Today at the ASC/CRT meeting someone suggested that to save money, perhaps East High should be put into Emmeline Cook Elementary and that school could become a smaller Elementary school than it currently is and the left-over classrooms could be used for East High.
I wonder what people's thoughts are on that suggestion?
Monday, July 30, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Let's Play Ostrich, Shall We?
Do you subscribe to the "if we don't say it, it must not be true"? Do you think that pretending something isn't real makes it go away? OK, enough of the mystery.
Oshkosh is a divided community; certainly the school district community is divided by sides of town.
One poster on OshKonversation posted this:
"...particularly those who clearly choose to use the west-side/north-side language in describing our community and clearly favor certain schools or sides of town. I also question having administrators who act in the same manor (sic)."
So if we don't "talk about it" it makes it go away, I don't know if that is naïveté, ignorance, or politics, but I just don't think that if you sweep the dirt under the rug it means the dirt is gone.
For me, this post, from a different poster, also from OshKonversation proves my point:
...Perhaps we just need to hire a spot-on marketing team to promote Merrill and North? The question is what can you do to persuade people on the west side who seem to be afraid to send their children there. and from the same poster- ... When you look at the proximity of all the child sexual offenders living in the area around Merrill it's incredibly concerning. The test scores at Merrill are of course disappointing but the district won't even consider that as a problem since each school is supposed to provide the same quality of education.
I would tell parents who are worried about test scores, rest assured, your children's test scores will follow them to Merrill. My children went to Jefferson, not a school with the highest of test scores but my children got a WONDERFUL education and their personal test scores would rival those of any Oakwood student. I say this not to brag about my children but to point out that the major predictor of a student's standardized test score is their parent's education level and income. My children have two college educated parents and a middle class home. That is not the case with many Jefferson families and unfortunately that is reflected in test scores, it is NOT a reflection of the quality of education children receive. Does anyone really believe that if the entire staff at a Jefferson or Merrill were switched with the entire staff at Oakwood that the test scores at Oakwood would go down and those at Jefferson or Merrill would be the top in the district?
I would say there are definitely "sides of town" namely the West and the North, it is sad, it is divisive and it is not to any one's benefit to support a divided town. However, to criticize people for stating what is obvious and instead pretending no such divisions exist does absolutely nothing to fix a serious issue. Burying one's head in the sand like the ostrich does not bring people together. The first step to fixing a problem is ADMITTING there is one.
I have lived in this town for about 16 years and what struck me right away when I moved here was the constant talk about the "West Side" and the "North Side". I grew up in Milwaukee and there, there were 4 sides of town --- just like the 4 compass points East Side, North Side, West Side and South Side. I think a big part of there being only 2 sides is the fact that we have 2 high school --- is it really coincidence they are called North and West? (Note: I do know we now have 3 high schools but since East is an Alternative High School it doesn't really factor in the same way).
I remember the year Oshkosh North High was on their way to the state tournament for football and some West students were actually cheering for North's opponent to win the game so North would be eliminated, as West had already been. If that is not divisiveness I don't know what you'd call it. I have heard North students and their parents say West students are snobs with silver spoons in their mouth and West students and parents say North students are losers, etc. It is sad, it is wrong and it is time it stops. But I also believe it is wrong to criticize those who have brought it out in the open and spoken about it whether they be board members, administrators or average citizens. Let's admit the problem, face it and take steps to correct it. Perhaps the first step is to implement the selected boundary changes and give people a chance to see that the world goes on and life isn't so bad, even if you go to school with someone from the "other" side of town.
Oshkosh is a divided community; certainly the school district community is divided by sides of town.
One poster on OshKonversation posted this:
"...particularly those who clearly choose to use the west-side/north-side language in describing our community and clearly favor certain schools or sides of town. I also question having administrators who act in the same manor (sic)."
So if we don't "talk about it" it makes it go away, I don't know if that is naïveté, ignorance, or politics, but I just don't think that if you sweep the dirt under the rug it means the dirt is gone.
For me, this post, from a different poster, also from OshKonversation proves my point:
...Perhaps we just need to hire a spot-on marketing team to promote Merrill and North? The question is what can you do to persuade people on the west side who seem to be afraid to send their children there. and from the same poster- ... When you look at the proximity of all the child sexual offenders living in the area around Merrill it's incredibly concerning. The test scores at Merrill are of course disappointing but the district won't even consider that as a problem since each school is supposed to provide the same quality of education.
I would tell parents who are worried about test scores, rest assured, your children's test scores will follow them to Merrill. My children went to Jefferson, not a school with the highest of test scores but my children got a WONDERFUL education and their personal test scores would rival those of any Oakwood student. I say this not to brag about my children but to point out that the major predictor of a student's standardized test score is their parent's education level and income. My children have two college educated parents and a middle class home. That is not the case with many Jefferson families and unfortunately that is reflected in test scores, it is NOT a reflection of the quality of education children receive. Does anyone really believe that if the entire staff at a Jefferson or Merrill were switched with the entire staff at Oakwood that the test scores at Oakwood would go down and those at Jefferson or Merrill would be the top in the district?
I would say there are definitely "sides of town" namely the West and the North, it is sad, it is divisive and it is not to any one's benefit to support a divided town. However, to criticize people for stating what is obvious and instead pretending no such divisions exist does absolutely nothing to fix a serious issue. Burying one's head in the sand like the ostrich does not bring people together. The first step to fixing a problem is ADMITTING there is one.
I have lived in this town for about 16 years and what struck me right away when I moved here was the constant talk about the "West Side" and the "North Side". I grew up in Milwaukee and there, there were 4 sides of town --- just like the 4 compass points East Side, North Side, West Side and South Side. I think a big part of there being only 2 sides is the fact that we have 2 high school --- is it really coincidence they are called North and West? (Note: I do know we now have 3 high schools but since East is an Alternative High School it doesn't really factor in the same way).
I remember the year Oshkosh North High was on their way to the state tournament for football and some West students were actually cheering for North's opponent to win the game so North would be eliminated, as West had already been. If that is not divisiveness I don't know what you'd call it. I have heard North students and their parents say West students are snobs with silver spoons in their mouth and West students and parents say North students are losers, etc. It is sad, it is wrong and it is time it stops. But I also believe it is wrong to criticize those who have brought it out in the open and spoken about it whether they be board members, administrators or average citizens. Let's admit the problem, face it and take steps to correct it. Perhaps the first step is to implement the selected boundary changes and give people a chance to see that the world goes on and life isn't so bad, even if you go to school with someone from the "other" side of town.
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