As if the EBR school board doesn’t have enough problems, in The Advocate recently, I read the most outrageous letter to the editor of all time. It was written by school board member Darryl Robertson. It is scary to think this man is in charge of educating our children. [I’m sure many on the board were embarrassed by his letter.] The audacity for him to turn the state’s rescue of Baton Rouge children trapped in his failed system for the past five years into a convoluted race-based “conspiracy theory”—in which he compares state takeover of failing public schools to the atrocities of the Tuskegee, Ala., syphilis study [which led to the deaths of 130 men]—is delusional and is the act of a desperate elected official, fearing both his loss of power—and money.
When interviewed by WBRZ-TV and asked about his comparison to an event where people died, he said, “When you kill a person’s dream and fail to educate the children, that’s the correlation.” In that case, Robertson should turn himself in to police. His 12 schools have failed the children for five years and that is why they are being rescued. Robertson claims the groups taking over have “no proven track record of success.” But with these 12 schools, the EBR system has a proven track record of failure.
The 100 Black Men, who have a far better record of community service than Robertson, are operating charters at Capitol High. They called his comments “drastic.”
In his letter, Robertson claims, “Because many of these children are black and poor, the state considers them to be expendable … The community needs to step up and speak out now. Our children are too important.” I couldn’t agree more that we need to speak out.
What the community needs to do is 1] ask Robertson to resign because he has no credibility, much less sense; 2] demand the BESE board take over all 12 schools to save these children; and 3] demand the school board hire a dynamic, creative, open-minded superintendent and let him or her lead.
Board president Jerry Arbour and member Derrick Spell got the board to launch a national search. Good move.Now they should name a community search committee of local stakeholders.
The local school system is hanging by a thread of community support. What actions the board takes in the next three to four months will determine if that thread breaks.
Being thankful
Sometimes you get things in your e-mail inbox that you just want to share with someone else. My business partner and our company president, Julio Melara, writes a weekly “mental snack” e-mail. [You can sign up for it at JulioMelara.com.] During this past week of Thanksgiving, he sent one that I wanted to share. Despite our storms or the ups and downs on Wall Street, we live in the greatest country on earth and we have much to thank God for every day. I hope you enjoy Julio’s commentary below and take time to reflect as we conclude 2008 and look toward a new year.
“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.” [Eric Hoffer]
Learning to be thankful every day: When was the last time you counted your blessings? One of the ways we can flow with the rhythm of life is to be thankful every day with the simple things in life. We can’t and shouldn’t take anything for granted. The fact that you got up this morning and you’re breathing is a great start to the morning! Thanks to medical science, people are living longer. Unfortunately, many people have not learned to take advantage of the extra years. As we get older we realize that quantity of life doesn’t necessarily result in enhanced quality of life. Being thankful every day is one of the keys to a happier life. If we are not thankful for where we are, grateful for who we are or appreciate others in our lives, then no matter how much we have, we will not be happy. We will always want to have something else or something more. I know it’s THANKSGIVING week, but I hope it means more than eating turkey. I believe the depth of your thankfulness, not just this week but every day, has a major impact on the quality of your life. A few years ago, a friend sent me a note with the words below to ensure a quality life:
“Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion.
Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception.
Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude.
Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road.” [John Henry Jowett]
Remember, you can’t control the length of your life but you can control its width and depth. Being thankful will add all three dimensions to your life. Today I want to remind you to make the most of the possibilities and challenges in your life. Every one of us will face setbacks and failures, but if we don’t give up, they can catapult us into a more fulfilled life.
Reprinted with permission from Julio’s Mental Snacks, Nov. 24, 2008.
Bright spots
If you read through the previous issue of Business Report, featuring our Forty Under 40 rising stars, you had to have been inspired and filled with hope for the future. When I think about it, we have been doing this feature for 12 years now and that means almost 500 young people have been recognized. Many have risen to the top of their professions and are in charge. Others are still rising. [One of our 1997 honorees was Bobby Jindal. He was just 26 years old.]
We salute all those honored, past and present, and thank them for their contributions to our community. We challenge them to continue to lead. We are counting on it.
Like father, like daughters
My two daughters, who lived in Los Angeles for the past two years, are home. Both are now working in areas I have a passion for: one in media and the other with education. I have been involved with school choice for many years, including the establishment of charter schools, supporting vouchers, tax credits, home schools and private education. Whatever works for kids. I am proud to say my oldest daughter, Jeanne, has joined the charter school team at Advance Baton Rouge and is loving working with the teachers and children and making a difference in their lives. My youngest daughter, Elizabeth, is now at 225 Magazine in sales and recently worked on publishing the 225 Extra Menu Guide—a big hit. As a proud father, I always told them, “Find something you love to do and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
Time to nominate
Speaking of leaders and “bright spots,” each year we look forward to honoring those who succeed in business. The 27th Annual Business Awards & Hall of Fame banquet will be held on April 23, 2009, and is presented by Business Report and Junior Achievement. The categories include: Business Hall of Fame Laureate [for a lifetime of achievement], Company of the Year [under 100 employees], Company of the Year [100 or more employees], Young Business Person of the Year [40 or under] and Business Person of the Year. Honorees are profiled in Business Report and awards are presented at the banquet. The event is sponsored by Franklin Press Direct Mail and Printing and Capital One Bank.
If you would like to nominate your company, a client, vendor or friend, you can go online to http://batonrouge.ja.org and complete the form or call 928-7008.
Deadline for nominations is Dec. 31, 2008.
Comments
Posted by pmccarron on December 3, 2008 at 10:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Agree. Agree. Agree.
No more EBR Public School Board.
More Charter School Takeovers!
Vouchers and Government Partnership with Private/Charitable Schooling Next!
Posted by fourx5 on December 3, 2008 at 2:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yes, let all the poor people go without education because of the idiots who run the supposed "system" of schools.
No one cares because no one with any pull or influence has a stake in EBR schools; by pulling their kids out and sending them to private schools, Baton Rouge's well-off and upper middle class have shown that they don't want to participate in the betterment of public schools - and with that attitude, you're surprised at the kind of loonies who get spots on the school board?
Once again, it's a chicken-and-egg problem you can't solve with vouchers or charter schools - either the influential class in Baton Rouge gets involved with public schools, or they'll continue to rot.
Posted by legislady on December 4, 2008 at 12:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It's http://www.juliomelara.com/ with no hyphen.
Posted by LSUTIGERSFAN on December 4, 2008 at 1:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Fourx5, if people don't care, it's because they've been lied to and ignored too many times in the past. Why do you think that Baker, Zachary, and Central have left the EBR system? They were tired of the "same old same old" from EBR, and while Baker is still struggling, Zachary and Central have shown what can be done when the right people AND parental involvement are combined and united.
But here's the bottom line on any school system: it doesn't matter how many teachers and prinipals of the year you put in a system, nor how new the facilities are. Until Mom and Dad start caring, becoming involved, and demanding more from their kids, nothing else matters. Not everyone is meant to go on to college, but everyone CAN receive a good, basic, education when it becomes important in the home.
My guess is that parental involvement and expectation of children is very low in the schools facing takeover. And I will go even further out on my proverbial limb and say that if both were higher, we would not be having this discussion. The people who have left are those who are involved and who do place demands on their children, and who grew tired of the EBR system letting them down.
Posted by concerned1inBR on December 4, 2008 at 1:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Once again Mr. McCollister sounds rather paternalistic in his biased approach to addressing problems in public education, and the opportunity to attack Robertson is convenient to his agenda. Don't bite, it's a red herring.
When public outcry suits him, Mr. McCollister will reference it to reinforce his position, but in this case he fails to mention results of hundreds of concerned participants in the recent Yes We Can Baton Rouge forums - see www.ywcbr.org and related articles in more objective publications. People are interested in several steps in improving schools and education systems, but McCollister is stuck on "charters and vouchers" as the only solution, and he will write whatever he has to in order to sabotage other options and build community apathy so that he gets what he wants. It's not that he doesn't care about people who rely on public schools - which is all of us if you are honest about it - but he lets his politics and lack of courage to fight the roots of racism and poverty get in the way.
Also, notice the irony later as he writes about his daugthers now employed with 225 and his new favorite institution, Advance Baton Rouge. Now that is the epitome of white privilege with a dose of nepotism to boot! What if he worked with others to afford every young person an easier path?
Posted by BatonRougeForward on December 4, 2008 at 3:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The school system in EBR has been horrible. The same firm was hired the last time we were looking for a superintendent and the firm's recommendation went unnoticed as the school board hired another system oriented person that failed once again. Hopefully the entire school board is overhauled in 2010 and we have a superintendent in place that is innovative and a change-agent. Because right now, we just have a lot of people making excuses for their poor performance. Look no further than the posts above to reference those that still have blinders on in watching the collapse of our system today.
Fourx, do you really believe that the business leaders in Baton Rouge don't support better public education in EBR? It seems to me that the individuals with some of the biggest stake in seeing improvement from the schools are the business owners and business leaders in the community. They do need a workforce to continue their success and as it stands, the system has been a failure and all we hear is excuses of what can't work. Well, how do you know? We can't see if something new works unless we try. There isn't a silver bullet and there isn't one type of change that solves problems in public education. You can look throughout the country and see things that work in some places and don't in either. But the status quo approach that has plagued us for the last twenty-five years needs to change. And it it prompts a mass exodus of our current public education leaders in the area, good.
Posted by pmccarron on December 4, 2008 at 3:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The goal of Darryl Robertson’s opinion article was to get people talking about our socialized public school system.
Problem = Parents that don’t care + Students that won’t learn
Private Schools can expel students that don’t learn and parents that don’t care.
Solution = Vouchers = Competition = Parent’s Choice = Parental Involvement = Private Schooling = Better Teachers = Better Test Scores = Better Students
The only real answer is Capitalism and the Freedom to Choose.
Darryl Robertson, The Teacher’s Union, The Trial Lawyer controlled Democrat Party, are just more bricks in the wall. We don’t need their Education.
Posted by tlclsu on December 4, 2008 at 6:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
So the state should hurry up and "rescue" these schools? Because of the great track record of the Recovery School District, which ranks DEAD LAST in the Fall report? (http://www.louisianaschools.net/lde/uplo...)
The problem of schools with students in poverty is one of the greatest challenges of our time and NO ONE has yet to come up with a solution that seems replicable in different communities or even different schools within a district. Lots of people pontificate on what should be done and how bad the schools are. The real problem is not the schools, but the communties and families in which these children spend the majority of this time.
One of the best schools in this state is a part of EBR - Baton Rouge High. The difference? They pick their students. Nevertheless, this school shows that the problem is NOT the teachers of EBR. As a veteran teacher within the system I have, over the years, worried, despaired, and (more recently) laughed at the comments of the general public, many of whom seem to know little of our school system. For example, one of the posters here blames the "Teacher Union" (we, in fact, have two, neither of which are really that powerful) and claims "higher test scores" for private schools (they do not participate in state testing, and in other testing areas do not outpeform public schools, such as BRMHS, that also preselect their clients/students).
The problem is not the teachers and not even the school system. We are working hard to save children that truly would have been considered impossible to educate just a few decades ago. You will not see students of this type in private schools - they are sent away if they become too much of a challenge.
The problem, again, is the community and until we start to try to improve the living conditions of these children, there will be little progress - unfortunately.
Posted by LiberatedTiger on December 5, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Someone needs to say it!!! Backwards, racially-motivated thinking by our parents 25 to 30 years ago got us into this whole mess. At one time BR had a great public school system of which I am proud to have been a part (class of '82). When the federal government cracked down on desegregation, all of a sudden black and white children had to attend school together in certain ratios. This was unthinkable at the time for many white parents and those that could afford it bolted to the catholic schools. Many of us have children now and have perpetuated this problem, but we now say that we send our kids to private schools because public school education is substandard.
The Zachary system is a shining example (that can and should be imitated) of a success story that proves that blacks and whites can coexist in schools, even in Louisiana. For Baton Rouge's public school system to survive blacks and whites must coexist. A campaign to bring whites back into the system to better reflect the racial make-up of the parish is crucial to the going-forward success of the system. This should improve community and parental involvement which is now lacking. Sadly, I do not know how to do this. If I did, I would put my name in the hat for superintendent job (did you see the salary!).
What gives me hope, however, that it can succeed is this: As far as we still have to go, look at from where we have come as a community in the past 30 years. 30 years ago, Catholic parents here didn't want their children dating outside the church, much less marrying a non-Catholic. Believe it or not, an Italian family couldn't be members of the Baton Rouge Country Club, much less a black family. 30 years ago, many "nice neighborhoods" openly resisted blacks from owning homes. We have advanced a great deal (probably to 1970 by now) in our way of thinking, but the school hurdle may be our toughest test yet. It will take one heck of a person to break the string of events that has gotten us to this point.
Posted by kgs on December 6, 2008 at 10:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
While I do not agree with Mr. Robertson’s remarks in his letter to the editor, I do think there is a serous issue that is not being addressed by the local media, and will NEVER be investigated by this publication.
I was on the Glen Oaks Middle School (GOMS) campus last week as part of the Public Education Project tour that was hosted by Forum 35. (I think it was hosted by Forum 35…it is difficult to tell since the person who organized this tour works for Baton Rouge Area Foundation which is a major underwriter of Advance Baton Rouge (ABR), which is now running Glen Oaks Middle, Prescott Middle and Pointe Coupee Central High School.)
The tour of Glen Oaks Middle was very telling. The hallways were empty. We were told that there were 450 students enrolled at GOMS, yet most of the classrooms were empty. Ours hosts for the tours explained that this was because the students were outside playing. One classroom that we were able to look into, but not enter, had a teacher, or as they like to call them, “Professor” asleep at her desk while the 8-10 students in her classroom were doing the same.
A couple of questions arose during my visit. How is this school better? Other than calling the students “Scholars”, teachers “Professors”, and principal “School Leader” what is different? Where are all the students? What services does ABR provide for the Special Education students? Where do students go when they are suspended are expelled…on the streets?
While there are some charter providers who have a proven record of success, exactly how many schools has ABR actually advanced?
Posted by Being_Stupid on December 10, 2008 at 8:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If the EBR School Board is hanging by a thread...
I don't think Darryl Robertson is going to help with that situation.
Posted by fourx5 on December 11, 2008 at 2:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Fourx, do you really believe that the business leaders in Baton Rouge don't support better public education in EBR?"
Yeah, I believe that statement.
I think business leaders care about education in EBR. That said, care does not equal support.
$15 billion in profit per quarter, but where's the public outreach and after school workshop programs for kids and adolescents who live in and around the XOM refinery? (People in these neighborhoods could use it the most.) What percentage of business owners in Baton Rouge send their kids to public school?
"It seems to me that the individuals with some of the biggest stake in seeing improvement from the schools are the business owners and business leaders in the community. "
You'd think that's the case, but frankly, most of the public school kids in Baton Rouge come from poor backgrounds. Let's be honest: what law office, doctor's office, general contractor, etc. is going to spend the money on personnel and material to do after school training or other outreach for poor kids?
I hope I'm wrong, but by my admittedly short experience in the B.R. job market, employers there are still stuck in a "who you know, not what you know" 1970s mentality. No wonder there are so many job openings; Baton Rouge businesses won't hire anyone who isn't personally known to the hiring manager or vouched for. Additionally, it seemed to me that anyone who doesn't conform to an extremely conservative, outdated notion of acceptability is persona non grata at most Baton Rouge businesses.
That's my experience. Any others?
Posted by fourx5 on December 11, 2008 at 2:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"The only real answer is Capitalism and the Freedom to Choose."
(Rolls eyes) Yes, it worked so well when we let the investment banks do whatever they want by repealing Glass-Steagall.
Posted by Cosmic on December 18, 2008 at 10:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Are ineptitude and the EBRPSS synonomous? Consider the arts supervisor whose training as as an elementary PE coach qualified him, according to the EBRPSS board and its administrators. How many other travesties exist in the EBRPSS? The damage wrought may be irreparable but these clowns who interest is only self will enjoy a state taxpayer subsidized retirement and for what? We need a Michelle Rhee "D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee is taking on an education bureaucracy that for too long has put its own interests first and left those of its students last"
http://www.capitalgainsandgames.com/blog...
*&^% 'em
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