Here I
present those questions and my answers:
Questions
to Consider
Comprehensive
District Design
With the
district’s challenging demographics, the value of integration often conflicts
with the value of prioritizing the enrollment of students who live within the
school’s neighborhood:
Which value
should be prioritized when enrollment decisions are made?
My Answer >>>>>
The
enrollment of students who live within the school’s neighborhood should be
prioritized.
The focus
should be on the provision of knowledge-intensive, skill-replete curriculum
that includes and honors all cultures, imparted by teachers who are intimately
attune to the particular strengths and the specific life challenges brought by
each student into the classroom.
Would you
support a proposal in which a percentage of seats at a school are held at
schools that are over 70% homogenous to increase diversity?
My Answer >>>>>
No.
Provide an
excellent education at every school site, along the lines given in the question
above, and people of all demographic descriptors will seek out a school of
genuine excellence.
Would you
support that magnet school enrollment must be diverse to receive integration
revenue?
My Answer >>>>>
Yes.
Make each
school, including magnet schools, excellent via the impartation of
knowledge-intensive, skill-replete curriculum, delivered by teachers of broad
and deep knowledge. The idea behind
magnet schools is the attraction of a diverse student body, so that the ability
to do that should be the qualifier for receipt of integration funding. This answer is given, then, in frank
recognition of the irony that the integration of a school on the basis of
magnetically attractive excellence will then be the qualifier for integration
funds.
Would you
support a proposal that adjusts attendance boundaries to increase a school’s
diversity?
My Answer >>>>>
Adjustment
of boundaries to increase a school’s diversity is acceptable but
unnecessary; such adjustment should be
done with attention to geographical integrity and relentless focus on school
quality as the core of the academic appeal that will be the generator of
diversity.
Providing
the foundation for a well-rounded education in elementary schools might mean lengthening
the school day for elementary students to ensure that there are enough minutes
in the day to support core instruction.
Is this something that we should consider?
My Answer >>>>>
No---
but read below carefully for nuance:
The current amount of time designated for the school day, which is largely wasted in such ways as temporally uneconomical group projects, overreliance on videos, teacher absences and extended leaves yielding ineffective substitutes, ill-focused field trips with lack of student preparation, pep rallies, “free days,” and all manner of maddening distractions; any additional time should be used for enrichment and remedial experiences as appropriate, rather than on the academic core. Everyone in the universe should know by now that my priority is the academic core, so my view here is that the currently specified classroom time should be more than sufficient if economically used, and that any extended time should be utilized to make sure that students have the math and reading skills necessary to properly receive the core.
Guaranteeing
a well-rounded education for all students with enrichment opportunities could
mean less autonomy for schools to make staffing and programming decisions. Would you support this if it meant more
guaranteed access to programming supports and enrichment for all students?
My Answer >>>>>
Yes.
Knowledge-intensive,
skill-replete curriculum should be designed at the level of the central office
(Davis Center) for grade by grade implementation in the classrooms of the
individual sites.
The knowledgeable,
pedagogically skilled teacher is ever adept at working innovations upon a
commonly imparted curriculum.
K-8 schools
limit the experiences of their 6-8 students because of the costs associated
with programming their low enrollment.
With this in mind, would you support the District moving to K-5, 6-8, 9-12 school design so that all
middle school students have equitable programming?
My Answer >>>>>
Yes.
The
properly sequenced, grade by grade K-5 curriculum should focus on mathematics, natural
science (foundations of biology, chemistry, physics), literature and English
usage, history, economics, psychology, and the fine (visual and musical) arts.
The grade
6-8 curriculum should continue this emphasis, with accompanying world language
opportunities.
Given
academic rigor at the K-5 and 6-8 levels, grade 9-12 students will be ready for
Advanced Placement courses concomitantly preparing them to take the ACT and SAT
college readiness assessments; and
should also at this stage be given ample elective opportunities to pursue
personal interests in the liberal, vocational, and fine arts.
Providing
predictable staffing for all schools could mean a reallocation of resources from
schools with larger budgets. Should the
District provide subsidies for small schools or schools with limited poverty to
achieve equitable staffing?
My Answer >>>>>
Yes.
Not without
much thought should resources ever be shifted from schools with many students
on Free or Reduced price lunch; but
predictable and equitable staffing is a paramount objective necessary to attain
academic excellence at each school site.
Data
suggests that there are portions of the city where parents choose to enroll
outside of the District due to concerns about transportation and walk zones,
lack of culturally and linguistically specific schools, and academically
rigorous curricular offerings. Would you
support a plan that offers geographically differentiated transportation options
or program choices specifically to increase market share?
My Answer >>>>>
No.
Except for
some immensely pragmatic objective to address a highly particular situation,
the emphasis should be the provision of an excellent education as given in
answers above, creating a situation in which students and families of all
demographic descriptors will seek out that school of excellence close to the
familial residence.
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