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Kansas' Tax Experiment


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New Orleans after Katrina went to a lot of private schools and they were doing better supposedly.

From your WaPo article . . . nice deal if you can get it:

 

The city is spending about $2 billion — much of it federal hurricane recovery money — to refurbish and build schools across the city, which are then leased to charter operators at no cost.

And this makes me a little queasy:

 

White students disproportionately attend the best charter schools, while the worst are almost exclusively populated by African American students. Activists in New Orleans joined with others in Detroit and Newark last month to file a federal civil rights complaint, alleging that the city’s best-performing schools have admissions policies that exclude African American children. Those schools are overseen by the separate Orleans Parish School Board, and they don’t participate in OneApp, the city’s centralized school enrollment lottery.

 

John White, the state’s superintendent of education, agreed that access to the best schools is not equal in New Orleans, but he said the state is prevented by law from interfering with the Orleans Parish School Board’s operations.

 

“The claim that there’s an imbalance is right on the money,” White said. “The idea that it’s associated with privilege and high outcomes is right on the money.”

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And this makes me a little queasy:

 

White students disproportionately attend the best charter schools, while the worst are almost exclusively populated by African American students. Activists in New Orleans joined with others in Detroit and Newark last month to file a federal civil rights complaint, alleging that the city’s best-performing schools have admissions policies that exclude African American children. Those schools are overseen by the separate Orleans Parish School Board, and they don’t participate in OneApp, the city’s centralized school enrollment lottery.

 

John White, the state’s superintendent of education, agreed that access to the best schools is not equal in New Orleans, but he said the state is prevented by law from interfering with the Orleans Parish School Board’s operations.

 

“The claim that there’s an imbalance is right on the money,” White said. “The idea that it’s associated with privilege and high outcomes is right on the money.”

 

 

Is it that much different anywhere else? The more money you have, the better neighborhood you live in, the more tax money there is and the better the school your kids go to. Since a higher percentage of Blacks and Hispanics are poor, a higher percentage of those minorities go to crappy schools.

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Is it that much different anywhere else? The more money you have, the better neighborhood you live in, the more tax money there is and the better the school your kids go to. Since a higher percentage of Blacks and Hispanics are poor, a higher percentage of those minorities go to crappy schools.

That's true to a large extent in the Omaha metro but I think that it is more location based rather than specific policies that have the effect of being a barrier to minorities.
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Is it that much different anywhere else? The more money you have, the better neighborhood you live in, the more tax money there is and the better the school your kids go to. Since a higher percentage of Blacks and Hispanics are poor, a higher percentage of those minorities go to crappy schools.

That's true to a large extent in the Omaha metro but I think that it is more location based rather than specific policies that have the effect of being a barrier to minorities.

 

How do you suggest fixing location?

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Is it that much different anywhere else? The more money you have, the better neighborhood you live in, the more tax money there is and the better the school your kids go to. Since a higher percentage of Blacks and Hispanics are poor, a higher percentage of those minorities go to crappy schools.

That's true to a large extent in the Omaha metro but I think that it is more location based rather than specific policies that have the effect of being a barrier to minorities.

 

How do you suggest fixing location?

 

 

Transportation.

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Is it that much different anywhere else? The more money you have, the better neighborhood you live in, the more tax money there is and the better the school your kids go to. Since a higher percentage of Blacks and Hispanics are poor, a higher percentage of those minorities go to crappy schools.

That's true to a large extent in the Omaha metro but I think that it is more location based rather than specific policies that have the effect of being a barrier to minorities.

 

How do you suggest fixing location?

 

Transportation.

 

That or improve the lower performing schools . . . which is admittedly much easier said than done.
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Is it that much different anywhere else? The more money you have, the better neighborhood you live in, the more tax money there is and the better the school your kids go to. Since a higher percentage of Blacks and Hispanics are poor, a higher percentage of those minorities go to crappy schools.

That's true to a large extent in the Omaha metro but I think that it is more location based rather than specific policies that have the effect of being a barrier to minorities.

 

How do you suggest fixing location?

 

Transportation.

 

That or improve the lower performing schools . . . which is admittedly much easier said than done.

 

So, you are back to policies.

 

Unfortunately, I am extremely skeptical about being able to improve bad inner city schools. Here is why.

 

Almost always, the school is representative of the community around it. It's not the other way around. Bad schools, most of the time, are in bad neighborhoods. Good schools, most of the time, are in good neighborhoods. This isn't because middle aged white guys have something against these schools and want to depress black kids. It's because the people in some communities value education and support the schools in many ways other than just pumping money into it. Also, in areas where there are good schools, there are parents that expect their kids to do well and instill that in them at a young age. They also are parents that are involved in their child's life.

 

So, you want to change the school? Change the community around it.

 

If I am wrong, I would like examples of crappy schools in really crappy neighborhoods that have been turned around without major involvement by the community around it and a change in their support and attitudes towards education.

 

FYI...there are examples of bad schools in good neighborhoods. Louisiana schools are just plain bad no matter what neighborhood they are in.

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Is it that much different anywhere else? The more money you have, the better neighborhood you live in, the more tax money there is and the better the school your kids go to. Since a higher percentage of Blacks and Hispanics are poor, a higher percentage of those minorities go to crappy schools.

That's true to a large extent in the Omaha metro but I think that it is more location based rather than specific policies that have the effect of being a barrier to minorities.

 

How do you suggest fixing location?

 

Transportation.

 

That or improve the lower performing schools . . . which is admittedly much easier said than done.

 

So, you are back to policies.

 

Well . . . yeah. Unless you know of a way to pick up and move entire segments of the population or school buildings. :P

 

 

Unfortunately, I am extremely skeptical about being able to improve bad inner city schools. Here is why.

 

Almost always, the school is representative of the community around it. It's not the other way around. Bad schools, most of the time, are in bad neighborhoods. Good schools, most of the time, are in good neighborhoods. This isn't because middle aged white guys have something against these schools and want to depress black kids. It's because the people in some communities value education and support the schools in many ways other than just pumping money into it. Also, in areas where there are good schools, there are parents that expect their kids to do well and instill that in them at a young age. They also are parents that are involved in their child's life.

 

So, you want to change the school? Change the community around it.

 

If I am wrong, I would like examples of crappy schools in really crappy neighborhoods that have been turned around without major involvement by the community around it and a change in their support and attitudes towards education.

 

FYI...there are examples of bad schools in good neighborhoods. Louisiana schools are just plain bad no matter what neighborhood they are in.

OK. So how do you do that?
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That is very interesting. I think that was written in 2008. I would be interested in knowing who those 8 elementary schools are doing now. I remember only one being mentioned by name in the report and when looking here, herehttp://www.schooldigger.com/go/TN/schoolrank.aspx , that school was still ranked 720th in the state.

 

I do like some of the things in the plan. First, I liked how it started. All teachers needed to reapply. This allows you to keep good ones and get rid of bad ones. That also makes all of them realize...hey...we are serious here. So, very few were taken out of the school system. But, it still sends a message that improvement needs to happen. THEN, the teachers were given the tools (support) needed to improve. So, you have shown them they MUST improve and you have given them the tools to improve,

THEN, they were incentivized financially to improve.

 

So...hey...you want more pay? Let's earn the pay.

 

That said, I am actually shocked the teacher's union allowed that. Anytime I have ever read an article or seen a report on performance incentive for teachers, it was met with strong opposition from the union.

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That is very interesting. I think that was written in 2008. I would be interested in knowing who those 8 elementary schools are doing now. I remember only one being mentioned by name in the report and when looking here, herehttp://www.schooldigger.com/go/TN/schoolrank.aspx , that school was still ranked 720th in the state.

 

I do like some of the things in the plan. First, I liked how it started. All teachers needed to reapply. This allows you to keep good ones and get rid of bad ones. That also makes all of them realize...hey...we are serious here. So, very few were taken out of the school system. But, it still sends a message that improvement needs to happen. THEN, the teachers were given the tools (support) needed to improve. So, you have shown them they MUST improve and you have given them the tools to improve,

THEN, they were incentivized financially to improve.

 

So...hey...you want more pay? Let's earn the pay.

 

That said, I am actually shocked the teacher's union allowed that. Anytime I have ever read an article or seen a report on performance incentive for teachers, it was met with strong opposition from the union.

 

I agree with this. Teachers unions (and other unions for that matter) who focus so strongly on short term financial/job security are a huge obstacle to change.

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