Jackson Jambalaya

WOW. Kim Wade takes DEMOCRAT Dorsey Carson to the woodshed today for opposing charter schools.

I thought Dorsey Cardon lost his election ...

Kudos to Tate Reeves because behind the scenes Loome has gone off the deep end in anger and vitriol!!!

Has the Lt. Governor cleared this with Speaker Disaster and Tommy "Two Chins" Weathersby?

Nancy Loome email to her cult April 11, 2012 @ 7:29 PM:

I want to give a tip of the hat to Speaker of the House Philip Gunn. Speaker Gunn has been working hard behind the scenes to negotiate a good charter school bill. He has met regularly with representatives to hear their constituents' concerns and to try to create workable solutions. I remain hopeful that, in conference, a good charter school bill can be negotiated.

If Gunn works to water down this latest charter effort to meet the demands of the public school brown shirts then we'll all know which leader of which body, House or Senate, is truly in favor of charter schools.

What lovely manners Ms Loome has and we all know name calling is an effective way to persuade others.

No wonder the bill is having trouble!

Memo to Nancy, address the concerns of those who oppose the bill and treat them with respect rather than as the enemy and you just might win enough of them over.

"The art of diplomacy is letting someone else have your way"

I have never spoken with Kim Wade, although I did respond to a post that he made on my personal Facebook page (a post that ironically expressly supported commonsense charter school legislation). With the exception of "virtual" online charter schools, I have never been opposed to charter shcools in underperforming areas, where they have been shown to be effective, so if he says that I am then he should start letting facts catch up with his mouth. It sounds like I am not missing anything by having never listened to his show.

What's the point? There were five House Republicans on the Education Committee who would not vote for any charter school bill. Combined, the House Republicans only have a four vote advantage (63 to 59). That means they can only lose one vote to the Democrats and maintain a majority assuming all Democrats oppose the bill. But, as stated, they have already lost five Republican votes. What am I missing here?

Dorsey jack boots to the Loome drum.

11:03 - not arguing, but trying to answer your question. You are missing the fact that not all Dems are necessarily going to vote against it. And not necessarily are all members going to vote. There are five - or more - Republicans that voted or would have voted against the bill that was in the House Committee. Some changes were made when Tollison provided his amendment in the Senate trying to overcome some of the opposition.

There are other Republican votes possibly against the bill. The question is - how many will finally vote against it if it gets to the floor, and how many Democrats will vote for it. Putting the bill on the floor will give a definitive answer.

Everyone needs to understand that how students are selected matters.

Most charter schools use a lottery so there is no guarantee that if you have a charter in your district that your child will get to attend. And, demand quickly exceeds the number of students who can be accomodated.

Will our charters have a focus/mission?

Who will manage our charters? Will they be managed at the State level or local level?

Can existing private schools apply to become charters? This is done in many places.There are pluses and minuses to that approach.

What will be the minimum requirements and who selects the curriculum?

Do we have figures on what start up will cost for a charter and/or if one will meet the basic needs of a failing district?

My grandchildren are in a district with charter schools and I don't get the sense that parents understand what is involved. Also, the school system in their district is NOT doing better. The newspaper is full of " new plans" to improve the charter system. Part of the problem involves placing children in the school best suited to meet their needs.

Then, you are looking at children in the same families going to different schools and the logistical difficulties that creates.

Districts with charter schools see a growth of charters because demand is high. So, charters become specialized. There are charters that do immersion in a foreign language and parents in the early grades have to agree to teach in the native language at night until the children become fluent. Of course, selecting that kind of school early carries some problems as changing from one charter to another is challenging if not nearly impossible.

I just don't get the sense that this has been thought through with a long range vision in mind. If it is to work, there are plenty of models out there of success and mess!

It'd be nice to learn from the mistakes of others for a change.

"It'd be nice to learn from the mistakes of others for a change."

But, but, what about our 'heritage'? ;-)

The troll is back.

11:18 OK - enlighten us. Tell us what is so great about ranking 50th out of 50 states in all educational measurements since, wel, since they started measuring these things.

Those that defend the status quo are the reason nothing improves here. Forget charter schools, just keep doing what you've been doing if you're happy being the worst in education.