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Help Replace One of Ohio's Oldest Schools?

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote enough is enough Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 03 2014 at 8:38am
Race to the Top money is no longer available. The BOE is doing away with the academic support specialist and the Dean of Students. I noticed on the School web site that they are hiring Educational Specialist. Isn't this renaming the academic support specialist and where is the money going to come from for these positions?  We keep hearing the district is in financial trouble but you keep renaming positions and shuffling the same ineffective people around. New buildings are not going to improve your schools. A good house cleaning at the administration office would be a start. Now I am really confused. I just checked the school web site and the Education Specialist positions are no longer listed, is this because they have already been filled? There were 3 positions listed.
Enough is Enough
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote over the hill Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 03 2014 at 9:55am
"Renaming positions and shuffling people around" does this sound familiar? The school board has already been in Donham Abby to long,they are using the tactics Judy has used for years. These are NOT examples you want to follow. IMO
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 03 2014 at 11:46am
Originally posted by enough is enough enough is enough wrote:

Race to the Top money is no longer available. The BOE is doing away with the academic support specialist and the Dean of Students. I noticed on the School web site that they are hiring Educational Specialist. Isn't this renaming the academic support specialist and where is the money going to come from for these positions?  We keep hearing the district is in financial trouble but you keep renaming positions and shuffling the same ineffective people around. New buildings are not going to improve your schools. A good house cleaning at the administration office would be a start. Now I am really confused. I just checked the school web site and the Education Specialist positions are no longer listed, is this because they have already been filled? There were 3 positions listed.


AWE GEEZ ENOUGH. THERE ARE RULES WHEN YOU QUESTION OR APPROACH THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.

YOU ARE NOT:

SUPPOSE TO NOTICE INDESCRETIONS IN THEIR OPERATION

SUPPOSE TO POST THESE INDESCRETIONS IF YOU DO NOTICE THEM

PERMITTED TO QUESTION THEIR DECISIONS, THEIR MODE OF OPERATION, THEIR PERFORMANCE, THE POSTED GRADES FOR STATE TESTING OR THEIR LOGIC

ALLOWED TO CONFRONT ANY REPRESENTATIVE, BE IT THE SUPER, THE BOARD OF EDUCATION, TEACHERS NOR ANY ADMIN. POSITIONS IN AN ADVERSARIAL WAY

YOU ARE, HOWEVER:

ALLOWED TO AGREE WITH EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEIR IDEAS, PROGRAMS TO IMPROVE THEIR OPERATION, NOD YOUR HEAD WITH APPROVAL WHILE ATTENDING A BOARD MEETING, VOTE FOR ANY AND ALL LEVIES WITH OBEDIENCE WITHOUT QUESTION, AND, TO PROVE YOUR ALLEGIANCE TO THE CAUSE, BE HAPPY WHEN YOUR PROPERTY TAXES CLIMB WHILE GETTING NO IMPROVED PERFORMANCE IN RETURN AND NOTHING FOR YOUR MONEY. THEY ARE NOT REQUIRED TO ACT ON THEIR PROMISES.....IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT IF THINGS GO "ASKEW"- BUT THEY WILL TAKE CREDIT IF, SOMEHOW, A SEMBLENCE OF SUCCESS HAPPENS.   

IF YOU DO THESE THINGS, YOU WILL BE WELCOMED INTO THE MIDDLETOWN "FAMILY OF EDUCATION", RECEIVE A HEARTWARMING BROCHURE OF PROMISED SUCCESSES BY VOTING YES AND INVITED TO A SCHOOL BOARD MEETING OR A "PEP RALLY" FOR ANY UPCOMING LEVIES. OFFER NO DISSENTION AND BELIEVE ALL THEY TELL YOU WITH UNQUESTIONED LOYALTY AND YOU ARE ACES IN THEIR BOOK. YOU DON'T WANT TO BE THE "BAD GUY" HERE, CALLING THEM ON ISSUES AND HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE, DO YOU?

I PLAN ON CHANGING MY HARDLINE POSITION SO THAT I CAN JOIN THE CAUSE. IT WILL BE DIFFICULT IN THE BEGINNING BUT I CAN LIVE WITH NO ROI. IN THE WORDS OF RED GREEN....."I CAN CHANGE.....IF I HAVE TO".
I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote I Wonder Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 03 2014 at 12:30pm
Blue7, you seem to know a lot about MCSD particularly Vail.  (which by the way is Middletown Middle School).  And you state you are not a teacher and don't work for MCSD.  Are you related to someone who is and have a vested interest in this?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote enough is enough Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 03 2014 at 6:58pm
VietVet
In the words of Michael J. Fox in the movie An American President, "It is not only my right to question the establishment but my duty as an American Citizen to question the establishment". Maybe someday the BOE will stop hiring all the rejects from other districts and get some competent people to run the district. We can only hope. But with their track record I for one will not hold my breath.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote blue7 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 04 2014 at 9:33pm
Originally posted by I Wonder I Wonder wrote:

Blue7, you seem to know a lot about MCSD particularly Vail.  (which by the way is Middletown Middle School).  And you state you are not a teacher and don't work for MCSD.  Are you related to someone who is and have a vested interest in this?

I attended Vail for middle school, I guess that's why I probably still call it Vail. Our community as a whole has a vested interest in the new middle school. I do know people who teach there, but not enough that it effects my life in any way. My children are supposed to go there for middle school, but that's still up in the air. I would rather save money for college than pay private or parochial school tuition. The OAAs have not been difficult for them yet. I'm a little worried about the new test next year which will be really difficult for most students, especially the Special Services and economically disadvantaged. 

Enough, I believe the job postings you saw were for Intervention Specialists, yes? They had a couple listed on Applitrack along with the Assistant Principal postings. I was looking through the website and saw them. I don't remember a education specialist, but maybe I'm wrong. An Intervention Specialist has a M.Ed and is a "special education" teacher, to put lightly. They are in charge of those special services I mentioned in my other post. They differentiate the curriculum for the students and make sure they are receiving proper accommodations and interventions set by their IEPs. I read the other levy thread where Ms.Andrews answered the questions about the Academic Support Specialists. I have no knowledge about that job title, but I would infer from the teacher who posted about them, and Ms. Andrews, that they were differentiating curriculum and collecting data on the students and teachers. I'm just guessing. Maybe a lot like an IS but probably paid through different funding. 


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote chmoore1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 04 2014 at 11:33pm
I Wonder wrote to Blue7: Blue7, you seem to know a lot about MCSD particularly Vail. (which by the way is Middletown Middle School). And you state you are not a teacher and don't work for MCSD. Are you related to someone who is and have a vested interest in this?

I Wonder: why does he/she have to be questioned about having a "vested interest"? I see that you have 8 "points" (designated as an "Outsider")since joining this site over a year ago. Do you have a vested interest in this? just 1chmoore.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote enough is enough Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 05 2014 at 8:44am
blue7
I agree with your comment that Intervention Specialist are the Special Ed teachers. I am still trying to figure out what the district is going to do with the 7 Academic Support Specialist that they no longer have Race to the Top money to pay for. I believe that some still have one more year on their contract. Will they be put back into classrooms or moved to some other position. I was pretty sure on the Applitrack that the job title was for an Educational Specialist? Do you have any idea where Academic Support Specialist will be placed? I think this is a $70,000 or more position. Will they keep this salary or be paid according to years of education and time in the classroom?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote blue7 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 05 2014 at 2:00pm
Enough, I have absolutely no idea. I am not employed by MCSD. I did just waste about an hour looking through the staff pages and the State website on last year's income for school districts in Ohio. My guess would be that someone like Ms. Mack who has a lot of credentials in district would stay under some type of curriculum specialist (or whatever the state renames everything). I'm sure others might stay under titles like literacy specialist/coach, or whatever they have credentials/degrees for. PARCC, Common Core standards and the Third Grade Guarantee have made things more interesting.  Maybe someone from the BOE or the schools can explain it better than me, because I really don't know what I'm talking about :)

But none of that stuff has do with a new middle school. I think I read on this thread or maybe a different one, a poster claiming that people didn't want to send their kids to MCSD because of the dumbing down of education. Well that is just not true anymore. With Common Core standards, every child (without special needs or cognitive delay) will be following the same pacing guides as every other child. It may be tiered or differentiated to meet that child's needs, but basically it will be the same. So we can't use the excuse that the children were not taught the material, because they will be. The State and schools will be making sure that the teachers are teaching that material, and that does create admin position.

Regardless, it would be nice to send our kids to a safe, clean, code approved, new middle school. It would be nice to support the tax paying employees who work there. They really aren't making that much money compared to others who have the same level of education with similar demands. But, if we want to argue that they are making too much money, then should we lose their tax income? The new teachers who come in to the system can choose to work elsewhere, in air conditioning, in a modern school where they aren't afraid the ceiling might fall on them. Or we could attract really good new teachers who are excited to teach our kids, and who might actually make a difference for the future, as older teachers retire.

 I'm really not a bleeding heart liberal, at all. I just think this issue goes beyond ROI arguments. There are too many gray areas. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 07 2014 at 6:54am
Journal story...

Official: ‘Clear, definite need’ to build new school

MIDDLETOWN —
George Long, business manager for the Middletown City School District, said there is “a clear and definite need” to build a new middle school

WELL, BY GOSH, IF GEORGE SAYS IT'S SO, LET'S JUST TAKE HIS WORD FOR IT AND ALL VOTE YES ON THEIR LITTLE LEVY.

HERE'S ISON WITH THE OLD "IF WE DON'T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT NOW" ROUTINE.....

"Superintendent Sam Ison said the estimate to construct a new Middle School on the Middletown High School campus, and make additions and renovations to MHS is $95 million, of which $40 million would come from Ohio School Facilities Commission. If voters reject the bond issue next month, the funds would expire, and the district would have to pay 100 percent for the buildings and renovations, he said."

GOOD ENOUGH REASON TO VOTE YES ISON....WE WILL ONLY SHELL OUT 55MIL FOR YOUR LITTLE IDEA. WHAT A BARGAIN!!!

"For every $59,000 of home market value, the average home price in the city, the levy would cost the homeowner $84 a year, the district said. If the value of Middletown homes and the city’s tax base remained the same for the next 37 years, residents would pay $3,108 over the life of the 37-year bond issue, according to the Butler County Auditor’s Office"

THAT $3108 NUMBER IS FOR THE LIFE OF THE BOND ISSUE ON A $59,000 HOME.

DO YOU SEE A CONNECTION HERE ISON? IF, INDEED, THE AVERAGE HOME IS ONLY $59,000 IN MIDDLETOWN, IT IS A POOR COMMUNITY WITH LOW WAGE EARNERS AS THE MAJORITY. IF YOU ARE A LOW WAGE EARNER AND CAN'T AFFORD ANY MORE HOUSE THAN $59,000, YOU SURELY CAN'T AFFORD THE EXTRA COST BURDEN OF ASSESSED PROPERTY TAXES FOR THE NEXT 37 YEARS.

MESSAGE TO ISON.....THIS IS A POOR COMMUNITY. THE CITY LEADERS HAVE MADE IT SO, BRINGING IN ALL THE LOW INCOME AND MAKING THE CITY SO UNATTRACTIVE, THAT NO DECENT HIGHER INCOME EARNER WANTS TO LIVE HERE. YOU ARE ASKING POOR PEOPLE TO PAY FOR YOUR TAJ MAHAL SCHOOLS. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE BUD.

"In the 91 years since, the school that has served as the high school, freshman building and Vail Middle School, has received two renovations in 1953 and 1961, he said."

IT WAS RENOVATED IN 1953 AND 1961. PERHAPS, IF THE SCHOOL LEADERS WOULD HAVE KEPT UP WITH THE STRUCTURES UPKEEP ON A REGULAR BASiS, THE SCHOOL WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN IN THE CONDITION YOU CLAIM IT IS IN TODAY. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EFFORT IN MAINTENANCE FROM 1961 TO CURRENT? THE CITY AND SCHOOLS WERE PROSPEROUS DURING THE 60'S AND 70'S. THERE WAS MONEY FLOWING IN THE CITY. PLENTY OF PROPERTY TAXES TO MAINTAIN ANY SCHOOL STRUCTURE IN THE DISTRICT. THE TRUTH IS, THE SCHOOL PEOPLE DROPPED THE BALL ON PREVENTITIVE MAINTENANCE ALL THOSE YEARS AND NOW, YOU WANT THE POOR COMMUNITY TO PICK UP THE SLACK BY BUILDING YOU A NEW SCHOOL.

“It has served its purpose,” Long said.

Ison called the decision “a no-brainer.”

A school administrator and student agree.

"Michael Valenti, principal at the middle school, and Elijah Coomer, a seventh-grader, said the building’s dilapidated condition hinders a positive learning environment for the 830 students in grades seven and eight. Elijah said there are certain restrooms that students refuse to use because of poor conditions. During the first few weeks of school, he said, the temperature in some of the classrooms rises to 90 degrees."

YOU'VE HAD WHOLE GENERATIONS THAT HAVE MADE IT THROUGH THOSE CONDITIONS WITH FANS AS THE ONLY WAY TO MOVE THE AIR.

“If affects learning,” Elijah said. “You can’t have ‘Middie Pride’ in a building that’s hard to learn in.”

He called the conditions “absolutely horrible.”

A NEW LOW....PLAYING ON THE SYMPATHY OF THE VOTER BY ASKING A 7TH GRADER HIS THOUGHTS AND THEN INTERJECTING THE OLD "YOU CAN'T HAVE MIDDIE PRIDE" INTO THE CONVERSATION.....





“This place means a ton to me, too,” said Valenti, who was a teacher there for 12 years, assistant principal for four years and principal for the last nine years. “It was good back in the 50s and 60s.”

"There have been times, he said, during extremely hot days when he moved classes into different rooms. Sometimes, he said, as a way to combat the conditions, teachers turn off the lights in their rooms."

“Kids can’t learn,” he said

AREN'T THE LIGHTS FLOURESCENT AND AS SUCH, PRODUCE LITTLE HEAT? COULD IT BE THAT THE "KIDS CAN'T LEARN" BECAUSE THE DAM LIGHTS ARE OUT AND THEY CAN'T SEE WHAT'S IN FRONT OF THEM?

NICE TRY VALENTI, BUT HARDLY TUGS AT THE OLD HEART STRINGS.

"It’s important, he said, for Middletown to offer its student comparable facilities as those in neighboring districts because they’re all competing for the same scholarships and jobs. Ison has said there are 1,500 students who live in the Middletown district who don’t attend Middletown schools for various reasons. The condition of the Middle School often is a reason given by parents, he said. The loss of those students costs the district $8.7 million to its general fund"

BUT VALENTI, EVEN WITH NEW SCHOOLS, THE PERFORMANCE HASN'T GOTTEN ANY BETTER. REASONS FOR NOT ATTENDING MIDDLETOWN SCHOOLS MAY BE THE "CONDITION OF THE MIDDLE SCHOOL". IT ALSO MAY BE THAT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT HAS A REPUTATION OF BEING A POOR PERFORMER WITH A LOW RATING AS TO EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE. NOTICED YOU LEFT THAT OUT.

"Ison said Middletown has an opportunity to be unique by having grades seventh through 12th on the same campus, and across the street from Miami University Middletown"

AND, YOUR POINT IS? KINDA WEAK ISON. MUM IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE QUALITY OF STUDENT YOU ARE SENDING THEM AS FRESHMEN. THE CONCERN IS THEY ARE NOT PREPARED FOR COLLEGE-YEAR ONE.

"Also Ison said, since there would be three gyms in the same area, it would make the facilities attractive to organizations looking for a place to hold tournaments, and if that happens, it could boost the local economy."

AGAIN, YOUR POINT IS? WOW, REALLY WEAK REASONS TO SUPPORT YOU. YOU'RE GRASPING AT STRAWS. I HOPE THE VOTERS CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH THIS.
I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Iron Man Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 07 2014 at 10:06pm
Can you say Private school vouchers?

Parental revolt against Common Core prompts states to take action

By Ruth Ravve Published April 07, 2014 FoxNews.com


Eleven-year-old Leo Tuttle is a fifth-grader at an Indianapolis private school, where he struggles to keep up with the demanding curriculum.

But the school is where Leo’s mother, Erin Tuttle, wants him to be, rather than a public school or even the Catholic school he previously attended.

Erin Tuttle moved Leo to the private school when her home state of Indiana, along with 45 other states, agreed to follow the Common Core State Standards Initiative for all its public schools and those following the charter school program, such as the Catholic school. The Common Core standards are a set of guidelines for schools, initiated federally, to improve and make consistent education standards in math and English language arts.

The goal of Common Core is to “... articulate what students need to know in grades K-12 in order to be ready for college or a career after they graduate,” said Mike Casserly, executive director of the Council of Great City Schools, which supports and promotes the standards.

Many students and teachers saw the standards for the first time this year, as the program was being phased in nationwide. And now that they’ve seen it, many are not happy with it, and they’re joining an ever-increasing group of critics who are lining up against it.

Teachers complain the program was pushed through too fast, that there wasn’t time for schools to make the adjustment, there wasn’t additional funding available for new textbooks, and that they just weren’t included in the process when the Common Core was created.

"You forgot some of the most important people in this whole process, and that was the educator,” said Teresa Meredith, president of the Indiana Teacher’s Association. “The one person who could really help make or break this was the educator, and you didn't include the educator from the very beginning in terms of building an implementation plan,” she said.

In addition, a growing number of parents nationwide, including Erin Tuttle, are joining forces to eliminate the Common Core, which they claim “dumbs down” their children’s education by using inferior methods compared to teaching techniques used in the past.

Conservatives call it an extreme abuse of federal overreach, one that limits the control states and local communities have on their education programs.

Indiana is the first state to pull away from the Common Core. Oklahoma lawmakers have passed a bill repealing that state's participation in Common Core, and there are now some 300 bills in state legislatures nationwide that would slow down, reduce, or eliminate altogether implementation of the Common Core, according to the National Conference of State Legislators.

That would be a major blow to the program, which was strongly touted by the Obama administration as a way for children in the United States to be globally competitive.

“Education is an important component to the economic well-being of any nation,” Casserly explains. “When the United States started to look at these international comparisons and saw that we were beginning to slip behind other countries -- like Korea and Belgium and Singapore and Malaysia and other entities… the United States really needed to raise its academic performance,” he said.

Michigan’s Gov. Rick Snyder agreed. "Isn't it important that we're globally competitive?" he asked. "We were lagging, we were getting behind. And what the Common Core does, presents a set of standards that will help us get back to that globally competitive place we need to be."

While education levels in many parts of the country need improvement, critics concede, a one-size-fits-all approach to education is not the solution.

"Settling for a status quo of mediocrity for every state certainly shouldn’t be the answer," said Tuttle. "We should be striving for something much higher than that, something that is internationally competitive, something that will allow our children to be competitive in a global economy." But, Tuttle adds, "the Common Core simply won’t do that."

Common Core supporters claim all the criticism is based on misinformation, that it’s not federal overreach because the program is voluntary. Indiana was able to back out without any penalty. The standards are more of a concept.

"The Common Core State standards are not a curriculum, they’re not a textbook, they’re not a set of lesson plans,” said Casserly. And they weren’t created in a vacuum, he said. While the standards were being created “some 10,000 comments” were submitted by parents and educators.     

Now that Indiana has backed away from Common Core, Erin Tuttle may move her son back to his old school. But first she wants to see how far her state will stray from the federal standards, and whether it will go back to what she claims were the higher standards the state followed before Common Core.

“People across the country will be watching to see what Indiana does next,” she said.


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/04/07/parental-revolt-against-common-core-prompts-states-to-take-action/
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Iron Man Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 07 2014 at 10:32pm
Originally posted by blue7 blue7 wrote:

Acclaro, that study pretty much sums up the problem in Middletown.
hey guys you all caused this problem with your Appalachian culture


Originally posted by blue7 blue7 wrote:

None of you would work without air conditioning on the third floor with a bunch of stinky hormonal 8th graders. I seriously doubt many of you would last a day in the trenches down there,


Originally posted by blue7 blue7 wrote:

Who cares about signs?

Translation: Who cares about  signs  the law?


I'm sure you're an outstanding teacher. If this is the mentality were dealing with I feel even better about voting NO.

Excellent Pro-levy public relations! Clap
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote aflatkey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 07 2014 at 10:48pm

Funding of public education

 

DeRolph v. State was a landmark case in Ohio constitutional law in which the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the state's method for funding public education was unconstitutional. Handed down on March 24, 1997, the 4-3 opinion said that the state funding system "fails to provide for a thorough and efficient system of common schools" as required by the Ohio Constitution and directed the state to find a remedy. The court would look at the case several times over the next 12 years before relinquishing jurisdiction, though the underlying problems with the school funding system were never fully solved.

For funding of public schools we need equal taxation of all citizens that dose not bear unequal responsibility on property owners. With the fact that property based taxation

is taxation with out equal representation (Bill of Rights 1689) I pose the fact that all of humanity that resides in  any particular principality should bear the cost of education threw a sales tax , income tax or  have each family bear the cost for the children they bring into the world. Funding public education on the backs of property owners is unconstitutional.  Vote no on may 6 if you want to make a change in the current system!!

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote blue7 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 07 2014 at 11:28pm
I've already stated that I'm not a teacher or employee of MCSD. And I'm definitely not the voice of any group. I do however, actually live in a home in this town, and have children who attend MCSD. I stand by everything I wrote. No, I don't care about election signs and rarely notice them. MMS is literally falling down and it will cost money to fix the problem some way, through renovations or a rebuild. 8th graders smell...if you've ever had one, then you should know that. 80-90degree rooms with that, sounds horrible. I wouldn't want to teach there. Our educational system ranked schools upon graduation rates and attendance prior to NCLB. We have no idea what our results would be. And yes sadly, the history of education mirrored the cultural dynamics and needs of the community. Which was highly blue collar, working class after WWII, and before I guess.

Vouchers won't help the fleeing from CC to private schools if that school receives federal money for special services.
CC really isn't that bad. From what I've read and personally seen at home, it really does facilitate critical thinking skills. I've read some liberal anti CC articles that have the exact same argument as the conservative, so it seems to be a equal opportunity offender.

Whatever, I'm voting for the levy, and you aren't. Nothing I say or don't say will change your mind. No crude comment from me will actually sway you away from your original thoughts. It's easy not to think about the bigger picture, like how MCSD is a very large employer in our community. We are also, hopefully creating some future employers, employees, and leaders in these students. We need them. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chmoore1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 07 2014 at 11:55pm
And now, out of nowhere, we have "Aflatkey" checking in with the "Illegal funding No vote", less than 5 hours on the sign-up sheet. Please humor us, Aflatkey,----HONESTLY---do you live within the Middletown voting area (as in "registered voter") or are you truly an "Outsider" just stirring the pot? just 1chmoore---not an MCSD employee.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote aflatkey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 08 2014 at 1:32am
lived here since 1973 - believe in free will benevolence - do not believe in paying for some one else's problem. the fact is it is unconstitutional and your own government propagates the problem by not resolving the issue. complaining about the emenitys in education seems a little short sited. the schools i attended had no air, no computers,and other modern facility's. how ever i was receptive to learning so i could improve myself and support my self. learning in Africa is done in mud brick schools.  the students that ex sell lead their country's out of poverty as best as the resource that is available to them.  why then should any one in the land of plenty deprive themselves out of fear that they have not done enough for humanity ? at that point its not free will benevolence but a sugested burden that the collective is imposing as a  means to reach a goal that most students are not focused on.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chmoore1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 08 2014 at 1:58am
Aflatkey: pardon my suspicious nature, but it seems strange to me that you have lived here since 1973 (am I correct in assuming that "here" is in the Middletown City School District?) and have just now joined this blog, less than a month before the levy vote. Perhaps you have signed in under a new name? Just not very believable. IMHO----just 1chmoore.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote aflatkey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 08 2014 at 3:32am
belief is in the eye of the beholder. Did you believe in the ghost of Maud Hughes road? Knowing who I am dose not change the fact that funding schools threw property tax is unconstitutional. To continue the propagation of the idea that it is acceptable to let our government violate its own constitutional concepts and not be accountable for its own inactions is to violate your own freedoms.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote acclaro Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 08 2014 at 6:14am
Your point on the unconstitutional nature of tax funding by a few is spot on.

Leaders aren't made by buildings. The school levy should be soundly defeated for reasons cited factually, and objectively.

Using blue's logic, AK Steel should not have control of its financial destiny because it was Butler Cty's largest empoyer.

There is not one credible study statistically correlating buildings with education improvement.

Also....fix Middletown's horrific inability to attract employers, then we'll talk about new buildings, and only after MCSD has moved its performance above CI.

Any logical individual other than  those gaining benefit in perks from the levy in surveys, consulting, employment, and wanting better ambiance, like the smell of a new auto, the psychological kick, can justify a yes vote, and for the absolute wrong reason.

A no brainer- vote no.  
'An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.' - Winston Churchill
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chmoore1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 08 2014 at 12:10pm
Acclaro: apparently you missed my post from the end of March. Or maybe the University of Georgia isn't a credible source. Please read.

Source: http://sdpl.coe.uga.edu/researchabstracts/age.html

Influence of the School Facility on Student Achievement

School Building Age

The age of a school building has been used as a surrogate factor to study the composite impact of school plant variables on pupil achievement at elementary, middle and secondary school levels (McGuffey, 1982). A 1991 report by the American Association of School Administrators indicated that "nearly 5 million students in the U.S. attended classes in 13,200 classrooms that were inadequate for meeting standards necessary to prepare students for today's world" (Holt, 1994, p.33). Many public school facilities are in disrepair, a situation affecting the morale, health, and academic achievement of students (Frazier, 1993). Many research studies have been conducted in the area of school building age and its impact on student achievement. Findings of these studies follow.


Thomas (1962) in his study of the relationship between resource inputs and outcomes of education found that school building age was one of the independent variables having the greatest effect on educational outcomes. He concluded that a school building's age was consistently positive and related to pupil achievement. Plumley (1978) examined the relationship of school building age and student achievement of 4th grade students in selected schools in Georgia. The findings of the study indicated that the older the school buildings without the elements of modernization, the lower the composite vocabulary, reading, language, work study and mathematics scores on the ITBS. Thus, Plumley's study supported the fact that a significant relationship between school building age and the academic achievement of pupils exists.


Similarly, Chan (1979) investigated the relationship of school building age and academic achievement of 8th grade pupils in a random sample of schools in Georgia. It was found that the achievement scores of pupils assigned to modernized school buildings were consistently higher than the scores of pupils assigned to non-modernized school buildings. McGuffey and Brown (1978) also studied the impact of school building age on achievement in Georgia schools. They discovered that their research supported other similar studies indicating that approximately 3% of the variance in achievement test scores can be explained by age of the facility after removing the variance caused by socioeconomic factors. In the area of modernized school buildings, Bowers and Burkett (1987) researched the academic achievement of two hundred and eighty, 4th and 6th grade students housed in two separate facilities (the oldest and newest facilities in the selected school district). They found that the students in the newer building (modern) performed much better than the students in the older building. The students in the modern building also had a better record in the areas of health, attendance and discipline.


Most recently, Ikpa (1992) found a significantly negative relationship between the age of school buildings and achievement. Her data indicated that as the age of the school building increased, the achievement test scores tended to decrease. Based on the research in the area of school building age and academic achievement, it is vital that educational consultants, architects and administrators be critically aware of the importance attached to the compatibility between the physical environment and student learning.

just 1chmoore.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote acclaro Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 08 2014 at 12:45pm
Coleman Report, Forty Years On

July 2007





Recent papers by UW-Madison professors Adam Gamoran and Geoffrey Borman review the 1966 “Equality of Educational Opportunity” report on the 40th anniversary of its publication, and both reach provoking conclusions. Published in 1966, the EEO report is also known as the Coleman Report, after its principal author, sociologist James Coleman. It found that U.S. schools were highly segregated and noted inequalities in American public schooling, not only between schools but also within schools.

The Coleman report was authorized as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and was conceived within the context of the legal system’s growing reliance on social science to inform legal decisions, most notably Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. In the decades following the report’s publication there was a dramatic drop in school segregation in the Southern U.S. There also was a significant decline in the proportion of Black students attending 90-100% minority schools in the nation as a whole. But the gains in desegregation peaked in the 1980s and were practically reversed in the 1990s.

Gamoran’s paper finds that:

  • According to some indicators, levels of segregation are nearly as high today as they were in 1966.
  • Although Black-White achievement gaps are smaller today than they were in 1966, they remain substantial.

Newer and more sophisticated analytical methods have allowed researchers to mine Coleman’s original data and to tease out more specific information than was apparent 40 years ago, uncovering more striking realities. UW-Madison education professor Geoffrey Borman has separated differences in student achievement that can be attributed to students’ individual backgrounds from the school’s social composition. Borman says these differences provide evidence that going to a high-poverty school, or a highly segregated African-American school, has a profound effect on a students’ achievement outcomes, above and beyond the effect of his or her individual poverty or minority status.

In particular, Borman found that

  • Even after taking into account students’ family background, a large proportion of the variation in student achievement can be explained by school characteristics. Fully 40% of the differences in student achievement can be found between schools.
  • Inequalities in student achievement within schools are explained in part by teachers’ biases favoring middle-class students and by schools’ greater reliance on academic and nonacademic tracking.

Gamoran’s study, coauthored with Daniel A. Long, Department of Sociology, Wesleyan University, concludes that contemporary policies could bring about equal opportunity in two ways. First, policies could be enacted across the board that have greater benefits for disadvantaged students than for their more advantaged peers. Second, policies that have similar effects on all students could be focused mainly on disadvantaged students. The school choice provision of NCLB may fit the first category, in that private schools have in some studies been shown to benefit minority students more than other students. NCLB policies on teacher qualifications, evidence-based practice, and tutoring may fit the second category.

Borman’s study, coauthored with WCER researcher N. Maritza Dowling, concludes that “going to a high-poverty school or a highly segregated African American school has a profound effect on a student’s achievement outcomes, above and beyond the effect of his or her individual poverty or minority status. Specifically, both the racial/ethnic and social class composition of a student’s school are approximately 150% more important than a student’s individual race/ethnicity or social class for understanding educational outcomes. In dramatic contrast to previous analyses of the Coleman data, these findings reveal that school context effects dwarf the effects of family background.”

Borman’s report was written with the support of a National Academy of Education/ Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship award. Other funding was provided by the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR) and by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, OERI, National Institute on Educational Governance, Finance, Policymaking and Management.

SOURCES;
Gamoran, Adam and Daniel A. Long
Equality of Educational Opportunity: A 40-Year Retrospective
WCER Working Paper No. 2006-9
December 2006, 27 p.
Working Paper posted online

Borman, Geoffrey, and N. Maritza Dowling
Schools and Inequality: A Multilevel Analysis of Coleman’s Inequality of Educational Opportunity Data
(paper available on request: contact pbaker@wisc.edu)
'An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.' - Winston Churchill
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Iron Man Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 08 2014 at 12:57pm
Originally posted by aflatkey aflatkey wrote:

lived here since 1973 - believe in free will benevolence - do not believe in paying for some one else's problem. the fact is it is unconstitutional and your own government propagates the problem by not resolving the issue. complaining about the emenitys in education seems a little short sited. the schools i attended had no air, no computers,and other modern facility's. how ever i was receptive to learning so i could improve myself and support my self. learning in Africa is done in mud brick schools.  the students that ex sell lead their country's out of poverty as best as the resource that is available to them.  why then should any one in the land of plenty deprive themselves out of fear that they have not done enough for humanity ? at that point its not free will benevolence but a sugested burden that the collective is imposing as a  means to reach a goal that most students are not focused on.


Our grandparents generation received a better education in primitive conditions (by today's standards) than the MCSD provides today. They were also taught to think critically unlike more recent generations.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote aflatkey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 08 2014 at 2:11pm

if the citizens of middletown vote yes its propagating the problem - the state should pay 100 % of any public educational expense. land owners need not be taxed for 37 years for something the state is responsible for. contact your state representative and lobby for a change as the supreme court case ruled in favor for 17 years ago. think about it - the people have allowed our state representatives to hide form the supreme court ruling for 17 years. if you did that at your day job you would be fired. in Tennessee schools are funded by sales tax not property tax everybody pays some share of the bill that way. vote no and lobby at the state house to resolve this issue as the supreme court ruled 17 years ago !!

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 08 2014 at 3:43pm
Thinking about the levy here. Some thoughts...

I attended Midd. schools from 1955 to 1966. Went to Wilson Elementary from 2nd grade in 1955 to 6th grade in 1960. At the time, Wilson was relatively new I believe.

Went on to Roosevelt Jr. High from 1961 to 1963. Roosevelt was built in the 20's or 30's I think. Considered an "older school"

Went on to old Midd. High, aka Vail, aka Middletown Middle School, from 1964 to 1966 and done with the district. Like Roosevelt, old Midd. High was built in the 20's - 30's, considered an "older school".

I considered my education in this school district as acceptable and the courses prepared me for MUM in Sept of 1966, the first year it opened.

Discussion:

Do new schools really prepare the kids for life after school or college?I believe the older schools that I attended did a fine job of preparing me for the next level. (with the exception of math- IE calculus...I had a 5 credit hour calculus course in my freshman year taught by Cathy Mulligan, a math wizard, and she breezed through that course so fast. I didn't know where I was in the book after a week or two).


Given what we have seen from the new elementaries and the lack of measurable upward performance from them, should we be building a new school and is it really worth the money for the return? All the elementary building hasn't done the job.

From my experiences, I did ok, and so did thousands more, in older schools. It is the CONTENT of what is taught along with the method of presentation of that content that is the real answer, isn't it? The argument about hot schools needing new roofs, schools closer to MUM and the high school, schools appealing to any potential new residents, etc.....are these just band aids for what really ails us? Discussion?
I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote acclaro Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr 08 2014 at 4:30pm
Matching school building funding under Taft was done solely to make a feeble attempt to address the decision below, which has just kicked the can down the road as was stated, for 17 years. BOE's don't lobby state reps, state reps don't want the problem. Property owners get stuck with the pizza tax.

Fun reading. VV as a chemical engineering major, I had calciuis 1, 2,3,4, quantitative analysis, PHYS 1,2, 3,4, Trig 1 and 2, Algebra 1, 2. You should never have been in calculus w/o algebra and trig first. Your guidance counselor let you down.

Enjoy.

http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2001/2001-ohio-1343.pdf
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