GSMST holds lottery for 2012 freshman class

On Monday, the Gwinnett County Public Schools held its annual lottery for admission to the Gwinnett School of Math, Science and Technology.  As I wrote last year, GSMST should be able to screen its applicants rather than having an admissions lottery.  One parent, Royston Hodge, commented Monday, "Everybody has an equal chance.  It is fair.  That's all you can say about it."  Mr. Hodge is right about one thing - everyone who applies has an equal chance.  However, he is terribly mistaken that it is a fair process.  Why should a student who is more qualified than another based on objective criteria be denied admittance while the lesser qualified student is allowed to enroll simply because of a lucky number?  That is highly unfair and it results from a state law that should be changed.  Our nation needs to stop being afraid of promoting our best and brightest under the inaccurate concept of "fairness."  Failing to do so in the case education will only allow America to fall further behind other countries, especially in terms of science and math competence and the subsequent innovation that flows from that.

Why can't GSMST screen applicants?

This morning, the AJC ran a very troubling article about whether the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology (GSMST) has "illegally screened applicants."  My concern, however, is not whether they have done this, but why shouldn't they be allowed to do so?

Before I go further, let me be clear on two points.  First, GSMST should follow the law; I am not suggesting otherwise.  If the law is illogical and is not in the best interest of the state of Georgia, that law should be changed.  Second, I cannot confirm my understanding from the story that there is no screening for admittance to the school based on academic qualifications.  The article implies that no such screening is permitted but I was not able to find any clarity on the point on the GSMST web site.

According to the Atlanta Journal, GSMST is under investigation for its enrollment process.

The complaints stem from the charter school's 2011-12 application, which appeared on the Gwinnett County public school's website for weeks as parents rushed to enroll. The application asked for math grades, test scores, gifted education and disability status, English language comprehension -- all so a student could gain entry into a public charter school that by law must have open enrollment.

Louis Erste, director of the state charter school division, says that charter schools must offer services for students with "disabilities [and] English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes."  I completely agree with providing services for disabled students; whether Gwinnett taxpayers should have to fund instruction of basic English skills is a separate blog post in and of itself.  However, GSMST was created to be "academically challenging."  As such, isn't filtering out applicants who cannot handle the academic rigor of the school completely logical as well as reasonable?  This omission makes the fact that the school has a lottery for admission even more troubling:

Today, as GSMST holds a lottery to eliminate half of the school's 611 applicants, the state will be monitoring the process for fairness and legal compliance.

(The results of this lottery are now posted on the school's home page.)  If there are more applicants than available slots, a lottery is somewhat acceptable provided that all participants in the lottery have been verified to meet minimum academic qualifications.  But can it possibly be fair, if applicants who have not demonstrated some minimum level of academic achievement, find themselves with one of the limited admissions slots while a student who is demonstrably more qualified be left out?  Even if all applicants are screened, a selection lottery is stil questionable.  Why are students not ranked in some fashion and admission slots be assigned beginning at the top of the ranking list?  While the specifics of how to rank students can be debated, such techniques are used by colleges all the time.

If there is sufficient space in not only schools like GSMST but in the gifted programs and Advanced Placement classes in regular high schools, we should welcome any student who is willing to step up to the challenge, provided that standards for those who may struggle with the demands of these advanced courses are not watered down.  Some students who might not enter a program with the best qualifications on paper could well be a hidden gem.  However, when the number objectively qualfied applicants outstrips the number of admission slots, why are we afraid to allocate those slots to those who have been identified as having a track record of academic success and, as such, highly likely to achieve the most success in an accelerated educational enrivonment?

Gwinnett County has many talented students in the areas of mathematics, science and technology.  For example, in Georgia Tech's entering freshman class in the 2009 Fall Semester, Gwinnett high schools made up one-third of the top 21 high schools - Brookwood High School was number 2 - that sent students to one of America's finest technological institutions of higher learning.  There is little doubt that a school such as GSMST is a great asset to Gwinnett students.  One of my chief complaints with public education is that it is does not do enough to ensure that the best and the brightest are pushed to higher levels of achievement.  Schools like GSMST are a step in the right direction to remedying this weakness of public education.  However, such schools and programs are only beneficial if they truly nurture our community's most promising students.

Our society seems to have lost its passion for the pursuit of excellence.  This is a problem that is larger than Gwinnett County.  Why are we unwilling to identify and ensure opportunity for our most promising students?  Why won't we ensure that those students are pushed to the highest possible levels?  If we are indeed leaving  the most talented students at the mercy of random chance to gain admittance to the best school to develop those talents, we are doing a disservice to these students and our community   If state law is a hurdle in the pursuit of excellence, then that law should be changed. We should not be afraid as a society to admit that some students have better odds to achieve extreme academic success than others.  Until we are willing to celebrate excellence, America will continue to languish in educational quality. 

Hearings on Gwinnett schools budget

The Gwinnett County School Board has scheduled two public hearings for its 2010 budget.  The first meeting is tonight at the Instructional Support Center on Old Peachtree Road in Suwanee.  The second meeting will be May 14 before the board meeting where a vote will be taken on the budget.

The big point of emphasis here is that, despite growth in the budget of 5.4 percent, the board managed to avoid raising property taxes.  With the county portion of Gwinnett property tax bills expected to increase, this is good news.  In an ideal world, newcomers to Gwinnett who are driving the need for nine new schools should have to shoulder the bulk of the cost to build these facilities.  Furthermore, families with children enrolled in a Gwinnett school should pay a nominal tax surcharge to reflect the greater value they receive from the school system.  Nevertheless, holding the line on tax rates is the most we can realisticly expect, so kudos to the school board for not dipping further into taxpayer wallets.

Sometimes you must teach a lesson

Not surprisingly there are some parents who are up-in-arms over a recent punishment handed out by, now former, Beaver Ridge Elementary principal, Esther Adames-Jimenez.  Adames-Jimenez "ordered a boy to shock himself with a toy pen he brought to school."  Look, I am in no way favor of harming a child.  However, this was apparently a harmless toy that merely adminstered an uncomfortable shock.  What more effective way to teach the child a lesson in "do unto others" than have him do unto himself?  Once the boy got a taste of what he was doing to others, I suspect he was far more likely to think twice about doing something similar than if he had been put in "time out" to think about what he had done.  I have had my issues with Beaver Ridge Elementary - I put the school on my English, please! list last year for its bilingual signs in front of the school - but Adames-Jimenez did the right thing in this situation.

As an aside, where was "time out" when I was a kid!  Of course, if my parents had disciplined me when I was younger (discipline which was almost always well earned on my part!) by asking me to think about what I had done, I doubt I would have turned out like I have.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Radloff Middle students receive free computers

This is the kind of story I like to read; business and non-profits - private entities - working together to meet the needs of people in our communities.  Recently, some students at Radloff Middle received refurbished computers from Computers for Youth.  These computers were "donated by Cisco Systems Inc., Given Imaging and other companies."  A case in point that Americans are very generous and helping by nature and that we do not a big federal government legislating "charity" for us.

School to be named for Bartow Jenkins

The Gwinnett County School board has listened!  A new elementary school in Lawrenceville will be named after former Central Gwinnett head football coach, Lawrenceville mayor and Gwinnett County commissioner Bartow Jenkins.  Jenkins Elementary is slated to open in 2010.  This is a richly deserved honor for the late community icon.

Need a job? Can you teach?

Ok, so it is not that simple.  But if you are a certified teacher seeking a job for next year, then Gwinnett County would like to talk to you.  Granted, if you are seeking a such a position, you probably already knew of tomorrow's event at Gwinnett Center well before you found it on the Buzz.  Thus, I am posting this not so much to notify job seekers as I am to urge Gwinnett County Public Schools to turn the economic downturn into an opportunity. 

With so many professionals having lost their jobs in recent months, the degree of talent, knowledge and skills that has been idled from the economy is much higher than usual.  Gwinnett should available itself of this talent pool to hire, especially in critical areas like math and science, experienced professionals from non-education backgrounds.  Such individuals could bring a unique perspective to the classroom that many teachers simply cannot provide.  This is not to say that career educators are not effective math and science teachers; many most definitely are.  However, personal observation has shown me that many career teachers cannot relate to world of corporate America and, as such, cannot provide the insight into the business world that would be so rich for so many students.  One of my most effective teachers in high school was a chemist in industry prior to becoming a teacher.  I think it would be fair to say that she was the best chemistry teacher at Central Gwinnett High School at the time.  (She certainly made my transition to the rigors of Chemistry 1101 at Georgia Tech very smooth!)  Thus, I urge Gwinnett County school officials to avail themselves of this rare opportunity to broaden the breadth of career experience in their ranks.  Gwinnett's students will be well served if they do.

Move to name Lawrenceville school for Bartow Jenkins

Last fall, long time Gwinnett educator and former Lawrenceville mayor Bartow Jenkins passed away.  Now, Central Gwinnett friends and alumni are pushing to have a planned Lawrenceville elementary school named after the former Black Knight football coach.  I received the following email today from a fellow Central alum:

There are several new schools opening in 2010 that need to be named.  I lived in Lawrenceville while growing up and attended Central Gwinnett High School.  There is an elementary school in the Central Gwinett cluster that is going through the naming process.  If you were a Central Gwinnett Black Knight you knew Coach Bartow Jenkins.  I know that he was also involved in other schools, but I knew him personally from Central Gwinnett.  I have nominated his name to be the name for the new elementary school in the Central Gwinnett cluster.  The more nominations the better chance that they will choose to name the school after Coach Jenkins.  If he touched your life and you feel so inclined, you may turn in a nomination form supporting the naming of the new school in the Central Gwinnett cluster in his honor by going to the GCPS website, click on the link to "School Naming Process Begins" on the left hand side of the screen, and downloading a nomination form.  Of course you may nominate whomever you choose.  The deadline to turn in nominations is 2/25/09.

While Coach Jenkins was no longer at Central when I was a student there in the late 80s, if you were a Black Knight football fan, you certainly knew the name.  I think this is a fantastic idea and a very deserving honor for someone who served the Gwinnett community in so many ways.  Here is a link to the nomination forms mentioned above.  The school in question will be located at 12 Village Way in Lawrenceville.  As noted, the deadline for this is very close, so if you want to support this campaign, please act quickly!

Former Central Gwinnett principal's actions questioned

I really hate to write this article.  First, it reflects poorly on my high school alma mater and, second, I was introduced to Dr. Valerie Clark at a Central sporting event several years ago by a teacher I had when I was a student there.  I found Dr. Clark very likeable and engaging and was favorably impressed.  However, journalistic integrity (if you can call a local blog "journalism," though I shall for lack of a better term) requires that I comment on this story because there is a greater policy question involved for Gwinnett County Public Schools.

The issue of which I write regards reports that Dr. Clark, while principal at Central, intervened in a disciplinary decision by another administrator on behalf of her son who was a student at the school.  Any preferential treatment in school matters, whether academic or displinary, by a teacher is inappropriate (though I can understand there occasionally may be bextenuating circumstances).  This is especially true when a parent uses their role of authority to influence a subordinate to offer such preferential treatment.  Granted, as I have blogged in the past, so many discipline issues in school today are esalated far higher than they ever would have been when I was in high school, most falling into the "making a mountain out of a mole hill" category.  However, based on the AJC article, Dr. Clark's intervention was not over a trivial violation being blown out of proportion.

When an assistant principal decided students under suspicion of soliciting marijuana should face serious consequences, Clark intervened, the summary said. Clark’s son was among those facing long-term suspension, placement in an alternative school or expulsion.

...

In Clark’s case, things went differently. According to a witness’ statement, Clark told her assistant principal, Eric Davidson: “I’ve never asked for a favor before. … I am telling you as your principal not to take him.” Clark said her son had a violin concert that evening, and she would punish him later.

In Dr. Clark's defense, she did tell the AJC that, after administrators fully investigated the case, all involved students were taken to a disciplinary panel.  However, drug-related rule violations in school is a serious offense and any student soliciting marijuana on a high school campus should be dealt with strictly.  Unlike throwing a water balloon or pulling a prank on school property, trying to obtain drugs is a serious matter deserving severe punishment.  Drugs are not something that should be merely dealt with at home by a parent.  I have no doubt that this situation resulted from parent's protective instinct for a child.  However, good judgment and professionalism requires that a parent in an authority role must suppress this instinct to avoid leaving even the impression of unfair interference in a disciplinary process.  Perhaps the best course of action is never to put a parent in a position to have to fight back this powerful urge, which argues for a policy such as that in Cobb County.

Cobb Schools is one of the few districts with rules prohibiting conflicts of interest involving district employees and their children who are in school.

“A teacher cannot have their child or stepchild as a student,” said Doug Goodwin, a Cobb Schools spokesman. “A principal can have a child at the school. They cannot be responsible for the supervision or discipline of that student.”

There is a reason many businesses will not allow a spouse to supervise one another.  In close relationships such as that, unbiased judgment can be strained to its limit.  Granted, in a school this may not be a perfect solution.  When I attended Central, I had a class where the teacher's daughter was in a member of the class.  However, because that was the only section of that course offered, Cobb's rule would have prevented the daughter from taking the class which be unfair as well.  The best option would be a rule that provided a general guideline but allowed for judgments calls when appropriate.  Unfortunately, in America's public schools where "zero tolerance" and inflexibility hold sway, a rule incorporating such common sense could be difficult to achieve.  Nevertheless, in a school system as large as Gwinnett's, the chance of a parent and child crossing paths in a educator-student relationship is certainly non-trivial.  The Gwinnett County School Board would be well advised to come up with a policy to prevent any nepotism while allowing for reasonable exceptions where necessary before a case such as the one at Central Gwinnett happens again.

Archer and Mountain View pick mascots

Archer Tigers.

Mountain View Bears.

Wow, could they have chosen two more boring, generic mascots?  Yellow Jackets would have been vastly superior to either of these!  Oh well, I guess it is ok that our county is inundated with references to the Georgia Bulldogs while the state's premier instituion of higher learning goes unrecognized.  The Archer logo even mimics North Carolina-based Appalachain State University!  I will just continue to be a Central Gwinnett Black Knight fan!  Once a Black Knight, always a Black Knight!

(click to enlarge images)