What Had Happened Was……..

The recent re-alignment of the IPS magnet schools in November of 2014, is yet another in a long line of maneuvers to “improve quality and reduce cost of educating our children”. Like many of us, over the years I hoped the actions of the board would work, and trusted the judgment of the board and our school administrators. My trust in the board and the IPS administration has diminished since I began to delve into the Shortridge-Gambold re-alignment decision.

When I look at the financial and accountability data for the last ten years, the outlook for today’s ninth graders is no better than a ninth grader in 2004. My taxes shot up during this period, and IPS got their fair share, yet today’s ninth grader is no better off than their sibling eight years older. Why is this? I will offer some observations and drill down into some data to provoke some analysis and discussion, with the goal of creating a project for parents and citizens to monitor the activities of Indianapolis Public Schools.

My observations of why the board proceeded with the Shortridge-Gambold re-alignment is to

1. Provide a logical progression for the Center for Inquiry students.

2. Address the need have capacity for the “25” in the “90-25-90” goal mandated by the State of Indiana. The 25 portion of the goal is to have 25% of students pass AP, participate in an International Baccalaureate (IB) program or receive a vocational certification. Looking at the 1011-2012 data, AP is “kinda” hopeless, and the vocational component is viewed as a post high school activity, so IB seems to be a misdirected option for success.

Indiana’s Three Goals --

•90 percent of students pass math and E/LA ISTEP+

•25 percent of grads pass an AP or IB exam or earn college credits during high school

•90 percent of students graduate with a diploma

3. “Reset” the clock on improvement initiatives. The board’s options for meeting the bookend 90’s of the State’s “90-25-90” goal are limited; if they had answers, our district would be much closer than we are today!

4. Our board realizes our city needs a credible IB offering to complete in today’s market place for attracting employers and high tax paying citizens.

5. The closeness to the Butler partnership school (School 60 a Center For Inquiry School).

6. The facilities and location of Shortridge are among the best in the city!

7. The June 2014 audit results indicate that the $30 Mil deficit was actually a $8.4 Mil surplus, reserves are $60 Mil; operation below projections since 2002. This follows a January 2010 report that $24 Mil was received but not disbursed in a timely manner.

8. Hispanic enrollment at Gambold is 15%, compared to 10% overall in IPS.

So why does this re-alignment matter?

A. Many longtime residents want the focus on neighborhood schools and the bookend 90’s goals. There is a perception that private school types get a better education than neighborhood kids. We have been paying taxes for many years, and see that once the school is “fixedup” it’s “taken away”. Ninety percent of our tax dollar is spent on public safety; children growing up without lasting relationships may be related to this situation. Students being in a constant state of flux impairs educational performance.

B. Absence of quantitative data or analysis that this move will reduce cost or improve quality. “In God we trust, others bring data”.

C. Our general population in IPS have been left behind and Gambold has not provided any “Common Core” data.

D. The rumor that “Attucks is next” will be the hill “many alumni are willing to die on”.

E. Two years ago the district drastically reduced the number of “classified” Black employees due to the “deficit”. In 2012-2013 the number of Black “certified” employees is 17%, yet the enrollment is 57% Black. That’s an issue!

The items cited above point to black people paying taxes for others to have jobs and quality education at their expense and detriment. Our school district has been dysfunctional for Black people for generations. The remainder of the paper will explore why the Shortridge-Gambold re-alignment decision should be reversed, and how a community transparency project can make out school district function for us.

The advertised graduation rate for 2012-2014 is 68.3 on the Indiana DOE site, it’s the “four year cohort graduation trend”(fycgt). The fycgt for 208-2009 is 51.7 (versus the simple rate of 35.0). Ask a sixth grader what the difference is between one half and one third, this is the order of magnitude of the spin the taxpayer is receiving.

Graduation rates (Average Entering Freshman) during years 2006-2009 (NCES data) were 40.4%, 35.7%, and 35.0%. Graduation rates are fairly easy to understand, yet as these rates have fallen, the school system has begun to use other measures of student outcome. Graduation rates are a crude measure of quality, what about the A-F accountability? The major problem with the A-F Accountability model is the disclaimer:

“The results generated through this workbook will not be used for accountability purposes for 2011-12 or any other year. Any calculations performed in this workbook will not be construed as representative of actual past or future school or corporation grades. This workbook is simply provided as a tool for schools and corporations to calculate estimated grades only.”

Incidentally, less than a hand full of Indiana High Schools in 2010 – 2011 had more than 25% of the students pass the IB Exam. Additionally, less than two dozen schools in the state had AP pass rates higher than 25%. So where does this leave us; IB is not about improving the quality of education for our kids, unless your demographic profile approximates a private school family. [Even adjusting for income, kids whose parents have a college or graduate degree are much more likely to go to private school. Furthermore, non-Hispanic Whites are more likely to attend private school than African-Americans, Asian-Americans, or Hispanics with the same household income and parental education level. Our city wants those high income citizens any way they can get them]

Here’s what an IB parent said about their school:

Gambold Preparatory Magnet High School offers the International Baccalaureate Programme. This college prep program is focused on rigorous academics but also strives to prepare the whole child for life in college and beyond. Gambold Prep is a family of teachers, administrators, parents, coaches, community partners and scholars who work together and support each other in meeting high standards and getting the most out of life.

Sounds a little “private schoolly”, huh?

Here’s what a Shortridge parent said about their school:

My daughter attended grades K-7 at the same school. The longer she went, the worse conditions got. The school was turning into a breeding ground for fights and total chaos. The best thing I could ever have done for her was switch to Shortridge Law&Public Policy Magnet High School. She is enjoying her education again. The school is clean and bright and the staff is warm and welcoming. I finally feel safe leaving her at school again! Community involvement is a key part of the school's draw. Lots of stuff for the kids to do to help others in the neighborhood! I couldnt have made a better choice for my daughter than Shortridge!

This parent needs our help a support!!

So, if you can’t afford a private school education, how can you get the most from your public school? Attract/demand more resources for your child! This is what has happen at Shortridge!

In June of 2014 IPS pledged increased “transparency” by:

1. Reporting monthly spending and revenues.

2. Reorganize finance department.

3. Establish new budgeting policies.

4. Adopting July 1^st fiscal year reporting.

Our project will monitor the district’s progress on these pledges. For now financial information on individual schools is limited, our project team will press for this and higher levels of “transparency”. Our project’s goal is to look primarily at enrollment, student achievement, and financial data for the ten years ending 2012 with hopes of identifying the rationale for what has happened in our center township schools this year. In the last ten years, IPS has spent 5.2 Billion dollars to educate our youth. And they get and F for their attempt to educate our students.

Other reading………..