No Duval high school sports?

[NotNow]

Ask any Duval teacher about waste in the administration.  The district is mismanaged.

[mtraininjax]

New Proof that Gentry is a gasbag who needs to be shown the door along with Pratt-Daniels, (seriously, these guys could not find their way out of a paper bag, and they are crying about sports programs, when their schools are FAILING?):

State Rejects District's Plan For 4 Schools
Duval Co. School Board Members Must Take 1 Of 3 Options


JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida State Board of Education unanimously rejected a plan presented in Tallahassee on Tuesday by Duval County school officials to save four struggling schools in Northwest Jacksonville.

The Duval County School District has until May 2 to choose one of three options outlined by the state. However, if the schools show improvement this year on the FCAT, none of the options will come into play.

Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals was among those presenting the plan, along with several School Board members. Local school advocates also made the trip to fight for the schools that could face closures because of poor test scores.

Video: Duval School Officials Disappointed
Raines, Ribault and Andrew Jackson high schools and North Shore K-8 all remain on the state's intervene list, and their futures are at stake.

School Board members came up with a plan to split the high schools up into smaller schools and make North Shore a prekindergarten to fifth-grade school. Board members recently updated the plan by naming members to a community group, Duval Partners for Excellent Education, that would help oversee the schools.


But the district received a letter from State Education Commissioner Eric Smith in which he said that even with the community group, the district's plan just doesn't meet state requirements. The State Board of Education echoed that message Tuesday.

The commissioner has repeatedly told board members that there are only three options the board should take: Either close the schools, make them into charter schools or hire someone else to run them.

After the state rejected the proposed plan Tuesday, Pratt-Dannals immediately went up to defend the school district and said closure is not an option.

Pratt-Dannals said he was disappointed in the decision because the state board didn't give the district a lot of time to respond. He did not say which of the other two options the School Board would consider taking.

"I don't think the board has read anything that we submitted. They're just -- that's very clear," School Board Chairman W.C. Gentry said. "I thought we would have had a chance to at least talk to the board and give our side of the story."

One state board member said these schools have been in trouble for several years, and it's about time something happen.

"This has been going on since 2006," state board member Kathleen Shanahan said. "We're talking about five years of kids in school reading at 18, 19 percent reading rates."

School Board members, however, said that despite their appearances, the schools are showing improvement.

"It may appear that we are being difficult. That is not our intent," Pratt-Dannals said. "I think the biggest surprise was not having an opportunity to describe what we've done."

Leading up to Tuesday's meeting, School Board members said they were very confident in their plan and thought it would help students succeed.

Board members said the last thing they want is for students and parents to panic. They said that despite Tuesday's decision, each of those schools still have some time to show some improvement before any drastic change takes place.

Not everyone shared in the superintendent and School Board's disappointment. A group of women who traveled from Jacksonville to Tallahassee said they're relieved the state board rejected the plan.

"They keep doing the same thing but keep expecting different results," Jacksonville resident Sheila Andrews said.

"I am for asking the children. What do they want? It's got to be up to them," community activist Eunice Barnum said.

[Garden guy]

Ask any Duval teacher about waste in the administration.  The district is mismanaged.

Here here...

[Jaxson]

While I agree with you about the unnecessary use of scare tactics, mtraininjax, the trouble also lies in our complacency.  School issues aside, we tend to be a very reactive society.  We wait until a crisis before we begin to even think about acting. 
For example, take hurricanes.  We don't even bother to pick up water bottles until a hurricane watch pops up in the news.  Then what?  Every store is swamped with people who are searching and clamoring for the scant amount of plywood and batteries. 
As for the schools, it is true that we could stand to trim some more fat.  This however, begs an very important question: "At what cost do we trim education-related resources while preserving high school sports?"  Duval County has a long way to go when it comes to meeting the standard with FCAT scores.  How can we justify full funding for sports and activities at schools like Raines and Ribault when they are in a fight for survival? 
The next questions might be why we don't cut sports at only the failing schools?  I already would forsee a nasty visit from the local NAACP about that.
Where does this leave us?  It is up to us to let Tallahassee know what we want for our schools.  The problem is that there is nothing glamorous about saving textbooks or crayons.  Sports?  That is a very different ball game (no pun intended).

[JeffreyS]

Mtrain Four strait years of budget cuts and your take is that has nothing to do with it.  I heard John Fox on NPR this morning the Duval county athletics director his career is high school sports and he said looking at the situation the budget cuts are the problem not the superintendent's proposal on how to spend the limited funds.  It will be a terrible thing if sports are cut this year and the problem is in Tallahassee.

[uptowngirl]

There is still a lot of fat to trim that is NON classroom related, but they do not want to end those cushy part timers who get fully funded pensions, cross walk gaurds that we must ahve because parents are too dumb to cross the street with their children safely (or too lazy to walk them theirselves). How about the crappy school lunches? How about all the buses? If you want your kid to go across town, drive them yourself. There is so much that could be cut, that parents coudl take on, and that money can be used for the children in classrooms.

[JeffreyS]

Busing is a national issue and you won't win that political battle.  Crossing guards you want to eliminate?

Why do we want a cheap education system?
Why is that the goal?

I guess I might as well ask why was there original sin?

Answer to all three people are not as good as they should be.

[uptowngirl]

Busing is a national issue and you won't win that political battle.  Crossing guards you want to eliminate?

Why do we want a cheap education system?
Why is that the goal?

I guess I might as well ask why was there original sin?

Answer to all three people are not as good as they should be.

I do not want a cheap educational system- I want a smart one. We as tax payers do not need to be paying for lazy parents that can;t walk their kid to school or drive them to school or put them on a city bus. We as tax payers should not be funding part time workers pension funds. I as a parent and a tax payer am ticked off that I am funding subsidized or free lunches that are total bull puckey (and do not let my daughter eat them).

We do not care that money is being taken from actual learning to fund the above but pitch a fit if it is taken from the football team? Oh well lets just raise taxes again.

[buckethead]

I think a good starting point is to find out what the problems with our education system are.

Is administration taking too big a cut for too little benefit? Money can be saved if this is the case.

Is there really too little money for books/buildings/PCs etc? More money can rectify this problem

Are behavioral issues preventing the school system at large from providing a learning environment? Throwing money at this problem is like pzzing in the wind.

Is there a lack of parental guidance/responsibility? Money into the school system can keep kids away from bad homes, I suppose, but is that what the school system should be in business to do?

Will teachers earning more help children learn more effectively?

Should teachers be earning more? (No diatribes needed. Some yes, others no.)

Should High School athletics be a concern to the average parents? You make the call for yourself. A career in sports is not much more likely than winning the lottery for students.

[Dog Walker]

Yeah, and those same parents spend twenty bucks a week on Lotto tickets!

"My son is going to get a scholarship and make millions in the NFL and give me lots of money!"

Same mentality.

[NotNow]

I think a good starting point is to find out what the problems with our education system are.

Is administration taking too big a cut for too little benefit? Money can be saved if this is the case.

Is there really too little money for books/buildings/PCs etc? More money can rectify this problem

Are behavioral issues preventing the school system at large from providing a learning environment? Throwing money at this problem is like pzzing in the wind.

Is there a lack of parental guidance/responsibility? Money into the school system can keep kids away from bad homes, I suppose, but is that what the school system should be in business to do?

Will teachers earning more help children learn more effectively?

Should teachers be earning more? (No diatribes needed. Some yes, others no.)

Should High School athletics be a concern to the average parents? You make the call for yourself. A career in sports is not much more likely than winning the lottery for students.

Best analysis yet, BH.  And it's the School Board's job to answer those questions and then explain them to the public.

[dougskiles]

cross walk gaurds that we must ahve because parents are too dumb to cross the street with their children safely (or too lazy to walk them theirselves)

The reason we need crossing guards is not because of the parents (being too dumb?) - it is because of the drivers who won't look up from their phones long enough to see that a kid is trying to cross the street.  My goal would be for every child to be able to walk to school - and alone once they are old enough.  That would mean that we have succeeded in creating safe neighborhoods for our kids to grow up in.

And what costs less in the long run?  Every parent driving their own kid to school or kids using a 'transit' system?  School buses are about the only 'transit' system in Jacksonville that really works.  It reduces the number of vehicle miles driven on the roads.

Should High School athletics be a concern to the average parents? You make the call for yourself. A career in sports is not much more likely than winning the lottery for students.

Teaching children the benefits of physical activity is a pretty worthwhile cause, I believe.  It has nothing to do with a career in sports.  Same goes with the teamwork and sportsmanship that is learned along the way.

[Steve_Lovett]

The fact that we are debating the little things of "what can we cut from school" to get to the bare minimum is sad.  The facilities and resources for our students are already below what should be considered minimum.  We're doing a colossal disservice to our children, the impacts of which will affect our culture and economy negatively for a generation or more.

You invest in what you care about - period.

I am in Seattle this week.  This issue has made the national news via NPR and other media outlets.  When I mentioned to people today I was from Jacksonville, multiple people today commented on the sports and 4-day week issues.  Decisions in Florida are making our state the laughingstock around the country - and will be counterproductive to growing business and attracting a viable, educated workforce.

[dougskiles]

Perhaps we will be like addicts who must hit rock bottom before we will do anything to help ourselves.

Enjoy Seattle, Steve - and send some pictures!

[Steve_Lovett]

I think a good starting point is to find out what the problems with our education system are.

Is administration taking too big a cut for too little benefit? Money can be saved if this is the case.

Is there really too little money for books/buildings/PCs etc? More money can rectify this problem

Are behavioral issues preventing the school system at large from providing a learning environment? Throwing money at this problem is like pzzing in the wind.

Is there a lack of parental guidance/responsibility? Money into the school system can keep kids away from bad homes, I suppose, but is that what the school system should be in business to do?

Will teachers earning more help children learn more effectively?

Should teachers be earning more? (No diatribes needed. Some yes, others no.)

Should High School athletics be a concern to the average parents? You make the call for yourself. A career in sports is not much more likely than winning the lottery for students.

Sports in school isn't about finding a career.  It's about friendships and bonding with others around a common activity or goal.  Those skills aren't in a textbook - but they're the most valuable of all life skills and are critical to a good education.

Sports keep students motivated to studies.  Students on the edge will work in school to remain eligible to play sports.  Not everyone finds their academic passion and motivation at ages 14-18 - but sports gives many a structure to stick with their academic studies, and eventually find their path.  In some sense, I was one once of the students in this category.

Sports builds community.  Friendships grow between kids sharing a common interest.  Their parents get to know one another and help create a supportive network for their kids, and each other.  Sports is a rallying point for many schools, and a crucial point of pride and spirit.

The Arts and Music are the same.  Appreciation of the intangibles of culture are so important.  Our students aren't robots, and their education shouldn't resemble an assembly line.  Creativity and expression are incumbent in most all successful, well rounded people - and this can be fostered through the arts.

Just another perspective for consideration....  Return On Investment in education can't be easily measured - it goes beyond Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.