A.G. Bell's Parents Demand That The School, Which Is Second In Academics District Wide, Remain Open
Community Activist Willie Stokes
Cleveland Public Schools CEO Dr. Eugene Sanders
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson
Posted Friday, February 5, 2010
(Cleveland, Ohio Area News)
By Kathy Wray Coleman
Editor of The Determiner Weekly.Com
and The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network
A packed house of parents and other supporters of A.G. Bell K-8 School took on Cleveland schools CEO Dr. Eugene Sanders Thursday evening relative to the slated closing of the school and 17 others for June, with a community activist targeting the district's chief educational leader in saying what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
“If 75 percent of the schools are in academic watch, you should be on probation,” said Willie Stokes, a community organizer who resides down the street from the school, which is located on Larchmere Ave. in Cleveland's Ward 6, and on the Shaker Heights, Oh. border line.
“SOS,” said Ward 6 Councilwoman Mamie Mitchell. “Save our school system and save our school.”
Sanders was poised and diplomatic as he took questions from more than a third of the more than 250 parents and others attending, many of whom came loaded with a database that questions the rationale for the closing of a school that ranks second of all K-8 schools in district assessed academics, and 12th relative to performance indicators.
“Academics have declined,” said Sanders, referencing a two percent slip at A.G. Bell from 2008 to 2009 and looking a bit uncomfortable as parent after parent emphasized that though school enrollment has declined the school remains in the top quartile amongst the 80 district K-8 schools in each and every academic venue, including the State Report Card.
The CEO also told the audience that the system of funding public education in Ohio through property taxes is unfair where Cleveland schools children must perform at the same rate on state mandated proficiency tests as rich children in places like the Perry Local School District in Lake County that spends double the monies per child annually.
“We have fought this issue for 15 years,” he said, suggesting that it impacts the Toledo, Oh. School District too, the system from which he was recruited in 2006, after Cleveland's movers and shakers tired of former schools CEO Barbara Byrd Bennett, now chief academic and accountability officer for the Detroit Public School District.
Though ordered to do so at least three times since 1992 by the Ohio Supreme Court, the Ohio State Legislature has yet to revise the state's system of funding public education to ensure that all of Ohio's school systems get equal monies to make it fair to poor children, a disproportionate number of whom are Black. And in spite of the current inequitable funding formula that gives more educational resources to rich communities statewide due to property taxes, state education officials continue to demand equity of students in performances on state mandated standardized tests, an unconstitutional demand that has contributed to the specification of three-fourths of Cleveland schools as academically delinquent.
Asked by a parent why 16 of the 18 schools slated to be closed are on Cleveland's majority Black East Side of town, Sanders said that most students live on that side of town, without elaborating further.
Under state law Cleveland's public schools are controlled by the city mayor, now Frank Jackson, who some say is really making the main decisions on school closings and otherwise while allegedly pretending to give authority to Sanders with assistance from the school board that he as mayor appoints.
Sanders said that if the school board approves his recommendation to close A.G. Bell, which is overwhelmingly Black, students would be bussed clear across town to the newly renovated Wilson school, also on the East side. That statement did not sit well with some parents who say that since 26 percent of the kids are hearing impaired, district officials are being insensitive to children with disabilities.
“We will fight to keep this school open,” said Thelma Green, grandparent of an A.G. Bell student.
The school closings are part of a sweeping district wide transformation plan billed with a tag of some $70 million, a hefty price, given that Jackson announced just last month that the school system is more than $52 million in debt.
Cleveland Public Schools CEO Dr. Eugene Sanders
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson
Posted Friday, February 5, 2010
(Cleveland, Ohio Area News)
By Kathy Wray Coleman
Editor of The Determiner Weekly.Com
and The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network
A packed house of parents and other supporters of A.G. Bell K-8 School took on Cleveland schools CEO Dr. Eugene Sanders Thursday evening relative to the slated closing of the school and 17 others for June, with a community activist targeting the district's chief educational leader in saying what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
“If 75 percent of the schools are in academic watch, you should be on probation,” said Willie Stokes, a community organizer who resides down the street from the school, which is located on Larchmere Ave. in Cleveland's Ward 6, and on the Shaker Heights, Oh. border line.
“SOS,” said Ward 6 Councilwoman Mamie Mitchell. “Save our school system and save our school.”
Sanders was poised and diplomatic as he took questions from more than a third of the more than 250 parents and others attending, many of whom came loaded with a database that questions the rationale for the closing of a school that ranks second of all K-8 schools in district assessed academics, and 12th relative to performance indicators.
“Academics have declined,” said Sanders, referencing a two percent slip at A.G. Bell from 2008 to 2009 and looking a bit uncomfortable as parent after parent emphasized that though school enrollment has declined the school remains in the top quartile amongst the 80 district K-8 schools in each and every academic venue, including the State Report Card.
The CEO also told the audience that the system of funding public education in Ohio through property taxes is unfair where Cleveland schools children must perform at the same rate on state mandated proficiency tests as rich children in places like the Perry Local School District in Lake County that spends double the monies per child annually.
“We have fought this issue for 15 years,” he said, suggesting that it impacts the Toledo, Oh. School District too, the system from which he was recruited in 2006, after Cleveland's movers and shakers tired of former schools CEO Barbara Byrd Bennett, now chief academic and accountability officer for the Detroit Public School District.
Though ordered to do so at least three times since 1992 by the Ohio Supreme Court, the Ohio State Legislature has yet to revise the state's system of funding public education to ensure that all of Ohio's school systems get equal monies to make it fair to poor children, a disproportionate number of whom are Black. And in spite of the current inequitable funding formula that gives more educational resources to rich communities statewide due to property taxes, state education officials continue to demand equity of students in performances on state mandated standardized tests, an unconstitutional demand that has contributed to the specification of three-fourths of Cleveland schools as academically delinquent.
Asked by a parent why 16 of the 18 schools slated to be closed are on Cleveland's majority Black East Side of town, Sanders said that most students live on that side of town, without elaborating further.
Under state law Cleveland's public schools are controlled by the city mayor, now Frank Jackson, who some say is really making the main decisions on school closings and otherwise while allegedly pretending to give authority to Sanders with assistance from the school board that he as mayor appoints.
Sanders said that if the school board approves his recommendation to close A.G. Bell, which is overwhelmingly Black, students would be bussed clear across town to the newly renovated Wilson school, also on the East side. That statement did not sit well with some parents who say that since 26 percent of the kids are hearing impaired, district officials are being insensitive to children with disabilities.
“We will fight to keep this school open,” said Thelma Green, grandparent of an A.G. Bell student.
The school closings are part of a sweeping district wide transformation plan billed with a tag of some $70 million, a hefty price, given that Jackson announced just last month that the school system is more than $52 million in debt.
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