Jackson Jambalaya

A mind is a terrible thing to waste...

Spending a year of college tuition to educate the children & they can't even read or add? Phil sure did them a solid by not taking over JPS....

If only JPS sold some more bonds things would improve.

The missing students are alive and doing well in Madison County. Just come up here and watch all of the Hinds tags in line. Poor Felicity.

@8:14

Or in the case of JPS...Waste is a terrible thing to mind.

Duh. Of course it costs more. JPS is basically a remedial district. It cost more to educate and manage the dysfunctional children left behind when all the parents, black and white, with the resources to do so have fled the district. They need more of everything from the schools, because they get nothing at home. It's the same paradigm with governmental services, public works, etc. As the independent move out, the area becomes more dependent, not less. What else would you expect?

In my next life, I want to come back as a JPS administrator.

Next, go to DHS and pull stats regarding the number of children born out of wedlock by demographic and compare that to the demographics of these three school districts. That will generally be more indicative of success than money being spent.

Not one thing in Jackson works as it should. I wonder why?

It cost more to educate and manage the dysfunctional children left behind when all the parents, black and white, with the resources to do so have fled the district.

Give us more than generalities. How exactly does it cost more? With JPS collecting more money per student than ever what specific resources does a family take with them when they leave that in turn becomes no longer available to JPS?

Appreciate the sunlight on the facts and data on this matter. How many students go to private, parochial or charter schools in Desoto, Rankin, and JPS? Knowing the total number of students in each area is important. What is the average tuition/ cost per students for the private schools? Are there figures for how many students go to adjacent area’s private schools? These facts and figures would paint a better picture of the entire situation. One conclusion is unadvoidable, JPS is a failure. Sending kids to JPS seems to be negligent. For parents that have no other financial choice, school vouchers seem to be the only solution to liberate them from failed schools. No amount of money will change the outcome of JPS.

851 shhhhh hush your mouth. That is not politically correct to point such out.... shame shame

There are no charters in Rankin or Desoto.

JJ has reported the high unwed birthrates on a regular basis for years.

Once consolidation occurs, it would be a good idea to use savings to extend the school day to 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Make that extra time part of a real school day, not after school care crap. Either the state can raise those kids or the streets can. Extend that school day in Elementary School. Learning can be made fun for those kids.

KF at 9:22 That's a good idea. But what if there is no consolidation?
Good luck with that idea. But JPS still needs an extended school day and intensive remedial help for it's children just to keep up with reasonable standards. It Costs More. As you say, the alternative is the streets raising the kids.

DeSoto County is really nice.

For those who don't get out much. DeSoto County is the richest place in Mississippi. It is to Memphis what Rankin is to Jackson.

Yes that's right, there is a place wealthier than Madison.

Kingfish - Can you break down the $278M in spending into operational expenses (i.e. salaries, maintenance, debt, etc.)? Where is all the money going? This just doesn't add up as $12K is not literally spent on each student. What is the student/teacher ratio?

Incidentally, my wife tutors elementary aged JPS kids at our church. Last week she had a fourth grader that could not read - literally. She said intelligence wasn't the issue - it was lack of education.

Yes that's right, there is a place wealthier than Madison.

NOPE.

@9:07 AM why is the private school data important?

How many students were enrolled in JPS 30 and 40 years ago?

That would be very telling.

Everyone enjoys watching failure and drawing race based conclusions. This is not what God intended.

Copy of report

Enjoy the research project.

@10:07,
I would image it's bc my 3 kids attend Jackson prep and every other kid in my NE Jackson neighborhood attend private schools. My neighbor has 3 kids also in private school at St Andrews. Others at JA etc... mostly physicians trial lawyers and business owners m.

Not one single child living in Baby Chok's gated-community attend JPS schools. Not one. But there is a well worn vehicle path from there to Madison County.

Just like the politicians and movers-and-shakers in our nation's capital - their kids go to private schools.

10:27- You know God's mind, do you?

According to their web sites:
DeSoto has 22 elementary schools, JPS has 33.
DeSoto has 8 middle schools, JPS has 12.

Looks like we need to close roughly 15 schools. That would save a boatload of money.

So what @10:31 AM? Why is it important? What bearing does it have on JPS or any other school district?

Hey kingfish, just curious, but does JPS use any of the funds on after school meals and programs? Don't they fund a couple meals per day during the summer months? What percentage of JPS funds go towards this or is it just CoJ?

MDE tried to take over two years ago and would have right sized the operation starting on Day One. Phil Bryant said no and he could do "Better Together" on his own. Ummm...no. Nothing has changed. I'm not saying MDE would have "fixed" JPS but they would have expedited the process instead of paying for studies. The definition of insanity...

11:23 It ain't like taking over the airport. I'm sure MDE is real disappointed they didn't get to run JPS. What a feather in their cap that would have been. HA!

@10:51
I also live in that gated community... my kids attend JA along with several others in there. There is a family that attends st Andrews so maybe your referring to them. Not sure who else has worn a path.

As a business owner in Jackson it pains me to see money wasted. Especially when I have to pay such a high rate of property, furniture and fixture/contents taxes! The saddest part is the amount of theft that is taking place. Yes theft! If you are paying an employee to perform a Duty and he/she doesn’t complete the duty or duties accordingly and you are required by law to pay them and they refuse to change their ways, then that is theft. Plain and simple. I can’t sell my property because it’s in Jackson. So I have to pay Hinds County and Jackson Taxes. Oh, and Hinds Public Schools are no better. What a great place this used to be....USED TO BE! I hate to say it but another 10 to 15 years Madison and Rankin will be there.

@11:23

Do you not remember the almighty hell that the mayor and others raised when this came up? The court battles will still be ongoing if the state had stepped in. Phil just decided to let them hang themselves and they have.

"For those who don't get out much. DeSoto County is the richest place in Mississippi. It is to Memphis what Rankin is to Jackson.
Yes that's right, there is a place wealthier than Madison.
September 16, 2019 at 9:58 AM"

I don't know who gets our or how much, but I do know that's a post based on ignorance. Neither of your claims is correct. Desoto is not the 'wealthiest' and Madison does not follow Rankin. In terms of family income, Madison leads the state. I'm not bragging, and it's not that important, but it's important that we point out ignorance where it surfaces. Otherwise you might continue with it.

Before George Elementary was closed, in the years before 2000, it was a low performing school. In 2004 we turned it around to a level 5 and it stayed level 5 until about two years before the District closed it. George is located in the battlefield park area. 90% of the kids walked to school. We had Vista volunteers there who tutored children. Our school model was Success for All. The principal and some of the teachers would work at the school until 7-8pm. Because most of the children walked, they would go home and then come back to the school to "hang around". When asked why, the majority said they didn't want to go home, so we would have practices and activities after school which helped tremendously. Being a small school also helped so that teachers could give extra help to the under-performing students without neglecting the advanced ones. The principal didn't take crap from the students, parents or teachers. He had the most complaints filed against him than any administrator in JPS, but we got the desired results. He was hired in '01 and by '04 George Elementary was level 5. When you have "extra" situations you need "extra" effort.

The enrollment numbers are off from MDE's numbers...http://newreports.mdek12.org/

1:17pm so what you're saying is that the leadership at George actually did their jobs? Isn't that what every school should be doing? And if they're not, shouldn't they be held accountable?

Still doesn't explain why jps has 11 more elementary and 4 more middle schools than DeSoto, while DeSoto is much larger than jps.

There has been sufficient time for Gov. Bryant's rescue of JPS via the Kellogg Foundation to produce result. With all this generous funding to work with, when will those results be forthcoming?

@2:13 PM - it's about "rice bowls" and "empire building." More people below you in the chain of command demands higher pay and benefits. It's the government way.

8:29 is spot on. I just went to Germantown High School to pick my granddaughter up for a dental appointmement and there was three vehicles in the circle in front and the two in front of me had HINDS plates on them. I had been reading this thread right before I left and it was Dega vu all over again. I take this a very ominous sign of what is to come. JPD is not capable of educating their students so responsible parents will do what they have to do to educate their kids. This is bad news for Madison County.

This is bad news for Madison County.

How so? Be specific.

Let me help you, 6:01. When Madison is illegally infiltrated with students from JPS, it will do nothing but water down the quality of the overall 'pool'. How many times do we need to discuss social experimentation before you nincompoops finally get it?

We can mix three thousand illegals into the town of Canton and we can mix four hundred Hinds residents into the schools of Madison. What the hell do you expect the outcome to be? You teach to the lowest mentality level in a classroom and those who've been doing well, suffer. Understand yet?

7:17,
You are a sad, hateful bigot.

If you think non-whites lower the performance and standards of whites then you are a racist.

Of the three Presidents so far in the 21st Century the most intelligent has been a black man.

When Madison is illegally infiltrated with students from JPS ...

So, you are saying that those are Hinds County residents gaming the MCHS system? Prove it.

Can someone please tell me whether the revenue figures for JPS include the $65 million bond issue from last year?

I can't prove it but every year my kids have been at Madison Schools, a decent percent of classmates have lived in Jackson. They are not shy about telling it. There is more to say but even I have seen the bus drop off in Madison neighborhood and cars with Hinds plates pick them up. This is all the time in the hoods close to the schools.

"You are a sad, hateful bigot. If you think non-whites lower the performance and standards of whites then you are a racist."

I didn't mention race, you did. The Madison District, I think, is well represented by black students as well as white. It's a fact that when a poor performing district (or school) is combined with an excellent district (or school), the needle for the latter is lowered. If what you're hoping for is average, then mix away. I'm sorry you don't like facts when you look through that black prism.

Speaking of the JPSD:

https://courts.ms.gov/Images/Opinions/CO140873.pdf

It is a rather interesting read.

It's a fact that when a poor performing district (or school) is combined with an excellent district (or school), the needle for the latter is lowered.

Which school districts are being combined? Name them.

Well, there is a glaring example at Carthage, from a few years ago. Took an F school and bused the students into a B school. And the outcome is as expected.

Then, there's Cleveland, which, after 53 years of Justice Department meddling finally just combined two schools, one that was 50% black and one that was 98% black. We await the outcome, but it will be as expected. The feds decided 50% black was not sufficient. More accomplished students heading to private schools. They're not running from black students. They're leaving because quality has been dumbed down to average.


Will that do for starters, 5:47?

Teaching children with learning disabilities and behavior problems costs more.
It is also a problem to teach children in bad family situations who are get inadequate sleep, are hungry who live in fear due to parents on drugs or crime and partying all night in their neighborhoods.

These school comparisons are ridiculous. You need to know the content of the student body and the socio-economic status of the child to even begin to compare.

Undernourished, sleepy, emotionally disturbed or stressed, and learning disabled children don't test as well no matter what their race.