- Connect
- Login
- Print Subscription
|
Welcome,
| |
| |
- Most Commented
- Most Commented
- Most Emailed
- Most Emailed
- Popular
- Popular
« Opinion
Failing Youngstown schools must work to improve now
The Youngstown City School District has failed its students and its community.
That’s the miserable in-your-face assessment from this year’s state report cards on academic performance released last week. The ranking, akin to an F on a standard report card, is unacceptable and must be reversed. The blemish on Youngstown is made all the worse in that not one of the other 609 districts in Ohio fared as disgustingly defective.
The community’s patience in tolerating a litany of excuses and in waiting for improvement has worn thin. If healing this black eye on the state’s eighth-largest city means draconian change — up to and including administrative changes that reach to Superintendent Wendy Webb, so be it.
Too much is at stake for the city schools’ 7,000 students, the school district’s reputation and the larger community to expect less than an aggressive, immediate and concerted academic overhaul by the state, district leaders, board of education members, parents, teachers and staff.
About the report cards
The report cards, issued annually in August by the Ohio Department of Education, log student performance based on standards set by the state and mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Specifically, they gauge academic performance by measuring 30 indicators based on standardized tests, as well as attendance, graduation and year-by-year student improvements.
Youngstown managed to pass a mere two of these indicators —10th- and 11th-grade writing. Compare that with Canfield and Champion, which met 29 and 30 respectively.
We realize Youngstown’s inner-city handicaps of high poverty rates, a greater proportion of special-needs students and dysfunctional family environments make the task of providing high-quality education more challenging. But Youngstown need only look a few dozen miles to its west, where the Canton city schools — with demographics similar to Youngstown’s — scored significantly higher in the Continuous Improvement, or average, range. School officials would be wise to network with Canton to find the ingredients those school leaders have used to produce measurable improvements.
As a result of Youngstown’s failures, the state will soon intervene. The Department of Education is dispatching an Academic Distress Commission to Youngstown to work with city school leaders to chart a map for change.
They have the power
Thankfully, the commission is armed with broad powers that include authority to reassign administrative personnel and terminate contracts of weak administrative links.
Although Deborah DeLisle, superintendent of state public instruction, said the five-member panel won’t be heavy-handed, the panel must not shy away from any and all firm measures to get the school district back on track.
Taxpayers and students deserve more than they are getting. Property owners in Youngstown have passed levies thinking their hard-earned dollars would fund quality education. Yes, we do have sparkling new buildings. Unfortunately, we do not have effective learning inside them.
As we’ve argued in the past, ensuring accountability plays a large role in producing academic success. Teachers must be held accountable to principals, principals to administrators, administrators to school board members and board members to district voters. Some links in that chain clearly have weakened over the years. It will now be up to the state commission to strengthen them by whatever means necessary.
The community should expect evidence of the commission’s success to be clearly visible on the Youngstown schools’ next report card.
- Requires free registration.
Comments
Time for Wendy Webb to take a hike.
When the State steps in it is an indicator of incompetent leadership. Both the superintendent and the board should be replaced. The citizens of the valley should not have to pay someone $122,000 per year to be a "caretaker" administrator. We expect to see improvement each year from administrators and our Board. This current situation is intolerable and unacceptable.
Fire Wendy!!! She's as worthless as a teat on a bore hog. Y-town deserves better then her. She has done NOTHING except make a bad school system worse. Get her on her way out now school board. This is not about poverty, this is about a superintendent who gets paid big bucks, who doesn't or can't do the her job.
We all agree that the educational system must be improved. May I make a suggestion to the Vindicator? How about setting up some ongoing coverage of this - much like you've done with Traficant's return? Give it a name - set up a scoreboard, and start profiling each and every individual directly involved with the school system - both the effective ones and the ineffective ones. Light a fire under this system and keep it burning. Surely it's more important than the return of a has-been?
It's interesting that Community (charter) Schools seem to have been forgotten by the Vindicator. Eagle Heights has passed only one indicator, the non-academic area of attendance. Since you are criticizing schools and school administrations why not include them? Hard earned taxes dollars are funding community schools too.
We collectively, as a community, need to impress upon the parents or guardians of all the children in the Youngstown Schools that are failing, that they are as much to blame as the administrators, for allowing their children to fail guaranteed, every year,..year after year.
What's the rush? It can only get better. You can't be worse than last.
You can be worse than last. Just look at the school's track record and you will see they continue to slide down the slippery slope of incompetence. I'm sure many parents saw this years ago and moved their families to better school districts. This certainly sped up the slide for Youngstown schools, as moving kids out left the student population with a majority of disadvantaged kids. Our city schools today are a disgrace to our children. I'm glad my kids are now out of school.
"Our city schools today are a disgrace to our children", and our children's apathy towards learning because of the lack of discipline and support on the part of their parents or guardians, who don't care if their children learn or not, is also a disgrace. When children are able to refuse to do school work, both at home and at school, without any consequences, the end result is failure.
How in the hell can you convince a parent that learning and attendance are important when they themselves did not graduate and have still received a check and free food their entire lives for doing nothing? Please tell me.
The whole godd*mn thing is upside down.
Doctor G, ..A good way to begin to fix the whole upside down thing, would be for the well educated administrator to work diligently with parents, to impress upon them the importance of learning, and getting a good education, to be able to break away from the government dependency that is doing them as much harm as it is benefiting them, which is why they are in the endless cycle of poverty. Certainly the administrators in the Youngstown schools know that the way for children to build good self esteem is by doing the right things, and in this case their school work. The children desperately need firm rules and regulations, combined with a lot of love, both in the class room and in their homes.
This cycle has been going on for decades now, this is not a new thing. If you really believe that a hug and a sit down talk will help, good for you. I use histroy and facts to form my opinions. This is not a hollywood movie.
The people do not want to improve becaue they are happy getting their free stuff and not working for it. There are plenty of people who did not receive the best educations or come from the best families and they achieved in society by working and advancing, not sitting on their proch waiting for the first of the month to come around.
These are facts and reality. Until there are motivating factors put in place , the cycle will continue and the producers will be told that they must give even more to the underachievers.
Give yourself a hug though, for your genuine compassion, and then go watch "Lean on Me" again.
We can't fix the socialist NEA dominated Youngstown Public Schools. Those students are doomed. You can save your own kids. It's called homeschooling. I believe the Youngstown Public school teacher are excellent but are sabatoged by their union, liberal anti-education laws and the parents.
Doctor G, and Pro Am,... There are a growing number of people who have your same views about the tragic failures, and I can not counter argue with your facts, because you both make valid points.
However, because time and money are running out, my suggestion is at least an attempt for a new beginning. The way things are now, nothing is being done, while funding for each student in the Youngstown Schools is at least double for each student in other local school systems, and there is obviously no accountability. Our State is financially broke, the children aren't learning,..so where and why is the excess money being spent in the Youngstown schools? ...And why would the State keep pouring so much money into a system that has proven time after time to be a failure? I'm guessing nothing will change because no one has answers that are workable, while also being politically correct.
BTW, it's a gorgeous day,..I can't help but smile in spite of the endless problems in our society, and per Dr. G.'s suggestion, I just gave myself a <Hug>.
That was free hug advice, no charge.
Here is a suggestion, f**k politically correct and embrace reality. I am speaking in general terms, not just at Jessie. I think your response had logical points and was supported by facts as well.
The only way I can see any type of solution is to enact extremely stringent ramifications to those who are not on board with creating and raising acceptable members of society.
I mean, jesus, are we asking too much for a kid to show up at school 75% of the time? Asking a child to show effort in an attempt to learn basic life skills. These kids cannot read, write, or speak like humans. How can they envision anything more than minimum wage? The society we live in is regressing faster now than at any other point in history, if it ever was regressing in the past. All of the attempts thus far are a failure. Money, compassion, laws, blame. Nothing works, and the hammer must be dropped as it is the only solution.
Doctor G,... You might not know it, but your reply is Faith based on Judeo-Christian teachings. It's written in Scripture not to reward bad behavior, because rewarding bad behavior encourages more of the same type of behavior. If the vast number of obviously uninformed politicians would read Scripture for guidance they would be making laws for all of the right reasons, instead of what makes sense to them, to include being politically correct and self serving. Meanwhile the young students in Youngstown schools are continuing to be rewarded for not having any guidance or discipline in their lives, and are therefore instead of learning, being firmly set for a life of poverty from birth to death.
How sad and extremely tragic; those who desperately need taxpayers' help are not getting it, because of politically correct foolishness, on the part of those who should be working diligently to change things,..especially politicians like Gov. Strickland, who is also a Christian Minister, and who knows our government should be rewarding only good behavior in our schools, which ultimately, is for the well being of all.
In the meantime, Wendy Webb has an obligation to try her BEST to get parents and guardians involved in the discipline and learning process of their children, which will have a definite positive effect on their children's self-esteem. What could be better than genuinely helping to give children a wholesome hunger for learning?
I agree with Doc G, When I read this article, I realized someone needs to assume responsibility, and ultimately the Administration will have to except the blame and consequences. But in all honestly, they can only do so much because how to do you teach a bunch of crawlers that are being raised by a bunch of crawler parents? Ignorance is breeding ignorance and passing on their lack of values to their children. Just because you can have children doesn't mean you should. I’d like to know how many Youngstown parents have opened a 529 college savings plan for their children. And ignorance threatens our way of life just as much as external treats if not more. We are watching our great country implode from within because it’s bloated with ignorance and non-contributors. They are taught to depend on the Eagle to $hit in their mailbox each month. And let’s be honest, the less fortunate have all the income based incentives in front of them to better themselves, but they choose not. Parents are equally if not more to blame here. And just to set the record straight, I grew up in a single parent home on lower West Side of Youngstown near Steel Street and am living proof that you can crawl out from the bottom to make something of yourself.
National Skip School Day 09/08/09 Kids, teachers, cooks, bus drivers, administrators are allowed to call off also, send a message to DC.
Philobeto,... I HOPE Wendy Webb reads your message, and uses your impressive story to convey to her students that being under privileged doesn't mean they can't do great things if they try. "Prosperity is the fruit of education."
Lets be honest though, education has turned into a direct bureaucracy. A bunch of beaurocrats sitting in Columbus with nothing better to do than ruin the education system. What was wrong with old school education? They preach differentiated instruction yet everyone takes the same test!!
I suggest everyone take a time out and examine Canton's report card as compared to Youngstown's. There's not a huge difference, as the letter writer would have you all believe.
Maybe it's time to look at the tests or the way we test students as the real problem.
If your company was judged on a one day snapshot of your performance, the results might not be as rosy as you'd think.
It's amazing how Youngstown schools keeps taking more money from us taxpayers,yet year after year they operate in the red and provide us with the worst school system.Somehow a law needs to be passed to stop letting people that don't pay property taxes vote on issues decided by property value.It is well known that the school system makes sure that people in public housing get out and vote.
Gasp! People who live in America get to vote!!! What a shame...poor people should not be allowed apparently. Welcome to the 1820s.