Jackson Jambalaya

It looks like the charter schools are doing no better than the public schools. I thought they were supposed to be the cure to all our problems?!?

But......it is more important to rename a school from Jeff Davis to Obama....... was that really needed? Are they really serious that renaming a school was more important than getting the kids an education? If that’s all the parents were worried about, then the district should be taken over. I know that I speak in simpleton language but that was never going to change for the better. Oh, don’t forget to rename Robert E. Lee elementary in south Jackson. Lord knows those children don’t need to be traumatized anymore than they have been already. WhT will they name it? Eric Holder Elementary or after the former First Lady?

Eastover, Fondren and Belhaven should now consider breaking away from Jackson before it’s too late. Wait......naaaaaa it’s too late.

If Bryant punts he will render the entire process as established by the Legislature as useless.

As a pro-flag, pro-gun, anti-NFL, white male Republican, I support their decision to rename the school to Obama Elementary, just as long as I get to rename Murrah to Trump Elementary in 2020 after we build the Wall and repeal Obamacare.

So what I'm learning from this chart is that charter schools suck. Almost worse than public schools. Ponzi scheme!

I’m with 1:11!!!!! What he said......yeah.....

The charter schools do seem to be having a tough time raising scores of these former JPS students. However two of them are rated D, with the rest of JPS Middle Schools receiving F ratings.

With three students in Rankin County School district I will not be surprised to see scores continue to drop across all schools. The district is forcing the movement to a digital classroom and is struggling to implement it smoothly. In the elementary levels there is indecision on math programs used (common core confusion). In Middle and High school levels the introduction of laptops has been a nightmare. Students utilize Canvas (much like colleges) and there is very little consistency between teachers as it relates to posting assignments/modules in consistent locations. Students have to perform way to many clicks to see what is required of them that day. Landing screens in Canvas are often organized/sorted differently by teacher. We all know the best way to study for test is on Powerpoint presentations right? We rush through teaching content on Powerpoint so we can save enough time to do all the STATE TEST PREP and make sure we keep the level A status. I predict scores will begin to drop and teeter on the edge of B status next couple years. Oh and my student can watch moves while on his district provided laptop while sitting in the classroom! Talking about being spoiled! Back in our day we could either build a paper star, airplane, write love notes or fighting notes or just stare at each other. Kids now don't get bored in the classroom...

But......it is more important to rename a school from Jeff Davis to Obama....... was that really needed? Are they really serious that renaming a school was more important than getting the kids an education?

I think that you can be serious about renaming a school and serious about kids getting an education. I'm not sure how or why you see this as a disjunct.

All the king's horses and all the kings' men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

Does anyone really think anyone or any agency can fix a failing school? Schools fail for a variety of reasons but primarily the demographics of the district. Poverty and high illegitimatcy are leading indicators of failing schools - white or black. Until the home is fixed you can forget about fixing the schools. And the PC culture will never allow the home situation to be fixed, hell you can't even raise the issue with liberals. The best thing you could do for children in those schools is offer the parent (usually a mother - again white or black) a one way ticket out of the state to a community where she can get a job and put the kids in a solid school. Good schools can absorb a small amount of children that are impoverished. When you tip the balance to a majority of children are from single parent low income to no income then the problem is not fixable. You will find this same problem in eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, and even parts of Northeast Tennessee.

When the free and reduced lunch program goes over 30% of your enrollment you can bet you have a
problem at home. When it hits 50% or greater you can forget about fixing the school. The school is just a reflection of the community it serves.

Ever notice home a community with good jobs has good schools? Unless you fix the "job" problem in th community the schools will continue to fail.

Someone needs to check Baker Elementary, I have a niece and nephew who attended school there last year. They transferred to schools in Louisiana, they are currently repeating 3rd and 1st grade.

2:03 -- It's called priorities. The amount of time and energy devoted to the name change could have been better spent discussing the failure issues.

12:50, do you really believe the shortcomings at JPS are due to officials being too busy renaming schools? How much of their time do you really think it consumed to rename one school?

By the way, I assume you wouldn't want to send your kids to a school named after a man who fought to keep your ancestors enslaved. As the majority of JPS students are black, it should be no surprise that the school was renamed. And spare me the garbage about how you wouldn't send your kids to that particular school (Obama Magnet School) regardless of the name. It performed on at least an equal level as any suburban school on the list.

In any event, assuming that your kids are not JPS students, why do you care that the school is no longer named after Jefferson Davis?

If you want your kids in a great school, you have to consider Clinton (this does not even mention all the 35 and 36 ACTs recently).

If you want your kid in a kinda good school that is almost all white, then Rankin is right up there.

"And the PC culture will never allow the home situation to be fixed, hell you can't even raise the issue with liberals."

So what is this fantastic, conservative solution you have in mind to fix the "home situation" in impoverished homes that those mean, nasty liberals are ruining?

2:03 Not trying to defend incompetence but nobody said renaming the schools was more important than educating children. If they vote to fix the toilets in the high schools does that mean that they are saying toilets are more important than education? Give it a rest.

When the kids start transferring out,even the magnets will be empty. See Ann Smith for the future of the school's on the border with JPS.

2:03; it DOES mean something. It means the parents and teachers are more concerned about the name of the OUTSIDE of the school rather than what’s inside the school.

2:13 has explained it as clearly as it can be explained without having to draw a picture for some people.

1. I think this is the first year for 1 or 2 of the charters. They should be showing significant improvement by Year 3. If not, the Charter Board better not renew their charters.

2. 1.2% of the kids tested are College/Career Ready. 1.2% is considered proficient enough to hold a job after graduation. That is really sad.

2:26 -- Because we pay for them. We should have a say also. Doesn't matter what our choices are, we have no choice in taxation and we're just tired of paying for something that is broken. Our money should be better spent fixing the failure not paying to have a building name changed (with all the requisite bids, contracts, oversight, support, etc.). If you don't understand that -- then change blogs. I agree 12:50 and have no clue why we don't just break away in NE Jackson - we're paying for services we cannot use, and that is an excellent basis for creating our own city. Is anyone awake in my neighborhood?

JPS is lost and cannot be saved by any earthly institution. Mississippi should exempt JPS from testing. Nobody really and truly cares about JPS or its students and it is ludicrous to pretend that they do. Leave it alone. Que sera sera!

2:32

No JPS apologist here, but it's not like this was a poor performing school that changed its name. Top elementary school in the state according to today's rankings.

2:13, 2:24, and 2:32, Please help me understand why you think it's impossible to focus on education, while at the same time, renaming a school. Apparently, that was not a problem at Obama Magnet School; it has an A rating.

Barack Obama Magnet School.....GTFOH!!!

3:00 -- Priorities. If the ship is sinking, you don't worry about the name. Wasted time and resources.

Don't blame this on whites.......to be quite honest we don't care what they name a school, but when the school is failing, we do believe these types of issues, should be relegated to the back burner, while they focus on the real educational issues (reading, writing, math, etc.).

Do you think when the Titanic was sinking, they all sat around and wondered if the ship should be renamed?

If you don't understand this simple issue, then you are part of the problem and not the solution.

Guess it didn't occur to anyone that the values of the Confederacy might not be the same as a school district that is 99% black. The finer points of state's rights and tariffs might be lost on them.

Having said that, Governor needs to go ahead and sign the order.

Right, Kingfish. Now, what happens when that district becomes 90% Hispanic? Are those same blacks going to be fine with changing the name to whatever the Latinos prefer? Is that school's facade protected by Archives & History? If so, how will they change it?

I think the name changes are a WONDERFUL idea. Just like saggy pants, those new names allow the casual observer to see exactly what they'd be dealing with.

And there's the bonus that such names will encourage Jacksonians to keep their offspring in Jackson schools.

Meanwhile, exurban communities can change their schools' names, to create subtle conceptual barriers. 'Cruella de Vil Elementary' would be ideal. 'Mayer Rothschild High School' would be a good one for Madison, since, in addition to making our value system and aspirations crystal clear, it would tend to select for better whites - deflecting the types prone to huge truck tires and tiny brains, onto the Rankin County school system, where they belong.

The flag wavers cry "majority rules" until they are no longer the majority. Now they are shocked that JPS is not honoring Jeff Davis. Plenty more of this to come.

Wow! I want to meet the principal at Baker. He or she can FIX JPS! *cough*

Go the way of New York --- PS 1, PS 2, PS 3 .................solves the problem and provides anonymity.

4:03 -- I think the irony is that minorities now want to use the majority rule reasoning. I guess if you can traverse between "I'm a minority" or "I'm the majority" hence my requirements must be met -- it works well either way for them. Guess it is all based on what their requirements are based on their location. Actually it's quite brilliant.

"As number 16 out of 146 districts in the state, the Rankin County School District takes pride in our history of being high performing, with many outstanding accomplishments. Our students and teachers are defined by all of their successes rather than by the 1.7 points that separates our district from an A rating. The Rankin County School District will continue to provide the best opportunities for our students and teachers."

Looks to me like Superintendent Dr. Sue Townsent [sic] needs to get her head out of the sand (or out of her ass, which may be more realistic) and get her thinking right. Not only the schools (pupils), but the surrounding areas and county, are HUGELY impacted by the rated quality of the schools. Her "well, we're good enough" attitude stated above doesn't cut it. That's nothing more than a "cover my ass as the superintendent" statement, because when residents look for places to locate based on the quality of the schools, it doesn't matter if the rating is .1 or 9.9 points from an A, a B still shows as a B in their eyes. Furthermore, until the left figures a way to euphemize the grading scale to make it "fair," an A is still better than a B. Therefore, when Madison has A schools and Rankin has B schools, which one is likely to be more appealing to parents for their children (regardless of how far Rankin schools missed the mark)?

What an absolutely stupid position for a superintendent to take (and even worse to make a public statement about same)!

What a shame for kids in Jackson Public schools. They are environmentally and socially challenged when they start school and receive no support from grade one forward. At some point (for some of them) the light bulb will come on and they will realize how important education actually is to ever make it ahead in life. Sadly, at that point they will be so far behind that there will be almost no catching up.

If you don't get proper basic education by grade four or five I have no idea how you will ever catch up. The JPS System puts incredible pressure on parents who actually want to see their kids be successful as adults.

So much for luring decent technical industry to Jackson. Maybe Madison, Brandon and Clinton workforce, with fast food, custodial and landscape services provided by Jackson folks.

Pay attention to that last paragraph Jackson folks. Unless you do something quickly, that is the future for your kids.

I mentor 5 guys in JPS and am a regular at Galloway, Brinkley and Lanier. Under the new
Interim superintendent and across the board staffing improvements I am seeing improvement.
I am also seeing parents again getting involved in JPS (keep in mind the previous superintendent
completely destroyed accountability, demoralized long term teachers and bambozzled the clueless
Board of Trustees).

If you and the naysayers of JPS want to make a difference get in loved. JPS will never be an A
District. But it can be a solid C District, amazing for a large urban school. But if you only want to
criticize, look in mirrow and see a member of White Privilege. We and our forefathers are largely
Responsible for denying equal education opportunities to decades of our fellow citizens. The

Wonder how many of the students in the school with a new name even knew who the school was named after? How many even know about the history of the U.S.? We can easily see they didn't learn about any of it in their school. After all in a school district that has had a F rating for the last two years isn't teaching much of anything.

5:39...........give............it............a..............rest! White privilege is kind of like the term racism -- we're all tone deaf.

If we weren't spending more per capita on students in JPS than any other school district in Mississippi (I would suggest your re-read the EXCELLENT KF post on Desota County and JPS), then you might have some credibility.

Personal accountability? Where does that lie and at what point do we stop making excuses and have it kick in? I do prison ministry and have for over a decade -- but I also understand that most are there because of personal choices, wanting to "game" the system, etc., so don't pull the "I volunteer and am a better person than you" card.

I would suggest you focus on the 5 and hope you make a difference.

Rankin Schools, the new Hardy and Provine. That’s where the parents attended. And not during the good years.

October 19, 2017 at 5:39 PM = Blah, blah, blah, blah

Jeff Davis probably wouldn’t want his name associated with a failing school system anyway. Renaming The school for a failure like Obama is fitting.

The solution is simple. Re-name all the schools. Now, that would be visionary.

9:02, the school boasts an A rating. Whatever school you send your kids to isn't rated any higher. I wonder what criteria you use to claim that Obama Magnet is "failing."

Bryant will punt on this. To much pressure from all sides. JPS doesn't want a takeover and the adjoining districts don't want to take JPD students. Call in the Kellogg Foundation and throw some more money at the falling school district. Everyone is happy. Meanwhile children continue to get substandard education.

2:13; In amongst your diatribe you managed to contradict yourself at least three times. Here's just one:

First you say we can forget about changing schools until we change the culture at home. OK, sounds fine so far. But, then you suggest we take single parents with failing children and give them a bus ticket to some place and put them in a 'good school'. Here's your comment: "The best thing you could do for children in those schools is offer the parent (usually a mother - again white or black) a one way ticket out of the state to a community where she can get a job and put the kids in a solid school."

So, if nothing is 'fixed' on the home front, and all we do is move people around (sounds like Charters) and ship them somewhere else, how is that going to help the struggling student (or the ones who don't give a shit)? He will still come home every afternoon either to an empty house or to a mother who could not care less about his education or whether he winds up working at Church's or Dominoes.

5:39 - Do you even know the difference between a tutor and a mentor? A mentor is one, typically in an employment setting, who helps to bring along someone new to the job assignment....or one who is assigned to help another develop in the profession....or serves as an example of how the job might best be done; sort of a job-performance coach. A mentor should not have a role in an adult/child setting in a school.

I hope you are tutoring. If not, you're pissing in the wind while blaming all the ills on white folks. You do seem to enjoy taking the easy/low road.

Wow. The guy is putting his time and effort in to helping kids at these schools and you bust his balls for it. He might be mentoring considering many of these kids come from broken homes and probably need it.

6:44 Guess I'm not up to date on the terminology. Should have said I attempt to show these kids that God loves them and that I love them and that God made them and every other human in His image. Therefore they can achieve whatever they dream and I am there to help them do it.

King the claims of mentoring are exaggerated and overused. He/she might be doing lots of things but you have no idea that it isn't merely advising the mentees how to tie their shoes or a windsor knot.

8:19 Thank you for your genuine concern and real efforts to help these kids instead of kicking them when they are down. I have been blessed to have the real life experience of seeing kids from the worst of circumstances, right here in Jackson, rise up through JPS and become more than productive citizens. They did it because someone was willing to see them as a fellow human being and extend a helping hand. Let's do that before we "give up" on people. We won't succeed every time, but if you have one success, it's worth it. Don't give up. God Bless.

Looks like all the tax money that Canton Schools are getting from Lake Caroline have not helped education one bit! Other than Huey Porter and Nichols Middle, all of them wen down! And the high school went from a C to an F!!! Can tax payers get a refund?

Canton H.S.: F (C)
Huey Porter: C (F)
Jimmie Goodloe D (C)
Rueben Myers: D (C)
Nichols Middle: D (F)
McNeal: D (B)
Canton Elementary: F (D)

@ 1:27 Sounds like you need to help your child(ren) focus/get them some help. The computer platforms used in RCSD are not in any way difficult to navigate, even as teacher usage varies. Your kid(s) should be able to adapt. If they cannot, perhaps the same poor parenting that is responsible for everything in JPS according to the people on this board is responsible for your child's inability to do his/her work on a modern day 'puter and not waste time watching movies. Do better.

Ann E Smith--D. This is a big problem for Ridgeland.

5:40 a.m. Reference was to the failing system, not the school. Reading comprehension was obviously not high on your school's priority list.

“Canton: D (F) (1 C, 4 D's, 2 F's)
Canton H.S.: F (C)
Huey Porter: C (F)
Jimmie Goodloe D (C)
Rueben Myers: D (C)
Nichols Middle: D (F)
McNeal: D (B)
Canton Elementary: F (D)”

According to the post, Canton had:

2016
0 A’s, 1 B, 3 C’s, 1 D, 2 F’s and had an overall F rating.

2017
0 A’s, 0 B’s, 1 C, 4 D’s, 2 F’s and had an overall D rating.

It appears the schools performed better in 2016 that 2017. How can the district grade improve?

Good question 11:49.

You mentioned regarding JPS that "all middle schools recieved and F" and a commenter noted that the charters were doing better than JPS schools overall. Bailey is a middle school and got an A rating. Davis (Obama) is the top elementary school in the state. There is no charter IN Mississippi that comes close to either of these well established JPS schools. Just giving creidt where it's due.

None of the kids at any of those schools know who their school is named after. None of them have an opinion of that person until they are told what opinion to have by their parents or teachers. Whos spreading the hate?

Interesting point 4:43. Maybe we can name a maternity-ward after a famous pedophile, like Peewee Herman. After all, the babies born there would not know who their maternity-ward was named after, or have an opinion of that person, until they were told what opinion to have by their parents or another adult. What crybabies! No pun intended...

6:31 - In your careful reading of 2:13 did you miss the statement:
"Until the home is fixed you can forget about fixing the schools. And the PC culture will never allow the home situation to be fixed, hell you can't even raise the issue with liberals."

A = Until the home is fixed you can forget about fixing the schools.

B= And the PC culture will never allow the home situation to be fixed, hell you can't even raise the issue with liberals.

B follows A...get it?

You can shovel all the state resources in the world into JPS and you might just might move the needle to a D-. Or putting it simply, 'You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink'. The horse must be thirsty and want the water.

"Maybe we can name a maternity-ward after a famous pedophile, like Peewee Herman. "

Pedophile? You got a source?

Only scandal attached to this guy was getting busted masturbating ALONE in a Florida porn theater. No kids in porn theaters that I know of.

Interesting to see the Clarion Ledger's take on the new data. From the bold front-page headlines: "SCHOOL GRADES SHOW A's UP; F's DOWN!"

Really....

Canton spent all the Nissan money on new schools which weren't needed.

Kingfish - You do know, don't you, that schools need (and often employ or recruit volunteers) tutors, not mentors? We don't need more bow-ties in the hallway mentoring children to dislike white folk. That's the purpose of Head Start and churches and 100 black men. The schools need subject-matter tutors.

"If Bryant punts he will render the entire process as established by the Legislature as useless."

Almost as useless as school funding formulas and legislative mandates that were just shit-canned by the Supremes?

7:00...You asked me, "6:31 - In your careful reading of 2:13 did you miss the statement: "Until the home is fixed you can forget about fixing the schools."

No, I didn't 'miss it' at all. If you noticed, I quoted it precisely in my post. I felt like the point he was trying to make is that you have to fix things at home first, so, move these kids to another state where there's a better school. That made no sense, as the home front was still unaddressed.

If 'B follows A' as you so cleverly suggest, what's your solution for 'fixing the home' after you relocate the student? Or does it fix itself? Or do we simply pray for a million Michael Oher situations?

3:32 - I think the point being made is...it is not fixable, neither the schools or the home situation. All the kings horses and the kings men.......

If you do have a solution we are all ears...besides more money and kumbaya moments.

The funniest thing I've heard all week is the suggestion that kids in JPS "can't !earn" when they are forced to attend class in a building that bears the name LEE on it! Hell, most of the can't even read the name and they for damned sure have no idea WHO Lee was or why his name is on the building. If they knew enough to know THAT, they would like know other stuff, too and then, would not have earned such dismal scores to justify having the entire school system taken over by the state.

"If you do have a solution we are all ears...besides more money and kumbaya moments. October 21, 2017 at 4:01 PM"

No sir; you will not hear 'throw more money' or 'kumbaya moments' from me. That's why I say it's bullshit to suggest relocating the students, hoping that will help. Nothing has worked and nothing WILL work. The solution, short of putting razor-wire around the entire JPS system and building houses for all of them and their families is to go ahead and build schools for them at Parchman so there won't be transportation issues later. This will cut down on the number of white vans with bars in the windows that we will have to purchase later on state contract.

I reckon Mississippi did something to deserve this fate, not sure what, but we damned sure have this bale to tote, don't we? At least we don't have to deal with the legalized 'third gender' here yet.