Monday, January 27, 2014

Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!

Politicians never change.  Young, old, black, white, male, female, illterate, or even Harvard-educated, it doesn't matter. It is always about them and their precious little egos.  Exhibit A concerns Jackson City Councilman Melvin Priester, Jr.  (Pay attention to the "junior" as we do not want to confuse this politician with his fine parents.)  It seems someone wishes to open a charter school in Jackson, yet made the mistake of not approaching Junior on bended knee and kissing his Ivy League ring in return for some indulgences. 

The Clarion-Ledger reported two weeks ago:

Nashville Prep charter school founder Ravi Gupta is making the rounds, meeting with dozens of Jackson business and education leaders and taking part in grassroots gatherings to spread the word about the charter he wants to open in the city.

He hasn’t yet met, however, with Mayor Chokwe Lumumba and City Council members, or members of the Jackson School Board and the district’s administration. That doesn’t sit well with Ward 2 Councilman and 1997 Murrah High graduate Melvin Priester, Jr.

“It smacks of, ‘It’s better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission,’ ” Priester said.Article

Permission? Permission from whom? Mr. Gupta has to get permission from the state charter board and that is it. How it must bedevil these local power-broking solons that they are actually irrelevant.  How it must crush them to discover they really don't matter.  The newspaper does point this little fact out:
Gupta and his team don’t have to get the Jackson district’s permission to operate a charter school, to be called Reimagine Prep. State law mandates, if a district is rated a D or F in the state Department of Education’s accountability system, a charter school can operate there without the local district’s blessing. Jackson is rated D.

Where’s the proof, Priester says, that Gupta can deliver? “How do I know this person has the background and ability to do what he’s promising? He’s only been in business since 2011. ... He has no track record in Jackson, and he’s failed to take the time to reach out to the leaders who would be most supportive".

“We refuse to let happen a transfer of public dollars to untested hands,” Priester said. “I need to see their data somewhere other than on his website. Let me see the data from an independent place.”
Oh really, Junior? What exactly are you going to do?  You did actually learn law at Stanford Law School, right?  There is not even a penumbra that  allows you to have any say-so over how a charter school operates or uses its money.  See something you don't like? Go to the state auditor or the charter school board.  However, the proposed school does have the backing of business leaders:

Gupta has chosen to co-chair his advisory committee New Horizon International Church Bishop Ronnie Crudup, who also is administrative bishop of the Fellowship of International Churches; and Leland Speed, chairman of both Downtown Jackson Partners and EastGroup Properties.


“I assure you, (Nashville Prep) will be forthcoming (to city leaders),” Speed said. “We’ve got a year and a half to glue this all together. It’s quite an undertaking.”


Said Crudup: “Certainly, it was not intended in any kind of a way to be a snub on the council. We just went public with this. I’m very comfortable with where we are at this step, and we still have a whole year to go.”
JJ can report Jackson business leaders have made several tours of the Nashville school over the last year. Members of the city council visited the school as well. Did Junior?  It really doesn't matter, as JPS is not exactly too happy about this and is shocked, shocked, mind you, that no one came to them first to seek approval. Hell, if anything, Mr. Rupta should have run away from JPS as fast as possible:

Said JPS Superintendent Cedric Gray: “The fact of the matter is he has not approached us or asked for a sit down with us, and that questions the motivation for wanting a charter. If you’re interested in furthering the education of the children in Jackson, the first step is to go where the heart of it is.”

The same superintendent who tried to cover up and lie about the district's ratings last year? The same one who has seen school performance get worse under his watch?.  Refresh your memory with a passage from an earlier post:

JJ analyzed the school ratings provided by MDE. Nearly a third of Jackson Public Schools are failing. 62% of Jackson public schools received a D or F. Only 12% received an A or B. The picture gets worse when one breaks down the data by elementary, middle, and high schools*:

 23 D's and F's last year. 35 D's and F's this year. Roughly 50% D's and F's. But hey, we gave Jayne Sergent's son a cushy job downtown with a fatcat salary.

The middle schools are where the worst failures take place, as literally half the middle schools in Jackson got worse.  There were seven D's and two F's last year. This year? Three D's and 8 F's. Read that information again. Two-thirds of the middle schools are failing. Only one school avoided a D or "F" - Northwest Middle School. It can actually celebrate. It earned an A. First one out of a JPS middle or high school in several years.

Jackson public high schools are only marginally better. Forest Hill and Murrah earned the highest grades - C. Two schools actually increased from F to D.  That was the highlight of the high school grades.  Five out of seven are still D or F.  Then there are the elementary schools. Two showed improvement. Ten worsened. However, five elementary schools not only got worse but did so by two grade levels. 

Yet this esteemed Doctor questions the motives of Mr. Gupta.  Perhaps Dr. Grey should worry about his own schools before he worries about those operated by others.  By the way, did you ever hear a peep out of Junior about the failing grades of Jackson Public Schools? Have you once heard him question the administration or attempt to hold anyone accountable over on President Street? Did he ever  make a tour of the Nashville school? Other council members and business leaders have done so.  Compare these two posts on his public Facebook page. Here is the post about charter schools: 

On Friday, without any prior notice (not even a hello to the Mayor, me, every other city council person I've spoken to), a group from Nashville submitted an application to start a charter school here in Jackson. This is the beginning of a... process that would culminate, if their application is accepted, in them opening a school in Jackson in the fall of 2015 for 100 initial students using your tax dollars. My feelings are mixed, at best. I've spoken at length about my problems with JPS but I also have qualms about giving public money to anyone who has only been in the business of operating schools for 2.5 years (which is where this group is). ...


Not saying I am in opposition, but I will be vetting these people intensely and look forward to making sure that this is a public process and we get the best outcome for all of our children. Take a look at their letter of intent (a short document, more info will follow as their application continues) and I invite your comments and thoughts.
Those are but a few comments he has posted that are critical of charter schools. Here is one he made about JPS:

Got up extra early today to prepare for a meeting this morning with the newest member of the Jackson Public School Board. Although I have my concerns with charter schools and will use everything I can think of to make sure we get the best operators, I refuse to ignore the fact that JPS must evolve, JPS must improve, and we need to provide better services to our kids RIGHT NOW. Whether people realize it or not, we are 1 year in to the biggest overhaul to public education in Mississippi since desegregation. If we navigate this right we will elevate the playing field for all of our kids. I challenge the leadership of JPS as much or more than the leadership of any charter school operators because our kids deserve better, much better, than they are getting right now.
That's the toughest comment he ever makes about JPS. Nothing critical is posted. Nothing pointing out any poor performance or "track record" as he demands from Rupta.  One kisses the Ivy ring, the other one doesn't.  Guess who gets slammed?

What scares the Juniors of Jackson is this school might just work....without their help.  People might actually ask the question "do we really need these guys?  If it doesn't involve giving them more power, making more money, or giving contracts to their friends, well damn, we can't have that around here, can we?   Sad to say but it is true: they are a bigger threat to the education of children in Jackson than this guy from Nashville. The Juniors are scared the school might actually succeed.  Junior's attitude is typical of politicians: They want to run everything as they ruin everything.

Kingfish note: Here is the report card as found on the Tennessee Department of Education website. Link. Amazing what Google can find if used properly.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

JJ, I don't see anything wrong with the councilman's comment. He admitted that JPS must improve. He simply said that Ravi should meet with the mayor and city council as they may be of some assistance. What's the harm? From a business perspective, they may have resources that could prove useful and it never hurts to know people or have those resources on standby. His comment tells me that he at least wants to be involved in the process which is a good thing. What would you have him do?

Anonymous said...

Wow. Go here and watch the video. Impressive...

http://nashvilleprep.org/

Boy we are blessed to have this group coming to Jackson.

Anonymous said...

Fear not! Whole Foods is coming to solve Jacktown's problems. (At least those few problems that are left after the 1% sales tax and $5 Thalia Mara facility fee cure the ills at which they are targeted.)

Anonymous said...

I like the first comment that MAYBE the mayor and the council could be of some assistance!!! I can see it now. HEY CHARTER SCHOOL GUY. WE DONT KNOW A DAMN THING ABOUT RUNNING SCHOOLS, EXCEPT RUNNING THEM IN THE GROUND. WE ARE DEMOCRATS. OUR WHOLE GOAL IN LIFE IS STEALING TAX PAYER MONEY AND KEEPING PEOPLE POOR AND IGNORANT. WE HAVE SOME GREAT IDEAS. WE ARE JUST HERE TO HELP. WE ARE FOR THE PEOPLE!!! The only time anyone should support a democrat idea is when they change their plea to guilty.

Anonymous said...

JJ, seems like you are trying to pick a fight when there is nothing really there to argue about. After looking at Priester's Facebook page, it looks to me like he has a pretty realistic view about the whole charter situation and also DOES call out JPS. For example, he says "And we're off . . . Letters of Intent have been filed for 8 separate charter schools in Jackson. Some have a local face such as the one being led by Dr. Shirley at the Medical Mall and others seem to be led by people from as far away as Los Angeles (for example the "Academy of Arts Science"). Overall, 30 letters of intent were filed in Mississippi. State law allows only 15 charters per year. Although the party with the responsibility for deciding who will get these charters is the Mississippi Charter School Board, I promise to do everything I can do to make sure that A.) Jackson gets quality charter operators, B.) parents are informed about the best options for their kids, and C.) we improve JPS overall. As I said before, we are year 1 into the biggest overhaul of public education in Mississippi since desegregation, let's do this right." Seems reasonable to me.

Anonymous said...

JJ, seems like you are trying to pick a fight when there is nothing really there to argue about. After looking at Priester's Facebook page, it looks to me like he has a pretty realistic view about the whole charter situation and also DOES call out JPS. For example, he says "And we're off . . . Letters of Intent have been filed for 8 separate charter schools in Jackson. Some have a local face such as the one being led by Dr. Shirley at the Medical Mall and others seem to be led by people from as far away as Los Angeles (for example the "Academy of Arts Science"). Overall, 30 letters of intent were filed in Mississippi. State law allows only 15 charters per year. Although the party with the responsibility for deciding who will get these charters is the Mississippi Charter School Board, I promise to do everything I can do to make sure that A.) Jackson gets quality charter operators, B.) parents are informed about the best options for their kids, and C.) we improve JPS overall. As I said before, we are year 1 into the biggest overhaul of public education in Mississippi since desegregation, let's do this right." Seems reasonable to me.

Anonymous said...

I'm just glad that someone else seems to have noticed the fact that the legislature gave zero money to the State Charter School Board and expects them to oversee charter schools with donations from pro-charter groups and money from the charter schools themselves. That sounds like a situation ripe for the sort of corruption and failure of charter schools that is rampant in Ohio and Arizona. Also, who were the other council people that went to visit Nashville Prep? Was it Laroota?

Anonymous said...

His posts from Jan 13 & 14th are most interesting as well as the comments:
https://www.facebook.com/melvinpriesterjr

Anonymous said...

11:41, it looks to me (although my eyeshades might not have the same color green tint as yours) that Priester is the one picking a fight where there is not one to be picked. Priester is the one who is 'comlaining' that this one potential operator didn't come ask for his support. Maybe this operator had more important folks to go see - maybe he knew this councilman had a favored operator already chosen that he wanted to support. Glad Priester says he will support a charter - since it is the state law and is coming anyway. Don't know why he wants to complain about not having his ring kissed first.

Reminicent of WorldCom's move to Clinton who wanted to stay downtown but needed approval to build a parking garage and couldn't get it because of neighboring (trial lawyer) property owner. Mayor claimed they didn't come see him. Sams on County Line, moving to Madison. Mayor and Councilman state that they haven't come and asked for their help.

Hell! I thought our elected officials job was to go solve problems, not sit in their thrones and have businesses come beg for their support.

Anonymous said...

Seriously, JJ, cherrypick much? There are a ton of places where this guy calls out JPS. Here's one you missed: "Hi Megan, thanks for your volunteering. It's going to be interesting. I would be wary about hiring a lawyer who has only been out of law school for 2.5 years to handle a major case, so there is just a certain amount of "show us more before we hand you control over small children" that seems like common sense to me. JPS has issues, most certainly it has MAJOR issues, as the process continues and they flesh out their application, however, we will see if Nashville Prep has a viable plan for Jackson and they will provide a step up. I, for one, am still in investigatory mode. This is year one of a major reworking to the public education regime in the state of Mississippi and I want there a.) to be major reform to JPS because for the next decade or two, the statutory structure and its attendant math mean that charters will be a band aid on a broken arm and b.) I want prospective charter operators to know that only the people who really bring the A game will be getting a charter in Jackson. If we, as a community, just roll over and let every charter operator in without oversight and scrutiny, because " hey, JPS is screwed why not roll the dice on this new guy" we will end up with the bottom of the barrel operators. This will be a new marriage between city leadership, JPS leadership, the charter operators, and the state charter board so this will be a topic that I will be discussing at length over the next few months and years." What about that seems off to you?

Anonymous said...


Melvin adopts the typical Donkey position by wanting charter operators to come and kiss his butt.

Besides flapping his gums tell us exactly what Priester Junior has done and what actions he has taken to get JPS straightened out?

Anonymous said...

Kingfish, not everything that glitters is gold. Nashville Prep lost 30% of its students its first year (and it's only been open 2 and half years so far). The only people on its board for its Jackson operation are Leland Speed and its LANDLORD Ronnie Crudup. How the hell is that not a major conflict of interests?

Anonymous said...

11:19,

Please show me where he suggests that they want to take part in "RUNNING" the schools. He did say however, “We refuse to let happen a transfer of public dollars to untested hands,Let me see the data from an independent place.” Just because the idea of charter schools sounds good doesnt mean that we should blindly throw money at it as leaders have done in the past.

Anonymous said...

After spending some time looking at Mr. Priester's facebook page, it is obvious that he really doesn't like the idea of charter schools, but he doesn't want to come out and say that, because . . .well, he's a politician and he wants to ride the fence. I suspect there will be one charter school approved for the JPS area, and Nashville Prep is seen as the major competitor to Dr. Shirley's group. So, if there is going to be a charter school, opponents of charter schools will at least want the money going to a "local" guy they think they can control. So, expect a lot of trashing of Nashville Prep.

Anonymous said...

I have liked Priester, but this was a little disappointing. While the comments are a little cherry picked (he does go after JPS), the disconcerting thing is that his ONLY real problem with Nashville Prep is that they haven't come and, as other posters said, "kissed the ring."

There are some questionable statistics that were later posted somewhere about student retention and performance metrics for Nashville Prep, but that wasn't his real qualm.

Obviously we don't want just anyone to come in and open a school, you can go to poor areas and see just how bad some of the local private schools are (nothing more than an excuse to not mingle in the local public school). However, in JPS you are talking about total failure. Jackson hasn't shown any ability to deal with it other than continuing to pad the pockets of overpaid administrators. How could Nashville Prep do worse?



Anonymous said...

This post reads to me like a pedantic rant that resulted from some perceived slight, say, Priester didn't advertise on this site, ect....

Anonymous said...

LOOK.... it's raining red herrings.

Anonymous said...

I don't see anything wrong with the councilman's comment.

of course you don't, it's better to ask for forgiveness than for permission

Anonymous said...

JJ, seems like Priester is trying to pick a fight when there is nothing really there to argue about. After looking at Priester's Facebook page, it looks to me like he has a pretty obtuse view about the whole charter situation and also DOES call out JPS. For example, he says "And we're off . . . Letters of Intent have been filed for 8 separate charter schools in Jackson. Some have a local face such as the one being led by Dr. Shirley at the Medical Mall and others seem to be led by people from as far away as Los Angeles (for example the "Academy of Arts Science"). Overall, 30 letters of intent were filed in Mississippi. State law allows only 15 charters per year. Although the party with the responsibility for deciding who will get these charters is the Mississippi Charter School Board, I promise to do everything I can do to make sure that A.) Jackson gets quality charter operators, B.) parents are informed about the best options for their kids, and C.) we improve JPS overall. As I said before, we are year 1 into the biggest overhaul of public education in Mississippi since desegregation, let's do this right." Seems reasonable to me.

I mean, he mentions desegregation and being sure to get the charter operators that show him the most money... err, I mean respect.

Anonymous said...

I respect both Leland Speed and Melvin Priester,Jr. They are honorable gentlemen and very, very bright.

It's basic good business and good politics ( let's make no mistake, charter schools are a business) to get as much support from the community as possible whether it's " required" or not.

Why wouldn't Gupta make courtesy calls?

Especially if one expects resistance ( and Priester is on record as not being resistant) trying to minimize that resistant is savvy.

And, why shouldn't we try to make sure we get the most successful and experienced people with the best plans?

Anonymous said...

Competition is wonderful! While guys like Priester, Lumumba and Cedric Gray will publicly grouse about how charter schools are taking needed resources away from the Jackson Public Schools, when addressing teachers and administrators, they now have an excuse to say NO.

NO to higher pay without higher performance.

NO to more staff in the back office.

NO to keeping employees who don't perform as well as their charter school counter-parts.

NO to newer and better equipment and facilities when the charter schools do more with less.

NO to "socially responsible" liberal mind control that dumbs down everyone when charter schools are succeeding by challenging students to accomplish more despite disadvantaged upbringings.

Those conversations go something like the following: "Yes, you are overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated and life isn't fair to you. Unfortunately, we have these @#()!!!&#$@@@!! charter schools that are raping us of our funds and stealing our teachers and staff. Please complain to your State legislator over this horrible charter school law because it needs to be repealed. And, as soon as it is repealed, I promise we will get you the money and benefits you so richly deserve. Until then, I am so sorry but there's nothing we can do."



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Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".

In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

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There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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