Is your school in the news?

So the Augusta Chronicle publishes, Report ranks local schools among worst Graduation rate for black males is sixth lowest in the nation by Greg Gelpi 11/2/08. He cites the original source: Schott Foundation for Public Education report Given Half a Chance: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education for Black Males.

The Richmond County School System has yet to make AYP in the years that AYP results are recorded and available through the net (2001). GA Dept of Ed provides data reports and AYP results. Regardless of the negative publicity, we decided to be one part of the solution, get to the source of the issue, and bring solutions and recommendations to the table.

When my daughter received her diploma in May, her school had a graduation rate of 48%. These results were updated to 60% after summer school results were submitted for the recalculation. Many people want to point the finger, play the blame game, talk the talk...but where are the practitioners?

I am happy that our school board selected Dr. Dana Bedden as the Superintendent of RCSS. He has his critics, but I challenge the critics to step forward and volunteer in the classroom/at the school, rather than throw negative comments through the online newspaper. I empathize with him as I know he did not expect to inherit a system in the shape that it was in.

The external audit of the system documented many (but not all) issues the district has from lack of technology, lack of technology skills of the people in the system, the need for reorganization, and other issues addressed in the Performance Review of RCSS. The recently updated System Technology Plan has some quirks that need to be worked out.

I have been to the school board on a couple of occasions. Initially, to present letters to each board member inviting them to the school for a Meet and Greet. Not being from here, not understanding the downfall from elementary, middle, and high schools and not exactly who all of our board members were with the district lines.

Once to present a list of questions collected from the parents I had met as I became a participative parent at my daughter's high school. To this day, half of those questions have not been answered. But the written response from the Richmond County Board of Education can be found on the BHS PTSA Accomplishments website and Part of the Solution blog.

We published pictures of the school that seemed to be left to neglect. We took pictures of us when we attempted to start the Butler Beautification project. We went back to the board to ask for the projected plans for the school because we applied for and received a Lowe's Toolbox for Education grant for $5000.

So are you doing what you can for the schools in your district? You can rely on the media and AYP reports...but at what point do you say, "Enough already, what is going on in my own neighborhood? What can I do to improve the situation?" Many people want to help but are not sure what to do. Even if you are not a parent of a student at the local school, the schools are a part of the community. We will pay for these students in the school house or in the jail house.

The recent article published by Gelpi brings out the comments, yet the article published on 11/1 titled, Students will watch action from CNN studios has no comments. The trip, arranged by Superintendent Dana Bedden and CNN reporter Soledad O'Brien, will allow the broadcast class students to experience the history-making election. The trip is being paid for by private donations.

To everyone who is making the difference in the life of a child or a group of neighborhood children...Thank you!!! What goes around, comes around and if we don't participate in the lives of the children...those children will remember when they have to make the decision about who rocks your rocking chair...after all it is the circle of life.

The AYP numbers are in

The AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) numbers are in and once again, Richmond County School System (RCSS) did not meet the standard. This year 50.9 percent of schools made AYP, down from 70.2 percent last year. While these numbers mean different things to different people...educators, administrators, parents, guardians, students, the community and the military members who end up on orders to a military installation in Georgia it is the news for the day. The school board will vote to raise the millage rate on Monday, July 28, 2008 at 4:30 for the second time this year, regardless of the numbers.

Yes, the positive numbers need to be acknowledged but overall the RCSS numbers dropped. School choice will be back...but what do you do when your student's school does not make AYP and there are no school choices? You jump in with both feet and do what you can to make improvements. Schools are a vital part of the community. These students are the future leaders, they will be the ones rocking our rocking chairs. Everyone needs to do something.

The Augusta Chronicle does a great job of providing coverage when the negative news in the Richmond County School System will draw the attention of the online posters. If 1/2 of the people who post a gripe, complaint, or groan about the school system would put 1 hour of volunteering in at the local neighborhood school, we might see some improvement or maybe change the perspective of their posts.

I am proud that my daughter graduated high school, but I know it was her diverse experiences in schools in Georgia, Florida, Alaska, and Texas exposed her to different learning environments and the involvement of the adults in her life that expected no less from her. I am concerned about the graduation rate of the school system as a whole. From the Georgia Department of Education, these are the graduation rates posted under the annual AYP reports as the second indicator:

Richmond County (721) System did not meet AYP
2001 2002 Graduation rate: 58.7%
2002 2003 Graduation rate: 59.4%
2003-2004 Graduation rate: 62.2%
2004-2005 Graduation rate: 72%
2005-2006 Graduation rate: 66.1%
2006-2007 Graduation rate: 66.3%
2007-2008 Graduation rate: 62.1%

Education is big business. If colleges, corporations, or the military produced these kind of numbers for graduation they would be put out of business. So whether you want to believe the numbers posted by the GA Dept of Education, US Department of Education, Ed in 08, US Census Bureau, or whatever organization is publishing the numbers...take a look around your neighborhood. Will the children your student eats lunch with today be the same students walking across the graduation stage?

Ed in 08: http://www.edin08.com/
GA Dept of Education 2008 AYP: http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/ayp2008.aspx
US Dept of Education: http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/UnitedStates/Education/

While the AYP #s are in the news today, the first "rightsizing" forum was held July 27, 2008 and hopefully will provide recommendations for the August monthly school board meeting. The audit conducted by MGT of America, Inc. documented that the school system had 6000 empty seats, and recommended closing 1 high school, 1 middle school, and 3 elementary schools. But the school board approved building 1 new middle school which is undergoing construction.

Having been an involved parent in GA, FL, AK, and TX, I question many decisions of this school district. These questions and my research play a vital role in the research I conduct for my own educational assignments.

Regardless of the outcome, I have to thank the Richmond County School System for the valuable lessons learned and the plethora of research and information they provide as I continue my own education in the field Educational Technology Management.