tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-215876249171130248.post6908847029989469134..comments2024-03-26T08:29:17.507-05:00Comments on another blog about school: School board agenda for January 26Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07559356125770114400noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-215876249171130248.post-43161705600213219312016-01-27T00:10:55.013-06:002016-01-27T00:10:55.013-06:00How much of cutting discretionary bussing tonight ...How much of cutting discretionary bussing tonight is due to the forthcoming increases in bussing costs due to distant junior highs for Alexander, Kirkwood & the need to pay for their activity busses? And perhaps there is some foreknowledge of probable increased bussing costs following likely elementary redistricting this spring?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-215876249171130248.post-14357327320350735042016-01-26T15:05:18.340-06:002016-01-26T15:05:18.340-06:00Anonymous 1, 2 and 3 -- I think the argument that ...Anonymous 1, 2 and 3 -- I think the argument that will be presented is this: Resources are scarce and there is a strong argument for concentrating them on low-socio-economic-status (low-SES) students. We're seeing a big proficiency gap with our low-SES students. Sara's right that we also need data that is specific to racial minority status. But either way, there are good reasons to focus scarce resources on those gaps, and making sure the affected kids can get to school is a threshold piece of reducing those gaps.<br /><br />As to those neighborhoods that currently receive discretionary busing for non-SES-related reasons, I think the argument will be that if those kids are going to be on a bus anyway, we might as well see if we can use that busing to reduce socio-economic disparities between schools, on the theory that if the schools are more "balanced" socioeconomically, we will have more success addressing those proficiency issues among affected groups. In other words, that we should consider either (1) cutting that busing and applying that money elsewhere, or (2) keeping that busing, but assigning those neighborhoods to different schools if it will help create socioeconomic balance, and that we should get some feedback from those neighborhoods about which of those options they would prefer and accommodate that preference if there are practical ways to do that.<br /><br />What are your thoughts about that argument? <br /><br />As for busing kids to secondary schools that are farther away when there are schools within walking distance, I do have concerns about that. I don't think we should achieve "balance" at the expense of kids from our highest-poverty attendance areas. The current plan, for example, will bus the kids from Alexander Elementary (on the far southeast side of Iowa City) to junior high in Coralville and then to West High, when they are much closer to Southeast Junior High and somewhat closer to City than to West -- spending a significant amount of money on buses in the process. I'm open to the arguments for using busing to help our kids from high-poverty neighborhoods, but I would need to be convinced that the kids from (for example) Alexander will actually be better off because of those boundaries. I have real doubts that they will be. I would like to see the board revisit the issue of secondary boundaries for that reason. At a recent board work session, however, it was clear that there were not four votes for revisiting that issue. I think it would at least make sense to think again about revisiting them after we've settled the new elementary boundaries.<br /><br />Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07559356125770114400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-215876249171130248.post-53535908383240130342016-01-26T14:26:22.851-06:002016-01-26T14:26:22.851-06:00I could not agree more with this post. Thank you ...I could not agree more with this post. Thank you for voicing my thoughts. My son is not "at risk" but not having a bus would put his attendance, but more likely my job, in jeopardy. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-215876249171130248.post-30339255214139323422016-01-26T13:24:55.006-06:002016-01-26T13:24:55.006-06:00Cutting discretionary busing for students who live...Cutting discretionary busing for students who live close to two miles away or who have to cross highways - but then adding busing for kids to move them away from their closest Junior High AND adding the potential cost of an activities bus? Why are we flushing money away on transportation!? This is so backwards it just makes no sense.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-215876249171130248.post-14644831814007635232016-01-26T12:41:17.015-06:002016-01-26T12:41:17.015-06:00Thanks for the link, Chris. That seems like good n...Thanks for the link, Chris. That seems like good news about the early literacy programming. BUT. Other than a demographic breakdown of the student population at Twain, I don't see race mentioned anywhere in these documents. How do we solve our racial disparities if we don't discuss them directly?Sara Barronnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-215876249171130248.post-34087500506634192632016-01-26T10:21:45.991-06:002016-01-26T10:21:45.991-06:00For kids who live close to 2 miles away from their...For kids who live close to 2 miles away from their assigned elementary school who come from middle class families where both parents work, not getting a discretionary bus is a big risk for not getting to school and harming their educational achievement. <br /><br />If distant discretionary bus routes are cut, then every effort should be made to assign children to their closest school which is the most walkable. <br /> <br />Safety should be a factor also. Crossing RR tracks without arms, 30-40 minute walks in freezing temps, navigating through busy intersections or roundabouts without a crossing guard or crossing signal; these are all factors that need to be considered and the safety of all children whether rich or poor or somewhere in the middle needs to be of the utmost importance. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-215876249171130248.post-1334460731611982682016-01-26T09:24:37.279-06:002016-01-26T09:24:37.279-06:00Sara -- Thanks for the comment. It's a huge i...Sara -- Thanks for the comment. It's a huge issue and you're right that we can't just move on. For what it's worth: we do have a discussion of early literacy education (and in particular its implementation at Twain Elementary) on the agenda tonight. Info <a href="http://www.boarddocs.com/ia/iccsd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=A656ZR13A358" rel="nofollow">here</a>. I didn't list it separately because I think it will mostly be review of the discussion we had at our <a href="http://www.boarddocs.com/ia/iccsd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=A3WP485CA478" rel="nofollow">Education Committee meeting</a> last week. I do think the board is very conscious of the problem you're identifying, though I'm not sure we're of one mind about how to address it.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07559356125770114400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-215876249171130248.post-60403342565109210422016-01-26T08:23:10.003-06:002016-01-26T08:23:10.003-06:00Chris, at your last meeting you learned that our s...Chris, at your last meeting you learned that our schools are failing to educate over half of our Black and Latinx students to the standards of basic proficiency. How is this not explicitly on every agenda until it is fixed?Sara Barronnoreply@blogger.com