By Lynette Monroe (Program Assistant, NNPA ESSA Public Awareness Campaign)
Dr. Tiffany G. Tyler is the president and CEO of Communities in Schools (CIS) Nevada. CIS creates school-based strategies for improving the academic outcomes of students by addressing their basic needs. This work centers on helping school leaders understand the needs of their school populations apart from over-simplified ethnic and income categories.
As a former high school dropout, Dr. Tyler used the motivation from the birth of her first son (she said she didn’t want her son to “have a dropout as a mom.”) to propel her to the highest levels of academia, as an education psychologist. While studying for her dissertation, she happened upon a report detailing circumstances that contribute to student dropouts, as well as preventative practices that retain enrollment. She uses her experiences as a former beneficiary of many of the services she now provides to inform her role as chief Advocate.
“Having the benefit of people, over the course of my return to school, who not only encouraged me to continue my education, but helped in many ways, I now have the opportunity to pay it forward every day,” Dr. Tyler said, speaking of her daily motivation to make a difference.
Dr. Tyler said that her primary responsibility is to shepherd the vision and mission of the organization: to provide children with the resources and support they need to not only graduate, but to lead a successful life. Communities in Schools operates in South Nevada, encompassing 50 schools in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, Marshall County, and Elko County. An impressive 66,720 K-12 students benefit from the integrated services provided by CIS, yet the need still outweighs access to resources.
Dr. Tyler believes in the power of the work, but also in the power of action. In order to really move the needle on reducing dropout rates she believes we need everyone at the table; not only to discuss the challenges faced, but to also develop a course of action for moving forward. Dr. Tyler is consistently looking to partner with stakeholders and other like-minded organizations to bring more assets to schools. She serves as the co-chair of the Juvenile Justice Services Citizens Advisory Committee in Clark County and maintains board memberships on a number of organizations in the community.
The Every Student Succeeds Act, memorializes integrated support services as a successful practice and allows federal use of resources to be leveraged to provide more resources to communities. For the first time in federal education policy, integrated support services are explicitly noted as an allowable intervention for funding and noted as a strategy that districts and states can employ or use to turn around underperforming schools. ESSA recognizes that family and student support play a key role in improving academic outcomes for students.
Dr. Tyler encourages educators to uphold principles like equity, social justice, and community that transcend any one administration. Principles such as these are at the core of legislation like ESSA. Furthermore, parent engagement is a crucial part in ensuring student success.
Parents should see themselves as partners. Parents should show up and share their vision for their children; what they see as their child’s strengths and how they would like to partner in assisting with their challenges. Parents should advocate for what they perceive are their needs.
Dr. Tyler charges parents to get informed about the policies that directly impact their household and remain consistent in their engagement to ensure staff accountability.
Learn more about the Every Student Succeeds Act at www.nnpa.org/essa.
Lynette Monroe is the program assistant for the NNPA’s Every Student Succeeds Act Public Awareness Campaign and a master’s student at Howard University. Her research areas are public policy and national development. Follow Lynette on Twitter @_monroedoctrine.
New federal data on bullying, discipline, and school safety should prompt tough questions about why certain groups of students are unfairly singled out. Could it also prevent Education Secretary Betsy DeVos from rescinding Obama-era guidance on school discipline? Today’s Federal Flash addresses that question, highlights new people taking over top positions at the U.S. Department of Education, and covers interesting comments on education coming from top Republicans on Capitol Hill.
On Tuesday the U.S. Department of Education released the 2015-2016 Civil Right Data Collection or CRDC, a biennial snap shot of data on bullying, discipline, and school safety among other items.
The data shows that black students and students with disabilities are suspended and arrested far more often than their peers. Given the information, many are hoping this will prevent the department from rescinding Obama-era guidance on school discipline that was designed to address those problems.
The data also confirms racial disparities across students when it comes to success in science, technology, engineering and math courses. For example, 85 percent of white eighth graders who were enrolled in Algebra I passed the course, compared to only 72 percent of Latino students and 65 percent of black students. Among Native American students and students of two or more races, fewer than 50 percent passed the course.
The data also show that high schools with high percentages of black and Latino students are less likely to offer advanced math and science courses like calculus, physics, chemistry and advanced math.
In other news from the Education Department, several empty positions have been filled. On April 18, the Senate confirmed Carlos Muñiz to serve as the Education Department’s top lawyer.
In his role as General Counsel, Muñiz will be charged with tackling some of the stickiest legal issues confronting the Department including determining whether states are complying with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), deciding whether to rescind the school discipline guidance mentioned earlier, and laying out new rules for colleges handling allegations of sexual assault on campuses under Title IX.
Earlier this year, Mayor Randall L. Woodfin invited Birmingham City Schools’ students, children of city employees and students attending other schools in Birmingham to reflect on what inspires them about the Magic City. Students could draw anything from their favorite park or school to their community and even the mayor for the “My Birmingham. My Mayor. And Me’’ art contest.
There were more than 200 entries from grades kindergarten to 12th. Judges were impressed by the submissions, which included colorful charcoal pieces, collages, paintings, colored pencil works and even a sculpture of the mayor. On Tuesday, April 17, Woodfin recognized the first-place winners during the Birmingham City Council meeting. Woodfin congratulated each student and thanked them for showcasing what they loved about the city.
“All of these submissions show the tremendous talent of students in Birmingham. I thank each student for dedicating their time for the contest, each teacher for guiding them through the process, and every parent for supporting their child in this endeavor,’’ the mayor said.
This month’s visit to City Hall was a first for Zaiderick Hayes, a fifth grader at Avondale Elementary School. He said he got the idea to create a collage for his winning piece after doing research on the internet. Zaiderick included some of his favorite places in Birmingham and a hand-drawn image of the mayor.
“It wasn’t hard. It took two days to draw the mayor,’’ said Zaiderick, whose art work has won other awards. At Avondale Elementary, an award-winning piece he did for a different contest will be featured on the school T-shirt next year.
Said Principal Courtney Nelson: “I’m proud of Zaiderick and all of his accomplishments. He is an art legend at Avondale.’’
Art work by students receiving first, second and third place will be on display on the third floor of City Hall through April. Art work by all other students will be on display at various libraries that part of the Birmingham Public Library system. To see a list of libraries hosting the art work, please visit www.birminghamal.gov.
This contest was made possible by The Mayor’s Office; Division of Youth Services; Birmingham Museum of Art; Arlington House; Birmingham Public Library; Birmingham City Schools; Birmingham City Schools Dr. Lisa Herring and McDonald’s.
And then there were five. That’s the number of finalists remaining in the NextGen Pitch Competition, for which dozens of students and teachers pitched ideas on how to make a better Birmingham.
Earlier this year, students and teachers submitted application essays that incorporated the following statement: “Birmingham’s bright future depends on ….” A panel of judges narrowed the submissions to six who were then paired with mentors from partner companies to help perfect the ideas and possibly make them realities; that list is now down to five.
On May 3, two students and three teachers with Birmingham City Schools will compete for the grand prize of $5,000; second- and third-place prizes are $1,500 and $1,000, respectively. The finals will be held at the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama building downtown Birmingham. There will be a reception at 5 p.m. followed by presentations at 6 p.m.
Summit Media’s Chuck Faush, who created the event and has partnered with the Birmingham Education Foundation (commonly called the Ed Foundation) and BBVA Compass, said students participating in NextGen are among the most talented in the Magic City.
“Two years ago, we launched an event hoping to recognize and reward those who give of themselves to make all of our lives better,” he said. “During that event, we were amazed that one of our awardees happened to be a student. That made us all realize that we have giants among us who are young and gifted, so we created NextGen to encourage and empower our youth and those who guide them every day.”
J.W. Carpenter, executive director of the Ed Foundation, which is a key supporter of and contributor to the event, said his group knows firsthand that Birmingham City Schools students and educators have fantastic ideas.
“Everyone involved with NextGen believes that we should shine a light on these ideas,” he said. “[We] are collaborating to put the spotlight on the people we should be listening to most when it comes to education: students and teachers.”
Here’s a closer look at the two NextGen student finalists and their mentors, as well as the three teacher finalists and their partners.
Students
Kamil Goodman…NextGen Birmingham teams and group shots at Vulcan Park in Birmingham Alabama Wednesday, April 18, 2018. (The Birmingham Times / Frank Couch )
Kamil Goodman, a 16-year-old A.H. Parker High School sophomore, proposes a leadership roundtable that will include youth leaders and elected officials in Birmingham. She is partnered with Zhaundra Jones of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, “a permanent charitable endowment to drive positive change,” according to cfbham.org.
In her pitch, Goodman writes that the roundtable will serve as an opportunity for elected officials to fully engage with and hear the voices of young people in the city: “Elected officials will be able to hear how youth feel regarding violence, education issues, employment, and how to retain youth in Birmingham after graduating from high school or college.”
“Youth leaders have a voice and desire to be involved in the growth that awaits Birmingham,” she continues. “… This engagement will allow elected leaders to gain a true feeling and understanding of the youth today and create a blueprint for tomorrow.”
Jarvis Prewitt…NextGen Birmingham teams and group shots at Vulcan Park in Birmingham Alabama Wednesday, April 18, 2018. (The Birmingham Times / Frank Couch )
Jarvis Prewitt, a 16-year-old Huffman High School junior, said he’d like to implement a “Makerspace” program in all 43 Birmingham City Schools. He is partnered with Forté of the Ed Foundation, which is “driven by an urgency to help … students reach their potential,” according to edbirmingham.org.
Prewitt writes, “A Makerspace is collaborative learning environment where students and its users utilize technology to invent, experiment, and explore, while being challenged to be creative and think outside of the box while using STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). [It] … would serve as a virtual classroom where educators take the curriculum or a teacher-led project and utilize it in these labs. To further make the schools more inviting to parents, schools would partner with businesses that specialize in STEM to provide training in the parent-resource center.”
Teachers
Shauntae Lockett Lewis…NextGen Birmingham teams and group shots at Vulcan Park in Birmingham Alabama Wednesday, April 18, 2018. (The Birmingham Times / Frank Couch )
Shauntae Lockett Lewis, a physical education teacher at Minor Elementary School, would like to see a recruitment service for non-revenue-generating sports. She is partnered with Walter Body of the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United Inc., which “proudly support[s] many civic and charitable organizations serving [Birmingham’s] communities,” according to cocacolaunited.com.
“Everyone is looking for the next LeBron James, but your typical volleyball, soccer, or track-and-field athletes are not getting these looks,” Lockett Lewis writes. “If we offered a process beginning in 9th grade assisting students and parents with the process, we would see more of our non-revenue sports getting into college.”
Christina Sellers…NextGen Birmingham teams and group shots at Vulcan Park in Birmingham Alabama Wednesday, April 18, 2018. (The Birmingham Times / Frank Couch )
Christina Sellers, a kindergarten teacher at Huffman Academy, proposes a Genius MAP nonprofit organization that prepares and pairs students with the college or university of their choice “through mastery, autonomy, and purpose.” She is partnered with Caitlyn Burchfield of Butler Snow Law Office, “among the best nationwide in service—in anticipating needs, in a commitment to help …,” according to butlersnow.com.
“Our mission is anchored in belief,” Sellers writes. “At its heart, our program is sustained by the belief that our expectations and how students perform are positively correlated.”
“Students and parents will meet with a MAP guide every nine weeks to select actionable items that have been made available through partnerships with schools, local organizations, universities, and stakeholders to add to their current MAP module for completion. … Once items have been added to a student’s MAP module, students, teachers, and parents will receive a physical document and MAP legend detailing each activity and opportunity with relevant information, dates, and instructions.”
Kaleena Watts…NextGen Birmingham teams and group shots at Vulcan Park in Birmingham Alabama Wednesday, April 18, 2018. (The Birmingham Times / Frank Couch )
Kaleena Watts, who teaches American literature in A.H. Parker High School’s English Department, has proposed a districtwide student news outlet created for students by students. She is partnered with Valeria Walton Cornner of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, “a private, nonprofit organization … that works to attract, retain, and grow jobs in Alabama, while encouraging innovation,” according to edpa.org.
This effort is needed in today’s current political, socioeconomic, and educational climate, Watts writes: “With less than 20 percent of the students in our district reading at or above proficiency level, the student news will serve as a new resource to engage young readers, building better reading skills and habits. The platform … will allow students across the seven high schools … to collaborate in a way that models global business practices.”
On Saturday, May 12, 2018, the Pasadena Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. is sponsoring its 30th Annual Fashionetta Salute to Mothers and Scholarship Luncheon & Fashion Show at the Glendale Hilton from 10 AM – 3 PM. This annual fundraising event will award 10 Scholarships and 5 Book Awards to college bound students from the Pasadena/ Altadena/ San Gabriel Valley area.
The Pasadena Chapter of AKA recently hosted a State of Black Pasadena Community Meeting that highlighted the importance of education in lifelong success. While the importance of an education only continues to be more important, the ability to attain this education is becoming harder. According to the College Board’s “Trends in College Pricing 2017” report, the cost of public school tuition has increased by 213% ($3190 in 1987-1988 to $9970 in 2017-2018). Per the same source, the cost of tuition at a private nonprofit was $15,160 in the 1987-1988 school year, but is now $34,740 in the 2017-2018 school year for an increase of 129%.
At the same time tuition has been increasing, the cost of room and board continues to increase along with the cost of books where a student could easily spend $400 on a single text book. The increase in the cost of textbooks has lead savvy students to take advantage of the opportunity to rent their books and/or leverage a $2500 IRS textbook tax credit.
In order to help college bound students handle these rising costs, the Pasadena Chapter of AKA has awarded scholarships to college bound students since it was chartered in 1960. They are proud to highlight that through the years they have awarded over $250,000 in Scholarships and Book Awards. Students have used these monies to help offset costs so they can attain a much needed education that puts them on the road to lifelong success.
Scholarships will be awarded in the areas of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math), Social Justice/ Economic Development, Special Needs, Most Improved GPA and Young African American Male. Each of the awardees is impressive and come from schools in the San Gabriel Valley. If you want your heart to be fi lled with joy as you hear the amazing stories of our young adults, come out to the 30th Annual Fashionetta Scholarship and Salute to Mothers Luncheon.
You can become a Scholarship Patron and directly increase the amount of the awards that will be given to the 2018 recipients by donating $250 or more. We will give you special recognition at the event, in our Souvenir Journal and on our website. You can make your donation at ‘thepaif. org’. Please call 626.475.7710 with any questions on becoming a Scholarship Patron.
If you cannot join us at Fashionetta, but want to make a difference that is less than becoming a Scholarship Patron, you can go to ‘thepaif.org’ to make a tax deductible donation. Designate it for Scholarship and the monies will make a direct difference in the amount awarded to this year’s scholarship winners.
During Fashionetta, we will also honor the Mother of the Year, have unique vendors available for shopping, enjoy a beautiful luncheon and a Fashion Show. If you want to attend Fashionetta and support our youth, you can go to ‘thepaif.org’ to purchase a ticket. Your support is needed and appreciated. Let’s make a difference together.
Voters are heading to the polls locally twice in the month of May. First up is the elections on May 5 for several city council and school board seats in Dallas and surrounding cities. Then on May 22 voters will select the final winners in runoff races from the March 6 primaries including governor and congressional seats. NDG will spotlight those races in our upcoming edition.
Dallas ISD School Board Trustee, District 9
The race to represent District 9 on the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees features incumbent Bernadette Nutall facing three challengers in Ona Marie Hendricks, Justin Henry and Edward Turner.
Nutall, a graduate of Sam Houston State University, is the co-founder and executive director Circle of Support an organization offering academic and enrichment summer learning program. She touts her achievements to secure funding for four campuses and sponsored initiatives such as college tours and the Lincoln Culinary Arts program.
Hendricks is a grant writing consultant and entrepreneur. She has served as the Vice President of TCW Executive Board, and as the Ambassador for Good Samaritans of Garland Food Pantry. She is an active advocate on issues ranging from youth awareness, parental engagement, domestic violence tasks force, anti-racism, and volunteered with Dallas ISD. Hendricks has previously run for offices with the county and school board.
Henry is a former math teacher in Los Angeles, who later went to law school before returning to Dallas eight years ago. Key issues outlined in his campaign include early childhood education, racial equity, improving how the district’s teachers are recruited, mentored and rewarded. Henry believes community engagement is vital to closing the gap between the classroom and the student’s home.
Turner is a native of South Dallas and graduate of Texas Southern University with a degree in Finance. After seeing the closure of four community schools, Turner decided to leave a career in finance and became a community organizer with a focus on developing and encouraging parental involvement. His focus is early childhood development, community engagement, better preparing students for college or the workforce, and closing the pipeline to prison.
Carrollton City Council
The easiest choice for voters in Carrollton comes in the Place 5 race, as incumbent Glen Blanscet is running unopposed. Blanscet is currently serving as mayor pro tem, and has been on the city council since 2015. He is a former general counsel for Atmos Energy, and subsequently served as a Baptist minister.
In Place 1 there is a three-way contest for the council position; including incumbent James Lawrence, along with challengers Therese Beckley and Steve Babick. Lawrence, a native of California, has experience in the Army Reserve and works in sales management. Currently he serves on the Audit/Finance Subcommittee and is a liaison for two advisory committees. He was first elected to the council in 2015.
Beckley has lived in Carrollton for 47 years according to her filing for candidacy. Information on Beckley is hard to find as she has no campaign website, and has declined to respond to recent media requests for information.
Babick arrived in Carrollton in 1992. As a Chief Financial Officer, Babick describes himself as “a finance guy” and sees himself as someone qualified to “dig into the numbers” on behalf of the city. Babick served on the Carrollton City Council from 2014-17 before falling short in a runoff race for Mayor.
Place 3 also features three candidates; with Zul Mohamed, Richard Fleming and Pat Cochran vying for the seat.
Mohamed is the CEO of a web design and digital marketing agency and holds a BA in economics from the University of North Texas. Being successful in efforts to thwart a proposed hotel construction project, he was inspired to further his public service and sees himself as a “fresh face” to represent the shifting demographics of the city.
Fleming comes to the race with experience on the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD school board, where he was the first African-American board member and had to fight a legal action in order to be seated. He is the CEO of a tax advisory and consulting firm, and says he wants to make Carrollton more “business friendly” and eliminate inconsistencies between the council and planning and zoning.
Cochran is a real estate agent and business owner with additional experience as an art director in Old Downtown’s Plaza Arts Center and community volunteer. She describes herself as a “community builder.” As a bi-racial military child, she says the ability to “rise above the noise,” work past differences and value diversity is one of the keys to her success.
In Place 7, incumbent Deputy Mayor Pro Tem John Sutter is facing challenger Austin Stroh.
Sutter, a 36-year resident of Carrollton who came to Texas from Georgia for college, is a licensed risk management assessor and insurance agent. He was first elected to the city council in 2015, and currently sits on the Audit/Finance subcommittee and is a liaison to three community committees. He is also president of a national youth sports league and a board member of US Soccer.
Stroh is an activist candidate whose political aspirations stem from arrests during the Democracy Spring protests. He sees cost of living, racial inequality and a closed system of city board participation as his top three issues. He works as a customer and application support professional with a BS in Computer Science ad devotes numerous hours to volunteer efforts.
Irving City Council
The Place 6 election for the Irving City Council has two candidates – Shayan Elahi and Albert Zapanta – facing off for an open seat.
Elahi is an attorney and a legal expert who has been featured on numerous TV news outlets. His top priorities are protecting diverse communities, funding police to fight crime, and “smart growth policies” to bring more jobs and retail to Irving.
Zapanta is a business, Vietnam veteran and has served as the president or president of numerous business and cultural organizations, and board member of the Irving Symphony Orchestra Association. His top priorities are infrastructure, water and flood control and transportation and land use.
Irving School Board
The Irving ISD school board race in District 4 is a three way race with Sanko S. Prioleau, Nuzhat Hye and Kendrick Paul Perry.
Prioleau has more than a decade of service with the District Improvement Committee and has served as a student tutor, according to a Youtube video recorded for a previous school board race. Information is difficult to find on his current school board run.
Perry is a fixed income specialist for a major brokerage firm, with more than 20 years of experience in financial customer service. He sees this financial experience as being key to serving the district effectively as a trustee. He is a parent of two children, one of which is in college after attending all her years at Irving ISD.
Hye has 35 years of experience in education; having been a teacher, principal and founding several educational institutions. She moved to Irving in 1989 and has witnessed the city’s growth over the ensuing years. College readiness and parental engagement are her key priorities for the district.
Early voting in the joint election for cities and schools has begun and is underway until May 1. Election Day is May 5.
(Editor’s Note: See more coverage of Hye’s campaign from NDG staff writer Rachel Hawkin’s visit with the candidate on April 21.)
The community is outraged. The options are limited. The time to do something is upon us.
The Houston Independent School District (HISD) has come to the point where it is being forced to relinquish control of ten Black and Brown schools in the Greater Houston area, in compliance with a 2015 law they have to deal with because of their failure to improve academic performance at these campuses.
The controversial and much-talked-about law, SB 1882, has forced HISD to make some very tough decisions about what they have to do about these ten schools; and many Houston taxpayers and families are not happy about the proposed actions the district is set to take.
To be compliant with SB1882, HISD has until Monday, April 30th, to have a signed contract submitted to the office of the Texas Education Agency (TEA), in order to avoid having their schools permanently taken over by the statewide educational governing body.
To help you better understand SB 1882, it basically allows HISD to enter into a contract with a qualified entity, such as a charter school, to operate a district campus and share teachers, facilities, or other education resources on that campus. More importantly, however, under the new state law, the TEA can legally takeover any school within HISD, if that school has received an “improvement required” rating for poor academic performance for five consecutive years.
The ten HISD schools on the chopping block, that fit that criteria this year include: Blackshear, Dogan, Highland Heights, Mading and Wesley elementary schools; Henry Middle School; Woodson PK-8; and Kashmere, Wheatley and Worthing high schools. All of these schools are made up of predominately Black and Brown students.
Because HISD did not want to run the risk of having TEA takeover the schools, they met on this past Tuesday to propose their next steps in order to comply with the state law.
According to HISD Board President Rhonda Skillern-Jones, the vote on Tuesday was simply to give interim HISD Superintendent Dr. Grenita Lathan the authority to negotiate a contract with their chosen qualified partner, which happens to be one of HISD’s existing charter school operators – Energized For STEM Academy.
There are many questions swirling, as to whether Energized For STEM Academy is the right entity to takeover these 10 underperforming Black and Brown schools.
Energized For STEM Academy, which has been run by Lois Bullock since 2008, currently operates middle and high schools within HISD with approximately 1,000 students combined.
Zeph Capo, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers (HFT), held a press conference this past Monday to express his wide-ranging concerns about the proposed entity and the lack of details and information surrounding the selection.
However, Skillern-Jones says the district has no other choice but to choose a partner they are familiar with on a local level, and one that meets the criteria.
“SB 1882 is the law governing these schools, and while we don’t agree with it, it is the law,” said Skillern-Jones. “We have to find the best options to help our students. The other options are closure, or do nothing, and allow TEA do come in and do what they will with our campuses. Right now, we need to focus on getting a partnership in place, getting these schools off the list and getting them back. In addition, we have to ensure that no others join them and that’s where our focus needs to be.”
To be eligible for the benefits of SB 1882, HISD has to partner with two types of entities in order to operate the charter. HISD had to either, on approval by the TEA Commissioner, (a) choose an institution of higher education, a non-profit, or a government entity that has been granted a charter under Subchapter C, Chapter 12; or (b) choose a State-Authorized Open-Enrollment Charter School in good standing.
Skillern-Jones said that while Energized for STEM Academy was the recommended option, she believes avoiding school closures and keeping control at the local-level, is the best way to deal with the challenges the district finds itself faced with, because that is what her constituents want.
According to Skillern-Jones, the HISD Board reached out to various entities in the area, as well as across the country, such as the City of Houston, Texas Southern University, Houston Community College, University of Houston, Johns Hopkins, and others, but could not find any takers for a variety of reasons.
For the most part, Skillern-Jones states that the entities they initially targeted had concerns about potential legal issues and challenges they would face having to oversee these schools, as well as the potential liability they would undertake by becoming a qualified partner with HISD.
According to Skillern-Jones, when the request for applications went out to solicit partners, only two entities responded back to HISD – Energized for STEM Academy, which is local and already operating in the district; and Generation Schools Network, which is based out of New York.
This is an unprecedented situation, which has the current HISD Board of Trustees flying blind, and having to solely rely on HISD’s legal counsel to provide direction and guidance.
As far as the details of what HISD can and can’t do, along with other critical details, Skillern-Jones states that the board won’t know anything until they have a negotiated contract to review. Skillern-Jones did say, however, that all of the schools would keep their names, identities and school identification numbers. As it relates to governance and academic control, HISD would have no regulation over the administration of the academic plan, as well as no say over who gets hired or fired, according to the rules of the partnership under the state law.
TEA did not finish writing the final rules for SB 1882 until recently, and per their own website, the final rules were not set to be published until February 26th or sooner. The final rules articulated, among other items, the definition of what “to partner to contract to operate” actually meant. The, new TEA rules (regulations) became effective on April 4th.
In essence, there is no way HISD could have known what the full criteria would be until then.
There are other questions lingering out there, such as whether the impacted schools will be allowed to keep their sports, fine arts, and other UIL-related programs and activities. Will these expectations be in the final negotiated contract? Has the HISD Board given Dr. Lathan instructions as to what the district wants to see in the final contract? Will current HISD employees be paid by HISD or by the selected entity? How will the employees’ pensions and retirement be handled? There are so many unanswered questions that the community won’t know until the negotiated contract has been finalized and prepared to send to TEA.
Getting to this point didn’t happen overnight, but unfortunately, the day of political reckoning has now come. By entering into a partnership, HISD would be able to hold off having the state takeover these schools or close them down for at least two years.
Many in the community are asking HISD to sue the TEA over their failure to comply to state testing laws, as well as for discrimination based on race through the accountability system.
HISD is on a time crunch and the clock is ticking. If they don’t submit a negotiated contract with their chosen partner before the April 30th deadline, they’ll have to either quickly find another partner within days, or simply adhere to the state sanctions, which could include school closures.
In the meantime, the Forward Times will continue to follow this issue and keep the community abreast of the latest happenings.
Public school systems throughout the nation will now be required to be a lot more transparent when it comes to school funding.
According to the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2015, all public schools nationwide, will be required to give fully-detailed reports on how and where they spend institutional funding.
The ESSA reporting requirement for school funding begins in December 2019, and supporters of the rule, including the NAACP, believe it will help to encourage greater educational equity, particularly among schools serving large numbers of Black and Hispanic students in low-income neighborhoods.
“We need more equitable and adequate funding for all schools serving students of color,” said Victor Goode, the education director for the NAACP. “Why? Because education funding has been inadequate and unequal for students of color for hundreds of years. Second, privatization forces are working to eliminate our public schools and, with it, transparency, public accountability and access to all.”
Goode said that ESSA requires a breakdown of how student need is met with a focus on equity over equal distribution for funding.
Goode continued: “That explains the reason behind the school-by-school, per pupil spending report. This kind of public transparency is a good thing and can help provide more meaningful parental and community engagement, which is also essential to accountability and achieving educational equity.”
According to the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization, based in Washington, D.C., that conducts research on solving societal problems locally, nationwide and globally, to date minority students are still far more less likely than White students to have adequate school resources.
In addition, the Brookings Institution reported that schools with predominantly Black and Hispanic children, on average, are nearly twice as large as White schools—reaching an estimated 3,000 students or more in most cities, with lower-quality curriculum offerings and less qualified teachers (in terms of levels of education, certification, and training in the fields they teach), all of which George H. Lambert, Jr., president and CEO of the Greater Washington Urban League, believes can be rectified through adequate funding.
“Through the availability of [ESSA] data, Black and [Hispanic] educators can begin to prove that Black and [Hispanic] students suffer from funding disparities and the lack of teachers in the classroom who look like them or represent their perspective,” Lambert said. “We need better, more transparent data on school funding. The availability of such data and our ability to access it forces greater urgency on what is, arguably the most important issue of our time.”
Lambert said that any discussion on educational equity should acknowledge the enormous achievement gaps that still plague Black and Hispanic students.
“If these gaps aren’t closed, our community doesn’t have much of a future,” Lambert said.” Even though high school graduation rates are better now than 30 years ago, we still face a situation where more than a quarter of Black students, for example, are dropping out. Most Black students in the largest U.S. cities are attending schools with high concentrations of poverty. Over half of our young, Black men are either dropping out or finishing K-12 late, hence 1 in 3 end up trapped in some fashion in the criminal justice system.”
Despite high approval from many civil rights organizations, school district administrators, like Robert Lowry, the deputy director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents still believe that the new law might shine light on imbalanced revenue and create the perception that some students are being shortchanged, even when this may not be the case.
“We question whether the state officials would even have the expertise and the capacity to evaluate spending levels between schools,” Lowry told Education Week.
Though Lowry’s concerns may be valid, Lambert believes that full transparency is a plus.
“This is a good way to learn about flaws in the system and how those flaws are aggravated by a lack of Black and [Hispanic] expertise and perspective in the curriculum, the classroom and the leadership office,” Lambert said. “We can also find out if school districts with a larger number of Black and [Hispanic] educators are experiencing high levels of funding disparities and uneven attention from policymakers.”
Houston Community College (HCC) is on a mission to thrill and educate young students in simulated flights to Mars, the Moon and beyond. That mission was officially launched in Greater Houston area this past Thursday, April 12, when HCC joined Challenger Center President and CEO Lance Bush to announce the new Challenger Learning Center – a place where elementary, middle and high school students will be taught how to apply the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and math to a trip to outer space.
This past February, HCC submitted a formal application to Challenger Center, headquartered in Washington D.C., to open a Challenger Learning Center at the HCC Southeast College-Felix Fraga Campus. HCC found out it had received approval late last month, clearing the way for the start of a $2 million fundraising campaign to support construction of the 10,000 square foot Challenger Learning Center.
“HCC is proud to have been selected as the site for the newest Challenger Learning Center,” said HCC Board Chair Carolyn Evans-Shabazz. “Houston put a man on the moon and now HCC is adding to Houston’s heritage as Space City with this project. This new partnership with Challenger Center is a perfect match made in the heavens.”
As a leader in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, Challenger Center provides more than 250,000 students annually with experiential simulation-based programs that engage students in hands-on learning opportunities. These programs, delivered in Challenger Learning Centers and classrooms, strengthen knowledge in STEM subjects and inspire students to pursue careers in these important fields. Challenger Center was created by the Challenger families to honor the crew of shuttle flight STS-51-L.
“We are incredibly impressed with Houston Community College’s vision for a seamless STEM pathway that launches students on a trajectory to higher education and 21st century skills,” said Challenger Center President and CEO Lance Bush. “I congratulate everyone at Houston Community College on this extraordinary step to provide students in the area with a STEM experience that will spark a passion for learning that lasts a lifetime. We share both this vision and a passion for inspiring today’s youth, and we look forward to working together to open the doors of this new Center.”
The Challenger Learning Center at Houston Community College will join a network of more than 40 Challenger Learning Centers around the globe. Each Center is a fully immersive experience, including a Mission Control Room and Space Station where students work with hands-on labs, conduct experiments and analyze data during a Challenger Center Mission. Students learn teamwork, communicate with one another to complete tasks and solve problems when emergencies arise. Aligned with national education standards and informed by real science data, Challenger Learning Center Missions introduce students to careers in STEM fields and help them build important 21st Century skills.
“This will add to HCC’s growing innovative educational offerings that already include participation in the city’s new innovation corridor in Midtown and partnerships with NASA and the University of Houston to build a Mars surface habitat and other additional facilities for manned missions to Mars,” said HCC Chancellor Cesar Maldonado. “Today’s students are the innovators, explorers and designers of tomorrow. We must nurture their excitement and inspire their imagination.”
The Felix Fraga Campus, located on 11 acres at 301 N. Drennan St. in southeast Houston, offers a rigorous STEM curriculum that includes engineering, maritime logistics, drafting, math, physics and astronomy. It also has an astronomical observatory to serve students and the community.
The Challenger Learning Center will be a fantastic addition to the Houston community and will add to HCC’s growing innovation- based educational offerings.
For more information about Challenger Center, please visit www.challenger.org.
https://youtu.be/YF3zO2shiQc
By Lauren Poteat
