Thursday, April 12, 2012

Candidates for JPS Super appear last night (Video)

The two finalists for the position of Superintendent of the Jackson Public School District appeared at a public forum last night at Galloway Elementary School. Cedrick Gray and Dennis Carpenter answered the same questions from the audience. Members of the audience submitted questions reviewed by a panel. Each candidate was given fifty minutes to answer questions. The finalists could not be present when the other answered questions. The vast majority of the audience (slightly over 200 people attended) were district employees. I did not recognize any business leaders present and few politicians (Frank Bluntson and Marshand Crisler). Representatives from all the media covered the event but only Maggie Wade (WLBT) and Marquita Brown (Clarion-Ledger) stayed after Mr. Carpenter's presentation.

Mr. Carpenter is the deputy superintendent of Newton County Schools in Georgia. There are 19,000 students in the district. Cedrick Gray is the superintendent of Fayette County schools in Tennessee, a district of 3,000 students. Here is the video of each candidate's presentation. I'll write more later when I have time to watch again and take notes but one thing I noticed, and this disturbed me, was neither candidate discussed problems they faced in their current jobs and how they solved them. Budgets were never mentioned despite the fact JPS operates at a deficit and no audit has been completed since 2009. Philosophies and educational jargon was used extensively while concrete approaches were little used.









Posted by Kingfish at 12:57 PM

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Neither appears to be qualified, both from small districts.

April 12, 2012 at 1:17 PM
Anonymous said...

Beggars can't be choosers. Turnaround specialists with proven track records won't touch a crap job like JPS in a crime infested hell hole like Jackson for only $200,000.

April 12, 2012 at 1:40 PM
Anderson said...

Yah. Becoming JPS superintendent is a bit like being bound hand and foot, then tossed into a pit of vipers and directed to clear them out.

April 12, 2012 at 3:09 PM
Anonymous said...

I live in Jackson and love it here. Have since the early 70's. Great people, restaurants, arts, convenenient. Sorry you are so miserable.

I love this place and my neighborhood. Would live nowhere else.

April 12, 2012 at 4:07 PM
Kingfish said...

I did not see any prominent charter school opponents at the forum last night but for Dr. Schimmel, who is a member of the school board. Nancy Loome, no one from Southern Echo, the Superintendents, didn't see any of them. I bet if I had whispered charter schools they would have appeared en masse. Now maybe they attended the community leader meeting earlier and I stand corrected if they did.

April 12, 2012 at 4:44 PM
Anonymous said...

Might be wrong but I think that Womack is part of the community leader group. She's a loyal Loomatic.

April 12, 2012 at 4:46 PM
Anonymous said...

Whomever gets this job is irrelevant.

Just another guy to show up on the
local news trying to convince
"his community" that he's da man.

Char is the only winner here.

They should order 100 extra cases of
Hennessy for the multiple celebrations
that will no doubt be booked for months
to come after the winner is announced.

April 12, 2012 at 9:57 PM
Anonymous said...

so who is Yarber pimping to come in and take the job. saw him griping on the news about the lack of ties to MS. beginning to think he is nothing more than a Chokwe/Stokes in training.

April 13, 2012 at 7:39 AM
Kingfish said...

As pitiful as our public schools systems are in Mississippi, the last thing we should be doing is hiring from within.

April 13, 2012 at 9:15 AM
Anonymous said...

Just curious 4:07 - do you have kids and if so, where do/did they go to school? A JPS school??? And when? Recently?

April 13, 2012 at 9:29 AM

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Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).

Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".

In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.

In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one.

Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

Note: Security provided by INS.

Trollfest '07

Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

Note: Security provided by INS.