Jackson Jambalaya

It helps to spell the university's location properly if you're going to question the validity of its scholarship. It's Berkeley.

Wouldn't it be better to spend our time doing something about the "sweetheart deals," and "criminally low test scores" and treatment of special ed students? As someone who, admittedly, doesn't know a lot about this issue, it seems to me like saying "My car needs an oil change, so I'm going to go buy a new car because it has new oil in it."

(and to the person that says "but it's like a car where the motor is dead, the tires are shot, and nothing works!" I would ask this - Do you keep the old car?)

I don't know why we need two systems to do the same thing. It just doesn't make sense. If I was in the legislature, I would be cautious about getting way out in front of this one, despite how vocal supporters are. There were some really vocal supporters of the Personhood amendment, too, and it crashed and burned because it defied common sense. The charter school people (or their people in the legislature) need to do a better job laying out their plan if they want to push this through without consequence (such as gettin' dis-elected).

If the ultimate goal is privatization of education, then going through the process of setting up charter schools and (temporarily) having dual systems, makes sense.

Whether privatizing all our government services is a good idea is another discussion entirely.

Comparing charter schools to Personhood. Now that's rich and renders your comment complete bullshit. You said it best:

"As someone who, admittedly, doesn't know a lot about this issue..."

What's wrong with cherry picking the "best" students? The smart kids are done a disservice by being trapped in a classroom with morons and hell-raisers. Teachers spend all their time teaching to the dumbest common denominator, while the smart kids' minds are never challenged.

Why are people so afraid of Charter Schools? Take the students/parents who want to be a part of the Charter School and let's see what happens. If the test scores and academic performance is strong then maybe we were doing it wrong to begin with. Charter schools will not change schools like Madison Central, Ridgeland, Pearl, Northwest, Brandon, Clinton but it will offer an alternative to schools such as many Delta schools. Those kids deserve a chance. History has shown that these type of kids can perform at high levels and end up having a good career but when they don't have the best chance they end up on government programs and some in crime. If we can't do better by these kids we should be ashamed.

The people afraid of charter schools are the white Yellow Dog Donkeycrats as manipulation of the machinery of and employees within the public school system represents their last bastion of political power in Mississippi.

Gunn makes a committee change and who do they trot out? A former one-term Billy McCoy waterboy who won his only election by 11 total votes and, now, this has-been inexplicably represents the voice of Donkeycrats in Mississippi.

Charter schools are going to be successful beyond all expectations in poorly performing minority school districts throughout Mississippi.

The YellerDogs know it and that is why they are yelping so much now. Because once the results are in you'll find them in the bottom of the dustbin of Mississippi political history.

I'm having a difficult time seeing how 'whites' fear Charter Schools. It seems to me the ones decrying the concept are those who want to incite the progaganda that Charter will give rise to segregation and the public funding of private schools, both of which are bullshit suggestions.

Then, of course, there are the entrenched administrators who righhtly know the process might shine a light on their incompetence and chip away at their fiefdoms (Hello Milton).

If the state of Mississippi wants to move ahead, Charter Schools are a must. There is one, kinda' off the radar screen and not called one; if I stick around this place much longer, I would be considering moving close to this school.

Otherwise, to Curt's point, there are students who are keeping my children back from performing at a high level. Don't make this about my kids BTW. When I see children who "ace" the standardized tests year after year (as exemplified this AM at RCSD) and when I go to read to the class I'm literally in Romper Room with severe behavioral issues presenting - I am thinking, why would anyone want to raise children here who want to ensure their children's future is bright.

It is a larger question. Do we build the industry of intelligent children or do we continue to graduate student who, literally tonight, don't know the difference between a head of lettuce versus cabbage?

I SUPPOSE WE SHOULD PREPARE TO EDUCATE THE ONSLAUGHT OF PARENTLESS KIDS FROM DISFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES, SO THEY CAN BLEND IN WITH SOCIETY. WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES??

Yell much?

It should not take 12 years to teach the basics of reading, math, civics, and writing. The length of our pedagogy is part of the problem. High schools are inventions. They are mini-communities. They are fake worlds. We need to fast track kids out of this disneyland created by educators & parents as an adult play pen. No wonder kids are anxious to move on or ready drop out altogether.

And why is graduating from one of the most elite academic institutions in the world a negative thing?

It is painfully obvious from your post that you did not even do basic research on the issue; at least if you cared enough before spewing your hateful, petty, pathetic nonsense you would have not stated the vast majority of what you posted. You are correct that they receive state funding and this is precisely where the major problem lies. One basic fact of Charter Schools that you clearly fail to know is the reality that they are not subject to the same rules and regulations as state public schools, allowing many unsavory things such as segregating certain students without having to answer to anyone, denying special education services, teaching religious circullum without any real standards (see Louisiana), re: cherry picking the best students see NOLA, Chicago, NYC, etc. etc. as there are no standards these schools have to meet and they can choose whoever they desire, denying student's rights is a sad reality as these schools are not subject to the same laws see racist academies or any private school. Many teachers already have a masters. Yes judges and Phd's will be teaching in all the Charter Schools in MS...

While I'm hardly inclined to do your research for you, I've given you a good starting point, so please go forward and prosper, that is unless you want to continue to resort to petty and pathetic ad homin attacks and foolish rhetoric. The choice is yours.

I knew someone would eventually bring MSU into the conversation.

The choice is yours.

Or else what? What is painfully obvious is your status as a Loser.

Education is the largest 'business' in most Miss. communities with the district network of cronyism, nepotism, sports fantasies, etc. Current educational law is a burden on our society. I see charter schools as a reform effort to simplify the government & instruction of children. When Jackson's central developer is a former school district attorney, one gets the impression that it is a highly profitable field.

Go look at how much money RCSD and PSD spent on that annexation fight.

Stanford did research on 15 states with charter schools in 2009. A story on the research was written up in US News and World Reports as well as published by Stanford.

Clearly, not one of you read the research or heard about the news story.

None of you have looked at the costs either.

Mississippi legislators may have made charter schools different as KF suggests but they most commonly do have the right to select students and get rid of students and control curriculum in ways public schools do not.

The Obama administration target stimulus money to charter schools by the way. The largest charter school organization is own and operated by a Muslim.

I mention that simply because I think some of you have decided because you think this is a conservative vs liberal issue and NOT made a decision based on studying school reform and what works and what isn't working.

I completely agree that a PhD in math can be a better teacher than a undergraduate education major. But, the law , unless recently amended didn't require even college major focus on A subject for charter school teachers. If the law requires a math teacher to have graduated as a math major, I wouldn't be concerned.

Nice try. Here is another study from Stanford professor Dr. Hoxby on the Harlem schools. Study.

As for the Muslim comment, funny how people like you and Cottonchicken scream racism whenever conservatives discuss Muslim or Islamic extremism but let charter schools enter the picture, suddenly you don't like Muslims.

Cut-n-paste Grandma troll @ 8:12 am efforts to stir up religious animosities.

Islam is evil when it suits liberal needs for herring otherwise the idiots would have you believe it is caviar.

Why are you quoting Stanford?! They are Berkeley's main rival and just another elitist liberal institution of higher learning.

Yes, KF, it's part of the entire research done at Stanford.

Those children from disadvantaged backgrounds do better, particularly in language if they attend a charter school. And, the findings are similar when disadvantaged children are given a scholarship to private schools.

There are studies that indicate that the improvements are directly related to student selection.

First of all, a child has to have to get access to a charter school. More parents will seek out the charter than will succeed in enrolling their child.


Secondly, you are ignoring the rest of the research in how charters are comparing to public schools and why some public schools are outperforming charters.

I'm just trying to point out that everyone needs to be clear on what charter schools can and cannot do.

It's fine with me to have charters in Mississippi. I'd like them to have a chance of being as successful as possible and some recognition that they will not be a magical solution.

We should all be on the same side when it comes to education. It troubles me that this has become a political issue and both sides seem to be less than objective in arguing their case.

On this site, there is no need to argue the benefits of charters done well .

The problem is in the " done well" and when politics is driving the decision making, the chances of that decline.

There is not an objective approach to be found.

I'm suggesting 9:30 am that you might should know something about charters . That most successful is owned and run by a Muslim with primarily foreign teachers and that it has the most charters of any group in the Nation is simply a fact.

Like many charters companies, they hire teachers from other countries as they will accept less pay and can come on work visas.

I just think you ought to know more than political rhetoric from either side about charters and how they work and what they can and cannot do and why some are wastes of money and some are successful.

I'm suggesting Grandma that you have no freaking idea what others here know or do not know about charter schools.

How exactly is it germane that the operator of a successful consortium of charter schools is a Muslim?

and I bet some of them can speak English better than the local teachers. One of the most embarrassing moments in my education came at MC Law School when a professor, esteemed at the Magnolia bar, hosted a lawyer from Africa (It was either Nigeria or Kenya). While this professor said "ebidence" and "axt" all the time, the visitor spoke proper, Queen's English. Yeah, I'd let her teach all day long.

As for the Muslim angle, I understand the point. I am pointing out the ones raising the issue too often slam people like me if I raise the issue of Islamic extremism for hating Muslims.

KF, we all should hate Islamic extremism. Hating all Muslims for the actions of some sects and organizations doesn't make sense.

I wish all trouble making, violent,shiftless,dishonest people were confined to one race, religion, culture or political party as they would be easier to identify. Unfortunately, that is not the case.