Monday, June 20, 2022

What About Stuffing Their Minds?

 JPS Superintendent Dr. Eric Greene issued his monthly newsletter last week.  Read for yourself. The email is chock full of messages such as "Happy Summer Break", "Happy Juneteenth", two videos of the Superintendent blessing us with his thoughts, several camp announcements, and of course, the free food schedule.  Notice anything missing? 

While Dr. Greene focuses on stuffing the kids' faces, perhaps he should focus on stuffing their minds as well.   Believe it or not, JPS has a summer reading program as most schools do.  Yup, there is a summer reading list but you would not know it if you relied on JPS for such information or looked at the JPS home page online.  Instead of just criticizing, JJ is going to do Dr. Greene's job for him and post the link to the summer reading list that is buried on the JPS website.  Of course, if 40% of my third-graders flunked the reading test, I would be pumping out that list to every student but that is just me.  

JPS Summer Reading List

Not satisfied with the list? Yours truly searched for an hour online and came across some summer reading lists of other local schools.   The list is not all-inclusive nor is it exclusive so readers are welcome to submit links in the comments.    

Rankin County Elementary School Reading List

Northwest Rankin Middle School 

Northwest Rankin High School

Jackson Academy Upper School 

Jackson Academy Middle School

St. Joseph High School

If you want to have some real fun, check out the social media pages of these Jackson community activists and see how many of them even thought about the summer reading programs.  


36 comments:

Anonymous said...

JPS is a baby sitting service and a mechanism for politicians to buy votes with "free" meals." WTF are taxpayers paying for free meals during summer break?

Anonymous said...

The real travesty affecting the minorities and underprivileged in Jackson is the fact that JPS is a welfare employer for connected people who have zero interest in actually helping kids.

I guess the parents are dumb enough to buy it when these thieving admins blame the government/whitey. That is, the few parents that even exist in these kids lives.

Its just a shame that people are incapable of directing the anger at the real criminals that are getting rich off this racket. Such is life now though I suppose.

Anonymous said...

JPS is chok full of administrators who are paid handsomely. Any chance one of them steps up to the plate and addresses how they plan to make progess with the students?

Anonymous said...

It's almost like city leaders want to keep the population under-educated if not outright ignorant.

Anonymous said...

There are parents even in JPS who take an active part and direct their children's education year round. JPS is not focused on them. Unlike the surrounding successful districts JPS is run at the pace of the derelict and disfunctional parents and their children. That makes life as a teacher or an administrator a whole lot easier not being held accountable to a high standard. You can get away with damn near anything! This will not change until there is a demand for change. The kind of people who would demand such change are leaving JPS (and Jackson) every day. That suits the JPS administration just fine!

Anonymous said...

Public schools REAL purpose is not to educate but to simply warehouse/babysit kids for the majority of the day so that they don't rampage through our city and steal crud from us while the rest of us are at work.

So yeah offer up that free lunch and free transportation and free counseling and all the other things that parents of THEIR kids should be providing. Not because it helps the kids or educates them but because it occupies their time. We are paying for safety. I mean you don't really want all of them running loose throughout the city during the day do you ? Of course not. So pay up. Protection money. Education? hahahahaha. So naive.

Anonymous said...

Well, this will be a serious issue considering nearly none of the students can read!!! At Clinton High school we get a lot of students that were transferred from JPS bc they move to apartments in Clinton and they celebrate there birthdays all week and the moms get upset at lack of Cake and parties during classtime. This is what happens at JPS and the moms or students can understand that class time isn’t for parties or food.

Anonymous said...

What an awesome strawman, Kingfish. You are apparently mad JPS sent out an email that didn't immediately link to the Summer reading program. If you went to the JPS website and just put the cursor over schools, the "Summer Reading Program" is there. It's one of six choices. But that is what a strawman is for. Please do the same regarding the email from the Rankin County School District. I wouldn't advise linking the St. Joe or Jackson Prep emails, as they don't mention Summer Reading at all. The RCSD schools list summer reading under resources. Good on you for finding Jackson Academy's as I couldn't find it, other than your link, even after searching for it. St. Joe's requires the same amount of clicks as JPS.

Your strawman falls apart with just about 17 seconds worth of looking, but you know 90% of your readers will just blindly agree as it allows them to down JPS and Jackson. The whole point of this little screed was to complain about the free food, because nothing gets your usual mouthbreathers up in arms more than "those people" getting something free. It's a sad testament to Jackson that such programs are necessary as a whole lot of kids don't eat during the summer without it. But its also a sad testament about the vast majority of your commentors that children being fed, whatever the reason, makes them so angry.

Anonymous said...

Not true 10:29 It all depends on whose public schools you are talking about. In some communities the public schools are as good or better than private education. All communities and/or districts are not the same and all schools are not the same. There is no national standard.

Anonymous said...

Did he mention a trip to Paris to study their educational system, or his BMW? Reserved shaded parking spot? New office decor? Latest iPhone?

Anonymous said...

If KF is wrong 11:33, then good! The JPS kids will have no reason to skip reading this summer sine the list is easily found and any lack of participation in summer reading will rest squarely on the parents and students.

And if KF has a valid point, I don't know why pointing out the potential disparity is the problem.

Isn't that a good thing to have someone advocating for JPS students since generally speaking, many may not have the same involved parents that other school districts are blessed with?

Anonymous said...

Heard on one of the local news stations that over 80% of the juveniles who committed crimes in Jackson do not have a father. The city is discussing holding the parents or guardians liable for the crimes the juveniles commit. While this may be a step in the right direction how about making sure a woman who has a child has to name the person who is the daddy of the child. No baby daddy no check. This may help to see who is fathering all of these kids who are committing the crimes. Also will give the authorities the people really responsible.

Anonymous said...

This is a petty ass post. Maybe the Supe should have been more thoughtful and included it in his newsletter, but so f-ing what. Parents who value their child's education know that there is summer reading every year and that they must seek out the list should they not receive one. Madison County didn't spoon-feed parents a list. You had to go to the website and figure it out. You mention the free food program, but neglect to mention the summer school...

It's a holiday with not much NEWs to report on, and you must keep the traffic up. We get it.

Anonymous said...

Black man who is the superintendent of a majority black school system wishes his pupils a happy Juneteenth and ole kingfish and the rest at the white citizens council get their panties in a wad and cry brainwashing. Pretty soon there will only be old crusty racist white people and poor people of color left in this ‘great state’ as everyone else with a brain and means will leave for greener pastures. Best of luck fools!

Anonymous said...

This is really grasping at straws here bud. Did you know kids can’t feed their minds and focus if they aren’t fed and well nourished?

Anonymous said...

I don’t think its about free food. It’s why the hell are so many people not able to feed their own children. By the way…. Something wrong with the Government stats on unemployment. There’s not a single business that I go to, that isn’t looking for more employees. Jackson is only going to get worse with Covid lockdowns. I assume most of these free lunches are paid for with leftover bailout money.

Anonymous said...

Maybe I am too old fashioned or insensitive, but it seems to me that a school district failing so badly would take every opportunity to push academics every day of teh week year round. Why not have reading clinics and classes during the summer as a requisite to the "feeding program". Otherwise a feeding program sounds like something for cattle.

Kingfish said...

If it Jackson Public Schools or Jackson Public Food Service?

Look, I totally get the school nutrition thing and understand why they are serving lunches in summer. Don't think I don't.

However, the primary function of a school is to what? Say it after me class, teach. I saw the School newsletter and the social media pages of several activists and politicians and guess what? Every one of them was pushing the food but not one of them were pushing the summer reading. They will raise hell if MDE dares rate JPS an F or D but heaven forbid they should actually push the kids to read when they are out of school.

Yes, there are Rankin and Madison school districts but you know what? 40% of their kids weren't flunking the reading tests.

So I'm the bad guy for pushing the district and their supporters to focus on reading? Not apologizing. Not one damn bit.

Anonymous said...

Calm down people, it's an easy fix. Just post the summer reading list at one of the fine City of Jackson Public Libraries and the JPS students can peruse the books of their choice.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you should become a teacher Kingfish or an administrator instead of your attempt at news

Anonymous said...

Kingfish is TRIGGERED

Anonymous said...

I don’t that punk ass bitch should be thinking about stuffing anything into our children. Same goes for you, kingfruit.

Twigs and Seeds said...

Obviously the 40% of kids that can't read are automatically exempt from the summer reading requirements, right. Tell me more about that Morning Glory breakfast sandwich. Is it smoked?

Oh For Land's Sakes - Those White Mouth-Breathers! said...

June 20, 2022 at 11:33 AM - Seems to me YOU are the one who's pissed and triggered. You went on for quite awhile and finally got around to what makes you angry....Which is, "Nothing gets your usual mouthbreathers up in arms more than "those people" getting something free."

And therein lies why you walk around in a pissed-off daze all day long.

Anonymous said...

The bright new future, where pointing out the obvious causes a disturbance.

Here's the problem brought out by Kingfish. In the harsh light of reality, the school system is being used for everything, but education.

Guess who doesn't like it? The very ones that should be upset at the pitiful state of the education system.

Why are they upset? They are upset, because they don't care if the following generations succeed in the "man's" world, or not. It's racist to get an education, haven't you heard? I have heard, it has been explained to me on different occasions.

The entire U.S. education system is subpar compared to seventy years ago when we led the world. The rest of the world has now passed us by. That is a shame. I ask you, is this by design?

Anonymous said...

... as everyone else with a brain and means will leave for greener pastures.

But YOU are still here. Hmmmm.

What an awesome strawman, Kingfish.

AND excellent bait since your reactionary whiny ass got hooked in the gill.,

Anonymous said...

With Mississippi being the poorest state in the Union, Most of the schools have a summer feeding program now. Clinton, your premier school, also has a summer feeding program for their below the poverty line citizens. If you’re worried about how money public money is spent on these kids, in lieu of complaining about a school system spending federal grant money to feed poor kids, raise issues and concerns about your state underfunding education.

Anonymous said...

My kids have graduated from JPS, but they always received several copies of the reading list. After my kids finished reading their books, I always donated them to kids who were less fortunate financially because some of those books were expensive, and the library had a limited quantity. Let's all stop whining and complaining about the problem and focus on being part of the solution.

Anonymous said...

11:52 mentioned Greene's trip to Paris. Believe me, with travel nowadays, that was not picnic. He probably had a 1 hour delay somewhere, questioned rudely by TSA, and he could not even get a cup of coffee and danish at Medgar Evers. Then the passenger in the seat ahead of him leaned his seat back.

Anonymous said...

I agree 10:46.

But you have to be willing to admit there is a problem.

It seems to have triggered many that we even advocate for these kids.

Anonymous said...

10:56 I also agree with 10:46 but I find that it is a damn shame that advocating for the kids and supporting the administration of JPS are not the same. If you support the people who run JPS you do not support the kids. I think that is KF's lesson. And it's true.

Anonymous said...

10:56 here.

You nailed it 11:50. No argument here.

Anonymous said...

I have a question. Don't the parents of those poor children get food stamps for the kids they do not care enough about to feed?

Anonymous said...

12:21 Yes but a certain political faction running the government will not waste any opportunity to remind children and their weak minded parents that they are permanently dependent on the government or they will starve even if they already have access to food. Please note that the "feeding program" is not restricted to poor folks but any children who want to "eat free". What's the message?

Anonymous said...

Does St. Andrew's have a reading list? Do they not post it?

Anonymous said...

@1057
Powerful question…. As a graduate please allow me a rebuttal interrogatory… do they need it?



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