Some JPS teachers squalled about school closures at the Mayoral candidate forum held at Duling Hall last weekend. As they complained, the candidates bobbed and weaved as everyone tried to avoid dealing with reality. Perhaps it's time to educate these "educators" as well as our would-be leaders with some simple math.
MDE states there are all of 17,747 students enrolled in Jackson Public Schools for the 2023-2024 school year. Ten years ago there were 29,488 students enrolled, a reduction of 40%.* The numbers get worse if one goes back further in time. JPS had a whopping 30,587 student population in 2008-2009. There were 31,640 students enrolled in the 2003-2004 school year. Thus JPS enrollment fell by 44% in 20 years.
As JPS enrollment plummets, it operated 59 buildings in 2023. Rankin County Public Schools operate only 28 buildings with an enrollment of more than 18,000 students.
Some may claim charter schools have hurt JPS enrollment. However, there were only 2,783 students in Jackson charter schools in the 2023-2024 school year. Combining the two populations yields only 20,530 students, barely above the size of the Rankin County School District and a full third below the enrollment from ten years earlier.
So what is JPS exactly supposed to do when its enrollment plummets 44% in 20 years? The shrieks over school closings highlight one of Jackson's major problems: no one wants to cut anything. No one wants to shrink the balance sheet as income shrinks. No one wants a bad answer. No politicians want to show tough love when it is much needed. While all avoid reality, many wonder why there is no money.
Of course, they are JPS teachers so perhaps we are being too hard on them. After all, they did get the math requirement removed from the PRAXIS exam because too many of them were flunking it.
Unfortunately, none of the candidates on stage rebuked them or try to point out Jackson public school enrollment declined 40% over the last ten years. Par for the course in Jackson.
* Since these teachers probably struggle with math, here is the formula (2014 enrollment - 2024 enrollment)/2014 enrollment x 100.
27 comments:
I was a TFA in public school district in the Delta ( I capitalized Delta. The area should be its own state.) One of the dictator-principal ordered tasks for me was to check the other teachers spelling/vocabulary words, written lesson notes for punctuation, correct spellings and grammar as well as math plans. Terribly embarrassing situation for two weeks til he was told to stop it. I was appalled at the errors made by the teachers; college educated, some masters and advanced degrees and above. One working on her master’s degree in curriculum explained to me that’s how you teach at the student’s level. I went in another career direction at the conclusion of my two years. I felt I was rowing a leaky boat against the current of a whitewater river.
Ha, how wrong can Daniel be? Trump asked Ukraine to apologize to Putin. Russia Hoax huh? Sure looks like the only hoax is calling it a hoax. Putin own Trump and by extension the entire Republican Party, how embarrassing for the country.
Most can’t utilize that formula
I think we have too much emphasis on playing therapist with children instead of educating them. Teachers are supposed to have to manage the kids' feelings for them.
What drugs are 3:06 using?
3:06 Russia is an oil based economy. When oil is expensive, Putin makes money. When oil is cheap, Putin loses money.
Please set aside your hatred of Trump for enough time to understand that Putin struggled economically under Trump and Putin thrived economically under Biden.
Putin invaded foreign countries during Bush, Obama and Biden. Putin never invaded anyone under Trump.
People who claim Trump is a Russian asset are in denial, liars, or delusional; and maybe all three.
I see that a political comment, even when posted under an unrelated article, cannot go unanswered.
Public school teachers will remain substandard until Parental School Choice enables students to leave underperforming public schools. Listen to public school graduates/dropouts speak to each other, often as if pidgin/ghetto slang English is all they know. Thanks JPS for handicapping thousands of idiots.
You can thank Phil Bryant 4:52 for cowardly tucking tail and running when he had a chance to do the right think for students in JPS.
I taught in a JPS high school for 5 years, leaving in 2008. Yes, there were teachers there that were sub-par, to say the least. I have a saying that goes, “Don’t go to McDonald’s and expect a steak.” If you want quality teachers, PAY THEM. You are getting what you pay for.
As far as school closures go, I agree that schools needed to be closed with that huge decline. Where did the students go? Jackson has “white flight” but now is also experiencing “black flight.”
I believe this is a direct result of the Lumumba administration’s incompetence.
Whenever I see a group of people with rubber stamped masters degrees sitting at a restaurant jabbering in pidgin English I assume they are JPS teachers.
I’ve taught in JPS “many” years. I just pretended the school I’m at is in its own little school district. People at JPS Central Official make no sense when it comes to a lot of stuff, but I do agree with closing schools. MDE seems pretty useless too. We should get a Mississippi version of DOGE.
March 1, 2025 at 5:07 PM
That's the problem with all cuckservatives. They're more afraid of being called racist than anything.
5:28 said, "We should get a Mississippi version of DOGE."
Post of the year.
When’s Tater gonna grow a pair and use his almighty executive authority to beautify and clean up the capital while firing at least 15% of the state’s payroll.
DOGE MS will never happen…. too many kingdoms to protect and the DOGE super block will be cries of racism. Education in MS is viewed more as a jobs program instead of an educational program.
It’s not just JPS. I went to school in Florence in the 90s and the High School Assistant Principal repeatedly said “Edjumacation” and I had more that one teach who said pronounced ask as “aks” so it’s everywhere because we lowered standards for the sake of inclusion.
JPS teachers are among the highest paid teachers in the state - based generally on their tenure, not their expertise. There was a JJ post many years ago that provided specifics of the various positions within the JPS system. So no, you 'don't get what you pay for' - always.
Where did the students go? Many went to Clinton, because their parents cared about their education and could afford to get the hell out of their zip codes that required them to sacrifice their kids future. And while they did that, the Clinton schools became majority black, but still maintained their A rating, proving that its not just a racial thing (as some claim) but whether the parents give a damn about their kids education, are willing to address it by getting out of the hellholes that JPS and state statute condemned them to.
Also resulted in the population of Jackson dropping to 153,000 in the last census - down from a high of over 200,000.
That’s a lie. Trump never asked Ukraine to apologize to Putin. Just make it up as you go. Must be a product of whatever school the rest of the democrats attended. Just lie until it people know less better.
One issue with JPS is they spend the majority of the money outside of the classroom. On another note it’s all black power. Whites are openly discriminated against and they publicly refer to students as scholars and that hilarious to me. It’s a social club and an employment mill for friends
6:40 Tater cut 25% of the state payroll from 2012-2020.
Mississippi state government has almost 10,000 fewer employees today than they had in 2011 before Tater became Lt. Gov.
Wonder how much JPS administrative staff & budget has decreased during 44% decrease in students.
@7:08 - Tater didn’t cut the state payroll. The legislature cut the state payroll by requiring agencies to cut the available PINs. A lot of those PINs were open because you can’t hire anyone anymore. People don’t want to work and somehow they are able to survive (and drive cars, and carry cell phones, and get fed, and live somewhere other than the street). And because the state pay rate is substantially less than the private sector, which also has positions available because people just don’t want to work anymore.
We should get a Mississippi version of DOGE.
March 1, 2025 at 5:28 PM
YES!
Completely off subject, but is it possible that big pharma could come up with something to treat TDS. It's really a bummer reading a post from a person in the throes of full-blown TDS.
While they shutter school buildings in Jackson they have to build new ones in Madison and Rankin counties just a few miles away.
JPS ineptness creates issues and problems in so many ways.
@2:07 The cure for TDS is to start a business and see it flourish due to hard work. When Uncle Sam starts eye balling your hard work for tax plunder, then you start supporting people like Elon and Trump. The people bitching are either worthless federal employees or recipients of USAID grants. The loudest are the deprecated media that was surviving only because USAID was paying them to be Pravda-tier shills. They are upset that their gravy train is drying up. Most of them have never worked
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