Jackson Jambalaya

Like Jackson itself, JPS is a complete and utter failure. There is a common thread involved. I was born and raised in Jackson, fwiw. I am not a Jackson basher, but a realist. Lying about it or being a sanctimonious p/c twit only perpetuates the situation. It will only get worse.

It seems only fair that the JPS be taken over by the state. They have certainly taken over other districts in the past for lesser things. The JPS board wants to quote rights... Well they have the right and the state has an obligation, to treat them the same. They had ;4 years to clean up their act.... Time to let someone else fix it.

Garbage in. Garbage out. This is why we have Prep, JA and St A

The people in Jackson are not interested in educating their children. It is more about spreading the wealth. Parents in Jackson are satisfied, the JPS admin is satisfied, and the children are satisfied.
JPS does what is wanted by the people they serve, a day care for the kids they do not want to have to take care of.

These guys are all clowns. They try to use big words and talk about "the children" but the fact is that they are all in over their head and incompetent. He's more worried about keeping "control" rather then getting things right. But, he fits the bill, which is being black, so everything must be OK.

How that working out for you JPS?

The board and Gray administration's primary concern is not educating children. It must be something else.

"The board and Gray administration's primary concern is not educating children. It must be something else."

Follow the money, as always. It's all about employment and PERS retirement. Gray is already vested and, upon retirement, will draw over a hundred thousand a year for the rest of his life. Similarly, all the department heads, principals and ancillary staff will be fixed for life.

The teachers are the grunts in this scenario. Many of them are dedicated but too many are not. Again, in those cases, follow the same trail.

@9:40

Stop it with the generalizations. I am a JPS parent. Yes, I am tremendously interested in educating my child. I am an actively involved parent, at home and at my child's school. Instead of spouting nonsense, offer a real and practical solution. Yes, I could secure additional employment in addition to my full time job for private school, but who would raise my child? The streets, perhaps? And don't start with the "where's the father" routine. He's deceased. Shame on you.

11:36, the solution is not something the people of Jackson or JPS wants to hear. Any sane person could explain how it is incompetence and greed that is the problem. What good would it do? They already know that and are satisfied with it.
The answer to your problem is to get the hell out of Jackson.

11:36, it may not be everyone's solution but your solution is charter schools.

JPS is definitely in a death spiral that will take much more than business as usual to reverse. The problem is that their so-called leadership cannot stomach drastic changes which will put their job security at risk. Believe it or not, some are really intelligent and qualified people, but they want those retirements and pensions and they just hope that the inevitable collapse comes after they have left. (Like our federal economic policy) They cannot face the reality that business as usual ceased being an option for JPS several years ago. In the meantime the schools have no chance because like the rest of the city, the most talented and active parents get their children out leaving only the dregs.

11:36

Must be an awful feeling knowing you're perhaps .01 of 01%...

If what you say if true, most of us truly feel sorry for you. Work on a way to get out.

You mentioned that JPS spends and is allowed to spend 60 million dollars more than Desoto. I keep crying foul play because as a business owner in Jackson who cannot sell my property because it's in Jackson and because the amount of taxes that goes to a defunct school system produces "scholars" ( and I say that with hatred) that cannot drive properly because they cannot read and write, you cannot hire these scholars because they don't work and we have to provide transportation to their schools when I sent my children to private schools.

If you are a business owner in the metro it is very advisable to not place your company logo or advertising on your vehicle due to the amount of insurance fraud committed by the scholars because they can't pass driving school. Therefore they have to be involved in accidents to ovarian financial gain. Business owners in Jackson along with all good citizens have been scammed by JPS!

By and large the parents of the kids at JPS never saw a direct correlation from JPS to degree to success. Yes, there are exceptions...but generally...JPS is a very expensive day care center.

You could appoint NASA scientists, Cleveland Clinic doctors, and the next 6 Nobel Peace prize winners and all you are going to get failure.

Our societies exist in parallel capacities. Just look at the DA's office. Who in their right mind would do what RSS has done? Nobody. But...in his world its acceptable to act like that. Look at schools....look at their iives in general. There is very little overlap in white and black communities. In light of this...it is not surprising at all to see how JPS is doing.

And by the way....the drug trade, pimping, and such businesses are what JPS students see....and where they go immediately after being "passed" because they get too old.

Drink up

9:59 actually said enough for all of us. It's 2 different societies in which they have their form of government, their form of govt loan assistsance, their own type of schools that fail but still exist to benefit them but not the taxpayer, their own laws that protect them .

9:59 says what a lot of people want to pretend isn't the case, but it is dead on. A JPS diploma means very little for most people. A number of bus boys, custodians, yard workers, etc. have high school diplomas from Callaway, Murrah, or Jim Hill.

Have a conversation with a JPS graduate and see if you can detect an educated person. Some are indeed, but many are indistinguishable from those who never attended a day of formal schooling. JPS, to many, is a breakfast and lunch program. It feeds and takes care of their kids 5 days a week.

Then there are those at the top who have questionable academic credentials and are pulling in six figures for reigning over a failed system. They enrich themselves while maintaining the status quo. JPS is top heavy with such people who are barely qualified as educators, but are embedded in the system and living large while doing little.

The next time you see a 19-year-old murderer's mug shot, think about how JPS just passed him through the system and look at what they produced.

10:09, you must have missed something. JPS has a summer program to provide meals to those kids that parents do not provide for. Also saw a while back that they pack a sack lunch for the kids to take home. The parents need a snack also.
Lets recap a few things. First, the majority of Jackson parents do not pay any taxes. Many receive quite a bit back each year for not paying any taxes. JPS is only a day care system set up for those non tax paying people so they will have some place to send the kids. JPS has extended the free meals to provide meals when the day care is not is session. Even snacks for the free loading parents.

10:50, why isn't anyone listening to you??!!! You are right!!! I'm sick and tired of paying taxes to support a defunct system that rewards laziness and perpetuates actions like this generation after generation. We are tired of this. 6 figure salaries for people who cannot speak proper English while us 5 figure private sectors who work ourselves to the bone have to sacrifice!!!!

First off, Mississippi overall is a piss poor state as we talk about achievements/rankings/quality of life. Number one in all things bad, number 50 in all things good. So the thought of the state taking over JPS is not a comfort. I struggle mightily with the fact that my child is being educated in this State.

Secondly, you all sure love to paint Jackson and Jacksonians with a wide brush. To suggest that the majority of anyone anywhere is a monolith is ignorance at its best. If someone were to come in here and call you all a bunch of ignorant, uneducated, backwards hillbillies because that's what they heard about Mississippians, or saw on a news report, you'd be mad. And justifiably so.

There are teachers, administrators and students in JPS doing great things. Maybe just sometimes, on occasion, you all could pause to see what those great things are. I really do not understand this constant need to denigrate all things Jackson. Who hurt y'all?

12:55, the meaning of "great " must have been changed to fair. I have been hurt by someone taking my hard earned money by over taxing me for a something I have never used. At the same time I pay thousands of dollars for my children to be educated. And I am just one but this was done to an entire City. Hurt is a very nice word for what was done to this City.

12:55, Yes, Ms. is a piss poor state. It doesn't help that our capital city is much like a city in some 3rd world country. Most of us are just trying to show people what is going on in our capital. There has been so much cover up and calling everyone racist that any signs of intelligence would be a very nice surprise.
Every where you go the people know Ms. is full of the things you mentioned. It is very hard to change the way people think, especially when it is true. We need to start somewhere. How about we start with out capital city? How are we going to convince anyone when they can see the city streets, see the water running down the streets, have to dodge the pot holes, all the while being on the look out for car jackers and stray bullets?
Education is the key. JPS is about as bad as you can get and still have teachers.
In answer, Jackson has hurt us. Our capital a slum. JPS a bad joke. Police dept a crime ridden protector of criminals. Elected officials stealing every cent they can get their hands on.

@1:37 No...there's been no change of the definition of great. Well, at least not that I'm aware of. I meant what I said when I used the word great.

I pay plenty for things I don't believe in or agree with. We all do. 'Murica!

@12:55 Your argument about a few individuals who are doing good things is fallacious. Yes, there are students who are fighting the odds and teachers who care, but the overall system is badly broken. You can't ignore the miserable job JPS does nor obviate criticism of same because a handful of people in the system are swimming against the stream.

Your notion of pausing to see the individual good things is Polyanna BS. It's a feint to distract from the disservice JPS is doing to the children of the city.

It's like finding a steaming pile of human feces on your front porch and celebrating that there are nuggets of corn within.

That's your brilliantly stated analogy for the day. You're welcome!!

12:55 bemoans the fact that some have painted JPS with a broad brush. Then she goes on (with her own broad brush) to say this: "Mississippi overall is a piss poor state as we talk about achievements/rankings/quality of life. Number one in all things bad, number 50 in all things good."

I wonder if she even sees the parallel.