very future of our city itself. Decisions with this level of impact on our community must be left to the people who actually live here, pay taxes here, and who vote for School Board here.
Thank you.
Dear KDE Board,
One thing I think we can all agree on is that we deserve to have great schools in every neighborhood. We have a great high school in the West End. But it doesn’t serve West End students who live around the school.
I bring this map to your attention to demonstrate that there are existing challenges that some of our priority schools face that must be understood before a charter school can be expected to solve problems for all of our students. And that’s what it’s about — ALL students.
We love our public schools. We need to water them and help them grow. Not bring in competition which creates winners and losers. Collaboration is the rising tide that will lift all ships. But don’t throw our babies out with the bath water.
As part of parent advocacy group Dear JCPS, it’s true we’ve been vocal but that’s tough love, because we want improvement. We have been working closely with our elected school board officials for a year and a half to shore up the items that will improve student achievement
We have to fix things at their foundational level.
As a parent of a student from a priority school that appears to be the target of charters, I have concerns that there are assumptions being made about what our real problems are.
MISCONCEPTIONS
Misconceptions about priority schools are more of a label than anything. This label creates additional burdens. Not helpful. High stakes tests do more harm than good in our gap populations. Challenge your core understanding before you try to fix a problem that is misunderstood.
So many things people don’t understand about what really contributes to failing schools:
Accountability doesn’t take into account the students you are serving. Test scores don’t tell full story. Creates emphasis on wrong thing. Causes adults to chase wrong goals.
Bottom 5% does not take into account that were being held to same standards as the magnet only schools that pick their students.
My son just graduated from a priority school. Through all of his opportunities he’s now at the Naval Academy. (Hence all of the nautical references in this speech.)
CLOSING
Even if we introduce charters, don’t forget we will still have public schools. What about those students whose parents can’t navigate and they are the ones who are left behind? We still need help in our remaining schools. Not distractions. Not bandaids. Not layers on broken problems. Charters won’t address the root problems and those who remain in public schools will never see these issues addressed.
If we have identified factors that make charter schools successful, don’t we all deserve them? Why not apply these changes across the fleet?
As they say in the Navy, Don’t give up the ship.
We have to think about our students. All students.
We are headed down a channel that could be shaped by decisions made here today.
On this Pearl Harbor day, Don’t let today be one that will live in infamy. No pressure.
Thank you.
This email was sent to Kentucky Board of Education Members. Their email addresses are:
grboyd@bigsandybb.com,
cundifffarms1979@gmail.com,
RFGimmel@atlasmachine.com,
sdhiv1234@gmail.com,
gary.houchens@wku.edu,
alesag.johnson@gmail.com,
Robert.King@ky.gov,
rlmarcum22@gmail.com,
nawannap@aol.com,
ceemore1@gmail.com,
wtwyman@scrtc.com,
marygwenw@cflouisville.org
Dear KBE Members,
As a parent of a recent JCPS graduate from one of our district’s Cohort 1 “priority” schools, I implore you to exercise extreme caution when vote tomorrow to recommend charter schools, and if you do decide to do so, be equally judicious with which elements you can support.
One of the things that makes Kentucky schools special is its emphasis on local control, as exemplified in the innovative decision under KERA to provide SBDM power to local schools. However, the conversation revolving around helping these high poverty gap students via way of charters is invalid if you take into account that my son’s priority school lost its SBDM powers 5 years ago when it entered into priority status.
Another thing that no one seems to be able to genuinely answer is how “school choice” will solve our problems in closing achievement gaps. JCPS is already a district of choice. This choice, combined with overemphasis on high stakes test scores, has been devastating to our students in poverty, who don’t have the same abilities to navigate the system and overcome the hurdles we put in front of them. Our student assignment map that discriminates against our most vulnerable citizens is just one of many examples. There is no sense of community behind my son’s school because they backfill the students who attend there from other communities. Perhaps you should know more about hurdles like these before we assume that they just need MORE choices. Competition has not been proven to improve outcomes in Jefferson County. We need more reasons to work collaboratively instead. Let’s work to make our existing schools better before we throw more variability and competition into the mix.
Speaking of local control, our local school board is should have the final say as to which charters will be permitted in our community. They are democratically elected and have the ability to garner feedback from their constituents about the proposed schools and whether or not the charter proposals and the underlying assumptions, hold water when it comes to how they will address the needs of the students in our community.
Perhaps instead of looking at charters as a solution for persistently low achieving schools, we should look at ways to remove some of the handcuffs we’ve placed upon them. I’m happy to share a litany of these items, should you be interested, in addition to a few I hinted at above. No, these problems are not solved by simply introducing charters as a way of “working around” the system. When we have a leaky house, we must fix the roof, not build a new house down the street.
Furthermore, should charter schools move forward, I would like to reiterate the following provisions that should be a requirement in any charter school legislation in the state of Kentucky:
• SBDMs need to be in every publicly funded school, both public and charter (especially priority schools!)
• The local school board, which is democratically elected by the community it serves, should serve as authorizers
• Non profit. Truly non profit not an arm of for profit company
Should not take tax dollars from existing schools. (Since this year is not a budget year, making funding a sticking point could buy us time.)
• Not closing schools just because they are low performing. Need latitude to serve special needs, at risk, etc without being held to same standards as a school like Manual.
• Remove the unhealthy fixation we have on high stakes testing for all schools, public and charter, but finding less intrusive accountability measures, such as sampling and dashboards, and even self reporting of portfolios of accomplishments
• Schools must be open to all, and should not have ability to refuse applicants or weed out. Barriers to entry already create self selection bias. How will that be eliminated?
• Must provide transportation and free and reduced lunch the same way public schools do.
• No use of public funds for religious schools. (No vouchers for St X, for example.)
• Accountability and transparency is a must. Open board meetings, open records, published minutes, budgets and salaries of all employees, contractors and operators
• There needs to be a minimum enrollment in a charter before it can be funded, demonstrating community need and support.
• There should be a limit to the number of new charter schools opened per year.
• There should be safeguards in place to prevent taking resources from public schools to fund the charters. One of the reasons public schools are currently failing is due to lack of supports and resources. Stripping away funding, or even “high performing” students, or highly involved families, from the mix, creates even greater burdens and hardships on the schools that stay.
• There needs to be equitable access to quality schools in every neighborhood. Closing low performing schools is not an option if there are no other schools in the vicinity.
• We need to treat our teachers with respect and support if we wish to attract quality educators. The idea that we can work them more hours for less money is going in the wrong direction and will see less than qualified individuals with higher turnover than we are currently experiencing in public schools. This is a fallacy with no evidence to support it.
• JCPS is already district of choice. You must demonstrate, without a doubt , not just from selective evidence, that “school choice” does more to fix existing problems. Proponents must provide conclusive evidence before we move forward with implementing a solution that doesn’t fix an existing problem, but only layers on more complexities.
This is a quick list I threw together in the hopes that you will have a chance to review it before you vote tomorrow.
I found the presentations at the work session last week to be one sided. They did not provide an opportunity to cross-examine the evidence by those of us who represent the more cautious approach to charter school implementation. What were the unique qualities of each of the success stories and what made them a success? What specific laws did they implement, which we could we emulate, to make sure we have the same successes? Claims that Nashville was a success story was quickly discredited by Tweets from school board members in Nashville. Arguments that charters serve gap students in urban areas has been disproven time and again by other research groups. Parents, teachers, community leaders, including NAACP, have made it clear that charters are doing more harm than good in many of the communities all over the country where they have entered. THESE VOICES CANNOT BE DENIED! Perhaps it is due to one or two factors that good legislation can and will prevent, but the information presented to the board at the work session was unclear what those specific items are, and therefore you do not have conclusive enough evidence at this time to justify forcing us to implement unproven charter schools in our major cities. WE DON’T WANT THEM! No one has been able to demonstrate to me that any version of charter schools will magically address the needs of the students attending my son’s school and schools like them. Since they represent our district’s most vulnerable, don’t we really need to come up with the best plan for them, regardless if it’s introducing charters or fixing existing schools, before we move forward with any plan?
Please help those who are doing the work at the ground level dig into the ways we can stop failing our most vulnerable students in the Commonwealth BEFORE moving forward with some fancy new idea, which will only create a distraction and drain on resources and energy. I look forward to continuing the conversation. We have work to do.
Gay Adelmann
Dear JCPS,
On the topic of continuous improvement, I bring you a question, a suggestion and an invitation.
Question
In May of 2014, state Auditor Adam Edelen published a report that found a few areas where improvement in our district was recommended.
It found:
Question: How are we doing with these numbers today?
Suggestion
Also in Edelen’s audit was a recommendation to add an at-large board member. As a district of choice, we have a need for broader representation. I believe it is time our school board move forward with this recommendation and add not one, but two new positions (in order to keep an odd number for purposes of voting). Have one of those members be from the community at large, and one of those members be student voice.
Invitation
Having attended the KDE work session on charters yesterday in Frankfort. I found the presentation to be factual but I felt that the facts that were presented leaned more toward favor of charters, and may have omitted some of the risks and downsides some of the groups opposed to charters have identified. This is concerning and presents an opportunity for education of our community members if we want to ensure legislation that will not undermine the success of our existing public schools.
Because legislation can move quickly, and the topics can be complex, it is imperative that we begin now educating and informing our community about trappings and pitfalls of charter school legislation and learn from other states that have gone before us.
Our organization is part of a coalition with Save Our Schools KY, which is a pro public education advocacy group that seeks to educate and inform members of our community about pending charter legislation in our state and to empower and mobilize constituents to communicate concerns with their elected officials in order to ensure quality legislation.
On January 5 we will be hosting the first of many screenings of the film Education, Inc. We also invite other organizations to join in the coalition for a more informed and mobilized community.
If you would like a flyer, please see me afterwards.
Since I still have a few more seconds, let me add:
It is important that the things that make Louisville and Kentucky special not be lost with any charter legislation, and I would like to recommend these topics be included with your legislative agenda. For example, SBDMs should be part of every public school. In addition, charters should not take funding from public schools. Also, JCPS is already a district of choice, so clarification of “what problem we are trying to solve” with charters should be communicated to legislators.
Thank you,
Gay Adelmann
This is an email that was sent by an Academy @ Shawnee Sophomore to Dr. Hargens on Sunday, Nov. 27. She asked that Dear JCPS publish it our our open letter forum.
Dear Dr. Hargens,
I wanted to follow up with you in regards to my speech that I gave at the JCPS Board meeting on November, 15th. On your way out the door when my mother mentioned a possible follow up email being sent about #BringBacktheColonel your response was “think about the programs as a whole, not just one person.” So, I went home and read again the letter that was sent home by Ms. Benboe on November 9th, explaining the personnel changes that happened at my school, the Academy@Shawnee, over a 4 day break for the students. What I noticed was the statement about the magnet programs. The following was taken directly from the letter:
FINALLY, OUR MAGNET PROGRAMS HAVE NOT CHANGED; STUDENTS WILL CONTINUE TO RECEIVE SUPPORT AND RESOURCES FOR ALL OF OUR CURRENT MAGNET PROGRAMS.
When Ms. Benboe and the District transfers the magnet coordinator, Col. William Vander Meer with no plans to replace him, then to say that the magnet programs will not change is a contradiction. The programs changed at 2:30 in the afternoon on Nov. 4 when the Colonel was told that he was being transferred to Central High School, effective immediately. We, the students, will not continue to receive ALL the support and resources that were available to us with the Colonel gone. I’ll share with you an example about the aviation program. On November 5th, the day after his transfer, there were about 15 Shawnee Middle and High school students that were to meet him at Hanger 7 at Bowman Field, to take plane rides. Only because he holds a seat on the Board of Directors for Hanger 7, were those students, myself included, still able to go on the plane rides. I actually got to fly a plane and logged air time for the first time that morning. Those types of outings and programs were the direct result from the Colonels passion for the kids, for learning and for the excitement of aviation.
Another example that maybe you are not aware of, is a new program with UPS, which the Colonel was able to arrange for our school. The freshman this year will be paired up with UPS pilots. The pilots will follow and mentor, one on one, the students for their entire 4 years in high school. What an opportunity. Once again it was because of the Colonel’s connections with the community and his drive for the success of the Academy@Shawnee.
I could you give example after example, if you care to listen, of how the Colonel’s 19 years of experience and his community connections promotes all of the students attending the Academy@Shawnee’s Middle and High Schools. He was one of a few administration personal that was bridging the Middle school to the High school.
However, I would like to share with you how I felt when I was attending the Board meeting that night. During the first part of the meeting when schools were getting recognized, I was sitting in the audience getting frustrated, hurt and then angry. All of these schools were talking about teacher relationships with their students and how awesome of an experience that is. Our school has teachers leaving to go to different school to teach every single day. So, to have the few remaining in our building meant the world to me and to the other 150 children that signed our petition. The swift and quiet transfer of the Colonel just feels like a punishment. A punishment in which our school does not deserve. I have already had the experience earlier this year of a teacher being fired by the District and then just 6 days later she was reinstated by the District to her teaching position. So, that is why I am asking you again: Dr. Hargens, will you please transfer Col. William VanderMeer back to the Academy@Shawnee?
Regards,
Jessica Bennett
Trump’s latest appointment is the Secretary of Education. She is pro charter school. Making my career in education I think I’d like to weigh in on this and give my opinion. Having been subject to the deluge of opinions and memes over the past two weeks, why not throw one out there myself?
This post is my own opinion, not on work time, and not to be confused as anything but my opinion as a voting aged, tax-paying American.
I am opposed to charter schools and voucher systems. Not shocking, as I work in education. I’d like to outline why I am against them, and what I think can be done instead. Perhaps it will help you form an opinion on the matter and since on facebook we all love to tell each other what to think, might as well weigh in on something that I know a little something about.
Hidden behind the innocuous name “school choice” are charter schools. Here is a basic fact most don’t know about Kentucky. In most districts you already have a great deal of choice. Outside of a variety of public schools, you have private schools. Before you say that’s a rich man’s game – it’s not. There is a wealth of students in private school backed by charitable ventures. The term “school choice” is used because it sounds positive, and it doesn’t at all point to the inequities that charters can bring to the table. I am 100% in favor of private schools – you want to put one together and fund it, by all means. But if you want to fund it with the collective pot of money known as taxes, I am not for it.
In brief I am opposed to charters because of the following reasons:
The current “for profit” endeavors mostly center around testing. Right now public education is making a lot of folk’s money. It’s not the teachers, or even the administrators (an easy punching bag) and it sure isn’t the kids. Corporations hiding behind “accountability measures” and “intervention programs” are getting rich off the backs of students and schools. Look up how much Kentucky spends on KPREP, ACT, Industry cert exams, and the litany of accountability measures we are all subject to. Look at what your local school or district is forced to pay for these things and ask yourself is that a wise expenditure of funds? I am not opposed to testing, in fact in many instances it serves as an excellent diagnosis tool both in terms of the program provided, and the individual student’s competency level in a given area. However, we are awash in testing to the point where it has become too much. Again, ask your local school or district how much of a student’s year is spent in assessment. Then ask the state ‘why’, and for what purpose is this being done? Then ask how much. Divide that number by the cost of an average educator and ask if that money would have been better served elsewhere. Rather than more money flow into the coffers of Pearson, ACT, or another edu-corp it would make more sense to put that money on the front line in buildings and districts, working with students.
This system of accountability and the dollar signs attached to testing is one of my chief complaints of public education. Trust me, I love public education. It is what I’ve dedicated my adult working life to, and I believe in it, value it, and am champion for it. I will also be the first to say we have gone off the rails as a state and moreso a nation on the altar of testing. It’s too much and it’s doing a disservice to students, teachers, and administrators. I am not against accountability, but we’ve gone to far. I don’t want my kids spending 5-10 days a year doing standardized tests, and I don’t like the fact that we do it to students right now. I could say no (and then lose my job rather quickly) or use my not at work voice and advocate to anyone who will listen to be voices to change that aspect of our system.
My fear is that introducing private enterprise into school business will be much the same as the edu-corps and their introduction into the money making business of accountability. Right now they’re making wheelbarrows of money off testing. I can’t imagine the harm that will come when they get into the classroom. I’m sure it will look but under the hood will be hidden some darker things. If you want an example go google some charters. Look at their results, and then at their admission policies. If they are killing it in the for profit world and they are educating ANY kid (ESL, ELL, Special ed, impoverished) that walks off the street- more power to them and they need to share their special recipe. Until I see replicable models of charters that work with the same students as the public school has to take, I won’t believe they’re anything more than a private school with selective enrollment being paid for by my tax dollars. I’m not OK with my taxes paying for some kids to be successful, and some not by design. If I’m going to pay for it I’d like them to have an even shot.
The argument for a charter and “school choice” is an inviting argument. It’s built on the narrative that public schools are failing. In some places they are. Either through poor funding, poor management, or other issues, they are failing. However, in many places they are chugging along just fine. When was the last time you read a story “local public school is doing just fine” or instead saw “Detroit schools are falling apart and are full of mold.” Ask yourself which one is more provocative to report on? Rather than critically look at the system we rely on short snippets and sensational stories to guide our opinions. Again, these are the lives of students and their futures. I’d urge you to take a broader view of the system. If all you see is at the local level and you pay your taxes and feel anger that the local school isn’t doing well. I get it. So you hear the talk of school choice and it sounds good. I’ll ask you to consider instead improving the system in place. It’s not broken, and in many cases it’s great. It does however have numerous problems, some of its own design, and some out of its hands. In the hands of the voters are many of these decisions.
I would urge you to become informed about some of the systemic issues facing public education and be an advocate to change them, and in some cases outright fix them before you look at charter schools as a solution.
The second argument for charter schools is “I’d rather be able to direct my tax money how I see fit”. I can understand that sentiment, but I believe an educated society is a benefit to all. I would instead say you are paying to have kids educated in the democratic process, become thinkers, doers, and contributors to society. While it might be ok to look at a voucher in your pocket as a better means to self-govern what happens with your kids I’d ask you to consider the whole first. I believe a well-funded public system is a benefit to all. If you do not, you have options- private school and homeschool. Both can require sacrifices to achieve. I’m willing to say the benefit to the whole of the community (paying taxes to fund public schools) than the benefit to the individual (a voucher in your pocket). You may not agree with that, and you may not agree with the two alternatives I listed and that’s OK. You probably wouldn’t agree when I further say I think we need *more* tax money being funneled to education. If I had my way we’d spend far more on education than we would many other things. The beauty is we can both be advocates for what we believe in, and I will hope that those who feel as I do outvote those who feel as you do.
Outside of the basic taxes for the individual versus taxes for the collective good if you want some suggestions to improve the system rather than look at charters as the silver bullet I’d be happy to give some.
Here’s my take based on my experience. It’s only my opinion, so take it for what it’s worth:
This post was written by a principal within JCPS who has asked to remain anonymous.
Good evening. My name is Stephen Cain.
I had been the Chief Flight Instructor at The Academy @ Shawnee for the past 10 years. I come before you tonight to ask why you Board members indirectly, and Dr. Hargens directly, have done anything/everything in your power to destroy success at The Academy @ Shawnee.
I left Shawnee this past summer because, after 10 years there, I saw negative trends, or at least, no positive changes in the future and I felt powerless fighting for advances. I had a very difficult time deciding what to do because I loved, and still love, my students.
I’ve held my tongue the entire time because of possible/ probable retribution from administrators and a past principal, but now I can’t any longer.
All of the hard work and effort to build a nationally respected aviation program, an outstanding NJROTC program and robotics program, by people like Keith Look, Col Will Vandermeer, Mr. Tito, Tyler Shearon, Crystal Darensbourg, Master Chief Vermillion, Mr. Armendariz, Mr. Mike, Mr. Suggs, Mr. Rose, many additional staff members, and so many dedicated parents are being killed by the top administrators and board members at JCPS.
Several years ago, when Dr. Look left, Dr. Hargens did not seek advice from the school community for a new principal and she gave us a disastrous replacement after about six months. That person almost singlehandedly ruined the school. Once he disappeared in Spring 2015, we went without a replacement until 36 hours prior to the new school year and once again without listening to the input from the school, parents and students.
The school population wanted someone with knowledge of Shawnee students and their unique challenges as their new leader. Faculty, staff, parents, and most importantly students want consistency in leadership because they were going through another leadership change in less than 2 years. Yet once again Dr. Hargens found someone else. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that Mrs. Benboe is a good person and has worked hard to improve the situation at Shawnee, however she came from outside our Shawnee community and had no idea of the overwhelming challenges Shawnee students face. This put her and the students at a disadvantage.
We have all recently seen the magnitude of issues boiling over at the school and yet, once again, Dr. Hargens has directly interfered in the school and dismissed three of the most respected staff members. WHY? When teacher turnover is already an issue at the school, why create more? How is that in the best interest of the students at Shawnee?
So, as I asked at the beginning of my statement: why have you Board members indirectly, and Dr. Hargens, directly done anything/everything in your power to destroy success at The Academy @ Shawnee? If you want to close The Academy @ Shawnee, be straight forward and say so. Don’t kill it by 1000 cuts.
These students deserve better from their leaders.
Editor’s note: The Academy @ Shawnee lost their SBDM powers 5 years ago when the school went into Priority Status. The school community has had very little influence over the decisions that have been made at the school level, and the continued abuse and neglect of that school, as well as their inability to exit priority status, lies fully at the feet of district leadership.
Watch the entire video here (there is a brief video outage at the beginning), including an interruption from Vice Chair Porter when she was concerned Mr. Cain might say something negative about district leadership’s “chosen” principal.
It was a heated local school board race. Three of the seven seats were up for grabs. The school district – reeling from egregious mismanagement where questionable decisions and adult-centered shell games frequently put appearances and spin over needs of students – was ripe for change. Meanwhile, education reformers hidden in plain sight continued to feign best intentions while doing irreparable harm to our most vulnerable students, all in the name of accountability.
One of the incumbents, who spent over $120,000 on his election four years ago, has been mired in conflict of interest concerns since day one of his term. This heir of a healthcare tycoon, himself a venture capitalist, had the ability to spend twice that amount, if necessary, to hold on to his seat during this race. As the current board chair, he was seen by many as a wealthy but benevolent philanthropist, and a likely shoo-in, despite his recent apparent support of outsourcing district responsibilities to private interests, and enabling a lack of accountability from district leadership. Going up against him was going to take a candidate with gumption. The teachers’ union declined to back anyone in this race, for fear of ending up on the chair’s bad side should he win reelection.
Meanwhile in another district, the current incumbent who had built a reputation for asking tough questions and challenging status quo, was being challenged by a dark horse, outsider. This challenger, a human resources consultant, had only moved back to town a year ago, after having spent the last 28 years in Wisconsin. WISCONSIN! But for some unclear reason, this outsider had garnered an endorsement from an elusive PAC. This PAC, run by a handful of millionaires who probably do not have their own kids in public schools, was spending upwards of $300,000 on his marketing campaign. For a local school board race! Why would such an organization back an outsider over a popular incumbent board member?
I’ll tell you why.
The school board race in question took place in Louisville, Kentucky. With $6.4 Billion at stake, Kentucky is the largest of the 7 states yet to pass charter legislation. And with over 101,000 students and an annual budget of $1.4 Billion, Louisville is home of the largest school district in the state of Kentucky — Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS). We have a target on our backs. Our new Republican governor ran his campaign on the promise to bring charter schools to our state, and has declared his desire to start in Louisville and Lexington, our two largest communities, which also have high urban populations. The charter gauntlet had been thrown before the election, so it’s no surprise that those who stand to profit from privatization and charter school legislation, would be willing to invest big bucks into putting a business-friendly candidate in place. We suspect this is why the “favored son” was there, as well.
And now the good news.
Local public education advocacy group, Dear JCPS, frustrated with the board leadership for the lack of oversight and consequences for repeated failures of district administration, decided enough was enough. Speaking at a board meeting on May 10, we informed board members that they “either take this bull by the horns or we will vote you out!” In July, we took our promise one step further and conducted a candidates’ interest meeting. Several potential candidates were identified, three of whom actually filed. We mounted an active grassroots campaign, worked with labor unions and members, and helped mobilize boots-on-the-ground to support the campaigns of the three candidates (two from the meeting and one incumbent) who had publicly denounced charter school legislation and privatization efforts. Our group helped educate and inform the voting public of the dangers and motivations of outside business interests and hidden agendas … AND THEY LISTENED! Voters resoundingly VOTED OUT the incumbent board chair, who, according to his successful opponent’s Facebook page, outspent him 10 to 1. Voters also resoundingly REJECTED the dark horse, dark money candidate from Wisconsin in favor of the proven incumbent who asks tough questions and holds district leaders accountable. All three of the group’s favored candidates were elected, despite the contrary endorsements of local papers, business leaders and big money at play!
But don’t start celebrating yet.
While Louisville and Lexington voters clearly recognized the risks to public education and voted blue in the November 8 election, the rest of our state did not. Our State House, the last Democrat-controlled legislative chamber in the South, fell to the Republicans. This, combined with an already Republican-controlled Senate, and newly elected religiously overzealous Republican oligarch-turned governor, means there will be absolutely ZERO checks and balances in place to prevent harmful and extensive anti-public education legislation from passing in Kentucky. While Louisville’s recent school board selections mean we will finally have a fighting chance to stop the intentional harm that education reformers are doing at the local level, they can only do so much once the floodgates are opened at the state and national levels.
Please send reinforcements. We have a difficult two years ahead of us. I’m not sure how much longer we can hold them off.
Dear JCPS,
My name is M, and I am a junior at the Academy @ Shawnee. You might recognize me from this time last year when I stood before you and spoke about how I never had a math teacher at all last year and didn’t receive what I deserve as a student because of it.
Well, I stand before you at this moment because once again my fellow classmates and I or not getting what we need and deserve. Recently, a lot of changes have been made to my school and the most problematic or infelicitous change has been the change in staff. If you aren’t familiar with the background of most students at my school, most of (them/us) come from a lamentable background and don’t have a perfect support system. The people who were taken away from our school were some of the most understanding, caring and solicitous staff at my school. My school is not just a regular school. We need more than your average school and we definitely need and deserve more than what is being given to us.
Before I close, I would just like to ask that the next time you make a decision about what is being done to a school whose background and culture you aren’t familiar with, I would like to ask that you think about who it really affects, and that is the students.
Thank you.
Student’s name has been replaced with first initial.