By Travis Reems
Filed Monday, October 23 at 11:22 PM
The following is a repost from SLSWatch by Nick Clement:
At the Parent Assembly meeting last Thursday night, St. Louis Public Schools Board Member Ron Jackson made the outrageous claim that "Accreditation is a ruse!"
According to Jackson, the district leadership should focus on the African American
Achievement Gap (the gap between white and African American achievement on state test scores), instead of accreditation. He said that the existence of achievement gaps in accredited county schools was proof that accreditation didn't matter.
There addressed his remarks not just to parents, but also to William Danforth and FrankieFreeman, co-chairs of the special advisory committee appointed by Missouri Superintendent of
Elementary and Secondary Education Kent King to recommend ways to help the St. Louis Public Schools. Danforth and Freeman attended the Parent Assembly meeting to learn the concerns of parents.
The new school board majority and Superintendent Diana Bourisaw have made district accreditation a central goal of their administration. The district, which is currently provisionally accredited, is in jeopardy of losing accreditation because of policies followed while Ron Jackson was a member of the board majority.
State accreditation now rests heavily on student achievement on state test scores. Jackson appears not to understand that raising test scores in a district that is 85% African American, as St. Louis is, is not only necessary for the district to obtain accreditation, it is also necessary for
closing the African American Achievement Gap in metro St. Louis and in Missouri. Thus, Jackson's attack on the goal of accreditation is also an attack on the goal he claims to be for: closing the achievement gap.
Losing accreditation could have grave consequences for St. Louis Public Schools and the City of St. Louis. No one knows for sure what it would mean for the school district, but it can hardly be good for the city. Would families want to stay in a city where the schools are unaccredited? Would families want to move to a city where the schools are unaccredited? The effects of losing accreditation could be disastrous for the city, for property values, and for the city's tax base.
The President of the State Board of Education, Peter Herschend, recently sent a letter to the school district stating that any decision on accreditation status will be based solely on past performance and cannot include anything happening this year. As part of the board that ran the
district for the past three years, Jackson, the person most critical of any efforts to get accreditation, is the very same person who may cost the district accreditation.
If accreditation is the state's measure of a school district's performance, opposition to focusing on achieving accreditation, in effect, puts Jackson in opposition to improving performance for district students, 85% of whom are African American. And puts him in opposition to the further existence of the school district itself.
Bourisaw has presented a detailed Corrective Action Plan (it can be viewed on the St. Louis Public School web site) to move towards full accreditation by addressing the collapse of test scores, attendance, and graduation over the three years that Jackson and his allies ran the school district.
"We have one year in which to make up for the past three," she said. While Jackson was part of the board majority, the district's accreditation score plummeted from 64 to 39, and he and the rest of the board virtually ignored the achievement gap.
Back in 2001, before he was elected to the school board, Jackson, as chairman of the Black
Leadership Roundtable's Education Committee, spearheaded an effort to eradicate the achievement gap in every school district in the St. Louis metropolitan area by 2005. At the time, Jackson said that they wanted to eradicate the achievement gap by raising academic achievement for all students. When the Black Leadership Roundtable subsequently published their 2005 Regional Report Card: Eliminating the African American Achievement Gap, Mayde Henson, then chairwoman of the BLR Education Committee, admitted that where there was improvement in reducing the gap, it was done at the expense of white achievement. In other words, the gap improved not because black students performed better but because white
student achievement dropped. "That is not what we intended," she said.
During the three years that Jackson was part of the ruling majority on the school board, he was in a position to implement policies that would reduce the gap. Instead, the policies he implemented had the opposite effect. The achievement gap, defined as the gap in the average of math and communication arts scores, actually increased in St. Louis Public Schools. According to
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education statistics, the achievement gap was 12.6% in 2003, the last school year before Jackson was on the board. In 2004, the first full year Jackson was on the board basically remained steady, climbing a fraction to 12.8 %. The next year, 2005, the gap grew to 13.4%. And in 2006, the third year of Jackson's majority on the school board, the gap jumped to 21.3%.
Over the three years that Jackson and his allies directed the school district, the African American Achievement Gap increased by 69%!
32 Comments:
Although it is disappointing that he did not apologize for his group of four making a mess of things [when they had a real chance to improve things], he has a valid point that accredidation alone is not sufficient.
Certainly accredidation is necesary to keep control of the district in the hands of the voters.
NCLB [No Child Left Behind] would not have been necessary if accredited districts with high enough achievement for many children had not been getting away with not educating children that needed more help. NCLB needs a lot of fixing, but passed because so many children weren't learning how to read, etc. in accredited districts.
Unfortunately, it is ironic that O'Brien, Downs, Jones, Purdy may have given their opposition the rage to mobilize the legislature to take control of the district away from the voters. It is sad that they used the "two wrongs make a right" when they said that they would work with the Superintendent and then just behaved as badly as Schoemehl, Archibald board. They never tried to work with Williams. They would have been more honest if they would have just fired him as soon as they won.
Test scores are a very imperfect measure of student achievement.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006 7:23:00 AM
Anonymous 8:23:59 AM, you make some valid points. Students can be encouraged to study for tests and pass them without learning the material. Who wants a physician or anyone else who merely passed a test but can't apply the material to the present situation.
Nevertheless, your summary statement is not accurate in my opinion. Williams was a difficult man to work with and bullied many. He didn't listen to anyone with experience, only to the Schoemehl gang.
Even the Post-Dispatch faulted him for giving only a slap on the wrist to Irons.
Just because he was challenged in some areas where foolish decisions were being made does not result in their not working with him.
Superintendents work for Boards and not the other way around. Williams consistently ignored members of the Board majority and went so far as to criticize them publicly. What employee would retain his or her position by acting in such a manner.
No, Williams did not work with the Board rather than what you expressed. Take time to rethink your statement, and you just might recognize the error in it.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006 7:40:00 AM
Correction to last sentence: No, Williams did not work with the Board rather than their not working with him,as you expressed. Take time to rethink your statement, and you just might recognize the error in it.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006 7:43:00 AM
These FACTS can be verified:
I believe SLPS students can and will succeed; however, we must identify the problem:
The Missouri Department of Education has acknowledged that the St. Louis Public Schools was making steady improvment prior to 2003. Not only will documents show that MSIP scores were improving but the attendance rates, enrollment, graduation rates, and college admission were also improving each; specifically 2001, 2002, 2003 school years.
DESE documents will also show that MSIP scores, attendance rates, graduation, college entry rates began to decline in 2003 and have not improved since 2003.
In order for the school district to improve, we must identify factors that caused the district to lose accreditation in the late 90s.
We must identify what strategies were being employed in 2001, 2002, and 2003 that led to the improvement.
We must identify the factors led to the rapid deceleration again in student performance from 2003-2006.
I understand that there are many people in the St. Louis community who do not want SLPS children to succeed and do not want to see any improvement in some areas of the St. Louis community.
However, for those who do care, let's please stop BLAMING others--this will not solve the problem, let's stick to the facts and find a way to help SLPS children be the
BEST that they can be.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006 5:42:00 PM
Inspecteur Clouseau ici: Comme un enfant (as a child) we were often challenged: "Dare to be a Daniel."
Unfortunately, the Daniel on this blog is far from that type of "Daniel." No facts, lots of innuendo, and extremely irrational ideas. Does Daniel see how foolish he appears?
Fortunately, the following post and writer makes sense, n'est-ce pas?
Tuesday, October 24, 2006 7:51:00 PM
Daniel, what in gosh sakes does Veronica's behind have to do with the subject at hand? Sakes alive man, we're talking about childrens futures here!
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 4:18:00 PM
"The fact is that some board members are more interested in feeding their egos than helping the students. Just ask Veronica O'Brien when she ate $20,000 for security meals."
This is a dumb thing to say, but I hold the st. louis media partially responsible.
A lot of them simply did not mention that Timothy Bacon had 12 bullets shot into him the night before the 20,000 dollars was voted. There might not have been any danger related to whoever fired those shots, but the chickensheet st. louis media would not even allow for the possibility that it might have had an impact on the decision to spend the money.
Thursday, October 26, 2006 12:32:00 AM
philo teknos,
Williams did not try to work with downs, et al., and downs, et al. did not try to work with williams. Both sides failed the kids.
Still, accredidation is extremely important, but ultimately not enough. It is unfortunate that Jackson was not effective in communicating that. Downs also was ineffective when he wrote his 'I don't think politically [and that is good]" piece in his School Watch after the flap about them making Bourisaw permanent superintendent. The city voters are at high risk for losing control of the district in this upcoming legislative session. Parents are very troubled by the way things went this past summer and will be difficult to rally to fight the formation of a Mayoral appointed board by the legislature. Downs et al., need to start behaving in a less politically inept manner.
I didn't vote for them for such incompetance. I am appreciative of all the time they spend, though.
Thursday, October 26, 2006 7:13:00 AM
Anonymous at 8:13:20 AM, would you have preferred that the new board members allow Williams to screw up opening the schools on time so that Slay could have had ammunition for the State takeover? From what was in place at that time, the chances that the schools would be ready for students were slim to none. Maybe Slay wants a State takeover, vouchers for private schools and more charter schools, but those of us who want to see equity in education know the impact that those things will have on the poorest among us. It will just take dollars that used to go to public schools and give them to parents already choosing private schools at full tuition. These are the people who can come up with the difference between the voucher and the full tuition, and they can also provide transportation at arrival and departure times which do not allow many single parents to keep thier jobs. There will be very few of us able to "choose" the private school option for our children just because we are given a voucher for a portion of the tuition. Waiting until Williams screwed up would have hurt the community in the end, and it took the total disregard for their own popularity to do what needed to be done right away, rather than sit back let Williams prove them right. "Being right" is little consolation after it's too late to do anything.
Thursday, October 26, 2006 9:30:00 PM
Dear 10;30:13,
If they would have handled things less arrogantly, there would have been less fuel to the outrage. Their hatred of the board minority impaired their brains.
If we end up with a board appointed by this Mayor (because the legislature may take control of board away from voters), have we really won the war? Yes, Downs, et al. won a battle in getting rid of Williams, but their arrogance and lies have put us in danger of losing the war. The impression is that Downs lied when he campaigned on a platform of working with the Superintendent.
Vashon parents won't rally to keep control in the hands of this board.
Regarding Downs' comments on radio regarding Jackson's accredidation comments, one needs to look at his (Downs) actions, not his words. Has Downs put his kids in neighborhood schools or magnet schools? He has not put them in neighborhood schools. The day that middle class white folks like Downs choose to put their kids in neighborhood schools and not primarily magnet schools is one measure of things being better. Although I do acknowlege that many white parents won't put their children in anything but a white only school. Before Schoemehl, et al., the district may have only been 2 points away from accredidation, but that didn't mean that it still did not have a long way to go on behavior issues, academic performance, etc.
Friday, October 27, 2006 3:50:00 PM
Excuse me, what is the problem with Downs putting his children in magnet schools? Many African American parents do the same with their children. Ron Jackson got his child in Metro, according to some, on the sly. She didn't quite meet the achievement level.
Magnet schools are St. Louis Public Schools, and there should be no shame in putting one's children where they best fit. His children happen to be fairly bright and talented. If there is an opening in a magnet school, why not?
Flint Fowler's went to John Burroughs/Mary Institute. Where did Archibald's go? Certainly not to any neighborhood school.
Your point doesn't meet the criteria for "reasonable" it seems.
Friday, October 27, 2006 5:43:00 PM
I wasn't criticizing Downs for sending his kids to magnet schools, just pointing out that he is living in a glass house with respect to criticizing Jackson for saying that accredidation is not enough. Back when the district was only 2 points away from full accredidation, behavior problems were still a very major issue in the district, as were academic performance. Families with a choice, by and large, were not sending their children to non-magnet schools. If the district was in great shape back then, parents with a choice would have chosen neighborhood schools.
At least on Wednesday on the radio, Downs did admit that Williams was forced out, which was progress.
Saturday, October 28, 2006 1:28:00 PM
Are any Europe's daughters, Asia's daughters, South America's daughters, or North America's daughters available to express themselves?
How many realize Africa is not black? Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, etc. are not black. So what part of Africa is Africa's daughter a member of?
Saturday, October 28, 2006 8:19:00 PM
So, if Williams really was "forced" out, just what did they have on him that made the forcing out possible?
Saturday, October 28, 2006 9:23:00 PM
Indeed, the notion that children should be in the care of their parents is not a given in much of African society.
Only in the past six years or so has it become clear how traffickers take advantage of this custom to buy and sell children, sometimes with no more ceremony than a goat deal.
In 2001, 35 children, half of them under age 15, were discovered aboard a vessel in a Benin port. They said they were being shipped to Gabon to work.
In 2003, Nigerian police rescued 194 malnourished children from stone quarries north of Lagos. At least 13 other children had died and been buried near the pits, the police said.
Africa’s children, the world’s poorest, account for roughly one-sixth of the slave trade, according to the labor organization. Data is notoriously scarce, but it suggests victimization of African children on a huge scale.
By no means is the child trafficking trade uniquely African. Children are forced to race camels in the Middle East, weave carpets in India and fill brothels all over the developing world.
In light of this information from today's New York Times, doesn't it appear St. Louis' children are better off than their counterparts in Africa?
Sunday, October 29, 2006 5:59:00 AM
Since all of humanity can, by DNA, trace their ancestry back to Africa, all human beings are children of Africa. Furthermore, black,white, and yellow, etc. are social constructs of society's need to define boundaries of one group verses another. It is a western caste system. There is only one race and that is human. It is interesting that my name, not my comment, bothered you so that you had to make a comment. That says more about you than me.
Sunday, October 29, 2006 8:14:00 AM
Spoken like it should be spoken, AfricasDaughter!!! All to often the racisit in this society (and the people of color who go along with them) forget that the worlds economy is greatly affected by capitalism. The African continent has been deprived of the "capital" it needs to grow because there are those who hold true to thier economic traditions.
There are also those who are rewarded by the racist capitalist by subjecting the people of their countries to deplorable condiditons and situations. Anon 9:19 is a good example of this racism. Rather than speak to the issues, he/she chose to speak to some issues that reportedly exist in some places on the continent. While trying to show some intelligence he/she starts of with a statement of ignorance: "How many realize Africa is not black?".
No, Stupid, Afirca is not Black! Africa is a continent not a people, and as such those people come in many shades of skin tone.
This "new" board claimed to have the answers to fix the historic woes of this district and to date they have done an abysmal job of getting the broader comunity to rally behind thme. Classes are over crowded, principals and teachers are not getting along, classroom violence is still at record levels and on and on.
As a parent I hope they can turn the tide. I hope that all children begin to learn at high levels. I hope the white folk in this town begin to get over the need to control so much of what is happening around them.
Malcolm Garvey
Sunday, October 29, 2006 10:22:00 AM
Mr. Garvey,
Do you realize your last sentence is exactly what you spent most of your post decrying--the use of race to gloss over the real issues?
Sunday, October 29, 2006 12:04:00 PM
Anon 12:04 -
Definitions of Racism on the Web:
The belief that one 'racial group' is inferior to another and the practices of the dominant group to maintain the inferior position of the dominated group. Often defined as a combination of power, prejudice and discrimination. www.bl.uk/services/learning/curriculum/voices/refglos.html
Based on that definition I am quite comfortable closing my remarks as I did. I noticed that like Anon 9:19 you don't disagree with the point raised, you just disagree with the way it was said.
But I understand that, because most racist are uncomfortable when confronted with the truth.
M. Garvey
Sunday, October 29, 2006 4:06:00 PM
There is no imperative proof that all humanity can trace their DNA back to Africa. Billions have and do believe their humanity goes back to the Middle East between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
Some believe before the Great Deluge, there was no separation of Africa and Europe, that they were joined.
Monday, October 30, 2006 7:24:00 AM
I don't mean to add to the racial climate but can we at least explore the TRUTH!!! All we want is for our children to have a fair chance at an excellent education. If we continue to use inadequate systems of measurement there will always be children of African descent left behind.
After several months of watching the Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel I have come to the conclusion that imparitive proof for some means that a White person has said it is so.
It's amazing that know matter how many shows they do about countries on the African continent or located in the Middle East (or Asia for that matter) none of the hosts are people of color.
1)All humanity derived from common root in African homeland:
"... According to Derevianko the scientific world has come to a realization that all humanity has the same roots and one common place of origin, which is Africa. All archeological, anthropological and paleogenetical data clearly point to this fact, he is convinced.
http://english.pravda.ru/science/
earth/25-09-2006/84646-africa-0
2)Africa has been Sigmon’s research lab for more than three decades. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, she joined UTM in 1969. The australopithecine era was the focus of her career for the first two decades. Her work took her to the African continent on numerous occasions and gave her a detailed understanding of early phases of human evolution.http://www.newsandevents.utoronto.ca/
bin1/000911f.asp
3)This is a ".pdf" could not copy/paste info: http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/
pdfs/data/1999/15517/15517-10.pdf
Monday, October 30, 2006 9:10:00 AM
Not all scientists believe the same theories.
Have searches been made in Asia and Europe?
Some scientists (not all) believe we all evolved from apes too; so Africa is always of interest to those who pursue that theory.
The Piltdown man theory once believed by many scientists was debunked.
Sorry, scientists don't have all the answers.
Monday, October 30, 2006 11:01:00 AM
Oh my goodness-did that man just use the term "white folk"? Seriously? Why does color always have to be raised to make a point?
All of our children in the district schools, be them magnet or otherwise, are dealing with the same issues. These issues have no color at the moment, they affect every child. The issue here is how to make a difference in this district in order to help our children learn. Do you have to be a specific color to do that? I don't believe so. I agree with the previous blogger that said there is only one race, and it is human. Look in the mirror and ask yourselves which race IS it that you really want to belong to. We have strayed way off the subject here-let's get back to our children and how we are going to help them move forward in the current condition of our district. What did YOU do today to make a difference?
Monday, October 30, 2006 5:10:00 PM
Since Anon 4:50 can not be identified as neither male nor female I take it you were talking to me. So I'll respond this way:
I spend at least one day per week volunteering in a public school here in the City. I spend that time assisting teachers in classrooms, monitoring cafeterias during lunch and/or assisting with after school dismissal. This is in addition to working a full-time jjob and running a small business that I co-own. NOW LETS TUN THE TABLES WHAT HAVE YOU DONE??!!
Color is often raised to make a point by People-of-Color because too often people like yourself tell us it is not important. If it's not important why has the skin tone of people like Cleopatra, Jesus, The Holy Mother Mary and a host of others been changed by the "whites" who have produced the "HIStorical text from which children are taught?
Why is it that children of color, and I am speaking primarily of AfroAmerican, always have to ignore the color of their skin while WHITE FOLKS (there, I said it again!) are getting tans, botox and everything else they can to look like us.
Please don't be afraid of what is destined to come. Our children will be taught the truth. Our children will learn. Even if it has to come outside of this system. And as they do, we will continue to teach them HUMANITY, not to run all over the world trying to prove that they are superior. We treated you all well after we "re-gained" political "control" of South Africa and we will do the same here.
Sincerely,
M.G.
Now back to the topic at hand . . . .
Monday, October 30, 2006 5:38:00 PM
Anon 12:04 responding to Mr. Garvey--you are right, I did not disagree with the point you raised, because I do not disagree with you. But I do think if you are going to call someone a racist (you have no idea what color my skin is, or the color of my spouse or children's skin)then you should at least be willing to acknowledge that in your last line of the post you are defining people by the color of their skin.
I agree with you up til the end because I don't even see why you think the white people in this town care enough about the SLPS to be controlling it--most of them don't send their kids there, don't vote in Board elections--they don't care enough to try to control what's going on with the schools. So throwing in a statment like that just turns me, as a reader, off to all the validity earlier in your post. That's all.
Monday, October 30, 2006 7:05:00 PM
The noise will simmer if the board would just do a search. Bourisaw will never be successful unless they do a search.
Monday, October 30, 2006 9:21:00 PM
Rumor is Spampanito is coming back to St. Louis to run the district when the state takes over. They say the district is not happy with the new supt. They she she is all talk and action.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006 12:03:00 AM
Now THAT's funny! It sounds like another rumor started by the Slay-ers.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006 7:35:00 PM
Dianel, why are you commenting on Veronica O'Brien's rear end. What does this have to do with anything other than show how worthless this blogg is. By the way I doubt that the lady weighs more than 100pds but has the spunk of 300pd bear. I'd had to have her tear into me.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006 12:44:00 AM
Hope Daniel doesn't work around kids. Sick man. Report this blog entry to the FBI. I agree O'Brien's rear in question?
Leave the lady alone at least she stands up for what she believes in. that's better than Purdy and Downs.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006 12:48:00 AM
All agreed about Daniel? I hope so. However, the statement that Purdy and Downs not standing up for what they believe in is utterly false as well.
No one needs to be praised at the expense of others. Attend board meetings, and you will see all three standing up for what they believe without being lackies to one another.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006 11:11:00 AM
Mr G,
I work full time also, and do quite a bit of volunteer work at two schools in the district also, aside from attending all PTO meetings for two schools and three childrens parent/teacher conferences. THAT IS WHAT I DO. What difference does it make whether I'm a man or a woman, or what color my skin is? I'm there for my children. I don't know about all the other crap that you were spouting off about, but how about knowing the facts before you jump other people for NOT volunteering their time. I don't particularly appreciate that. You are not the only one in this district that gives of their time.
Friday, November 03, 2006 4:30:00 PM
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