In Defense Of The CSLA Delegation - And Response (5)

Friday, February 17, 2017

Since coming to CSLA as principal 8 years ago, I’ve been attending School Board meetings, meetings with County Commissioners and advocating for our school and our new building. Parents, teachers, and past administrators have a history of doing this for over a decade before me. This is nothing new to CSLA. Since being placed “on the list” in 1999, our parents have learned, as CSLA has been overlooked year after year after year, that advocacy is crucial if we are ever to see this dream realized.

I attended yesterday’s Facilities and School Board meetings and was in attendance from 4:00 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. with several other CSLA parents and staff, who came as soon as school let out for the day.

I understand the power of the pen, and in my position I don’t yield that power. However, I am taking this risk. I respectfully ask the Chattanoogan to print my response, unedited.

After reading Mr. Exum’s portrayal of yesterday’s events, I cannot be silent, and I feel I must address his comments:

“After an outlandish appearance before the Hamilton County School Board Thursday night, it is safe to say one of Chattanooga’s best schools is today its most least respected. I’m talking about a new definition of stupid.”

Mr. Exum quoted part of our CSLA mission statement: “to participate respectfully and responsibly in a democratic learning community.” I’m proud of our parents and their willingness to attend these public meetings year after year (19 years and counting to be exact) so their voices are heard. By their actions, our parents are teaching their children how to participate respectfully and responsibly and make their voices heard, and our students get to see their teachers, principal and parents stand up for their education. They’ve made posters and gone with their parents to the county courthouse, they’ve attended Board Meetings, and they are participating.

“...some CSLA organizer got the idea they could bully the school board with catcalls, whistles, shouts of “liar,” and boorish behavior.”

I didn’t see where Mr. Exum was sitting during the 4:00 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. meetings yesterday, but I was present the entire time and did not once hear what he referred to as “catcalls” or “whistles.” I did hear an individual say “liar” during the meeting, and I can verify that the individual is neither a CSLA parent or CSLA staff member. Keep in mind, these are public meetings and several parties with a vested interest were in attendance.

“That’s when some rube with a guttural accent that you might expect from a terrorist cell in Europe, stepped badly outside of decency and attempted to goad Rhonda even worse.”

I’m not even sure where to begin. A student’s father attended last night’s meeting. He has attended them before, and he even attended them while his child was on our growing waiting list. The “guttural accent that you might expect from a terrorist cell” is German. He is German. While he did not follow decorum of silently listening when misinformation was given, his statement regarding the “picking of students due to the lottery system,” certainly doesn’t merit the accusation of “stepping badly outside of decency and attempting to goad Rhonda even worse.”

I look forward to a day when CSLA is on the top of the facilities list, and in the meantime, I will continue to lead my school to the best of my ability, advocate for our children, and work with our parents and teachers to ensure that our students can focus on our collective goal, “Success for all in a community of caring and lifelong learning.”

Respectfully submitted,
Krystal Scarbrough
Principal
Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts

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I respectfully disagree with your article. A public meeting where a school board member is allowed to out right lie about a process, say negative things to a group of tax payers but tax payers are not allowed to defend themselves or respond is not representational democracy; that is bullying. Maybe some of our board members should review Hamilton County Dept of Education's policy on bullying. The only bullying seen last night was from the board members and now from you. If our school environment is such a disgrace why would over 1000 parents have their children on the waiting list. Yes our parents are passionate about advocating for our children's education, just as board members are passionate about advocating for their districts. CSLA parents, teachers and staff are some of the most gracious and hard working people that you will ever meet. I assure everyone involved with this school practice what they preach. Have you ever visited the school? Have you seen the conditions? Are you aware kindergarteners are being exposed to rat waste on a daily basis? Are you aware the school has been on the list for a new building for 18 years while Hamilton County has built 22 new buildings? Have you ever been promised something every year for 18 years without even a chance to plead your case? Why are we so angry when it comes to this subject? We are never given a voice except a 5 minute blurb that must be put on an agenda weeks ahead of time. Meanwhile board members are allowed to state complete falsehoods in a public forum unchecked. I thought it was very telling that at the end of the board meeting last night, when one board member suggested meetings should be moved to a larger location, another board member discourage that idea due to it being too much of a hassle. Shouldn't elected officials want to encourage as much interaction with the public as possible? Should a tax payer not have the right to dialogue with their elected officials? In some cases, a meeting such as this is the only forum to do so. I have repeatedly called and emailed my school board member, county commissioner and Mayor Coppinger with only one response from one county commissioner. But then again, who am I? That's right, I'm a taxpayer.

We have been told by one board member that if we don't like the building and school we can return to our zoned school. Yes my son could go to a brand new school building but that would be at the expense of his academic opportunities. For me that is not a trade off I'm willing to make. It is not a trade off I should have to make.

I'm so very sorry that you were offended by a few groans. I myself was much more offended by the inaccurate statements uttered by the elected official. Perhaps you should have been, as well.

Julie Baird

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Roy Exum really hit the nail on the head. There is no doubt that CSLA is a good school academically, and there is merit to the magnet school concept. But what CSLA parents want is a selective private school funded on the taxpayer's dime. It's my understanding that originally magnet schools in Chattanooga weren't supposed to participate in interscholastic sports or provide transportation. However, that quickly fell by the wayside.

All the students at CSLA are zoned for other schools and could easily go to their neighborhood school, but their parents choose not to send them. Therefore, the taxpayer argument does not hold water here. What CSLA supporters need to understand is that their school does not need to exist; it is a luxury. Most every child at CSLA could receive a quality education in their zoned school. Rhonda Thurman is right; magnet schools do not ease overcrowding, and therefore should be lower in priority.

My challenge to CSLA families is raise the funds to help build a new school like Signal Mountain families did. You could create a foundation that addresses this specific goal. Stop expecting the rest of the taxpayer base to support your "private" school. Not one taxpayer penny should go to build a new CSLA until every other public school is modernized, free of overcrowding, and up to date.

Ted Jameson

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Mr. Exum,

I am not sure if you were oblivious to why the CSLA parents spoke out or if twisting stories to fit a certain narrative is just your style, but Mrs. Thurman continues to falsely accuse CSLA of "cherry picking" their students. Cherry picking is far from the truth of how students are actually chosen to go to school there. There is a very formal process in place and the final step in the process is a blind draw or lottery system where each family gets a number and then the numbers are drawn at random. All of this can be watched live in person or via a live stream online, this is through the school system, so that you can be assured there is no foul play involved in the so called picking process.

At the past several school board meetings that I have attended, Rhonda Thurman has blatantly lied about how the children are hand picked and also made a comment last night that, which of course, you left out of your article about how "once all the area doctors, surgeons, lawyers, and politicians get their kids in there, there is no room left for anyone else", which is another flat out lie. She has continued to spread this rumor and it's probably to take this issue off of the real matter which is the safety of our building. I have a child in school there and have met a ton of great parents over the years, but have yet to meet at parent that is in any of those professions. I am sure there a few but not the way Mrs. Thurman implies.

Should any of the parents have spoken up and said anything during the meeting, no probably not, but it's also not fair for Mrs. Thurman to continue to spread lies and venom without any repercussion.

The next time you attempt to bash a group of people by name calling and bullying, please try to research some background on the situation before writing about something you have no clue about.

Things like this are not acceptable.

If this Hamilton County school were a restaurant, its doors would be closed. If it were a residence, it'd be declared unfit. If it were an apartment complex, it wouldn't pass insurance inspections.

Kids deserve better, Hamilton County. Step up.

Proud CSLA parent,
Graysen Ballard

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The actions at Thursday's School Board meeting make it very clear that, if Magnet Schools are to continue to exist, At Large members need to be added to the Hamilton County Board of Education.

As a former teacher and parent of two children that have attended CSAS, I have long been aware our educational needs are not being met, nor even considered, by the members elected in our zoned area, since our daughter first started at CSAS over 12 years ago.

It has long been evident, and has become totally clear in the past 2-3 years, that the school board represents schools, not children. In a society where every tax dollar is greedily eyed by competing agencies/boards, and even by competing factions withing agencies/boards, those who have no true advocate in the battle are doomed to lose the war.

Layton Jackson

Magnet School Parent

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CSLA is a Hamilton County Magnet School, located in an aged facility on East Brainerd Road. The facility is in need of upgrade and/or replacement, as are numerous other school plants in Hamilton County. It goes without saying Hamilton County Schools are a collective box of problems, and as a citizen taxpayer I have a strong vote of no confidence in the Hamilton County Schools administration. Our school board is caught in the middle of deserving children, angry parents and elite, disconnected administrators.

CSLA parents are right to demand better facilities for their children, the school board is right to reference the zoned schools which need upgrade, and somewhere in the middle of the heated arguments on both sides is the truth.

Let’s return for a moment to a primary, inarguable reason why certain magnet schools tend to perform so much better than their average zoned-school counterparts: Self-selection and parent involvement.

It doesn’t take phasers-on-stun academic mastery and a room full of Ed.D’s to understand any school will be at peak performance with exceptional parental oversight and contribution. Parents who opt for magnet programs are, at base level, aware of program availability, willing to apply for placement and may be required to provide their child’s transportation. Many magnet facilities, policies akin to private schools, place participatory requirements on parents which cannot necessarily be enforced in a routine public school environment. Therefore, from the benefit of large volunteer hour totals to a higher level of parental oversight of student progress, a magnet program is arguably a “better case scenario” than the typical public schools. This level of self-selection and parental investment creates a like minded community of focused educators, parents and children. In a magnet program, all three key facets of education (educators, parents, children) are in a constant state of automatic peer review. Lax teachers are less able to survive parental oversight, and the intense involvement of parents provides a healthy level of resource and encouragement for children. We wish this for every school, public and private.

Few parents would apply for magnet programs if they were thoroughly satisfied with the machinations of their neighborhood, zoned public school. That magnet schools are a satisfactory alternative is a tremendous gift, however a balance between the zoned schools and magnet programs must exist. This balance must be addressed by school board members, and is not necessarily the primary concern of magnet school parents. Therefore, while magnet parents can be sequestered from the needs of the zoned school they left behind - members of the school board must address the needs of all children equally. School board members do not have the luxury of presenting exclusively the needs of their own children, as we entrust the custody of all children to them for 180 days per year. Recently, the nation plunged into turmoil over the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. DeVos, noted critical opinions of public education in tow, was heaped with derision for daring to view our current state of public ed with scorn. While we can argue about her “questions over minutiae” session with Al Franken, her dim view of public education as-is is precisely why I am beyond pleased she was confirmed. We have monstrously entrenched unions often at odds with economic realities, failing facilities sputtering on inertia and national academic results which keep dropping vs. other nations. To me, this is tantamount to a national security issue. Our national ROI on public education should make any investor nervous, and each of us is just such an investor. I am using the term “self-selection” several times, because it indicates not only a state of mind for parents, but a critical commodity in public education which is increasingly in short supply: Parental involvement and oversight. Schools cannot operate in a vacuum where tax dollars funnel into a chain of administrators and educators who operate as an autonomous unit. Similarly, teachers cannot be expected to do all of the heavy lifting. Those volunteer hours and sense of community which empower magnet and private schools must exist in all public schools. Without all parts of the engine working in tandem, the motor throws a rod right on schedule and, voilà, the state trots in with its own version of bad medicine. Magnet programs often evolve out of a perceived need for specialized education, or simply because a large, ideologically cohesive set of parents is dissatisfied with the substandard state of schools available to their children. For the purpose of this commentary, I am discussing only Hamilton County’s magnet programs which do not serve concurrently as zoned schools.

In Hamilton County, we have a crushing deficit of infrastructure needs and underperforming facilities in the line of sight of Tennessee Department of Education regulators. While CSLA is a wonderful, beloved program, is it creating a vacuum at the zoned schools from which critical resources and top shelf parental involvement are being redirected? Is CSLA precisely this redirection of resources and parental attention which further depletes the quality of zoned programs? We may be at a crossroads with CSLA, given parents’ loud (and valid) facility dissatisfaction, that the school itself is no longer sustainable within Hamilton County. This is a very real summary possibility, is it not? Parents rightfully disparage the state of CSLA’s physical plant, while Rhonda Thurman correctly identifies the primacy of investment to bolster zoned schools which must serve their neighborhoods. Is it time for Hamilton County to revisit its capability of funding sequestered magnet programs, no matter how beloved and successful, to assure its primary houses of zoned schools are in order? Should the stand-alone magnet programs which do not serve concurrently as zoned schools be shuttered to return resources and the necessary element of additional highly involved parents to the neighborhood schools? Those dollars, and an infusion of increased parental oversight, are desperately needed back on the local corner. If we are reviewing the entire system as a whole, and not the condition of a certain magnet school, the argument can be firmly made to close CSLA and reinforce the schools for which those families are originally zoned. While the concept of halting our few proven long term success stories seems abominable to the extreme, are we creating pockets of reality distortion for the few privileged students at the expense of the many? Let me introduce you to why Betsy DeVos is a believer in alternatives to the current state of public education.

It is hardly surprising that the most involved members of a school hierarchy bring the loudest, most fervent opinions to a school board meeting. As a parent of four, there wasn’t much that raised the hair on the back of my neck as quickly as issues related to their education. From IEP’s for one of my daughters and opinions on curriculum to disciplinary issues involving my sons (from time to time), involved parents have visceral, emotional concerns which are highly personal. While the eruption into name calling, hurt feelings and accusations is a sad scenario, indeed, it is not to be unexpected. While the magnet parent may not wish to go quietly, it may be time for a moment of blessing counting prior to determining the next course of action.

Jason Walker
Chattanooga