As kids die, board ponders more power for parents
Last night's city school board meeting was the longest in ages, and that's even after Dr. Alonso spared us a 54-page PowerPoint presentation about Fair Student Funding (tabled til next time). There was plenty of drama to go around, perhaps most notably the outburst by the activist known as Grandma Edna, who said she was there representing a 10-year-old girl afraid to go to school because her teacher punched a classmate. Angry that she hasn't gotten a response about a character education program she wants city schools to adopt, Grandma Edna essentially accused the system of being complicit in the murders of the 25 city youth who have been killed this year -- nine of them since the start of the academic year and four in the past month, including one on school grounds. Board chair Brian Morris led a moment of silence for the slain children at the beginning of the meeting, and Grandma Edna was one of many to refer to them in the four hours that followed.
So what did the board actually do in that time? It voted to close schools on Inauguration Day, urging parents to make the day a family learning opportunity. It approved the creation of three new charter schools (one KIPP and two City Neighbors), expanding parents' options. (Five charter applications were on the table, but the board rejected The Stadium School's application to convert into a charter, and a motion to create the Foundations Charter School died for lack of a second.)
The board also reviewed proposed changes to the parent and community engagement policy, to be voted on Jan. 13. The proposal requires each school to have a School Family Council (replacing the school improvement team) with two parents and two community representatives who give the CEO feedback on the budget process and principal selection.
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
I THINK IT SHOULD BE A PARENTS DECISION TO SEND THE CHILD TO SCHOOL OR ALLOW THEM TO STAY HOME FOR THE INAUGURATION. SCHOOLS NEED TO OPEN.
Posted by: MARK | December 10, 2008 10:22 AM
Hi Sara,
Say---when are city parents gonna stop blaming all the "institutions" for kid's dying or being afraid. If a teacher punched a kid---THAT would be a first, am I right? Only in a continuous victimized culture (baltimore city being a perfect example) where teacher's are attacked all the time could Grandma Edna come in with her tale of woe. And what uncompassionate person could dispute an elderly woman? 25 kids are dead in Baltimore because we're a freakin VIOLENT-ASS city.
Kudos for sitting through that nonsense.
Posted by: Alonzo D. LaMont, Jr. | December 10, 2008 10:37 AM
For those who are viewing from within the BCPSS system, you should use this link because the other one won't work.
It's great to have a policy, but still another to actually put it into practice. Many schools do not have a School Improvement Team/School Family Council/Call It Whatever You Want that is worth discussing. Like so many other things in the city, some schools will only pay lip service to the idea of having such a group; some will not invite community members, and some will invite the community but not receive a response. These schools get out of the groups exactly what goes into them.
Posted by: Claude | December 10, 2008 12:27 PM
A former chair of a school improvement team I can tell you the team is only as good as the administrator in the building. I had the opportunity to serve my school as the chair of the SIT under two principals. Under the first the team operated as the school's board of directors and a lively exchange of ideas and spirit of collaboration was encouraged. Goals and strategies were addressed and progress was made. Parents, students and the community were invited and they participated. Under the second the SIT became a contentious organization of factions looking out for themselves, parents and community members were discouraged to participate and when the SIT made a decision that was counter to the wishes of the principal she simply countermanded it and did what she wanted to do many times with out the support of the school community to disastrous effect. This team whatever you call it will only be worth the effort it is given real power independent of the schools administration; as you can see from this tale of two teams.
Posted by: A Former Teacher | December 14, 2008 5:10 PM