By Antonio D. French
Filed Thursday, May 17, 2007 at 12:54 PM
JEFFERSON CITY – The State Board of Education voted today to sponsor a new charter school in St. Louis. Labels: Schools
This is the first time the Board has elected to sponsor a charter school itself.
The new CAN! Academy of St. Louis will be operated by the same firm that runs 15 CAN! charter schools in Texas. Its stated mission is to "provide a second chance for at-risk youth and their families to achieve economic independence and hope for a better life through relationship-based education and training."
No word yet on the location of the St. Louis school or when it is scheduled to open.
UPDATE: Superintendent Bourisaw today issued the following statement regarding today's decision:
"I am very disappointed in the decision of the State Board of Education to sponsor a charter school in St. Louis. As I’ve shared with the State Board, we have several initiatives aimed at dropouts and at-risk youth that we are launching, or expanding, next school year. For example, three new Big Picture alternative schools, an expansion of our contract with a well-known dropout recovery program, and expansion of our contract with a proven credit retrieval program for dropouts.
"We have already recognized the need for programs aimed at reducing the dropout rate in the St. Louis Public Schools, and we have responded."
8 Comments:
A quick google of texans can gave me no negative articles.
I have a gut reaction to what it is all about, but I could be wrong.
Here are some stats I found regarding Carollton-farmers branch in texas:
Ethnicity This School(second number is State Average)
Hispanic 76% 45%
White 12% 37%
African American 9% 15%
Asian/Pacific Islander 2% 3%
Native American 1% <1%
Eligible for free or reduced-price lunch program 66% 48%
Special education 13% 11%
Gifted/talented students 0% 8%
Limited English proficient 49% 16%
Texas rules make reporting this stat Convenient?-no attendance or grad. rates required unless they had them 9-12
Attendance rate1 n/a 96%
Mobility rate2 74% n/a
Graduation rate1 n/a 84%
I thought this was interesting. 1200 dollars more efficient---(more beginning teachers), but with 11 percent less paid for instruction than the state average, they still spend 3 times as much on "school leadership. Maybe there is a reason why that is not creepy.
Total per pupil expenditures $6,020 $7,229
Instructional 47% 58%
School leadership 17% 6%
Support services 13% 5%
5/17/2007 2:54 PM
Class Size
Source: TX Education Agency, 2005-2006 This School State Average
English n/a 20
Foreign language 25 21
Math 50 20
Science 33 22
They are damned efficient at teaching math and science.
I gotta wonder---can dese run a school like this without violating their own standards?
Teacher Experience
Source: TX Education Agency, 2005-2006 This School State Average
Average years teaching 6 11
Beginning teachers 36% 8%
5/17/2007 3:00 PM
Apparently, four of the schools are in Dallas, and the other three rely even more heavily on beginning teachers. looking over the stats, there are frequently places where you see N/A.
School name
Beginning
teachers
Dallas Can! Academy Charter-Oak Cliff 49%
Dallas Can! Academy Charter 43%
Texans Can Academy at Paul Quinn 91%
Texans Can at Carrollton-Farmers Branch 36%
5/17/2007 3:38 PM
Sounds like Diana is just baiting the people to whom she must make the appeal.
I wonder if this is part of some kind of plan.
5/17/2007 8:11 PM
Diana is is just being Diana trying to get attention and wasting time.
5/17/2007 11:17 PM
Last anonymous sounds like Veronica to me. What do you all think?
5/18/2007 1:55 PM
I thought she usually posted as "trouble", but it did sound like it could have been Ms. O.
5/20/2007 12:04 PM
One thing Bourisaw has made clear------she will not continue for very long as superintendent after a state takeover. They want no part of her, and she has an equal disdain for them.
If the takeover is stopped by the courts----she will continue.
Either way---things should get very interesting after june 15th.
5/20/2007 1:25 PM
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