Don't hate magnet schools, hate what the district did to the rest of the schools

I thought this comment on another post was interesting and had some valid points. -cpg

by Anonymous

I resent some of the comments regarding the magnet schools. As a parent of 2 graduates from these schools and as a faculty member of one of these magnets I can certainly state with full faith and confidence that the assumptions were made with little knowledge of the facts.

Any student anywhere in the district has the opportunity to attend the 2 academic magnets. DA, on the other hand, the student must audition and be accepted. Both academic magnets have open enrollment.

Any involved parent, can tour the school, fill out an application, and either be lucky and get in or unlucky and not. Students of all FCAT ranges are accepted. Students of all GPAs are accepted. Students with past disciplinary infractions are accepted. Students of all backgrounds are afforded the same opportunity to excel. If they do not meet a C average they can be asked not to return, but given grade recovery and such, this is rare. This is done to free up a space for a student on the waiting list, which may make more of this opportunity.

Here in lies the difference.

Most of the students in these schools have involved parents. In essence, we have involved parents, not necessarily involved students. This is clearly evident by the number of parents willing to drive or arrange transportation for their children to school from as far as the beach or Baldwin.

These magnet schools are selected by some parents not for providing a rigorous academic program, but for a safe, low crime school environment. This is the environment that every school should emulate, regardless of the mission of the school. Sadly, it is not.

In this game of education we now play, there are controllable means to increase school grades as well as uncontrollable means. Sadly, the uncontrollable means include but are not limited to: Drop out, low attendance, incarceration, low FCAT scores, and student transience. That means no matter what the district does it has little of no control over these factors.

Controllable means include but are not limited to: Code of student conduct referrals written, and the levels of the infraction. The District Solution is, don’t write up students by any means possible. Downgrade code of conduct infractions and the consequences related to the offense. Student retention is another controllable factor. Limit retention by mandating the lowest possible level of teacher expectation and student performance to achieve a passing grade in classes. Oh I almost forgot; give the student an infinite well of second chances to pass the course ill regardless of student motivation or attendance. Certainly not last since the there are too many to mention, but this is worth mentioning is by filling students in accelerated programs who are not prepared for the rigor of the class, nor want to accept the responsibility of these classes. Since the number of students enrolled in honors, AP, IB, AICE, dual enrollment etc. Student enrollment in these programs inflates the grade of the schools, so the district places students who read below grade level in these courses. In many cases these decisions are made contrary to the recommendations of the College Board. They all pass as a result of the grade recovery reason above, but few pass the test or get the special diploma.

So don’t hate the Magnet schools. Hate what the district did to all the rest. If these schools were disbanded and the students were released to their neighborhood schools the increase of these students to their respective schools would not improve their neighborhood school grade since their numbers are not in significant with respect of the total population of the school. Many parents would rather move or send their children to charter or private schools than send them to what they perceive as an unsafe environment.