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However, charter school enrollment is up 25% over last year! In fact, while the PPS number is down, the PPS plus charter number is up. The students are here in Pittsburgh, and they are willing to attend a public school, but the trend is toward charter schools.
That's an almost totally useless chart as is (I had to look around on the site, the link in the post went to a different article).
I mean, I get comparing beginning of the year to beginning of last year. BUT, how about also having end of last year. That is how many kids who finished the year with PPS came back this fall?
Also, there needs to be explanation in the chart that just isn't there. Obama added one more grade (now 9-12 not 9-11) to their count this year. They can have 150 in a grade, so an increase of 125 is less than an a grade's worth of kids added. But, there on the chart it looks like a huge gain if you didn't know it was an added year.
Similarly, Faison and Lincoln need clarification. They had their 5-8 grade buildings closed, so are last year's numbers the number of K-5 students (which is what they are this year) or are they the number of students in that building last year when it was K-4?
If they'd just update the websites every month like they say, this would all be easier! Or, to make it easy, just put up a chart like this -- every month.
I guess everything will be fine once Dr. Lane brings in the crowd with experience destroying Detroit. Enjoy today's reading:
Overcrowded Detroit School Draws Fire Department Citation. The Detroit News (10/27, Chambers) reports that the Detroit Fire Marshal's Office issued a citation to Nolan Elementary School "for overcrowding after a parent complained to fire officials that too many children were in her son's kindergarten class." A fire department spokesperson "was unable to say how many children were in the classroom that was ticketed and would not identify which class it was. He said violators are typically given time to rectify the situation." The News places this story within the context of recent reports on "excessive class sizes at some DPS schools."
2:32 - The "trend" is not toward charter schools as much as it is away from PPS schools which offer low academic achievement, chaotic environments, one-size-fits-all curricula, lack of sensitivity and relevance for African American students, and achievement gaps ranging from 20 to 50 points.
We will continue to see flight from PPS until there is a change of leadership and philosophy.
There are a majority of administrators in PPS who just don't know what they don't know.
To portray this as a small decline is really a shameful slight of hand.
PPS really does not enroll the students in the charter school and the governing Board of PPS really does not govern the charter school per se.
PPS simply pays the tuition based upon a state formula.
The dramatic increase in charter school students since the onset of the Roosevelt/Lane/Fischetti/Weiss administration is a clear signal that families are choosing public schools NOT run by PPS.
A clearer picture of PPS enrollment trends is found by graphing the students enrolled in schools governed by our elected Board of nine. The enrollment decline from that perspective is truly frightening.
With charter school enrollment up 25% versus last year, this is a pretty strong sign that fewer families "BELIEVE" or think PPS will "RISE" under existing leadership.
The charter schools they are choosing are not part of PULSE or RISE or PELA or the "deep partnership" with Gates or Broad. They do not employ "human capital managers."
The booming enrollment in Charter Schools in the city could still accelerate as, and if, they begin in earnest to build community around the schools in times beyond the academic days.
Sports is one such example of what I'm hinting at.
If Charter Schools do sports, plays, debate teams -- and more -- then the flood gates will open wider.
They have been known to do some robotics, get athletes on joint teams and one has a high-flying boys hoops team that plays in DC and around the region. A.Christian. But, I'm not seeing that as a priority, yet, or else I'm not looking (and that is possible).
What charter school in the city, for instance, has a gang busters boys and girls hockey team?
Just a prediction and another worry / threat for PPS' long-term future.
It seems like the charters don't have the facilities yet for most sports, probably in part due to PPS reluectance to sell closed buildings to charters. So they are sending students to play on PPS teams.
I could be wrong, but I believe the "A. Christian" Mark refers to is Imani Christian which is not a charter. Some other charters offer some sports, Career Connections had basketball and played against city teams at least in the girls' non-league games.
Just trying to keep things accurate to avoid the blog being pointed to as a place where non-facts get pertpetuated. We already have enough of that elsewhere.
What I would have liked to see in this chart is what the capacity of each school is. South Brook is listed as 460 in Fall of 2010. In Fall of 2009 it was only about 350...which was capacity at that time. They rose dramatically because they were the only Middle School that year that made AYP which made them a school choice school for 2010-2011. The school is now beyond over crowded with class sizes up to 40 kids per class. There are fights daily, total chaos, etc., and when the school asked for more teachers to balance the addition of new students, instead they were sent cameras so the halls would be monitored. Yep, that's a solution. Good news? That school will never make AYP again, so there is no chance of being a 'school choice' school again. Way to go Bellefield! Instead of making poor schools better, you are making good schools terrible. Is that what you consider leveling the playing field?
What happens if South Brook does not make AYP- are students attending under school choice sent back to their home schools, or do they get to finish out middle school at South Brook?
If you are at a school through school choice it is now your "home school." I believe that you can to back to your original home school if you want to, but you are not sent back if the school fails to perform. In fact, siblings are also allowed to go to that school in the future even when it is no longer a school choice school.
Minadeo has the second largest drop in enrollment K-5 second to Roosevelt. (12%) 67 kids is 3 classrooms! This should be a red flag, this was considered one of the " safe" schools to send your child.
This can't be 100% blamed on The Environmental school. That has been a factor for at least 3 years, plus Greenfield, Colfax and other schools have students attending that and other charter or magnet schools.
The current 2 year, PELA principal (Melissa Wagner) at Mineado coincedently did her PELA residency at Roosevelt.
16 comments:
Per the PG, PPS enrollment is down 1.2%:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11300/1185349-53.stm
However, charter school enrollment is up 25% over last year! In fact, while the PPS number is down, the PPS plus charter number is up. The students are here in Pittsburgh, and they are willing to attend a public school, but the trend is toward charter schools.
That's an almost totally useless chart as is (I had to look around on the site, the link in the post went to a different article).
I mean, I get comparing beginning of the year to beginning of last year. BUT, how about also having end of last year. That is how many kids who finished the year with PPS came back this fall?
Also, there needs to be explanation in the chart that just isn't there. Obama added one more grade (now 9-12 not 9-11) to their count this year. They can have 150 in a grade, so an increase of 125 is less than an a grade's worth of kids added. But, there on the chart it looks like a huge gain if you didn't know it was an added year.
Similarly, Faison and Lincoln need clarification. They had their 5-8 grade buildings closed, so are last year's numbers the number of K-5 students (which is what they are this year) or are they the number of students in that building last year when it was K-4?
If they'd just update the websites every month like they say, this would all be easier! Or, to make it easy, just put up a chart like this -- every month.
Sorry, the PG article does include info on which schools added grades (see link in the first comment).
What it does not do is break down HS/ middle school; so, for ex, the reader cannot easily compare how Westinghouse HS portion enrollment changed.
I guess everything will be fine once Dr. Lane brings in the crowd with experience destroying Detroit. Enjoy today's reading:
Overcrowded Detroit School Draws Fire Department Citation.
The Detroit News (10/27, Chambers) reports that the Detroit Fire Marshal's Office issued a citation to Nolan Elementary School "for overcrowding after a parent complained to fire officials that too many children were in her son's kindergarten class." A fire department spokesperson "was unable to say how many children were in the classroom that was ticketed and would not identify which class it was. He said violators are typically given time to rectify the situation." The News places this story within the context of recent reports on "excessive class sizes at some DPS schools."
2:32 - The "trend" is not toward charter schools as much as it is away from PPS schools which offer low academic achievement, chaotic environments, one-size-fits-all curricula, lack of sensitivity and relevance for African American students, and achievement gaps ranging from 20 to 50 points.
We will continue to see flight from PPS until there is a change of leadership and philosophy.
There are a majority of administrators in PPS who just don't know what they don't know.
Re: 5:09- at least we have our very own fire marshall on the Board!
To portray this as a small decline is really a shameful slight of hand.
PPS really does not enroll the students in the charter school and the governing Board of PPS really does not govern the charter school per se.
PPS simply pays the tuition based upon a state formula.
The dramatic increase in charter school students since the onset of the Roosevelt/Lane/Fischetti/Weiss administration is a clear signal that families are choosing public schools NOT run by PPS.
A clearer picture of PPS enrollment trends is found by graphing the students enrolled in schools governed by our elected Board of nine. The enrollment decline from that perspective is truly frightening.
With charter school enrollment up 25% versus last year, this is a pretty strong sign that fewer families "BELIEVE" or think PPS will "RISE" under existing leadership.
The charter schools they are choosing are not part of PULSE or RISE or PELA or the "deep partnership" with Gates or Broad. They do not employ "human capital managers."
We need to take back our schools.
It's all the fault of teachers. They're the reason kids are leaving. RISE will make everything better. Just wait. Even the PFT says so.
Yeah, right.
It couldn't happen to a nicer district.
The booming enrollment in Charter Schools in the city could still accelerate as, and if, they begin in earnest to build community around the schools in times beyond the academic days.
Sports is one such example of what I'm hinting at.
If Charter Schools do sports, plays, debate teams -- and more -- then the flood gates will open wider.
They have been known to do some robotics, get athletes on joint teams and one has a high-flying boys hoops team that plays in DC and around the region. A.Christian. But, I'm not seeing that as a priority, yet, or else I'm not looking (and that is possible).
What charter school in the city, for instance, has a gang busters boys and girls hockey team?
Just a prediction and another worry / threat for PPS' long-term future.
It seems like the charters don't have the facilities yet for most sports, probably in part due to PPS reluectance to sell closed buildings to charters. So they are sending students to play on PPS teams.
I could be wrong, but I believe the "A. Christian" Mark refers to is Imani Christian which is not a charter. Some other charters offer some sports, Career Connections had basketball and played against city teams at least in the girls' non-league games.
Just trying to keep things accurate to avoid the blog being pointed to as a place where non-facts get pertpetuated. We already have enough of that elsewhere.
http://www.imanichristianacademy.org/student-life-athletics.html
Right. Thanks for the touch ups.
What I would have liked to see in this chart is what the capacity of each school is. South Brook is listed as 460 in Fall of 2010. In Fall of 2009 it was only about 350...which was capacity at that time. They rose dramatically because they were the only Middle School that year that made AYP which made them a school choice school for 2010-2011. The school is now beyond over crowded with class sizes up to 40 kids per class. There are fights daily, total chaos, etc., and when the school asked for more teachers to balance the addition of new students, instead they were sent cameras so the halls would be monitored. Yep, that's a solution. Good news? That school will never make AYP again, so there is no chance of being a 'school choice' school again. Way to go Bellefield! Instead of making poor schools better, you are making good schools terrible. Is that what you consider leveling the playing field?
What happens if South Brook does not make AYP- are students attending under school choice sent back to their home schools, or do they get to finish out middle school at South Brook?
If you are at a school through school choice it is now your "home school." I believe that you can to back to your original home school if you want to, but you are not sent back if the school fails to perform. In fact, siblings are also allowed to go to that school in the future even when it is no longer a school choice school.
Minadeo has the second largest drop in enrollment K-5 second to Roosevelt. (12%) 67 kids is 3 classrooms! This should be a red flag, this was considered one of the " safe" schools to send your child.
This can't be 100% blamed on The Environmental school. That has been a factor for at least 3 years, plus Greenfield, Colfax and other schools have students attending that and other charter or magnet schools.
The current 2 year, PELA principal (Melissa Wagner) at Mineado coincedently did her PELA residency at Roosevelt.
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