Hey boardmanneedschange - Sorry to disappoint you, but Dr. Webb does have supporters, although not many are showing up in this stream of comments, and I am not Dr. Webb -- I don't even live in OH, but do take an interest in Y-Town as someone who once lived in the great city that is no more. It is sad to see how talent has been skimmed from the district by surrounding areas. Some food for thought regarding poverty and low performing school districts can easily be found on the ODE website concerning the 10 lowest school districts in the state of OH -- all of them have very high rates of poverty:
District Performance Index Score Youngstown 70.2 Dayton 70.8 Cleveland Metro 71.8 East Cleveland 73.8 Jefferson Township 75.4 Mansfield City 76.1 Warrensville Heights 76.5 Warren City 77.0 Springfield City 78.1 Lorain City 78.6
There is a reason that Y-Town has such a high level of failure when it comes to public education, but it is a much bigger issue than blaming the Superintendent -- in fact, removing the Superintendent is akin to a football team firing the coach when a team has a losing season. This usually makes the problem worse. If the board of education, community members, and teacher's union would work collaboratively with Dr. Webb to realize her vision for YCSD, many of the list of gripes here could be remedied. Instead of being reactive, Y-Town could be proactive in moving the district forward. This is not a political issue, but rather a change issue. The Valley has been so resistant to change for so many years, that many people would rather live in poverty and a cycle of failure while holding on to the glory days than actually enter the 21st. Century. Look to the future and stop looking at the past - it's over - the steel mills are gone, the jobs are gone, and many of the people are gone - get on board with a new vision and the community will go places!
Youngstown falls to worst in state
Hey boardmanneedschange - Sorry to disappoint you, but Dr. Webb does have supporters, although not many are showing up in this stream of comments, and I am not Dr. Webb -- I don't even live in OH, but do take an interest in Y-Town as someone who once lived in the great city that is no more. It is sad to see how talent has been skimmed from the district by surrounding areas. Some food for thought regarding poverty and low performing school districts can easily be found on the ODE website concerning the 10 lowest school districts in the state of OH -- all of them have very high rates of poverty:
District Performance Index Score
Youngstown 70.2
Dayton 70.8
Cleveland Metro 71.8
East Cleveland 73.8
Jefferson Township 75.4
Mansfield City 76.1
Warrensville Heights 76.5
Warren City 77.0
Springfield City 78.1
Lorain City 78.6
Less poverty = Higher achievement!
August 28, 2009 at 4:50 p.m. permalink suggest removal
Youngstown falls to worst in state
There is a reason that Y-Town has such a high level of failure when it comes to public education, but it is a much bigger issue than blaming the Superintendent -- in fact, removing the Superintendent is akin to a football team firing the coach when a team has a losing season. This usually makes the problem worse. If the board of education, community members, and teacher's union would work collaboratively with Dr. Webb to realize her vision for YCSD, many of the list of gripes here could be remedied. Instead of being reactive, Y-Town could be proactive in moving the district forward. This is not a political issue, but rather a change issue. The Valley has been so resistant to change for so many years, that many people would rather live in poverty and a cycle of failure while holding on to the glory days than actually enter the 21st. Century. Look to the future and stop looking at the past - it's over - the steel mills are gone, the jobs are gone, and many of the people are gone - get on board with a new vision and the community will go places!
August 27, 2009 at 4:20 p.m. permalink suggest removal