Citzens for Better Schools - Anniston Chapter

Welcome to Citizens for Better Schools WHAT'S NEW: Ala Ed Budget Crisis - State Takes Fed Stimulus Funds Then Cuts State Funding SCHOOL TAKEOVER CORNER: BIRMINGHAM * DETROIT * SAINT LOUIS School Size and Grade Structure Brown Past 50 Symposium and Education Workshops Contact Citizens for Better Schools Education Statistics & Thumbnail Facts: School size not saving Detroit schools form chopping blocks - Economies of scale B'ham Superintendent Search: Edgecombe County - Birmingham City Schools NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND REAUTHORIZATION UPDATE PAGE - NOW OPEN BIRMINGHAM SCHOOL CLOSING WATCH: MORE SECRET MEETINGS 2007-2008 BIRMINGHAM SCHOOL CLOSINGS (HERE WE GO AGAIN - "DOWN SIZING, RIGHT SIZING, or CAPSIZING" ) Alabama School Districts Without One Month Reserve Fund More Busing in Birmingham With School Consolidations ALA'S #1 PROBLEM: TEACHER SEXUAL MISCONDUCT Blog Ala's Biggest Problem - Teacher Sexual Misconduct BIG SPENDERS - MOST COSTLY SCHOOLS NOT SMALL SCHOOLS The late Henry Sparks made Birmingham the financial envy of the state's education system Education Finance, Economics, & Budget Monitoring Despite Free Space in SomeSchools, Many Packed Classrooms(How are Birmingham Classrooms?) Class Size Comparison Changes For Parents - The Classroom Effects of Closing & Consolidating Schools COMING SOON: ** THE CHOICE: SCHOOL ZONING, BIG SCHOOLS - SMALL SCHOOLS (WHICH EDUCATES THE POOR BEST?) CLASS SIZE REDUCTION Education Research on School Size: School Climate and Academic Achievement Evidence Based Consequences of Increased School Size Curriculum and Instruction  BIRMINGHAM CITY SCHOOLS DECLINE: THEFT IN SCHOLS - INTERNAL CONTROLS LACKING Worhtless BOE Guidelines and Frame Work For Superintendent Stan Mims, Lay Citizen Advisory Task Force (BOE Policy 6170) Sabotaged In Education: Big Is Not Better - Research Finds Small Schools Better for Poor and Black Students Links About Birmingham City Schools The Good Common School Journal Thumbnail Facts: Birmingham Enrollment/ Teacher Loss Not Cause of $22 Million Bham BOE Losses Anniston Citizens for Better Schools FAIRFIELD CITIZENS FOR BETTER SCHOOLS Jefferson County (Alabama) School System: Sylacauga Citizens for Better Schools Citizens For Better Schools: Education Management and Leadership Special, Exceptional, and Gifted and Talented Education GOLD FACULTY - BROWN PAST 50 WORKSHOP: BEYOND NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND - FULFILLING THE PROMISE OF BROWN Contact Your School, State, and Federal Representation Here! Favorite Links: Legal Resources - College Funding Opportunity ALL SPORTS Birmingham - ALL THE TIME GENDER EQUITY: Public Schools, Segregated Schools? Phillips Academy - Crisis in Student School Bus Transportation WE ARE "HOKIES" TOO! Topic Index: BREAKING SCHOOL CLOSING NEWS ** Citizens for Better Schools

Anniston Chapter

 "The Job of the school is to teach so well that family background is no longer the issue" - Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Appendix, Education, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community, 1968 "Write this down: A Rich curriculum serves the poor as well as it does the well to do." - Joann Natale; Listen to Ms. Nina Simone   Ms. Nina Simone “To Be Young Gifted and Black – Open Your Mind to What I Mean” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDI1UvSv7pk&feature=related     

NEWS FLASH - BREARKING NEWS:

 

 

 

"The EXPRESS" - A MUST SEE MOVIE

In 1961 Syracuse University’s Ernie Davis became the first African American to win college football's most prestigious award, the Heisman Trophy, http://www.heisman.com/.  "The Express" is not just a motion picture about not an outstanding athlete, or only the life and times of Ernie Davis. It is the story of America becoming "a more perfect union."  Citizens for Better Schools encourage every family to see this movie.  Here's a preview: http://www.theexpressmovie.com/

See  "Express" trailers and scenes http://www.theexpressmovie.com/site.html#/videos/1/1/

Citizens for Better Schools encourages every family to see this movie and use it as a teachable moment in our schools, churches, businesses, and communities.

HOW “OPEN”

ARE ANNISTON SCHOOL BOARD “MEETINGS –TRANSPARENCY QUESTIONED – MEETING WITH STAR PUBLISHER MAY HAVE VIOLATED LAW School superintendent Joan Frazier, outgoing- school board members Robert (“Bob”) Etnire; Nathaniel Davis, returning school board members Jim Klinefelter and Bill Robison met with Anniston Star publisher Brandt Ayers to “discuss” a new reading program for Anniston City Schools’ students, and formation of  a “public education foundation” (organized by Ayers).  If formed it will be Anniston’s second public education foundation with in the past eight years.Not much is known how four of the five-member Anniston City Board of Education happened to be “gathered” at the private corporate offices of the Star on October 9, 2008.  Citizens for Better Schools’ Anniston’s Chapter has made a public records request for “minutes and material used or presented” during the October 9 gathering with Ayers. The public records request was presented to Joan Frazier who serves as the School Board’s Secretary.Questions loom large over whether proper public notice was given by the Anniston’s Board of Education regarding the nature and purpose of the October 9 school board meeting at the Anniston Star.  Letters were addressed to Calhoun County District Attorney Joe Hubbard and Alabama Attorney General Troy King requesting “investigation of the October 9, 2008 meeting regarding whether Anniston BOE members faithfully complied with the Open Meeting Act’s (OMA) public notice requirements.”  The OMA, passed in 2005, requires public notice be given about any “gathering” of a “quorum” of any public body during which discussion is undertaken of matters that may come before such body at a later date, regardless whether the gathering is prearranged or not.Under the OMA either a local District Attorney, the State Attorney General, or both, have responsibility for investigation and prosecution of possible OMA violations.In a press statement, Citizens for Better Schools said “the public has the inalienable right to be Notified and attend meetings such as the one held at the Anniston Star on October 9.  The school board and superintendent are equally obligated to not abridge the public’s right to be notified and attend any gathering of a quorum of the school board, unless expressly exempted by law.  The meeting at the Star did not rise to the standard of an exempt meeting under Alabama’s Open Meetings Act Punishment for violation of the OMA provides a maximum personal fine of $1,000 per member attending an unlawful meeting under the Open Meeting act.  

SCHOOL BOARD "CHANGE" ELECTION ADDS 3 NEW MEMBERS TO ANNISTON SCHOOL BOARD 

Anniston election results

 http://www.annistonstar.com/showcase/2008/as-electioncentral-1008-0-8j07w5152.htm

 

The runoff election for Anniston’s “At-Large” (i.e., city-wide) school board seat marked an historic moment. For the first time Anniston’s school board membership will be predominantly African American, reflecting the racial composition of the City’s school district, which has seen an unrelenting exodus of white students from the school district, although the city’s population remains predominantly white.

 

Defeated incumbents, members of Anniston’s first elected school board, included school board president Nathaniel Davis, and Robert (“Bob”) Etnire. Incumbent school board member Vivian Thompson did not seek reelection after serving two terms on the school board. Incumbents returning to Anniston’s school board are William (“Bill”) Robinson and “Jim” Klinfelter.

 

Dramatic change in school board members comes on the heels of long standing, and unresolved, problems in the school district. The Southern Associating of Colleges and Schools citied Anniston High School for violation of SACS standards; the Alabama State Department of Education list Anniston's school district as “fiscally unsound” due to a lack of sufficient operating reserve funds; repeated violation of ALSDE purchase order accounting rules; Anniston High failed to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) academic standards required by the No Child Left Behind Act; overall enrollment continues to decline; the school district remains under federal court order to desegregate its administration and  faulty; with Anniston among the lowest tier of school districts with local revenue support for education.

 

Without doubt the newly elected school board members face enormous challenges.  This election, however, may be the opportunity to begin authentically “Structuring schools for success – Making the vision work for all students.”  With three veteran education professionals newly elected, expectations of progressive change are high. And with state pro-ration (school fund cuts due to shortfall in state revenue) breathing down the necks of school districts, the luxury of time will not be on the new board’s side - “Transition” will be on a fast-track and steep curves..

 

Other than the public consensus that “change” was needed in Anniston City Schools, school board campaigns where short on discussion of specific policy issues school board members will surely face.  For example, keeping the struggling school district afloat financially, improving academic performance at the high school, and closing the huge racial academic gap of Anniston students compared with state norms, as reported by the Alabama State Department of Education. All of these critical issues will press the new school board.

 

However, the most important task immediately facing our new school board is reconnecting with and building public confidence in Anniston’s school system. This can only be done by school board members insisting on open government and crystal clear transparency, which must be the rule and not the exception,  in all operations of the school district, including its decision making process. This can be achieved only by empowering the public to be more involved and constantly engaged in the operation of our schools.  Successful school districts involve citizens beyond school “fund raisers.” Successful schools build support by having citizens involved on the front-end of the decision-making processes in critical areas of school policy and administration; numerous state and federal laws mandate such involvement. Public involvement should be welcome by any school board as an asset (and should not be seen as a worrisome liability).

 

Annistonians will soon learn whether they have elected progressive change or more of the same.  Which it will be will depend on the level of community activism.  Elections are the beginning and not the end.  Monitoring post election governance is a daily requirement.  “It is the duty of the citizen to keep government form falling into error.”

 

Congratulations to newly elected Anniston school board members. Serve the people well.

  

Ronald E. Jackson

Executive Director

Citizens for Better Schools

 

 Wall Street woes threaten student loan financing
Bank Limits Fund Access by Colleges, Inciting Fears
New York Times Report  Wachovia Bank has limited the access of nearly 1,000 colleges to $9.3 billion the bank has held for them, raising worries about meeting payrolls and other obligations.Read the story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/education/02college.html?ref=education

 

 

 

 

Selma High student is county's only National Scholarship Achievement Program semifinalist http://www.selmatimesjournal.com/news/2008/sep/24/selma-high-student-countys-only-national-scholarsh/ (Where is Anniston High's National Scholarship Achivement Semifinalist?)

Join Citizens for Better Schools in "Structuring Schools for Success - Making the Vision Work for All Students," regardless of where they may live and attend school. 

Coming Soon:Citizens for Better Schools to Launch“Grassroots'Community Conversations"   Public Education in Anniston is in crisis.  
  • ·         Dropout rates are at an all time high. 
  • ·         The school district is fiscally unsound.  
  • ·         Academic achievement is on the decline in our high school 
  •     Student and Faculty Attendance is too low
  • ·         Student enrollment, system as a whole, is in decline, jeopardizing state and federal funding. 
ANNISTON IS IN NEED OF A SYSTEMIC AND COMPREHENSIVE TURNAROUND – A “GOOD COMMMON SCHOOL PLAN”
Citizens for Better Schools is set to launch “Grassroots Community Conversations for Better Schools” If you believe Anniston students deserve a world-class education and are willing to work on “Structuring Schools for Success – Making the Vision Work for All Students – BE A “COMMUNITY SCHOOL LEADER” FOR OUR CHLDREN - ATTEND CITIZENS FOR BETTER SCHOOLS PLANNING WORK SESSION ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18 AT 1:00 PM AT THE ALL SAINTS CATHOLIC CHURCH 1112 WEST, ANNISTON, ALABAMA 36201 (256-237-9230)  
Encourage Your Child: Listen to Ms. Nina Simone, “To Be Young Gifted and Black - Open Your Mind to What I Mean.”    
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDI1UvSv7pk&feature=related  
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Anniston City Schools Budget Analysis – More Deficits, Inadequate Spending on Instructional Services, Fiscally Unsound Condition     - CAN ANNISTON’S SCHOOL SYSTEM SURVIVE?   - Southern Association of Colleges and Schools demands reform. Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?  Is A "State Takeover" ahead for Anniston City Schools?  Will Anniston City Schools Be Dissolved and Merged Into the Calhoun County School System; Will Anniston High Be Closed?  These are the great issues confronting Anniston's new school board, with the last Board of Education member's seat set to be decided in the Tuesday, October 7, 2008 city-wide school board runoff election between an incumbent board member and a retired educator. 
Anniston High School (Photo Below) failed to make AYP, ftp://ftp.alsde.edu/documents/ReportCards/2006-2007/105/1050010.pdf   "Write this down: A rich curriculum serves the poor as well as it does the well to do” JoAnn Natalie.    WHAT WILL ANNISTON VOTERS DECIDE, MORE OF THE SAME OR CHANGE?  TELL US WHAT YOU THINK, E-MAIL YOUR THOUGHTS TO cfbsk12@aol.com or Telephone (205) 478-7183 
 
 

"Write this down: A rich curriculum serves the poor as well as it does the well to do." 

Congratulations,Citizens for Better Schools' -Executive Director Wins National Award for Public Interest Work

 

jackson 

Ronald E. Jackson, Citizens for Better Schools Executive Director  - Read more about our Executive Director’s public interest work here: http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/4351

"OMB Watch is the offensive guard of the public interest community." John Podesta President and CEO Center for American Progress, formeerly Chief of Staff for President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton ) http://www.ombwatch.org/images/25th/jacksonpodesta.jpghttp://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/4351

The Good Common School Journal: