Paquin has a VERY small population. Most girls stay in their schools now until their babies are born. I teach at a city-wide program and we have several pregnant students and teen moms at this time. They never sought to transfer to paquin. Sara, do you know the actual size of the school (enrollment)?

Closing zone schools like Thurgood/ Banks isnt going to solve the problems we have. The disruptive students will go somewhere else and be disruptive. Let's discipline these students for their actions with the same swiftness we decided to close the schools, then see how behavior changes.

For what it's worth, I've heard from one principal that the BSO is hoping that the students in their program will all be able to move, as a group, to the same school, so that the program can continue in the new building. They're also exploring moving the program to another school, whether the same students manage to follow or not.

I agree with concerned teacher... simply closing the failing schools is not going to solve the problems...faiiling high schools have students who have not been successful throughout the middle and in most cases elementary schools. These students arrive on the doors of high schools who are forced in a four year span to perform a miracle in four years which has not been performed in the eight or ten years.(if they have repeated and they often do)

I wonder with the closing of Thurgood and Banks who will stand at the gate to ensure that the remaining neighborhood high schools in the area does not absorb the problems that caused them to be unsuccessful in their current location.

Put aside the issue that closing the schools like my TMHS and my neighbor Banks doesn't solve anything. We all know that. I think we need to draw focus on what this central office DID NOT do instead of what they did. The teachers of TMHS have called North Avenue for help many times. The school has been habitually placed under weak or unorganized leadership.

The teachers, for the most part as we all have a bad egg or two, work every day to educate the students of TMHS but the administration has never pulled its weight (save for one assistant principal Ms. Wedington). At the beginning of this year we had an acting principal that had previously been a very vindictive and otherwise morale crushing assistant principal. The teachers at TMHS appealed to Dr. Alonso personally, asking that he help save the school and give us one strong leader. The person sent in to do the job was (literally) more of the same.

More blaming teachers, more coming to work late, more leaving early, more not clearing the halls, more hiding in the principal's office... More failure. TMHS didn't fail the school system, the school system failed TMHS. It waited, and waited, and waited to offer aid and when that aid finally came it was in the form of a crushing blow both to the teachers' morale and to our fate.

Two weeks ago Mr. Kevin Parson was reassigned to our building. Mr. Parson has been at my door to say good morning every day. He is constantly in the halls, and already on a first name basis with the majority of students. My hallways have never been clearer or quieter, and the habitual hall walkers that once roamed free of fear are now (at the very least) avoiding their usual hangout spots. Where was this help in August? Mr. Parson may have been busy, but there are many more like him.

I feel hurt this morning, something I didn't expect as I knew the school should close as it has failed to improve over the four years I was there. However, nonetheless, I was really hurt. Dr. Alonso failed my school, and as such he has failed to keep me as a teacher. Those of you that are here regularly reading know my passion and commitment to provide a solid education for Baltimore's youth, but I won't work for a man who ignores the real problems in pursuit of more press friendly goals and then simply thinks he can "close" his failures away in board meetings.

Dr. Alonso, sir, you have failed me.. and I am closing you.

Post reply @Brandon
I understand your out cry and thank you for identifying the echoing major concern problem I share with accessing the strengths/weakness abilities of this CEO, his true visible primary weakness trait (is the lack there of) from AAA is in not demonstrating truth, trust, teamwork and flexibility.

@Brandon, IEP, et al. - No question, your frustrations are valid. After watching the school board meeting last night, I left with two major takeaways:

(1) The district/central office needs to do a better job at informing the public about the whole picture. Many parents and students brought forth valid concerns, and their frustrations are extremely unfortunate. There seems to have been a lack of meaningful communication between the decision-makers, the stakeholders, and the constituents. I think if the central office had refined the messaging of the effort, a more smooth transition may have resulted. There's always need for improvement, and this is a critical area of focus.

(2) Looking at the school closures in a vacuum doesn't do justice to the scope of the reforms. I think the ultimate question comes down to opportunity costs (not in the financial sense but the entire resource-allocation sense, including human capital, facilities, citywide reform, etc). Brandon's probably right. It would have been possible to focus resources on TMHS and turnaround the school. But, the whole picture includes the opening of 6 new Transformation Schools next year. It's not just a closing, it's a closing and an opening. If the Transformation Schools progress and achieve as their initial results suggest, these schools will be highly successful. The "cost" of focusing all resources on one or two high schools would limit the ability to engage in new school creation. Creating programs whose start-ups are based on successful, best-practice models is much more efficient than concentrating all energy on a few of the most challenged schools. Next year, roughly 1000 secondary students will be affected by closed schools. On the other hand, over 1400 students will gain the benefit of attending a new Transformation School. In three years, these Transformation schools will account for over 2500 secondary students. When faced with this balancing equation, the "costs" seem more justified.

There's definitely an argument to be made that the Transformation Schools are unproven. However, early indications seem to suggest that they will be successful. Based on that limited information, the decision to close schools for which 8th graders are NOT choosing in favor of new programs that are currently over-chosen, seems fair and in the best interests of the students. Don't get me wrong, the hurt feelings of everyone involved are decidedly problematic. But in any major reform effort, the option that provides the greatest opportunity to the greatest number of students will win out. In this case, I think that's what happened.

One little addition, Brandon, I promise you that Dr. Alonso does not make decisions on the basis of good press. He reflects on these important decisions to no end, and whether or not good press will result doesn't hit the calculus.

As a small example, I'll point to the Bridge data issue that Sara brought up a few days ago. When she was skeptical about a few numbers, we received an email from him that essentially said, "The Sun should not be doing our due diligence. We need to know where every student is. Saying that he/she dropped out is no longer good enough, we need to know why, where he/she is now, and we need to make decisions based on how to prevent this from happening to other students. We should have this information not because the press wants it; we should have it so that we're doing our jobs."

He expects exceptional work product at all levels of the district, and he couldn't care less whether bad press results so long as people are working for the best interests of students. Of course good press helps to maintain momentum for reform, but this is a collateral issue that's not at all central to the decision-making process. As much as I may be criticized for "drinking the kool-aid," I'm passionate about the work because I'm inspired to work for someone with such dedication and drive - not for his own career, but for the future of the students in the district. Just thought I'd add that.

@Bill - "It's not just a closing, it's a closing and an opening."

If there was ever any doubt that you are an Alonso apologist, this should certainly provide clarification for some readers.

I doubt that were many people who were more excited and hopeful than I when Dr. Alonso came to Baltimore. Unfortunately, within 9 months it was clear that, while his intentions may be good, his process is extremely disruptive and damaging to students and staff. I have experienced this first-hand, in the schools. I'm sure you have a different perspective from North Ave., having taught 2 whole years in Baltimore.

Inside Ed @ Bill

Lets be fare and realistic here, viewing from afar AAA performance at school board meetings by way of a audio/visual screen does not give you or anyone a superior level of critical insight into this man visions and values. I say this because since his arrival here in July 2007 I have had one-on-one lunch meeting/discussions several in order to give my actual opinion of AAA.

It's not about being frustrated you miss interpreted by stereotyping together our expressed concerns as one of your own word descriptions about our measurements of this mans demonstrated core values and actions being projected. Not done well from afar Bill.

OMG, is there any chance that AAA could just speak for himself? He needs to speak in such a way that we can all comprehend without others having to interpret for him. Seriously,all the retelling of what AAA
means/thinks/feels/believes
is getting to be too much. If the CEO wants the school family community supporters to get behind his program,he needs to communicate more clearly with those of us he serves! The communication needs to be more timely and in greater detail.Otherwise, AAA needs to stop acting like he cares what we think and needs to stop expecting us to get in line like a bunch of six year olds.

Should first year teachers not have an opinion about education in Baltimore?

What about 4th-year teachers? Is that enough experience?

Can you, Avalon, not say that a legal doctrine should be unconstitutional because you've never been to law school? Am I forever more knowledgeable about business laws because I took a semester-long class? Can I never tell a superior that he/she is right or wrong because they have more "experience" than me? Can you never have an opinion about the regulation of credit default swaps because you've never worked as an analyst on Wall St?

I've said this to the 10th degree, I get the whole 2 year thing. But it's getting a bit old and tired.

You're right, judge Dr. Alonso on his own merit. I'm just speaking from the perspective of a young citizen of the City who thinks it's a pretty exciting time to be here.

@brandon - For what's its worth, I wouldn't go making major decisions on the basis of what Alonso does or does not do. From the looks of things, he will not be long for Charm City unless he significantly changes his MO. Heck, even Anirban Basu is now disagreeing with some of his proposals. Brian Morris, major supporter, is going off the board. When the messiness from this reorg starts hitting the fan ..

At any rate, it's like my pa, who was a teacher, used to say "The only good administrator is a dead one." Leaving Charm City Schools doesn't necessarily guarantee you a happy teaching life. You do what you gotta do, but I hate to see good teachers leave my hometown. Look on the bright side: think how much fun it will be in that big caravan of folks escorting AAA to the airport on that glorious day.

Like I wrote above. Alonso sent his people into my building this year, promised us a grand new future with strong leadership and a new direction. He raised our morale, he gave us hope, and then he sent us a principal who did nothing with the building, ignored problems, ignored teacher input, and spent 90% of his time in his office trying to draft PIPS for teachers.

Bill I was lied to and my students were lied to. I don't care about data and opportunistic thinking. My employer, the man who came into this city on the wings of hope and change is a shallow liar who ignored the problems at TMHS just like all those before him.

I've had the pleasure of meeting with AAA several times, and many of those times he promised to come to TMHS to offer aid, and every time I thought the message had finally gotten through. TMHS wasn't a lost cause, it could be fixed, and he would listen to the teachers that kept it afloat this time... and he never failed to disappoint me.

My point isn't that the school shouldn't close, my point is that the school failed because the Board failed to help it years before it reached critical mass. Bill we call out your lack of experience because you write with such an inflated tone of authority.

The simple truth is, you haven't fought my fight, you haven't danced my dance, you haven't torn every fiber of your being in half trying to find some help for young students only to be habitually and ritualistically denied over and over.

And if you HAVE done these things, what the hell are you defending the malignant liar for?

I may find a school in the city, but I certainly am not limiting my field anymore. And if I do find a new home in BCPSS, you can be sure that I won't look to AAA or any of his lapdogs for help again. He's modeled his response enough times for me to move on to my own independent practice.

@Bill - As the saying goes, "opinions are like a@@holes - everybody has one". You are certainly entitled to your opinion. As for "getting a bit old and tired"? That's how it feels to read your posts. It's one of the reasons I've been avoiding this blog lately.

Well, Brandon, Bill, et al,

I can see that feelings and opinions have altered over the year and they are still as strong and volatile as ever. As a teacher at a school that will receive some of these displaced students, I can say that we as a staff are highly concerned. Some of these schools house students that left us because of neighborhood conflicts and now they are returning??? Great. AAA has only been to our school once this year--for a photo op. He talks a great game but I have yet to see any positive results from all of this. I will say that the need to close schools should be looked at also from an economic level. BCPSS has far too many buildings to properly maintain and not enough students to adequately populate the buildings. From that level, yes, we should close the buildings. However, closing because of "failure"--however that is measured--sends the wrong message. Let's do the right thing for the right reasons. Every employee of BCPSS has the right to an opinion about the efficacy of the system but this is one system where experience does give a certain amount of perspective. As I have said previously, this system used to be highly regarded because there was a history and vested interest by parents, students and teachers. That cannot be achieved when we can't even follow the same set of standards for more than three years at a time. I feel sorry for newer teachers in the system as they are trying very hard and not receiving the support necessary to see the results that I have. I can only do what is within my power; maybe they will learn that lesson before they move on.

@Avalon -
I guess we all have our own turn-offs. Mine is the general hostile nature of a lot of posts lately. Being passionate about education in Baltimore City is great, but personal attacks turn my stomach. We have different perspectives and concerns and priorities and discussing issues from those different viewpoints is instructive and interesting IMHO. Saying that since you don't agree with me you're a (pick whatever rude and dismissive term you like that's been used here) doesn't advance your issue and probably turns off more people than just me.

Another turn-off for me is posts that don't appear to be written following generally accepted rules of English so that reading them is like an annoying puzzle (I'm talking way more than the occasional spelling error). Something my high school teacher taught me was that after a certain number of spelling and gramatical errors they would stop reading and it didn't matter how good my ideas were, the paper was being thrown out. Just my opinion.

@Avalon, sorry to have that effect. Next time you see my name at the end, feel more than free to skip over it. I promise, what I write really isn't that important.

@Brandon, I really hope you find a place in the City where you feel like you maximize your teaching abilities and feel rewarded for the efforts.

@Brandon - As a side note, Ms. Weddington used to by my assistant principal at Vivien T. Thomas. She's a fantastic person.

@ a parent - I see no hostility on this blog. A bit of "snarkyness", but no hostility. If you want to see real hostility, go visit a soapmaking forum!

Children are the most adaptable humans in this equations. I think it is the adults that are afraid of the changes. The children have been shifting schools for years.

@ OverTheTop-I think you are right, the adults are the issue and not the agents of change. We continue to teach and use policies as if it were 50 years ago. Students in that era were educated as products not people. Today we do the same thing, except the world has changed around us! Adults (read teachers, parents, administrators, etc.) must get with it, and show the same adaptability that many of our students must have to even survive!

Brandon--

But why quit because of Alonso?

He is just the latest arrogant reformer (and some people need to believe his story--they are not apologists for him, but apologists for a certain story about america, public education, segregation and inequality.) Power corrupts and you have seen it first hand.

But if you punk out then what happens?

Get back in the trench brother, for part of the fight now is against pompous reformers and to work for social justice not just better test scores.

Alonso and his partisans are lost in their own illusions of moral superiority while the social reality for the dispossessed in Baltimore has changed not at all.

Wow, it's been a while since I have had time to read and post and boy did I miss some fireworks!

First off, thanks to all who read, think about and post ideas here. I know it's just pixels and thoughts, but having a stimulating discussion might drive some new actions.

Second off, I appreciate Bill's thick skin - it was getting personal and shouldn't.

Third off, while I understand feeling let down with the leadership, I don't think that is a reason to give up. Brandon - come and apply to other schools where those in central office have less impact and good leadership is the norm.

And finally, here are my thoughts about school closings:

1) I love the outpouring of support. Really, I do. My question is, where the heck are all of these folks during the regular school day? I know parents are busy, heck, I am a parent of 3 kids in the city schools. But I also know that (to paraphrase an old song), "6 nights of ignoring and one night of showing up means the chances of success are 6 to 1" I understand that there was a high turn out at Lammel when there was a meeting there a few weeks ago - alum, community members, current staff and students as well as families showed up to protest the closing. While I love that, it is simply not enough to show up in the 11th hour. That school has been failing for years and years.

2) When do we say enough? I hear that many educators and others want to suspend or expel kids when they have reached a limit, when do we say the same for a school? After 3 years of failure? 5 years? 10 years? The first school I worked at in this city was failing when I worked there in the early/mid 90's. Guess what? It is still failing. It has had many leaders, many CEO's and many teachers. It's time to cut it and many others loose. While I know there are some excellent leaders who can turn around failing schools without zero basing the staff and starting from scratch, there aren't many and starting with a whole new plan is easier - not easy mind you, just easier.

3) While I too have waited for central office to send help in many of the schools I have worked in, what I have come to realize is that just like "big gov'ment" sending in help, that rarely happens. It's time for school leaders to put up or shut up. It's time for the unions and the teachers to stop waiting for outsiders to fix what is going on. And it's time to stop blaming everyone else for the failures. As a teacher and school leader, I am not expecting things to get better in one day, week, month or even year. I expect to push everyone in my building to try harder, to work towards mission and vision, to stop making excuses for why things can't get better, to stop waiting for "someone" else to fix things and to start doing their job. We have fights, fires and hall walkers, we have suspensions, detentions and power struggles, we have gang kids, tagging and teachers (and administrators) getting cursed out. That's life right now. That's the challenge right now. Through hard work, tears and more hard work ("you said hard work twice - that's because it takes twice as much hard work as it does tears" name the movie) we also have kids who come in over spring break to scrub desks, put up bulletin boards, move boxes of books, and generally try and make this a better school. We have kids who realize we are not, adults and kids, at war with each other. We all want the same thing - a safe school where every respects the learning process - and we just need to figure out how to get there. We stumble, fail, succeed and try again. We are not satisfied even with the best success. We are not afraid of our failures, we are not ashamed of trying and trying again.

This has been a long post and I thank those who have read this far. AAA isn't the savior, he's a guy who wants what's best for the kids. He isn't always right but he is coming from the right place. I am glad these schools were closed, for the kids and for the communities. And for those good teachers who work tirelessly in those schools and want to continue to do so, there are places where that is happening.

My feet are tired but my will is strong.

Well we know the neighborhood high school will always be around in some form. So go ahead and close Banks and TMHS, we'll still have others. Reality is you need somewhere for the kids who don't make a real choice or that the "transformation" school don't want. After all you have to have somewhere to send the kids that charters and transformation schools don't want.

I'm ok with having the kids nobody else wants. In fact I'm up for the fight. However I'm sick of people acting like these new schools are in the same game. It's a whole different field they play in. People can say all they want about these schools being the same, but they are not.

I'm sick of seeing the new kids in my school because they "didn't fit at the transformation school". Funny the kids who don't fit at my neighborhood school get the big FU from the system. Go ahead and tell me it's not happening, I'll give you a dozen names in just the last month.

Oh, special ed.... not much with that at our friendly transformation. Send them to their zone school. There is a zone school in SW that has close to 30% sped. Since every school in that area won't take the kids guess who does. Seems the small schools can't serve them, funny guess that's not much of a real reform tool. Stop the PR lies.

Bill I don't care how long you've taught, I just think you are the blog voice of AAA. Brandon, come on man, you're in a tough school and situation. That said I wouldn't hire you because you're to busy trying to be a victim, get in line there are thousands.

IO - well said and motivating.

R?R? - extremely fair and well articulated. No doubt, your zone/others analysis likely will be the single biggest challenge no matter the reform. Suggestions on practical/tangible ways to address it?

Really???:

As a transformation school staff member it's time to set the record straight on a few things:

1) Yes, some kids leave transformation schools mid year. And guess what happens. We get kids from other schools who didn't "fit" there either. And if you want names I can give them to you including a kid from a large HS where she was part of a riot and her first day will be Monday. So please, spare me the martyr bit.

2) As for special ed, again, while I am sure that some schools are doing what you say, it happens all over the system and happened before charter schools and transformation schools existed. Our school accepts kids, all kids no matter what their level. What we don't have is self contained so we have meetings (we have 4 scheduled for the last few weeks of school for kids for next year) where we are going to change their LRE so they can attend our school. We have 1-on-1's as well as other supports. We also have kids who need more and aren't getting it, just like everywhere else.

3) There are no zone HS's. There are HS fairs and everyone competes for kids. I know, I was there.

The one thing I do agree on is that there will always be a portion of the population that doesn't take part in choosing a school. There are actually schools opening this coming year who are targeting just those kids. Do I know if they are going to be successful? No. But I know that there needs to be more choices for all kids, for all teachers, for all parents. And I know that what we have had for the past 15 years (just since I got here) has not been working. So it's time for something new. Again, I don't think everything AAA has done has turned straw into gold, but there is still more hope for kids now than there was.

Keep fighting the good fight, let's get our facts right.

IO@

No zone schools? You don't have a clue about this system as it exists. Having a high school fair is your justification for that statement? Wow, I was at the HS fair too, the balloons were great but it was all smoke and mirrors. The zone schools are those that take everyone who doesn't choose, those who get kicked out and the students that others don't want to deal with. That said the latest list showed the zones each getting around 100+ students on choice and the other 100 to 200 "placed". Funny those "placed" are mostly special ed.

We read about the "riot" on here. what I learned it wasn't quite what was originally reported. You're not going to pretend that one student compares to the 8 to14 a week that zones take. Second, many of the transformations are seriously underenrolled. Want some more kids? You took her because you're way under and all the zones around are packed. You all are down what, 15 or 20 kids?

As for your special ed game, if they should be in a different LRE than great. If you're playing the BC game than you better hope the Special Master isn't reading this because you're playing with fire. Of course if the student isn't behaving I guess you could just have a meeting and make the student a C. Ahh the tangled web we weave.

Really??? -

If you're looking for some sort of wise judgement from the Special Master - good luck! As far as I can tell, unless you're a parent with a $20K lawyer North Ave wouldn't care if a kid was allowed to walk away and drown in a pool while under the supervision of an aide (yeah, I can remember 3 years ago and as far as I can tell nothing's changed at that school or any other because a kid DIED). If you think they've got some sort of interest in seeing that disabled students get what they need/deserve/are entitled to - ha! Seems like a school that takes the time and cares enough to work with a student's IEP is way better than any neighborhood/zone school I've heard of.

Really???

First off, I have been a teacher in this system since 1994, and know all of the games that are played, so your comments that imply that I don't have a clue how this system really works are insulting and that's the way I take them.

Again, your "facts" are made up. We are NOT under-enrolled in high school and we got the kid anyway. We have not removed IEP students except 1 that I know of and he needed a one on one which was denied by the system. And as for some schools receiving 8 - 14 students a week, if you know anything about the way the system works you would know that if you remove a student then you get another one. This is how it has always been, so anyone we get rid of for whatever reason is opening up a space for the devil we don't know.

And we are not playing a game with LRE's, what we are trying to do is STOP the game playing. LRE C works for almost no one in high school. What we do is demand that a real review of IEPs is done and that students who can be moved to a LRE with added supports where they will find more success is moved and stays at our school. I am sure the special master would actually like the fact that we are trying to move students to less restrictive settings and not simply moving them into a separate school room until they drop out.

And as for competing for kids, any and all kids, we are funded just like you - we need kids since everyone of them comes with a small pot of money attached and being under-enrolled means that we cannot afford to do what we need any more than you can. In fact we are currently showing a $400,000 hole for 09-10 finding compared to what we had projected. We need every kid we can get and special ed kids even more so since the formula has a bonus for kids with IEP's.

Spare me your whining and complaining about charters and transformations. We teach city kids in a city building just like you. We have gang members, pregnant kids, alcoholics, drug users, fighters, cursers and we qualify for title 1. Everyone who works with city kids is fighting the good fight. And according to a very well placed source, only one of the transformation schools are "seriously under enrolled". Again, your facts aren't facts. Which undercuts your arguments.

Your made up data not withstanding, I have great respect for most educators in this system.

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