Thursday, December 11, 2008
Way to Go, McClellanville!
What a joy it was to read the McClellanville parents spoke their minds at their community meeting last night. Oh, I wish I had been there. They were even able to get the microphone from Sue Robertson (how much is she getting paid, again?)Evidently Ms. Toya played the "you can trust us" game again, but they didn't fall for it. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the community forums go. I hope everyone is taking notes from the McClellanville community.
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4 comments:
I couldn't agree with you more, Underdog. Sorry I wasn't a fly on the wall.
It looks like Jon Butzon is at it again. This time he (or someone very much like him) is signing off as "GermanXO" on the Post Courier blog. He's such a toadie. Like the administration, he blames poor schools and low student achievement on a lack of parent participation (Did he not see the parents deeply involved at Lincoln). He says Lincoln's limitations aren't the result of CCSD's poor management. He says nothing about what the parents are saying CCSD has done to undercut their school programs. He says nothing about kids spending more time on the bus than in the classroom. He says nothing about Mt. Pleasant's overcrowded schools. He only says we need to support the superintendent.
Who pays these people to say this garbage? Yes, and how much did they pay Sue Robertson to do this hack job on making it look like the public had input? Just for the record, CCSD has paid over $200,000 in just the last 18 months to support and conduct these school reorganization planning sessions. These are just outside contractors coming in to make it look like the community has shaped what CCSD has already decided. That's lower than it really was because $200,000 is just for the ones we know about.
Here's an example of what some of the public comments sounded like at the McClellanville meeting. They were far more polite than McGinley was. This one is from comments on the Post and Courier report:
Posted by dolphingirl on December 11, 2008 at 7:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm currently attending Lincoln High School as a junior. I would like to point out that Lincoln is not a segregated school! I can say this as a fact because I am a white student that goes there. Alot of points have been made concerning the closing of the school and why or why not that should happen. In my opinion, Lincoln is a good school. The one on one interaction between the students and teachers helps alot. Lincoln is in need of much improvement in areas such as better courses, better lunches, and better extracurriculars. Lincoln is in fact a passing school, and we did meet AYP. However, Wando did not. To tell you the truth, I think it's ironic that "they" say Wando has everything to offer us. At least once or twice a week I sit in the cafeteria and can look over and see a crowd of Wando students here taking carpentry. How can anyone say people at lincoln are racist? The crowd of Wando students that come to Lincoln are all black. Why won't white Wando students come here? Anyways, those students from Wando stare at us like we're ignorant kids and think we don't belong! (Even though it's our school.) Who is to say that won't be the case if you send us to Wando? How will we be treated at Wando, as students coming from Lincoln? We have to look at this issue from all viewpoints. If we get sent to Wando, how will this affect our GPA's? As a senior next year, how will this affect me and my peers? I believe in a 5th option. Why not integrate Wando students with ours? Why can't we bring Wando students here, and have Lincoln prosper? We have a small poulation, Wando is overcrowded and already needing another building to accomadate them. If CCSD's problem is money, why are they spending money to build a new school for them instead of funding Lincoln, and giving Lincoln better courses and better extracurriculars? Lincoln is said to be worse then Wando. If you think that, that is your opinion. It is true, however that Wando has more to offer concerning AP's and other courses. Send Wando's students here and we can "advance" just as much as they have. Why send students from a passing school to a failing school? (LINCOLN IS PASSING)How can people think it's right to send Lincoln students to Wando, but wrong to send Wando students to Lincoln?
If the North Charleston group filled out the forms and just accepted the choices they were given, then they played into the hands of CCSC. Killing Charlestowne Academy and reassigning the real estate, just like the closing and sale of McClellanville Middle is on every choice CCSD gave the community. No exception. Not difficult to read the handwriting on the wall. Why not offer CCSD a counter? Are they the only ones who can dictate choices? Has anyone got the administration to answer the questions that they keep avoiding? What kind of savings come from the sale of buildings instead of filling them with productive programs? What is the cost of putting so many children on the bus? How many students from one district attend school in another? How many children don't attend public schools in the area today vs. in the past or in the future? This isn't good planning if these questions aren't being answered.
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