FWCS Petition Color Battle for schools not students

Fort Wayne Community Schools repair battle has evolved into two camps. The fight is over a half of a billion dollars on schools on schools that educate the majority of African-American students, in the public school system. Camp one is code blue. Code blue sounds an alarm that the money would be better spent on improving students academic achievement.

Camp two is the yellow camp. Yellow sounds like a canary cautioning that the repair of the building will improve the learning environment and will be a beacon for improving students performance.

Which side wins? It depends on signatures.


Kevin Leininger writes.

Thirty thousand.

That’s the number of signatures opponents say they might need to defeat a $500 million school-improvement campaign. If they get that many, it would be a remarkable achievement. Probably even a record.

That's right the code blue name would need 30,000 signatures. Now we get to the meat of the problem. How are you going to get 30, 000 signatures when


Property owners are only allowed to sign the petitions.

Now according to the Allen County Auditor Office there are 91, 225 parcels in Fort Wayne that receive tax bills. But from households there could be an estimated 182, 450 property owners within the Fort Wayne Community School District.

Those it does not take a rock scientist to see that the estimate appears to suggest that at least two signature comes out of each parcels. Now we know that many couples are not marriage, but are living in houses as if they are married. Who really own the property, if the property is only in one name and the other person is signing it?

But even more troubling in bulking up the numbers of property owners to sign the petition comes from the fact that of the 91,225 parcels, 7,747 are businesses owners who can vote twice. Yet there are only 31,884 students attending Fort Wayne Community Schools. How many of these students parents are home owners? How many will of these parents signature will be missing from the petitions? Is it not these parents whom children are actually attending these schools? Do you think its these parents who do not want better and improved schools for their children?


But the signature must be collected within 30 days.

Not going to happen.

But, the increase in property taxes has already happened.

Why all the bellyaching?

Distraction. Property taxes are being increased and its been going on long before the decision to repair schools. But elected officials who are in charge of the budget express the need to prevent the tax payers from knowing they approve and sign off on the major tax increases by passing bloated budgets.

Home owners don't understand the elected officials are in their pockets, to insure jobs for their families and friends. Salaries and increases are in the budget, the elected officials just rewarded Mayor Dick a raise $130,000. Did that raise help improve students achievement? So home owners wrongly blame solely the school repairs for the tax increases.

Because the public schools have long been neglected, they are need of repair. And second with the mandates under No Child Left Behind, parents are able to remove their students from failing schools and placed them in other public schools. Nicer public schools in raced white neighborhoods.

Ese Isiorho reports

“As a large urban district, we continue to work hard to meet the accountability demands of the NCLB legislation,” Superintendent Wendy Robinson said in a statement.

FWCS is the second-largest district in the state, with nearly 32,000 students.

“AYP mandates spell success differently for large urban districts such as FWCS, which has to meet all criteria in 37 categories to be successful,” FWCS spokeswoman Debbie Morgan said in a statement.

Pleasant Center, Irwin, Harris and Waynedale elementary schools and Elmhurst High School missed making AYP because they fell short in just one subgroup.

As a district, FWCS has failed for the past four years to make AYP, but Robinson has said the district is attempting to improve student achievement. During FWCS’ last school board meeting March 26, she opened the floor for board members to discuss the district’s educational goals, which include accountability, leadership, focus and instruction. The board will meet periodically throughout the next few months to talk about specific topics in-depth.

“We applaud (NCLB’s) goal of success for all students,” Robinson said.

Some parents are not applauding NCLB and would rather see school closed than improved if that would mean their children would have to attend schools beyond their neighborhoods. Prometheus 6 blogs about

schools

segregated schools. Fort Wayne Community Schools have an enrollment of African-American students between 25-29% and 56 % raced whites. The African-Americans population is over 35,000 the estimated number of raced whites in the core of the city is probably 55,000. The boundary expansion has erased the city of Fort Wayne into other areas, which has reduced the African-American population to 8% and raced whites to 92%, as an estimation.

Segregated. They don't care if the schools caves in. That's one less school that their child will have to attend. And you thought it was about pretty buildings. Here sharing some G-itch stuff, here, and here.

Fort Wayne Community Schools on Academic Watch

Fort Wayne Community Schools Superintendent Wendy Robinson presented the school board with the task at hand in improving students achievement. Ese Isiorho reports,

The district as a whole is on “academic watch” under Public Law 221. A report the Indiana State Board of Education released in August puts schools and districts in one of five categories, from best to worst: “exemplary,” “commendable,” “academic progress,” “academic watch” and “academic probation.”

The district also has failed to make adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, and the percentage of students passing the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress test has been below the state average for the last 10 years.

This is not just a student problem. Parents will need to get involved to insure that everyone is doing what is needed for their students.




Fort Wayne Community Schools is scheduled to hold its annual Title I "Parents as Partners" spring conference from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., March 27 at Pilgrim Baptist Church, 1331 Gay St. More than 150 parents from the district's 11 Title I schools are expected to attend the event, according to Frost.

The doors of the church are open

Pilgrim Baptist church will host Fort Wayne Community Schools Title 1 conference. According to Frost Illustrated:

Fort Wayne Community Schools is scheduled to hold its annual Title I "Parents as Partners" spring conference from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., March 27 at Pilgrim Baptist Church, 1331 Gay St. More than 150 parents from the district's 11 Title I schools are expected to attend the event

.


Hopefully parents will receive information on the No Child Left Behind program.

Build it and they will read

When I was a kid, I read lots of different newspapers. In my home we had local newspapers, and newspapers from Detroit, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Indianapolis. In several classes in school the students would discuss an article read from the newspaper. So, I would discuss articles I found in these out of town newspaper. Famous columnists that I read during those days were Carl Rowan and William Buckley. For Buckley, I think it was because he favored my history teacher. I think.

Fast forward, today our newspapers has a brand new building, aided by millions of tax payers dollars. But it's readership is down. I see the newspaper lying around in schools and in the classrooms. And what are the few students I see reading, reading the sport page. I have no problem with the sport section, my oldest daughter entrance into journalism was writing about sports. But students how about current events? Where is that in the newspaper they ask ?

So, if a new building for our newspaper does not improved the adult writer's appeal to students to pick up a newspaper to read current events, do we blame the new building? Nope, so why are we surprised by the writing by these editors denouncing the spending of dollars on building for educating students. These adults editors are in a new building and they can read far better than these students, but these students are not reading or buying their newspapers. These students are online, killing the sells of advertisement dollars in the well written newspapers.

Yes sirree bob, a half a billion dollar is worth it to take our children into the future.

Mitch Daniel fight against brain drain

Kevin Leininger of the New-Sentinel is again all wrong about students coming from low income families. There are some students who are emotionally and mentally behind their peers coming from low income and high income families. What these students have in common is an opportunity to be taught by qualified adults in a safe environment together. Teachers who are committed to the art of teaching children, not adults but children who learn in difference ways.

The teachers will have to be able to adapt to the learning style of many students. Sometimes, a concept will need to be repeated again and again for a student to fully understand. Students who are on the border simply need in house tutoring, right on the spot. Not after school, not in a special building but right in the school. This tutoring should be qualified specialized tutors in subjects such as language, math and English in the lower grades.

Older students will need tutoring during their lunch time or study period, If some of these students are on academic probation they should be required mandated to attend these sessions. Centers should be certified if they provide tutoring only if they have qualified teachers in certain subjects. Many students attend centers and the volunteers are ill-equipped to provide tutoring to these students.

A tutor must get to the level of the child's subject comprehension and after that must get involved in motivating the child to incorporate the new material into the child learning style as well teaching the child alternative ways in learning new material. This especially true with Fort Wayne Community Schools international make up of students in the classroom.

It would be great that all children parents are involved in their education. But, in the real world it's not, so do we punish these children? As an adult you would think not. But some of our adult leaders, news reporters and adult teachers believe so. And we wonder why children do not look up to adult role models in our civil community?

A teacher is to teach, and the reward is to see a student overcome that obstacle in the way of the child understanding. Teachers burn out and a plan to support and encourage them to team teach connects teachers to the success of all students rather than a few can only help the overall academic achievement of Fort Wayne Community Schools.

Many students come to school with emotional problems that go undetected, but schools should be their safe place. And that safe place should mainly focus on teaching that child that education will help you surmount the shortcoming of their parents or environment. Children just need TLC no matter the condition of the their parents economic situation or circumstances. When a child is abused it is not the child fault.

The issue of the cost of the school, is the failure to take care of the schools in the urban core. Now that you can not expand, you have to do what you should have in maintaining these schools. The failure of city leaders to be fiscal responsible with taxpayers' tax dollar is coming to light, and to try to suggest that improving these school will not help these children you are wrong, wrong.

These buildings are probably the only safe place for many abused and neglected children. Go volunteer an hour a day and teach a large group of children (not 1 or 2) to read and write. Why don't you support your republican leader, Governor Mitch Daniel call to eradicate brain drain in Indiana. Adults have failed our children and now we all have to pay including those who don't care whether or not poor children receive an education. Teach.

Fort Wayne's NAACP Executive Director, Michael Latham Announces NO STRIKE for Wal-Mart

According to a source, Rev. Michael Latham, Executive Director of the NAACP, Fort Wayne, Indiana announced there will be no strike at the new Southtown Centre Wal-Mart. Latham rallied the troops to support marketing manager John Wolf by shopping at supposedly the largest Wal-Mart in the State of Indiana. With a parade of African-Americans workers on stage as a symbolic commitment by Wal-Mart to the southside with this display representing over 51% of Wal-Mart employees. In response, the audience gave a thundering round of a applause for Rev. Latham's heroic effort in getting Wal-Mart to buckle so early to the people's demands.

Wait a minute, I thought, demands had something to do with self-check-out lanes for its clients, the lack of a layaway at the store during the greatest spending spree season from October to December, for shoppers, last but not least, the issue of discrimination? All that has come to a shrieking halt based on the tiny offering that the store will have over 51% of his employees represented by the African-American community or the inclusion of other groups.?!! Come on now people, this is 2007, what about demanding more than token placement? What about managers and training programs to capture the population of African-Americans that make up over 90% of the population on the southside?

But more important, what about the CReED dollars that will be lost from those who will shop at the stores with layaways on the northside. Surely Rev. Latham was aware of this lost of revenue for redevelopment on the southside when he accepted the measly offer of limited employment, and smarter than just simply agreeing to a wink, smile, and a limp handshake. Southtown Centre is a CReED district meant to capture "increases in Sales and Income Taxes generated by the investment must be used by the local government for infrastructure and improvements within the district. " This information If not, surely had he talked with the council person who represents the southside, would have supported his boycott, maybe?

The media knew it was a CReED district and the issue did not come up. Did the media play Rev. Latham stupid by focusing on the layaway issue and not have to response to the discriminating impact of redirecting dollars that was targeted for the southside in the building of the Wal-Mart?
Instead of keeping the spotlight on Wal-Mart, which has a history of not doing right by the southside community, he has turned the platoon around and find a new target for the NAACP, Baba Akan, (formerly known as Carl Johnson, Fort Wayne Community Schools Board member.

Does not Rev. Latham know that this is a diversion tactic Superintendent Wendy Robinson, nor Baba Akan are the target? The puppet master is using him as a pawn to go after the huge hunk of money that is with the school system and which schools will be left standing. Does not Rev. Latham understand that it's never about improving our community but about the money and where it will be spent?

Shame on him.

This information comes from the City of Fort Wayne, Indiana webpage about Southtown Centre CReED was unable to link:

"Community Revitalization Enhancement Districts (CReED)
Designed to assist cities in overcoming significant obstacles to downtown development
Legislation allows 1st and 2nd class cities, with a CReED to designate one additional CReED. Indiana Code 36-7-13.
25% Investor Tax Credit for Qualified Investment. (Qualified Investment: the taxpayer's expenditures for redevelopment or rehabilitation of property located in the CReED and made under an adopted CReED plan.) Does not include cost of real property or equipment. Indiana Code Section 6-3.1-19.
For the Investor:
Dept. of Commerce approves and determines eligible portion of investment before project begins.
Except in certain approved expansion/relocation circumstances, the Tax Credit is disallowed if the investor substantially reduces or ceases operations in Indiana in order to relocate operation within the CReED.
The Taxpayer claims the credit on the taxpayer's annual state income tax return. If credit exceeds state tax liability, the taxpayer may carry the excess over to subsequent taxable years.
For the Local Government:
Capture of up to $750,000 Downtown / $1,000,000 Southtown annually in sales and income tax increment
Duration of the district designation is a maximum of 15 years, beginning with receipt of first increment.
Captured increases in Sales and Income Taxes generated by the investment must be used by the local government for infrastructure and improvements within the district. "