Jackson Jambalaya

JPS needs to hire some talent from elsewhere to teach the children with special needs and fire the administrators. Teachers who are 'D level' should also be replaced. The charter school movement seeks to remove unnecessary regulation and just get the job done at the local schoolhouse. Federal and state bureaucracy can be just as burdensome and wasteful as what we see at JPS.

It would be interesting to know what they paid the
"Rev. Jessie Jackson" to conduct their Pep Rally !!!

It would be interesting to know what they paid the
"Rev. Jessie Jackson" to conduct their Pep Rally !!!

Hey Kingfish,

Why no story yet on the latest Hinds County Inmate escape? Inmate worker jumped out of a moving work van the other day and ran off.

It's all about jobs and money. Get all the government related jobs, jack up your own pay, enjoy retirement. City, State, County.

How difficult is this?

I am a graduate of JPS schools. However there is no way in hell I would send my children there now. I feel sorry for the the many good kids(the ones you don't hear about on the news) who attend JPS schools. When you hear about a Murrah, Calloway, Jim Hill, Lanier, Provine, Forest Hill or Wingfield student who has graduated, done well and is making a difference in their community you gotta believe these kids are special.

7:51; Can you think of the last time you heard one of those stories involving a class that graduated later than 1980? I can't. Is that the fault of the media, the schools, the kids, the parents, white people, the burbs, the Republican party? ... The state and nation are literally full of people like you but they all seem to have graduated earlier than the 90s. Hmmm.

I noticed an ROTC instructor had a $90k salary which is way out of line. The military harvests the poor cadets in high poverty districts where the first step to success is military or government jobs. In Jackson the school district employs so many black folk-- its really part of the social contract. The white angle is the business with the district. David Watkins is the connection for the insider deals.

I had to go to the WLBT site to really get this story, but I still know little.

If , indeed, the difference of 12% in costs had to go entirely to building maintenance because JPS schools are aging, that may be a legitimate factor. JPS has to address those problems. Toilets have to work, buildings must be safe.

But, there is a program in New Mexico that could be implemented. Parents and community volunteers and students have a weekend at the end of the school year where they come and paint and beautify the schools and grounds. Each teacher makes a list of what has to be done in their rooms. Volunteers bring their own paint brushes and rollers. Much of the paint is donated. The schools are beautiful.

Maintenance shouldn't be lumped into administration, though, so I don't understand that explanation.

I also don't know the difference in cost of living in the two areas. A system has to be able to attract and keep good teachers and cost of living can be a factor in salary differences.

I don't think the DeSoto superintendent not needing the money because he is independently wealthy and that cut his own salary is relevant. Getting to hire a school superintendent for $38 thousand is just not something that can be duplicated.

What I'd like to have seen is a comparision of how many administrative positions each district has.

Do administrators in JPS have more staff? Do they get perks and if so, what are those perks?

What are non-salary related administrative costs?

I'd like to see a curriculum difference.

I'd like to see a comparison in students, does JPS have more students with special needs?

$75000 a year in supplements is not the difference in outcome though it's an issue that can be visited.

This is a problem that must be addressed, but this story isn't enlightening.

The salaries themselves didn't necessarily seem excessive. This is not like junior college and IHL where administrators get hundreds of thousands in hidden perks like no housing costs and and coaches get millions.

I suspect the performance difference is not in salaries or even costs but in performance and allocation of funds. Let's face it, no one is getting rich on these salaries.

"But, there is a program in New Mexico that could be implemented. Parents and community volunteers and students have a weekend at the end of the school year where they come and paint and beautify the schools and grounds. Each teacher makes a list of what has to be done in their rooms. Volunteers bring their own paint brushes and rollers. Much of the paint is donated. The schools are beautiful."

My son's church group did this for a school in Nashville last summer. Who knows - maybe a Nashville church will send a group of kids here next year....

There is nothing stopping JPS parents and supporters from beautifying JPS schools and classrooms right this very minute.

The cost of living in Desoto County is much higher, being on the fringe of Memphis, so that blows your theory in that regard.

There's nothing peculiar about your New Mexico program. Teachers, their family members and some concerned parents have done this for half a century in Mississippi.

Funding coming to the district from foundations, feds, & state have hefty reporting requirements. Multiple funding sources creates desk jobs just like the Sheriff's office, JPD. public library, or any other local government office. The crafty and probably more successful schoolhouse bureaucrat can paper over program deficiencies for years. However the aim of self-government is good government and eventually someone questions the poor results coming out of the school.

8:11 ~ Excellent!

Don't know about you but Shadowfax seems not hisself.

I recognize talent when I see it. Speaking of Desoto; Gallo spent an entire damned eight minutes this morning leading up to a memo he said he was copied on ~ From Kuykendall to everybody in Desoto County. I had to get out of the car and make some money and couldn't wait another ten minutes for Paul to keep me in suspense. Wonder if he ever got around to stating the memo contents?