Fletcher v. Raines

[carlamechele]

has anyone heard of the special radio & print feature focusing on the similarities & differences between Fletcher & Raines? apparently, the schools were built at the same time, and were very similar, but now they're like polar opposites.

I haven't read it yet, but I just found the link.....would like to know your thoughts...

http://news.jacksonville.com/specials/interactives/schoolcomparison.html

[AmyLynne]

Where are the similarities?

All I got from it was "rich white school v. poor black school"! 

[I-10east]

Go Vikings!!!Class of 96' baby!

[Coolyfett]

When were these schools built?? 60s maybe. I think Jackson, Lee & Staton are oldest schools in the city....I remember seeing on the memorial wall in the Sport Complex WW1 soilders names that went to those schools, so they gotta be the oldest.

[Coolyfett]

On another note there really is no rivalry between those two schools. Raines rival was Ribault & Fletchers was Sandlewood. Whats the purpose of the article?

[I-10east]

I didn't have any feeling that this article attempted to portray these two schools as rivals, but just looking at the obvious contrasts between each school. I actually thought that this was a very interesting article that clearly shows that Raines needs tons of work to do for improvement; Kinda like the constrasts in the MetroJax series "Learning From". I don't buy that schools in lower income areas are 'set up for failure' because schools like Brentwood Elementary consistently get good grades every year; It all starts at the top with the leadership (not just principals, but the elected officials etc).

[iluvolives]

The article isn't saying there is a rivalry. It purpose is more to show that these two schools were built at the same time and at the time they were built they were both in standard middle class neighborhoods. The area around Raines has declined over the years, while the area Fletcher is in has gotten more prestigious. Unfortunately, the teachers and leadership at Raines have much bigger obstacles to overcome than the ones at Fletcher. Because Fletcher still maintains a good reputation, parents who could afford to send their kids to private school, may still opt to send them to Fletcher and because of the distance of the beaches from the magnet schools like Stanton and Paxon- a lot of beaches people don't opt for those options either. Where as with Raines- if you really want your kids to get a good education it makes sense to send them just up the road to Stanton. In that regard I think Raines is more similar to Lee now, which I would guess is the neighborhood school most hurt by private schools and the brain drain due caused by magnet schools.

[Jaxson]

I read the Times-Union article about Raines and Fletcher high schools and, while I enjoyed the comparison between the two schools, felt that it was  rehash of obvious points.  It is sad, though, that what seems to be apparent to me continues to mystfy the powers that be who create education policy.
For the sake of being politically correct, we an claim that there is no difference between students no matter where they live in Jacksonville (or any school district).  We can create one-size-fits-all AP programs that force all of our round pegs into square holes.  What we fail to realize, however, is that we are dooming a generation of students to failure.
What frustrates teachers the most is the failure of the school system to address the problem of high disciplinary problems in predominantly-black schools.  The state and the district have a knee-jerk response - tie the school grade to the number of disciplinary referrals that are written.  This only results in teachers looking the other way in fear of being called to the office for enforcing the rules.  Even in suburban schools, I have noticed that black students are much more likely to raise a stink when called by a teacher on an infraction of the Code of Conduct.  Is it any wonder that students' behavior is out of control when even their parents will back up their atrocious conduct?
It irks me that we have to dance around such a central issue because of such racial baggage that Duval County carries when it comes to education.  In the meantime, we have to ignore the elephant in the living room and come up with superficial solutions that don't solve anything.