Jackson Jambalaya

The House Education Committee is scheduled to vote on a charter schools bill tomorrow and sure enough, here comes the gnashing of teeth from the Clarion-Ledger, Dr. George Schimmel, and Nancy Loome. While they writhe in agony over the thought of anyone but them approaching the altar of public schools, perhaps we should take a look at how well public schools are performing in Jackson.

JJ reviewed the report cards provided by the Department of Education on its website and found there are few bright spots in the Jackson public school system. Check out the data for yourself and I warn you: it's not pretty.

Elementary Schools (33)
Star: 2
High Performing: 7
Successful: 6
Academic Watch: 8
Low Performing:
At risk of failing: 10
Failing:

Middle Schools (9)
Star:
High Performing:
Successful: 1
Academic Watch: 6
Low Performing
At risk of failing:2
Failing

High Schools (8)
Star:
High Performing:
Successful: 1
Academic Watch: 5
Low Performing
At risk of failing: 2
Failing

% of total schools at Academic Watch or below: 66%
% of elementary schools at Academic Watch or below: 55%
% of middle & high schools at Academic Watch or below: 88%

Note: Davis Magnet is rated High Performing and Power APAC has a Star rating. I did not include those in the above descriptions as they are considered "the gifted and talented" schools. An asterisk is placed next to a school with improvement of one level from the previous year. Two asterisks means it declined by one level. The previous level is stated if the change was more than one level.

Haven't seen these results in the media, have you? David Hampton wrote several columns and blogs this year opposing charter schools. Have you seen him write one column this year, last year, or the year before telling you how bad Jackson Public Schools really are? Have you seen him mention the poor ratings of JPS? Actually provide the data? His editorial page published a column by Claiborne Barksdale last week opposing charter schools. He published an editorial opposing current charter school legislation and no less than 15 similar letters to the editor while only two supporting letters were published in the last ten days.

How many letters to the editor or guest columns has the Clarion-Ledger published about the dismal ratings of Jackson Public Schools? Where are the 15 letters criticizing the leadership of Jackson Public Schools for only having ONE middle school and ONE high school rated above academic watch? How many times have you seen the same outrage currently spent opposing charter schools aimed at the poor performance of JPS? Not once did they tell you less than 40% of the boys at Wingfield and Provine graduate in four years or that half of all boys who go to high school in Jackson public schools graduate. Not once. Did Mr. Hampton mention his wife is in charge of public relations for Jackson Public Schools? Does he disclose this fact when opposing charter school legislation or recommending how it can be "fixed"? Earlier post on graduation rates

Then there is quote by Jackson Public School Board member Dr. George Schimmel in a letter published today in the newspaper:

"The charter school bill before the Legislature is less about choice than it is about segregation. It will segregate our children into those who are at high risk to fail and those who are not." Rest of letter

Dr. Schimmel, there will not be segregation if charter schools become reality because there is segregation right now. Children attending public schools in Jackson are held in bondage to schools that are already failing and at risk. They are doomed to a life of failure by YOUR school system, Dr. Schimmel. A school system that does not teach them, does not educate them, and damn sure is not graduating them. Even the children attending George and McWillie, two star schools actually educating children who are poor and black, see that spark of education extinguished when they move on to middle school. As for race itself, the public school system is 98% black.

I've yet to see Dr. Schimmel write letters discussing the graduation rates or pitiful report cards, yet he doesn't hesitate to raise the ghost of segregation in a 98% black school system when anyone discusses charter schools. Dr. Schimmel is a moral coward, more concerned with his position on the school board than actually doing something about the problems facing Jackson Public Schools. Injecting segregation into the discussion shows his intellectual laziness and inability to get off a path that has already led to failure because the JPS school system is a failure by any standard.

I just have one question for Dr. Schimmel, David Hampton, Nancy Loome of the Parents' Campaign, Claiborne Barksdale, and the rest of the public school lobby: How do you defend the record of a public school system such as Jackson's? How can you argue with a straight face a school system that graduates from high school only half its boys should be protected from charter schools? How do you claim a school system is not segregated when it is nearly all-black with most of the secondary schools rated as academic watch or at risk of failing? When will you admit this fight is more about you than it is the children?




Data:

Baker: High Performing
Barr: Successful
Boyd:High Performing*
Bradley: High Performing
Brinkley: Academic Watch
Brown: Successful*
Casey: High Performing
Clausell: Successful**
Dawson: none reported.
French: High Performing*
George: Star*
Green: High Performing* (At Risk of Failing)
Hopkins: At Risk of Failing**
Isable: " " **
Johnson: " "
Key: Successful
Lake: Academic Watch*
Lee: At Risk of Failling
Lester: Academic Watch
Marshall: At Risk of Failing**
McLeod: High Performing* (Academic Watch)
McWillie: Star
North Jackson: At Risk of Failing**
Oak Forest: Academic Watch
Peeples: Academic Watch*
Pointdexter: Academic Watch**
Raines: Successful
Smith: Academic Watch**
Spann: At Risk of Failing** (Successful)
Timberlawn: Successful
Walton: Academic Watch
Sykes: Successful
Wilkins: At Risk of Failing**
Woodville Heights: At Risk of Failing** (Successful)

Blackburn: Academic Watch
Brinkley: Academic Watch
Chastain: Academic Watch
Hardy: Academic Watch
Northwest: Academic Watch**
Peeples: Academic Watch*
Powell: At Risk of Failing
Rowan: Successful* (At Risk of Failing)
Whitten: At Risk of Failing

Bailey Magnet: Academic Watch
Callaway: Academic Watch**
Forest Hill: Successful. Congratulations. The best high school in JPS.
Jim Hill: Academic Watch
Lanier: Academic Watch**
Murrah: Academic Watch
Provine: At Risk of Failing
Wingfield: At Risk of Failing

Note: Adam Lynch covered some of this in the Jackson Free Press last year.