I had quite a few critics on my last post make some valid points. Unfortunately, I couldn't help but wonder, were they Buist parents who had trouble sleeping for a change? Sorry folks, but I've lived this life too long. So long, I don't even appreciate true criticism when it comes my way. I apologize to those true critics who have nothing to do with Buist. But a mother's past has little relevance to what a positive future she is trying to make for her children. How many of you have the nerve to have your life story blasted in the Post and Courier? I certainly don't.
No one owes Ms. Capers more of an apology than our Superintendent. Our superintendent made quite an ass of herself in Wednesday's paper. Yeah, I said it. Sorry, I'm not here to please. I'm here to vent and hopefully make a change in the right direction. She said, "My heart broke when I read...about a Charleston mother..." Sniffle, sniffle...Yeah, yeah...according to my sources, you knew ALL about this Charleston mother and her children's story BUT you didn't give a rat's ass until that story wound up in the front page of the Post and Courier. Then you have the tackiness to "invite" Candace Capers back "into our schools." Dr. Mac, she didn't leave "our schools." She just went East of the Cooper, where so many of our white parents went long ago. They were just lucky 'cause they could afford to MOVE there, unlike so many others. Yeah, we also know how you shuffle the black kids to James Island under NCLB. My sources tell me there is NO bus that transports downtown kids to Mt. Pleasant. Why is that?
I also say, "Blah, blah, blah", on your administrators and their lack of resumes, too. Four out of those six Principals you praised in your commentary are first timers, Dr. Mac. I'm not knocking them. I'm just saying you have some nerve praising them. There's no resume, yet somehow you made it sound like there was one. These are all changes you've made in the last few months, yet you act as if these people attributed to your projected improvement rating. And please don't put our CDA "on the West side" under your leadership. We're tired of has-beens like Mr. Benton and we're certainly tired of guinea pigs, Dr. McGinley. Give us some credit and admit these schools need some serious help. We'll pray you made the right decisions with your "superstar" administrators. But in the meantime, will you please give Ms. Capers a damn bus so she can get her kids to a better school? You know? Like you do those Buist kids.
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I will say it again Underdog. It is the community who has to turn the schools around. Community members need to come in and support the teachers and principals of these schools. Ask the schools what they need and then provide them with whatever they requested.
What would happen if they tried to pull the junk they have done in downtown in Mt. Pleasant, James Island, West Ashely; notice I did not add North Charleston into the city mixed because I feel North Charleston is being done the same way as the downtown schools? I would guess that people would come out and would protest, get their lawyers, and they would pound on their representatives so why have the downtown folks not done the same. I just don't understand why the citizens of these areas in which the schools are not doing well have not come and done a better job in supporting the schools so that they could make changes for the better. Why aren't the local leaders supporting the schools with mentors and financial support that the PTA's give the Mt. Plesant schools. As long as everyone stays silent, nothing will get done. As long as people say nothing, nothing will be done. As long as people just sit and do nothing, nothing will ever be done.
On a side note, why did you point out only the white folks who are getting their kids to Mt. P. I have know black parents who have done what they had too to get their kids into the schools in Mt. P. The folks who have done this I would assume did so because they got fed up with waiting for things to change and lost faith in the schools that should have served them and their children only have one chance for a good education once.
Second side note, I bet that Ms. Capers children's home address was their great-grandmother so they were getting the free transportation and if the downtown administrators knew that Ms. Capers was cheating. They should have sent her children back to their home school and then Ms. Capers could have done the NCLB school transfers and they use to send downtown students to Mt. Pleasant schools. The North Charleston students are going there now and bus transportation is being provided. But as long as Ms. Capers children's home address is great grandmother. The district does not have to do anything, but now this is moot since some people have leased a townhouse for her. Ms. Caper cheated the system just like those Buist parents. Everyone cheating for their kids to get a better education than what they thought their home schools could provide the children.
Yeah... I was one of those "Buist" parents that posted a comment on Capers (and many other of your blogs)... and I can tell you I didn't lose any sleep
I say again I do not apologize or feel guilty my child is at Buist
We neither lied or cheated to get in... we followed the rules and were lucky to be picked... and guess what...my husband is not a rock star, lawyer, doctor, CCSD employee, city paper reporter, big time developer, in politics or any other high profile job and I'm not either... you could say we are blue collar workers who live pay-check to pay-check
If Capers is using her great grandmother's Mt. P address than she is a cheater and deserves the anger you use towards the Buist cheaters... no one should cheat bottom line
And if she did cheat than she does not deserve bus transporation...
buist kids do get transportation... so what... maybe that's the only way lower income parents can get their kid to Buist... you want the working class folks to have their kids at Buist right? Not just all the rich folks... so they need the bus to accomplish that
I choose not to use the bus and drive my child to and from school everyday from Johns Is. I don't like what goes on on the bus... So I spend the money on gas and take my time to drive my child downtown... it's an extra expense but I do it for my kid
Buist has it's problems (like every school) it's not a perfect place... but when I think where my child would have to go if she wasn't there it gives me chills... I agree that CCSD needs to improve schools, but it's not JUST downtown schools, it's the whole county... AND it's not just CCSD that needs to change, it all starts at home... with the parents...
I don't think this lady cheated but even if she did she didn't take someone else's spot the way the Buist cheaters do. I have known many people that used fake addresses to get into Sullivan's Island and I who cares? SI is a public school that just makes room for the residents.
I have also known people that used a fake address for St Andrews Math and Science. They do seem to have a problem with overcrowding at St Andrews but no actual resident gets pushed out.
Buist parents that cheat actually took a downtown child's place. That is stealing. That is much more than trying to help their own kid like Ms. Capers did. If her kids had a white mother the critics would be a lot less vocal.
If Ms. Capers had been a white woman the critics would have been less vocal. Give me a break. The people who spoke out about Ms. Capers would have been as critical, I believe. I know I was critical about the fact that she had been irresponsible and if she was white my opinion would have been the same. Her irresponsibility had nothing to do with her skin color because I know that their are white folks who are just as irresponsible. Why I think people reacted the why they did had nothing to do with skin color. They were critical of a person who had a child at 14, did not finish school, and on top of that continued to have children when she should have been more responsible. I think people were critical of someone who has been irresponsible while they have tried them self to live a responsible lifestyle.
The person from John's Island I believe you seem to think that posters of this blog are going after you. I don't think so you got your child in legitimately. Why do you sound like you have a chip on your shoulder. Sounds like you got in Buist the legitimate way. I believe people have always gone after those who are at that school who cheated. Why the anger, the bitterness I read in your post. People have been pointing their feelings towards those parents who have cheated to get their kid into Buist. Now how come you don't acknowledge that there are people at Buist who have cheated and that their children should be removed. How come you don't acknowledge the fact that there are those who have cheated. Why act like there is nothing going on? I just don't understand the hostility in your post.
I agree that schools should be better all over, but the change needs to come from the individual community. The individual community should be working with the classroom teacher and find solutions to the fact that there are children whose behaviors are ruining the classroom and we need to come up with solutions. The problem is that parents don't think junior and sissy are doing anything wrong and want to place the blame on the other children or the teacher. Each individual community needs to be more responsible to their schools.
anonymous 11:32...Did I not say "no one should cheat"? If I have to spell it out for you...NO ONE SHOULD USE A FALSE ADDRESS TO GET THEIR KID IN BUIST OR ANY OTHER SCHOOL IN THE COUNTY... got it?
I know there are probably cheaters who have gotten their kid into Buist... I can honestly say I don't know them or not aware of any people I know that have done it...cheaters should not be allowed to have their child attend...these people should suffer the rules and have their child removed
I'm bitter because underdog and fellow bloggers always have to bring Buist into the discussion... this current blog is a perfect example... The story about this Capers women doesn't need comments about Buist in it, but underdog must say something derogatory about Buist in almost every one of her/his posts... and frankly I'm sick of it... so I share my opinion
And let me tell you when bloggers who hate Buist know there is a Buist parent expressing their opinon, oh how the nasty remarks fly...(just as you did) so that's what why I sound like I have a "chip on my shoulder" because I do!!!
You must be new to this blog... go back and read all the crap underdog and the other Buist haters have to say... it's an eye opener how much hate these people have towards one school and the people who run it and the county... you might think they would take all that energy and use it in a different manner... but alas they do not...DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOY READ
Johns Island mother tell me how my post was nasty. My comments to you was a compliment in how you worked within the system and if I have any negative comments. It is to those who have cheated to get what you have achieved. I do not think I was being nasty.
I brought the Buist comments in this stream of thoughts. I find it curious that those parents who cheated at getting into Buist are villains and Ms. Caper is seen as a hero. I don't know if Ms. Capers children's home address is grandma. But I know that under the NCLB laws the school system must provide transportation to those students who have transferred from their home school to an alternate one and since they are not being transported from her home. The only alternative is Ms. Caper's children they have a Mt. Pleasant address; otherwise they would be getting bus transportation from downtown every morning just like the kids in North Charleston do when they go to Mt. Pleasant or as some want to infer that downtown students are going to James Island.
Is the fact that Ms. Caper is poor and her kids would go to a failing school that makes her a hero because she beat the man at his game? Because those parents who were wanting the best for their children even if they were already attending a successful school also beat the man. They wanted more for their children and that made them a villain.
Johns island mother if this blog angers you to the point of writing cap post. Why bother looking at this blog because I don't think things are going to change. Underdog feels the way she does because she sees what has happened to the downtown area. A few years ago a school official admitted that the school district had broken many promises to the downtown folks and maybe that is why Underdog is upset. Buist is there and gets everything it needs and the PTA adds more; meanwhile, the other downtown schools are struggling.
But what I have said too. The individual communities need to come forward and support, help the failing schools as much as the successful schools communities support them.
Here's a news flash people. CCSD and the Superintendent direct where your child goes under NCLB. It's not a choice the parent really has. That's one of the lies they want you to believe. If you think you can transfer out, even to a school of their choosing, after the sign up date...which was last spring...you can forget it. And what about those schools that they promised were going to make AYP for the first time two years in a row? Do you think CCSD let those parents transfer their children last October when those same schools came up short? No way. It's all a lie and Nancy McGinley lies throught her teeth regularly. At least Ms. Capers is doing something about the crappy education CCSD gave her. She's seeing to it that her kids don't fall for the crap McGinley and the rest of them are dishing out. I'm impressed, even the newspaper looks like it's had enough too.
What does the Caper's story have to do with Buist anyway? You're bias towards Buist, Underdog, is so pathetic. You can't even have a discussion about a completely different topic without trying to stir up the anti and pro Buist bloggers so you have controversy.
You Buist supporters are so defensive that you can not read the sentences correctly. I am the one that put Buist in the mix on this story. If you read the sentences again. I basically said, how is it that Ms. Caper is seen as a hero and the Buist parents who used a different address are seen as villians cheaters. I wonder how you see this as an attack on Buist nor is it a defense of Buist. I am neither for or against Buist, but I am for justice and fairness and if you see this as an attack on Buist. You have some serious issues going on.
Anonymous 9:11... can YOU read... Underdog put Buist in the mix on this story in the first paragraph of this post "Valid points, but...?" and the last sentence...
Why don't you read it again... that's what we are talking about... not what any anonymous poster said
Underdog I am curious. What are the statistics that all of the NCLB children are going to James Island because there are children who live in the North Charleston area who are going to the Mt. Pleasant schools. Are you telling us that no children are going from downtown to the Mt. Pleasant schools? If that were true how come no civil rights lawyer has gotten involved.
As far as get Ms. Caper's a bus. Well I imagine she was using a false address to get her kids to school and that they were getting a ride from their home and not their moms home; otherwise they would been going to the schools that served their mothers home.
A teacher has to want to stay in a school to teach a foreign language. You can have a position open, but if it does not get filled. What do you do? Why do you think the teachers in the downtown area leave their schools. Do you think it is all about how the administrators deal with them or is it the fact that their are a lot of apathetic parents who could care less about their children and see school as a glorified babysitter.
My problem is that the downtown folks who post here and the Buist parents who post here do not what to admit to any wrong doing. The downtown posters want to act like their children are so receptive to learning so their children can do no wrong and that the school system is doing them a disservice by ignoring their needs or sending them bad teachers all the time. On the other hand, Buist parents want to think that no one has cheated or used influence to get their child or children into the school.
People can talk all they want. The kids at Buist are going to get a good education period. The come from homes whose parents understand the need for a good education. Can that be said of all the parents who send their kids to the downtown schools? And for those who say yes they do, then what you need to do is get rid of the children and parents who continue to destroy the education process in your school. Until those children and parents are dealt with. The schools will continue to fail. You can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. And a few bad apples ruin the basket. These two saying speak volume to why schools fail. There are solutions to failing schools. What is the elementary charter school doing downtown that the other public schools are not doing? Some one please tell us what is the difference in the two groups of schools and I am speaking more for the elementary schools. Look forward to hearing the answers.
9:11- Buist supporters can't read the sentences correctly? Maybe you should read Underdog's orginal blog again and see if you can find the Buist references. They're quiet clear.. Underdog takes a totally unrelated story and to deflect the criticism she is taking from people that normally support her views and those that don't- brings Buist into the arguement to get everyone going in that direction.
You Buist parents crack me up stating Ms. Capers story has nothing to do with Buist. Her child wouldn't need a bus to Moultrie if they let her in Buist. Give me a break. Why DO we think its okay to bus kids from Sullivan's Island to Buist, but not okay for a parent zoned for Sanders-Clyde, Memminger, or James-Simons to receive transportation to Sullivans Island?
Because Buist is a COUNTY Magnet that happens to be located downtown.
Is that you, Gregg?
OK, I'll bite. Let's say Buist is a COUNTY Magnet...however they managed to scam that one. So what's Jennie Moore, Ashley River Creative Arts and St. Andrews Math & Science? Then tell me how these are different from McGinley's so-called partial magnets. CCSD should just call it what it is. It's been going on since CCSD began. It's all about keeping as many as possible "poor Black kids" in their place and out of the "better" schools. If that's not what it is, then someone needs to do some explaining because that's what it looks like. Ms. Capers knows what's going on and where the holes in the fence are located.
If Buist isn't a county magnet school, why is one out of the 4 list "county"?
I know St. Andrews allowed me to list my child and we don't live anywhere near there... I don't know about the other schools
So I would say Buist is a county magnet school as it takes 10 kids out of 40 from the county and surely the poor performing school list includes schools other than downtown... don't forget the sibling list... all in all I'd say Buist looks like a county wide magnet school to me
And your comment about "keeping poor Black kids" out is so insane... from what I understand out of the 200 or more applicants very few are black... it's the parents that need to make that effort
Once again, they didn't answer the question. Sidestepping is a special art form with CCSD.
No one is saying Buist isn't a county-wide school, whatever that is and however it came to be one. The question remains. Why is Buist the only county-wide K-8 school operated this way?
Why are the admissions policies at no other magnet school not remotely similar to those at Buist? Is this a closed shop for a reason and if so what is it? Why have other magnet schools been denied by the board and administration when they attempt to emulate anything that remotely resembles Buist? Why is Buist the exception to almost every rule which apply to all other K-8 magnet schools? If the waiting list is so long, why is no second Buist in the works?
How about commenting on the original post... as usual the line of thinking veers of course to the evils of Buist...
Wasn't this post about Ms. Capers and her problems?
In case you hadn't noticed, the story is about gaining access to good schools. This discussion is about access. Ms. Capers is part of a larger story and not an isolated one at that.
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