The Observation Deck

An artilce in today's Plain Dealer sited school officials, including those from Lakewood, complaining about No Child Left Behind. They weren't complaing about the testing, rather, they were complaining that school districts like Lakewood, because of its size and diversity, is treated differently than school districts like Rocky River.
To make a long story short, the quota system has come full circle. Now mabey people can understand why a white male complains when he doesn't get the job promotion that someone else gote solely because they are different.
I have two suggestions for our supereintendent and others in his position:
1) Learn to live with it
2) fight to get rid of all racial set asides, including hiring, college admissions, etc. before complaining about the ones you have to deal with.

Joe

"Poor white male" my a$$.

You show an appalling ignorance about race and class.


Not worth my time to argue with you; you'd never see that you've been in the privileged class and reaped the benefits for so long.

I'm sure you think every setback or disappointment in your life was somehow because someone who didn't deserve it got what you should have had.

Let's use the same old sorry story and throw the blame for the school situation on everywhere except where it belongs. It's so much easier to be intellectually dishonest.

Make you feel better?

We've ventured into this territory before, and it's a shame that it gets wrapped up in political rhetoric, but then that's probably what the whole act was designed to do.
The posturing by poorer districts against NCLB misses the point. By its very name, the act was meant to focus on poorer, disabled, and minority students. Kids weren't being "left behind" in River. It was in Cleveland and East Cleveland and to a greater or lesser extent, Lakewood. If the world were populated exclusively by smart,t affluent kids with committed families, there would be no reason for NCLB to exist.
The second point is that you have to separate the self-serving aspects of administrators comments from genuine criticisms of the program. The bottom line is that, if Lakewood doesn't make all the requirements, the superintendent who's being paid in excess of $150,000 loses his job in a couple of years. Of COURSE he's going to complain.
Do the administrators have a point about NCLB shortcomings? Of course. It's a law written by a variety of special interest groups and politicians. You would have been better off locking a dozen front-line teachers in a room for a weekend and enacting their recommendations.
Let's not lose sight though, that their interest may not be so totally altruristic.
Also, I kind of wish our local guy would back off. Every time he gets press for his anti-NCLB campaign, the rest of the world is reminded that Lakewood is not meeting standards. I don't advocate hiding our failures, but I see no need to advertise them.

Grace O'Malley wrote:"Poor white male" my a$$.



Let's use the same old sorry story and throw the blame for the school situation on everywhere except where it belongs. It's so much easier to be intellectually dishonest.

I just wanted to add a question on this. Where do you think the blame belongs?
George Bush? Bob Taft? Teachers unions? Administrators? Teddy Kennedy?
Parents? The kids themselves?

Joan

While I agree every time Dr. E hits the press with his complaints it is a reminder. But the city deserves to know the truth. And the truth is very different from the perception. We are continuing our story on NCLB, and how it has destroyed the educational process, and how it is merely a cover to privatize the most valuable school districts.

Joe

You're killing me, tell me your story how you would shorted by quota. I'm willing to bet the afore mentioned "white guy" would have complained even if he got the job!

Doesn't matter I cannot see where quotas even fit in this discussion? If you have less than 50 non English, you do not have to count their scores?! Where is the quota? If you have less than 50 special ed kids you do not have to count their scores? Lakewood has more of these, some from Rocky River and Bay School Systems?

The educational system might be failing, but NCLB has not helped.


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Sadly, "truth" is a concept as foreign to this discussion as quotas.
Yes, the "truth"is that Lakewood has a high percentage of ESL and special-ed kids, so they are graded on a statistic River doesn't have to contend with. But Lakewood also doesn't have to meet standards for Hispanic or Native American kids, which maybe a place like Lorain does (at least with Hispanics). What purpose is served by pointing to other districts and whining, "what about THEM?" How does that help one Lakewood special-ed kid read better?
The"truth" may be clear to you, but to someone like Mr. Call, the "truth" is just as clear. Lakewood spends $10,000 a year and doesn't make the nut. End of story.
"Truth" then becomes a subjective and slippery concept.
The previous superintendent said over and over and over again, "we're committed to meeting all the standards". The new one is saying over and over, "the system is rigged." Which do you really think plays better?

Anyone who thinks that one is fair while the other isn't is simply blind, and vise versa. Quit complaining about one while propping up the other. If one want things on an equal par, get rid of them all together.

Joe

While I do not necessarily like the way NCLB was drafted I think there was need for a change. Lakewood is a good district with good teachers, who for the most part want to all their students to succeed. I don't believe that NCLB was necessarily meant for districts like Lakewood, but for districts like Cleveland. For fairness and equality I would like all districts to meets requirements even if that means they only have one special ed student. The act is called No Child Left Behind but a special ed student in a district with few special ed students is far more likely to fall behind. Trust me on this I know parents who have to fight like hell to get their kids services in some of those "good" districts. I have had a good experience with special education in Lakewood and I don't believe we need NCLB to treat our students equally good but we are the exception. I would love it if we didn't need state sanctioned tests to measure what our kids were learning but that's not realistic. Cities like Cleveland need something to hold them accountable. I don't know if NCLB is the answer but it is a start. What we really need if for parents to wake up and be active in their children's education. There are too many parents that have no interest in their children's schooling and therefore either do the kids. Money and tests aren't going to solve the underlying problem of crappy parents that don't care if their kids succeed.

Joan Roberts wrote:The previous superintendent said over and over and over again, "we're committed to meeting all the standards". The new one is saying over and over, "the system is rigged." Which do you really think plays better?

Joan

Painfully obvious. With no change in site for the current sysytem, I suppose one should be looking at ways to exploit the system.

It is the end product of this wotch hunt that bothers me. Not the beating fo the bushes. The privatization of large city and inner ring suburbs bothers me. It alawyas appears to be second rate education.

Danielle is right
We needed a change, and we aren't done needing a change.


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Jim O'Bryan wrote:Danielle is right
We needed a change, and we aren't done needing a change.


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And I personally don't believe that change will come as long as we look to ever more-distant solutions to the problems.
NCLB had nothing to do with schools or kids. It was a political creation that had everything to with special interests (teachers unions on the left, the Religious Right and privatizers on the other side) Both sides thought NCLB would advance their own special interests' causes. Neither side cared much about the consequences.
Danielle is of course, 100% correct. Parents get a good education for their kids by
demanding one, not from George Bush or Teddy Kennedy, but from Mr Jones in the principal's office and Ms. Smith in Room 102. For all the howling, at the last school board meeting I went to, the room cleared out right after all the kids got their awards at the beginning of the session. The room was empty for the rest of the meeting. Is that a good sign?

Danielle Masters wrote:While I do not necessarily like the way NCLB was drafted I think there was need for a change. Lakewood is a good district with good teachers, who for the most part want to all their students to succeed. I don't believe that NCLB was necessarily meant for districts like Lakewood, but for districts like Cleveland. tests to measure

So let me get this straight, you'd rather have "seperate but equal" education where standards apply to one district but not another? Are we coming full circle on this as well? Just out of curiosity, what do you think about property taxes funding local school districts? Did the Ohio supreme court make the right decision?

Joe

So let me get this straight, you'd rather have "separate but equal" education where standards apply to one district but not another? Are we coming full circle on this as well? Just out of curiosity, what do you think about property taxes funding local school districts? Did the Ohio supreme court make the right decision?

No Joe I clearly said changes need to be made. You didn't finish reading. My quote continues:

For fairness and equality I would like all districts to meets requirements even if that means they only have one special ed student. The act is called No Child Left Behind but a special ed student in a district with few special ed students is far more likely to fall behind. Trust me on this I know parents who have to fight like hell to get their kids services in some of those "good" districts.

Listen I have 5 children in the Lakewood city schools. I have two special ed students and one gifted student. I want good schools for my kids that's why I live here. I am happy that NCLB was done because it begins to address the problem, but I think it lets Westlake get away with treating students differently. I want all districts to provide for every student. I want all students to receive a top notch education. Please go back and re-read my post. I said we needed change but I think it sucks for the parent with a special ed child in Avon. Their district has no incentive to give that child a good education, their is no punishment and no reward for giving special ed students a quality education. I am for all districts meeting all guidelines whether they have one child or 100 that fall into a category. I will not be signing the letter that our PTAs are asking us to sign because I think that Dr. Estrop is missing the point. I hope that people understand that we need something like NCLB, I just truly want no child left behind. I don't want districts to get away with providing sub par education to students just because they only have a few to provide for. I am not for separate but equal. I am for true equality which is what I said in my first post. I don't think we should be worried about not meeting the criteria of NCLB in Lakewood, I think we should be concerned with districts that don't have to worry about meeting the criteria. I have a lot of ideas for what will make schools better but most of them can't be mandated because they require common sense thinking and we can't require that. I would like merit pay for teachers but I know that would never happen. I would like parents to be required to attend open house and parent teacher conferences, but I know that would never happen. I hope that this open conversation that we are all having about the educational system will bring in some good changes. NCLB is a start now lets continue with it and bring more change and give all children the chance to be educated.

I think NCLB flies in the face of what used to be the Republican tennant of "less government intrusion." This seems to be the mantra of that party only when they aren't in power.

I think local control and local standards should rule the day. This city school system proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that people can and will get involved when there are issues at stake. Take the new building contruction project as the prime example. Hundreds of people got involved in small and large group gatherings to discuss and come to some consensus on what was important to people in their buildings, why these changes were needed, why this time was the best, and what buildings should stay or go. You cannot find a better example of community involvement on record.

This was the exact opposite of the more contentious West End project. That was proof that a government acting on its (possibly poor, possibly correct) gut instincts should never replace the voice of a thoughtful community. If people were gathered together in huge clusters of people all over the city with well publicized meetings to work towards consensus as to what is important for citizens, where do they want the city to go, etc. as the schools did, maybe we wouldn't have gotten on 20/20 for the worst possible reasons.

I know that people don't attend Board meetings in droves. I certainly don't. But if they had a reason, a voice and input they might.

NCLB was the wrong intervention in the wrong direction. It is Lakewood City Schools and ours to love or hate (or both, as the case may be). Repubilcans in office ought to start acting like they say they want to when they are in the minority.

Danielle Masters wrote:

I think we should be concerned with districts that don't have to worry about meeting the criteria. .

I think you've captured the issue perfectly. The NCLB argument would have 100 times more weight coming from an Avon special-ed parent than from the superintendent of a failing district.
It's too tempting to see this as a Lakewood vs. Avon issue, which it clearly isn't. It's not about "be true to your burb", it's about real, flesh-and-blood, individual kids.
Good thoughts, Ms. M. And good luck.

I think local control and local standards should rule the day.

Phil, I have to disagree. While I think Lakewood does a good job not all districts do. There has to be accountability. All children should be provided a quality education and frankly if it wasn't mandated some districts wouldn't provide it. If we could trust districts to do a good job there would never have been a need for NCLB. And as for Republicans taking the blame there was plenty of bipartisan agreement on this issue. I for one think this shouldn't be a political issue. It should be about the children. Lets all agree that there needs to be accountable. Lets look at the good in NCLB, lets look at the bad in NCLB and lets find a solution that gives all children the education they all deserve. Okay I'm done ranting for now.