Jackson Jambalaya

In response to item 7- ya'll already have. Bring in the state.

As a resident of Jackson who doesn't use JPS for my children's education I can say this school district is a total disgrace and I find it typical that they're now playing the victim. Results are the reason for the takeover. Action is needed and JPS has proved they can't handle this task that the state requires of all districts. This was no surprise to anyone. They gave more than enough time to allow JPS a chance to make corrections and JPS has only themselves to blame. Bring in the state ASAP!!!!!!

Simply put: we prefer to wallow in failure than change.

Good to know the mayor will cancel an important business meeting at the drop of a hat to hold a rally for perceived social injustice that is in fact directly caused by corruption and incompetence and the city's population tolerating corruption and incompetence for decades.

Jackson needs to drain the swamp. Which they will never do. Jackson residents love to wallow in the swamp.

The administration is what strangles the JPS school district.

It's a job factory for ignorant people.

The ones they've killed?

Their kids.

The state should remove every child and send them to school in another state and pay the bill.

Level the facilities and beg amazon to come to west Jackson.

I think that the city of Jackson should be indefinitely suspended and have the state re-appropriate the property between Pearl, Madison, Brandon, and Ridgeland. They can better run it.

No one has taken my seriously of Jackson volunteering to be a nuclear bomb test site, but maybe this idea will be more pragmatic.

I would love to go through COJ and poll the entire population with just one simple question: "If a white mayor could run the city better, would you vote for him?"

#4 "student achievement is stagnated during the short term"

stagnate synonyms: languish, decline, deteriorate, fall, become stagnant, do nothing, stand still, tread water, be sluggish

I thought this is what JPS has been doing for years and they say this is what the state takeover would cause.

I hope MDE is aggressive with this and moves on the take over ASAP. These clowns have done nothing but continue to fail students, taxpayers and teachers . The mayor now wants to make this some cause for community activism to keep from changing this cesspool of a school system. Disgusting.

There seems to be this strange notion that Jackson's mostly black population would accept the premise that the State of Mississippi means to improve any aspect of their lives, including education. Most, if not all, have lived with the well-earned distrust of anything run by the State of Mississippi and do not believe a state takeover is an automatic improvement. As bad as the JPS and it's leadership has been, the average Black citizen would rather trust possibly poor leadership from their own community than to surrender to the proven animosity of the State. If, for example, the threat were a federal takeover, most Black citizens would be more accepting because historically, the federal government has not shown the race-based bias or animosity towards the education of Black people that the State of Mississippi has demonstrated. In short, it's not the takeover, it's WHO is taking over. Please consider.

1:08PM...I would love for them to divvy up Jackson among the actual functioning counties that surround the area. Who would draw the short end of the stick and absorb S. Jackson? I really wish NE Jackson would just merge in with either Madison or Rankin County. Just draw the line from Fondren to Mule Jail.

Y'all are actually starting to use your heads.

Cut Jackson up in 1/4s and put the kids and their money in neighboring districts.

Fire every JPS employee and have them reapply at new schools.

Destroy JPS physical buildings.

BabyChok can't pass up an opportunity to posture and pontificate.

1:10 Of course they would. As long as he is a democrat. Black folks have never voted strictly by race, unlike whites. Ask Barbara Dunn and note McMillan. Must be a democrat though.

Anyone want to call Morgan Freeman to see if he can come down here and dust off that Joe Clark persona? I think we could really use it...

First the airport, then half of downtown, now JPS. Not saying it's a bad thing - but is sure is interesting to watch the State dismantle the capitol city piece by piece.

How many commenters left Jackson and now complain about the way Jackson functions in the absence of their vote and influence?

4:44 - Then half the downtown? I call bullshit on that. The legislature agreed to provide funding to help reconstruct the decayed infrastructure downtown, but it did not take that from the city. Dangit. Wish they had - would be a wonderful fix. But what they did was requested by the city, no - demanded by the city. Don't know how you can throw this one into the mix.

Here the link to the 680 page two-year investigation of JPS: http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/docs/hot-topics/jackson-public-schools-audit-report.pdf?sfvrsn=2.

If the 34 year old youngin' Mayor read even portions of this report and still came to the conclusion "he got it" I seriously question his decision making abilities. Grades have gone down since probation as has grad rates and student violence

Seriously, the prescription to fix JPS, and save the city, is to break the district into 3 or 4 separate districts. This in contrary to consolidation efforts in other parts of the state, but sometime contrarian ideas work. For example: one district is Fondren/Belhaven/Eastover, with Murrah High, and Bailey as the Middle School. Ample elementary schools are there also. The existing district is obviously too large and complex for existing admin folks to handle. Chop it up.

Someone who commented above said that the city administration had strangled the JPS school district and they are absolutely on point! They can't run the City of Jackson so how in the hell do they believe they can run the school system?

They need quality administrators (not administrators who are only interested in money) and quality teachers. The administrators' and teachers' main interest should be the students. Problems with students should be addressed immediately and parents should be brought in as soon as problem students are identified. At no time, should these problems be swept under the rug!

None of these students should be left to their own devices; that the main reason you have so many problems with teenagers in the City of Jackson. Education is the key; without quality education, the problems in Jackson will never improve.

To seriously fix JPS, the only question that is pertinent is "What is in the best interest of the kids?"

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results." Does this sound familiar?

4:52 - I have not left Jackson. I live here, work here, and pay taxes here. Is it ok with you if I express my opinion? Or are there other requirements you would like to instill? (race, education level, gender, partisan tilt?)

BTW, before you do impose more disqualifiers and since I meet your current requirements - I think the idea of leaving JPS in its current state is an abomination. And the Mayor's idea that "he" can take over JPS is about as stupid as his Kush plan for the economic takeover of the city.

As much as I hate to see the state takeover the system (and I think they hate to have the burden as well), it is the only option left if we are going to pretend to have a public school system in the Bold New City.

8:44, you live in Jackson, so you were clearly not the target of 4:52's question. Chill.

Property taxes are the backbone of school districts. Most are paid in NE Jackson where if you want your child to (1) read, and (2) live through the school day as a white kid, you send them to a private school. So .......double duty (money) is being paid by NE Jackson and we have no say in how our tax dollars are being spent in the COJ.

Might be time to split from the city --- the idea of merging with Ridgeland might be difficult because of the county lines, however, we could become our own city and this needs to be investigated. NOW is the time to point out to state leaders, that secession (OUCH) is necessary for NE Jackson because we are spending LOTS of tax dollars and have NO influence. In addition, we cannot use basic services (schools, water, etc. that we're paying for, for our families) -- this is a good argument and basis for why we should split from Jackson.

I really wish someone would take this on......I'd be the first to join and support. New Orleans East is using this argument now with the City of New Orleans I believe. I think the first step is a petition and then a vote. Not sure but maybe someone with more knowledge than me might weigh in.

4:52 is a total race baiter that assumes before all else. I also am a resident of NE Jackson I own a business in flowood as well as Jackson and madison. I will express myself freely on this site. Now 4:52 if you will just get back to your handing out of the flyers with Kenny stokes we can get on with our lives as well. Try to engage in a conversation next time rather than making assumptions.

"As much as I hate to see the state takeover the system (and I think they hate to have the burden as well), it is the only option left if we are going to pretend to have a public school system in the Bold New City."

Hello...Jackson hasn't been "The Bold New City" for several years now, but rather "The City With Soul". Doncha remember former Mayor Tony Yarber celebrating "National Fried Chicken Day" in front of a Church's Chicken joint with the Media?

Of course the mayor and the elected city officials do not want the state to take over JPS. If the children get an education the mayor and elected city officials will soon be out of office. Educated citizens will not accept the piss poor running of their city. Look at the shape of the streets, water and sewer departments. If the citizens of Jackson get an education they will not stand for more of the same. It is in the best interest of the mayor and city officials to keep the schools like they have kept the streets.

Wait, wait, wait... "Take the city of Jackson and disburse it among the functional surrounding counties"?!?! The reason Jackson is so "poor" is that all of the functional surrounding counties drive into Jackson make a great salary (that is not available in the surrounding "functional" counties) and drive back out! Proceed to buy property and pay taxes in those functional cities. Meanwhile... the "dump" that is known as Jackson has to support all the Federal buildings, universities, and other non-tax generating facilities. And Jackson, MS has 169K citizens and 60 schools... to support on a dwindling tax base. If anything the smaller cities should be annexed into Jackson, the Capital of MS.

11:10, are you blaming the people who want a better life for themselves and their families? Who wants to live in the "dump"? Maybe if all of the people left in Jackson got an education they could get those Jackson jobs with a great salary. But remember, those people with the great jobs who left Jackson did the work to get an education.

12:31
I believe the person is referring to the people in NE Jackson in areas such as eastover Jackson County club Meadowbrook highlands eastparke meadowbrook lake... these are the physicians and biz owners in the metro Jackson area. They send kids to private schools and are generally wealthy well to do families. I live in Madison and my boss lives in Jackson country club and is widely successful and has an office in Jackson as well as one on Jackson street in ridgeland. I would think you may want to be more insightful before using your broad brush.

909, I can read; you should try it as well. 452 asked q question as to which commentators were from Jackson. As,a,previews commentator, I answered. My point, evidently going over your head, was that I don't think that only residents of Jackson have an interest in this mess. The State spends millions of dollars on supporting the mess known as JPS, and the state has to support all those that survive JPS but are unemployable because the did not receive the benefit of an education.

Chill.