Jackson Jambalaya

KF: I'm not a lawyer (although I was behind an ambulance on I-55 last week), but I constantly hear that cases are thrown out because the plaintiff doesn't have "standing". Wouldn't that apply in this case?

SPLC is a bunch of self-righteous pricks. Who can logically think that JPS really will do any better with more money, or that charter schools are a bad thing?

You could give JPS an extra billion dollars a year and they would still underperform.

Is there a relationship between Denise Owens (the judge) and Jody Owens (with SPLC)?

Sad. Keeping kids trapped in a failing school district. It's not about the kids anymore, it's about money and control.

SPLC is finally living up to its name. Suits like this perpetuate Southern poverty by attacking solutions that make education more about the student and less about the district.

Southern poverty center makes sure kids live in poverty

Where does SPLC get their funding?

SPLC doesn't care about the kids. As we all know, this is a power play for the folks that live/survive by keeping the kids (and their families) dependent on the bosses. They claim the bad situation (and yes, it was bad) of the 50's when the bosses were white and they were black. Now they are still black, but the bosses are generally black as well.

To claim that Charter Schools are not 'free schools' is very clever, albeit stupid. Just because the charters are not controlled by the Superintendent doesn't change
that fact. Will does get the award for coming up with a strange interpretation, though.

SPLC's method of reading our constitution is quite strange - its a good thing they aren't teaching reading in any of our schools, charter or otherwise. They found quite a few things in there that just flat don't exist.

On another limb of this tree - was interesting listening to the "news" report on the very accurate, God toting, never wrong with many, Supertalk this morning. They quoted from SPLC's filing as if it were fact - not one side of the argument as is always the case in lawsuits. Granted, the way ST read the news might be exactly as Judge Owen's ruling will be - straight from the SPLC filing. But as we all know, once the Supremes get hold of it the other side of this case will be considered and Charters will be found to be what they are - free, public schools that meet with our constitution and offer kids stuck in schools based only on their zip codes to a lifetime of being uneducated.

Don't know enough yet about either side-- but I will say this:

While charter schools, if done effectively, can provide an alternative to the failing public schools in an area, they can also be the source of much waste without the tighter controls some of the public schools face.

I would encourage Kingfish and others to do some deep dive research into the Republic charter school in Jackson and the one opening up in August.

We complain how the public schools have all these different levels of administration, and yet these same schools have Principals, Fellows, Community Organizers, Summer Fellows, and so many other positions. Are we implementing these schools in the right way?

Ultimately though, it boils down to a chicken vs egg argument. Are charter schools only asked for and needed now because of the failure of public schools? If so, why are some of the public schools failing? Lack of funding? Resources? Destruction of family unit? I think it is a combination of many factors and it is much more complex than just one issue. We have to work together to attack them all at once, similarly to how when treating a cancer, you attack it from many angles.

If I am reading this correctly, I think the Southern Poverty Law Center is incorrectly and unfortunately trying to tackle an issue in a vacuum -- fighting an ideology, that is, that charter schools ultimately make public schools worse so really charter schools should not exist as it is not a true solution to education problems.

I think SPLC is wrong in this approach. Instead of legislative moves like this, we should be working to figure out a system to integrate charter schools effectively into our education system.

Here's why: If we can give our children, who are varied in their backgrounds and learning styles, maximum points of access to different styles of learning at different types of schools, whether that be public, private, charter, home-schooling, or a school for math and science, I think all of our children and the future of our country benefits.

Here's to hoping people involved step up to do this to all our society's benefit.

"In one school year, more than $1.85 million was diverted from the district to fund them. That amount could have paid the salaries of 42 public school teachers, according to the complaint."

Sure, JPS COULD have spent that $1.8 million on these things, but it DIDN'T... nor would any of the other under-performing schools in the state.

The SPLC has nothing. At this point, JPS schools and other public schools in the state need to hope and pray that these charter schools (who ARE getting the job done) funnel more success-driven young people into the public system's high schools, resulting in the positive data need to make a turn around, be taken seriously, and ultimately improve.

"In one school year, more than $1.85 million was diverted from the district to fund them. That amount could have paid the salaries of 42 public school teachers, according to the complaint."

Sure, JPS COULD have spent that $1.8 million on these things...but it DIDN'T. Nor would have any other under-performing school district in the state.

SPLC has nothing. JPS and other under and/or low performing school districts in the state need to be hoping and praying these charter schools (who ARE getting the job done) funnel more success-driven young people into the public school system's high schools, thus helping them reach a number of data driven improvements such as test score, graduation rates, and improved social culture.

"In one school year, more than $1.85 million was diverted from the district to fund them. That amount could have paid the salaries of 42 public school teachers, according to the complaint."

Sure, JPS COULD have spent that $1.8 million on these things...but it DIDN'T. Nor would have any other under-performing school district in the state.

SPLC has nothing. JPS and other under and/or low performing school districts in the state need to be hoping and praying these charter schools (who ARE getting the job done) funnel more success-driven young people into the public school system's high schools, thus helping them reach a number of data driven improvements such as test score, graduation rates, and improved social culture.

$1.25 million for bond fees last year.

Somebody needs to tell Patsy's boy that Gilbert will be glad to give him a 'free' copy of the state's constitution. He ought to try reading it as it is written, not as the I42 folks would like to interpret it.

Section 201 - provides for 'free public schools'. The only thing they have to say about them is that the legislature shall BY GENERAL LAW provide for the establishment, maintenance and support of free public schools upon SUCH CONDITIONS AND LIMITATIONS as the legislature may prescribe.

There is nothing in this section that gets close to Will's pleadings about the control by the Superintendent or by MDE or the State Superintendent. But there is a provision that the legislature may prescribe how they operate, which they did with the passage of the Charter bills.

Section 202 deals with the State Superintendent - who according to the constitution shall be the chief administrative officer for the State Dept of Education and shall administer the department in accordance with the policies established by the State Board of Education. Again, nothing here that would limit what the Charter Board determines since it is not - by law - under the State Board.

Section 203 - State Board of Education. Who shall manage and invest school funds ACCORDING TO LAW and perform such other duties as PRESCRIBED BY LAW. Again, nothing that gives the State Board any specific control other than as prescribed by law, which the Charter statutes exempted from the State Board.

Section 204 establishes County Superintendents and give them the duties as PROVIDED BY LAW.

All of the specifics that SPLC's lawsuit claim to be in the constitution must be in some other constitution because they sure aren't in the one that governs Mississippi.

"If we can give our children, who are varied in their backgrounds and learning styles, maximum points of access to different styles of learning at different types of schools, whether that be public, private, charter, home-schooling, or a school for math and science, I think all of our children and the future of our country benefits."

YES... regardless of the state of the public system, educators should be able to prove families with a diversity of options when choosing the education model best suited to a student's needs, personality, and strengths. From home schools to public schools, we need every avenue.

much more then 1.85 can be found in closing at least 145 of the 156 school districts. Surrounding states have 4-6 we have an unbelievable 156 yes 156.
which means 156 supers, 156 admin offices, 156 staff works, salaries, and on and on and on it goes. None will have the backbone to close these down because many of these jobs are favor appointees.
The school system is yet one more example of a corrupt enterprise of power and control and payoffs to "special" people.
I could literally donate a trillion dollars to JPS and it would be not one bit better than it is today.

Let's be honest--1.85 million more to JPS would have just padded existing administrators salaries, funded more lower administration salaries, and brought back travel funds to administration.

ZERO to the kids.

but 10 more bowties, i'm sure!

Evelyn Araujo is nutty as a fruitcake. She and her husband are among the dark-socks-and-sandals-wearing Fondren crowd. Does she mention that her kids attended a Montessori school?? She is an employee of MDE, and MDE's Policy and Procedures Manual mentions punishment for political activities. I wonder how that policy will be applied.

Yes, Jody Owens and Denise Owens are related. KF, I'm sure you know about the black families that run Terry, MS: Owens, Chapman, Watson. They intermarried and also married well outside the families such as Denise Sweet Owens, Jasmine Owens Chapman (Judge Clyde Chapman's wife), etc. The families are a dark, complicated net of liberal power in Hinds County.

There are intelligent and capable black children in JPS that have no chance at even an adequate education, and these do-gooders want to block their opportunity. Shameful....

It's so funny to hear all of you white conservatives expressing so much concern for the black schoolchildren of Mississippi. Let's be honest here, shall we? Charter schools are nothing more than an attempt by the white citizens of Mississippi - who don't send their children to public schools - to get the government to fund a separate set of schools that will find a way to exclude black children and allow your special little snowflakes to have their own government funded whites-only schools. That is the goal here. If you cared so much for black school children, you would send your kids to the current public schools we have instead of trying to carve out publicly-funded seg academies. Your hilarious concern-trolling isn't fooling anyone, because frankly none of you are that bright.

"Charter schools are nothing more than an attempt by the white citizens of Mississippi - who don't send their children to public schools - to get the government to fund a separate set of schools that will find a way to exclude black children and allow your special little snowflakes to have their own government funded whites-only schools."

^^^You are an absolute idiot and clearly know nothing about this topic. Have you even looked at the enrollment demographics for Jackson's (or any charter school in this region for that matter) two charter schools? It's 99-100% black.

On top of the fact the conservatism isn't black and white, yellow, or green, you can't even determine the race of people posting here unless you have some kind of magical power.

2:50. Your ignorant, racist opinion defies common sense or facts.

"If you cares so much for black school children, you would send your kids to the current public schools...."

No. I care also about my kids. And I want them to get an education - a good one. And that is not available in my zip code. I can move - unlike many of the black families that live in this same zip code. Or I can choose to pay my taxes and also pay tuition to another entity that will provide a decent education to my kids.

I want to take care of those kids that live in this zip code and cannot move. If their families care about them, I want to provide them an alternative to the crap that JPS is putting out there and calling an education. So - there are now charter schools in the Jackson area. And they are all attended by 100% black kids. The admission is not based on any preset criteria. But to stay in requires a lot - work, dedication, involvement, production.

I cannot kick out the idiots that administer JPS - those that waste dollar after dollar and produces results that have now been documented by none other than the education bureaucracy of MS called MDE. Understand - MDE is not looking for any reason to justify charter schools, but this report certainly did so. It basically said ANYTHING would be better.

So for those kids whose parents want them to have an opportunity to learn - I am glad to support them in creating these charters. I really wish we could give them a voucher so that they could attend anywhere they wanted if they could meet the acedemic requirements to get in. But we can't get that done yet - so, be glad that we have at least started a new process.

Take your racist rant and go back to JFP.

2:50 PM

Thank you for your comment. There are no words and there is really no way to respond to your comment in the spirit of logical and impactful discussion-- but I am glad to read what you say because it provides me a circumstantial data point for the more extreme ranges of 'the anti charter school' view-point.

I agree that the de-facto segregation that has occurred as part of these "academies," some of which are horrible in terms of academics can be arguably part a societal problem for which no one has the political will to try and answer right now.

I do, however, stand by my comments that the more access points in terms of different deliveries of education (public, private, home school, etc) available to children, done in a way that makes sense, is better for the overall health of our education system.

I do think some people have tough questions to answer to history as far as these academies. But ultimately, call me naive, but I do not think most people around us are evil or racist or have some dark agenda.

As I have said and will say again, I think most of us are complacent, and reactionary. And when it involves the future of our children, we will do whatever it takes to ensure that .

Your divisive viewpoint is easy to work with. It's a lot easier to react towards. But when you look at people as the much more complex things that they are, with their many motives and complications, the problem of how to unify us and better our education system becomes much more complex.

Personally, not to invalidate what you are saying, I hope less people think like you, and more people think about how to understand differences and find a path forward together. Just my opinion and two cents.

@2:50, you would probably be surprised at the number of white people in MS who send their kids to public schools. The percentage of kids that go to private school is most likely way less than you would like to believe so as to fit your white privilege agenda.

Aptly named.

I think charter schools should be part of the existing school districts and under their supervision. I do not like the idea of them being controlled by a state board stacked with pro-charter members and with no local input from parents and taxpayers.

A limited number of charter schools might provide some benefit to some students but I do fear this will end up as being nothing but "free" segregated private schools. If parents want to send their children to segregated private schools they should do so at their own expense.

Why let the existing failing school district run the charter school? Hell, they are already failing and will fail with the charter school if given the chance. Talk about giving the fox the key to the hen house!

I am ashamed and appalled at this law suit. What worse statement could any organization dependent on donations make? They must be afraid of the stats that will be compiled after completion of the second year of school. There will be revealing comparison between Charter and regular public school.

I'm amazed at some of the misconceptions people have about charter schools. In Mississippi charter schools can't pick their students except through a lottery without regard to academic aptitude, race, etc. 99% are African American or Hispanic in Jackson, I'm sure. Parents can pick from 2 now and once there are a dozen, there will be a dozen different approaches and school cultures to choose from. That's the ultimate control for parents because they will abandon the underperforming schools that will either adapt or fail. Charters have to find their buildings plus everything regular public schools have to fund. This lawsuit is clearly about protecting the system and administrations and screwing the kids in the process. It's sick, really.

So the guts of this suit is that the charter schools have taken money that was rightfully for JPS or other public school. That's their problem right there - they are failing to understand that the money is for educating CHILDREN. If 30% of the children who attended JPS last year went to a charter school or if they moved to Natchez, JPS would lose 30% of state funding. The presumption is and always have been, the money goes where the children are. If 30% of your students leave you can cut 30% of your expenses - unless you are bloated with dozens of pencil pushers who don't actually work with the children.

SPLC and protectors of the status quo want us to believe that public schools will start educating children when they get enough money. They don't tell us how much is enough. They just tell us they can't do their jobs without more money. It should not be difficult for defense attorneys to disprove this, though, because some of the best schools in the state and the nation operate on less money than the so-called "poor" districts do. I believe Chicago Public Schools gets the most funding in the nation but has the worst schools, for example. It should not be difficult to document public school funding increases in the state and the nation for the post thirty or forty years and the corresponding decreasing academic performance rates.

Headline should read "Millsaps Communications Director sues to help rid neighboring Midtown from charter school scourge". SMH. I thought Millsaps was supposed to be helping Midtown. I guess it's easy to help when you're on the right side of a 10 foot iron fence.

People seem to have the wrong idea. The money is not for the schools and admin. to give to each other. It is supposed to be for the children, to educate them. When a school fails at educating the kids caring parents should remove their kids and get them in a school that can educate them. The money should follow the kids.
People have been stealing from the schools for so long they think it is their right to continue. These people need to be removed and replaced with people who know that their job is educating the kids, not filling their pockets.

As a Millsaps alumnus who is regularly asked for donations by his alma mater, I am greatly offended at a highly placed member of the administration joining this lawsuit in such a prominent fashion. It makes me reconsider any future donations to the college if this is the type of person who holds authority.

@6:19 - go back to JFP or MS1, where your dribble might be welcome despite the fact that there is no 'fact' involved in your comment.

(1) Under the state charter school law, an existing school district CAN file an application to create a charter school within the district. That charter could run separate from MDE controls and under the Charter board. Such an example could work great in a good performing district that wanted to create a "Math & Science" or "Performing Arts" specialty cirriculum. But of course, none of the government schools has filed to do so.

But to put charter schools under the existing districts automatically would let incompetent boards and administrations such as JPS (and the adjectives have been documented by the latest audit done by none other than MDE). That defeats the whole purpose - to give an opportunity for kids to get a real education when they are stuck in a failing district operation.

Sorry you don't like the idea of them being controlled by a state board stacked with "pro-charter members". I don't like all the other kids in the state being controlled by a state board stacked with "maintaining the status quo even when it is failing" members. I don't get my way with getting rid of the current bureaucracy called MDE and SBE, so tough luck to you as well.

And, by the way, check out the members of the Charter Board. They are both parents and taxpayers. Maybe not you and your parents campaign members, but they are competent, capable parents and taxpayers that are interested in getting good education for kids. Wish maybe some charter supporters could get appointed to the SBE as well.

You might be right in your next paragraph. Charters have been limited in number for way too long in MS. And the existing charters do appear to be both "free" and "segregated" schools. The problem is with your theory, the parents of the kids at the existing charter schools can't afford to send their kids to school and have to pay for it - so they are sending them to these new free schools - which not by design but by location - happen to be segregated. There is no restriction on who applies - either by race, creed, religion, or academics - by at this point assuming that by segregation you are referring to race, yes they are. Let's work on that and see if we can get some of those white kids you seem to hate so much enrolled.

this is what happens when there are 300 plus law school grads a year that don't have anything else to do and have been indoctrinated into liberal policy by the likes of MC law school.

@6:19 clearly has NO clue how charter schools in general, and specifically in MS, work.

People in Ms. do not care about educating the children. Some will argue both sides but the truth is neither side gives a damn.
Take a look at the % of teachers compared to the % of admin. Can anyone in Ms. say with a straight face that they think that is the way things should be? Look at all of the different school districts. Same question again.
Ms. is in last place. Ms. has a lock on last place. Does anyone think pouring more money is going to change that? Anyone thing more money for admin is going to help? Do they think the more school districts a state has the better it is?
Even people educated in last place Ms. should know better than that. Do all of the voters have their hand in the cookie jar?

“I’m outraged that state and local tax dollars are funding charter schools in a way that threatens the existence of important services, including services for those with special needs, at my child’s school. As a taxpayer, I expect my property tax dollars will be used to support traditional public schools, which educate the vast majority of students in Jackson.”

I wonder how much that genius actually pays in taxes and wtf gives her the right to be outraged if the citizens have decided to fund charter schools? I hate these idiots. And public schools don't appear to be educating much of anything. Nor do they educate white kids, whose parents most likely are the major tax base.

I believe special needs children have special grants that are not being touched by Charter Schools. I also believe Bishop Crudup was one of the biggest supporters of Charter Schools. Why, oh why, do these do-gooder organizations always work against progress for poverty level children?

Also, I believe Judge Sweet went to a private school; maybe that is why she recused herself.

To those of you not bold enough to use your name, yes Evelyn Araujo and Charles Araujo's children did attend Montessori School. IN JPS. I know them both personally and wonder do you? They have worked their entire careers to help those who under privileged children white and black. Their children did not go to St. Andrews or any other private school in Jackson, but have stayed in JPS. If Evelyn in a nutty fruit cake, then what are you? A bitter old person who hasn't received enough attention in life. None of those involved are self-righteous pricks. They don't need the money to fill they're pockets and how could JPS spend 1.85 million if they didn't have it. What's this junk about black sock sandal wearing people from Fondren. Sounds jealous to me. IT IS ALL ABOUT THE CHILDREN AND DOING WHAT IS LEGAL.