That, too, is not a solution. As I said before, it is a single grade. It's nice, but it does not solve the overall problem. There was a study a while back (maybe a decade ago, or more) that looked at long term results of students. It compared four classrooms of kindergarten students (I think in two schools). Relative to their cohort, those who were in a more organized classroom were more likely to go to college and graduate from college, and at the time of the study (it is continuing), the kids were in their early 30s and those in a more organized kindergarten classroom were earning significantly more than those not in the more organized classroom.* What was determined was that the organization skills demonstrated, and subsequently developed, translated into better study habits, and longer term benefits (such as time management). I bring that up as looking at a single grade does not answer the more important question of future success. Academic skills learned in one grade might not "click" for a few grades later. And I'm sure we all know that academic skills are built on developing prior skills. Thus, while the learning curve is steep, it is does not appear at the same point for all students. * - Students in the poorer school where still earning lower than those in wealthier school.
Curious what the take educators around these parts, as well as others have in this elephant in the room in Chicago: https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-public-schools-enrollment-costs There's a reported $500MM deficit in CPS' budget. 3 of 10 schools are under-enrolled. There's a moratorium on closures, after the Rahm era slate of closures, way back in 2013. Chicago is as broke as FC Barcelona. And CTU member/Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has no appetite to fix this issue, near as anyone can tell.
But at the turn of the millennium, enrollment plunged as Chicago closed a massive public housing complex nearby and a growing number of Black families left the city. I'd be willing that this is only a partial reason, or at least an incomplete reason. The rise of charter schools is also going to have an effect, and one of the things which was warned by many people involved in public education is that, because charter schools can self-select which students to enroll and which ones to not, it means those with special needs or anger issues or other such conditions that charter schools don't want to manage end up being left in public schools. I would not be surprised to learn that parents who left are moving to schools because urban schools have a difficulty in managing such students (because of overall lack of support, which is not solely related to money. Beyond that, though, merging of school is both good and bad. On one hand, a lower student to teacher ratio tends to improve student performance. On the other hand, it also limits what students have access to. Personally, I would rather a small to moderate sized school with a lower student to teacher ratio. btw, I taught in Milwaukee, so I've seen some of this first hand.
Without question, I'm against charter schools cutting into public schools' funding. However, specific to DuSable High School, the closure of the Robert Taylor Homes did kill off the student population for that school. (The Robert Taylor Homes was a MASSIVE housing project across from Comiskey Park in Bronzeville.) But even at that, 3 of 10 schools are under-enrolled, and there doesn't seem to be the will to do anything about it. Kids miss out on opportunities, the public provides an inferior product to the students and families, and taxpayers pay more, while getting less. And sometimes in leadership, a leader has to do unpopular things for the benefit of the organization (s)he leads. To me, this is a negative of not having the political will (or political cover) to do what may be necessary. That is, more "right-sizing," than "downsizing." And/or scrapping ancient buildings that are expensive to maintain, and could/should be scrapped for more modern ones that can better serve the students and public at large. And I appreciate your candor on this.
Kinda sorry to see DuSable go, since they used to come downstate every year to play my school at basketball. Damn entertaining cheerleaders and fans, and good kids to hang out with at McDonalds after the game.
Maybe. How many Chicagoans are enrolled in charter schools and how does that compare to those enrolled in regular public schools?
I know you directed this question @soccernutter , but since I asked the original question, I'll supply "an" answer, even if I dunno if it is "THE" answer: https://www.chalkbeat.org/republish...chools-charters-strategic-plan-school-choice/
On the plus side fewer/less students will free up teachers that can be employed to pick crops on the outskirts of Chicago.
That looked weird to me. Text boxes and such. ChatGPT says 16% of students are in charter schools, which implies 1 out of 6 schools is superfluous.
Sure. Taken another way, either 84% or 80% of CPS students are in "regular" public schools. Is that a good reason to keep disused facilities open? I dunno. It certainly doesn't seem efficient to keep the status quo, IMO.
My area is going through a demographic shift away from school-aged kids. Elementary schools are merging and closing, but class sizes aren’t getting smaller. What’s happening is some grades will be stuffed full and others will have closer to 20kids per class, but the whole average still comes out the about 27kids/teacher no matter how it gets broken down. My daughter was in a kindergarten of 30, and those same will be in a single 1st grade class in our elementary next year. So… lower enrollment also means fewer teachers. EDIT: what has come out is that admin wants to have elementary where there are 3 classes of full enrollment in each grade. Right now, our stupid state is only funding schools to allow for 25+/-kids per teacher across the state. It would be nice if they would focus on keeping elementary classes closer to 20, but as part of the supermajority GOP states, they are attacking public ed and pushing us to privatized ed.
I should also point out that closing schools in poorly-served and struggling communities has an outsized effect. Closing the school near me where most the housing is twice to ten times the average home price in the county, we’ll be fine.
There is a really numerous cause/effect with closing schools in undeserved communities without thorough thought. When I was in Memphis, there was a HS which had been opened in the 1980s I think, but closed in the early 2000s due to low enrollment. It was likely an effect of having a housing project (Hurt Village, where Michael Orr grew up) torn town to develop a lower density mixed income community. What happened was that families scattered across Memphis, and the high school closed. But it stayed under the Memphis City Schools as it was zoned as a school, and for some reason it was not allowed to be rezoned (I forget the reason, it's been a long while). This was a big deal during 2009/2010 and the GFC as Memphis City School was hurting for money. Eventually, though, people were complaining about overcrowded schools and there was a proposal to open it back up. Of course, the problem is that it had been 10+ years since regular maintenance had occurred, and would need millions to get it up to code and modernized. Yet, it was needed because there had been consolidation of schools and now they were overcrowded. I don't remember what happened, but it should be clear that this is not an easy solution.
Here are the authors on that piece speaking on WGN. Part of their discussion was that Mayor Johnson fired CPS' president for, among other things, speaking candidly about "reducing CPS' footprint." Now, Chicago will go from an appointed school board, to an elected one in the near future. I suspect that the board's instincts to win re-election in perpetuity will only further kick this can down the road.
Spoke to a US Army recruiter last week. Turns out the lack of reading abilities even affecting them. The general exam to be accepted into the army measures people to be at a 7th (13 years old) grade reading level. 50% of the kids in our area that apply failed because they can't pass the test. Mind you most of these kids are 18 and have been pushed through high school and been given a certificate and deemed that they've graduated. But they can't pass the general exam to enter the military. The Army offers like remedial reading training for the ones who are really dead set serious on it. I know a kid going through that while he's trying to stay out of trouble for the next few months so he can pass it and get in. I think you can only take the test once every 6 months.
Damn. The New Yorker had a damn fine article not long ago on helping deconditioned kids get ready to meet the physcial requirements, among many, many other topics. Including reading The U.S. Military’s Recruiting Crisis | The New Yorker At Fort Jackson, Army teachers stood in classrooms trying to impart basic skills: reading comprehension, word problems, and algebra. The course for the military’s aptitude test consisted of math and verbal questions at a junior-high level. Many of the recruits were immigrants or the children of immigrants, suggesting that the obstacle was not intellectual capacity but language. “If the military also administered its test in Spanish and French, we’d have a lot more people passing,” the government official who works on military issues told me. In any case, it seemed clear that the Army was working to minimize the chances of failure: the questions and problems used in the course appeared to be almost identical to those on previous tests. The aspiring recruits I observed were focussed and alert, traits that some told me they had lacked in high school. Bryant Wehmeyer, from the farming town of Jamaica, Iowa, described his childhood as austere and unforgiving. His mother juggled low-paying jobs—waitress, bookkeeper—and his father, a heavy drinker, was mostly absent. It fell to Wehmeyer to look after his brother, who has autism. “He needs constant care,” Wehmeyer told me. Still, he was a slacker, often smoking marijuana and downing jello shots before school. “I was never much of a student,” he said. Then, when Wehmeyer was fifteen, his mother suffered a heart attack, and his father walked out. Wehmeyer saw the Army as a way to secure a more stable future for himself and his mother. “I’ve already given her access to my bank account,” he told me. But, when Wehmeyer took the entrance exam, he scored far below what he needed. Then he entered the Future Soldiers course. On his third and final try, he passed. He said that he was looking forward to graduating from boot camp. “I can’t wait for my mom to see me,” he said. To the extent that the Army has staved off its recruitment crisis, it is because of the Future Soldiers initiative.
All of that business with respect to US Army recruiting is 100% true. They've failed to meet their recruitment numbers, so now they've had to lower standards, and/or remediate substandard candidates, be it for physical or educational shortcomings. Its true for the other branches who fail to meet their numbers; only the Marines have met their numbers, and thus, have not had to lower standards on recruits, and/or remediate candidates.
I was going to do the Platoon Leader program when I was in college, but the physical exam revealed a hole in my heart. Further exams revealed that it was 1) congenital and 2) something I'll likely be able to live with, but it freaked me out at the time. So they have some standards.
When I was working in Memphis, there were several students who wanted to go into the military (as a way out). Some wanted to get into the Air Force, but discovered that the entrance exam was too difficult/technical. And it seemed that the Army was similar but less so. Some passed the Army entrance exam, but most went into the Marines if they could pass. I think it helped that we had at least two former military officers working there and they would tutor the students.
If memory serves this was a problem under W and Obama and they dropped requirements to allow people with felonies and mental health problems to enlist so they'd have enough warm bodies to send to Iraq.
I know a kid who's hanging on the Block trying to avoid trouble because he's got to wait 6 months to take the test again. But yeah I believe they have some remedial programs to help these kids be coached up too and you smart enough to pass the exam. But you know some kids will stick around some games I don't know how serious they are