Youngstown Schools = Worst In State

[iwasthere]

hammer i read all the evaluations from the ytown school board members. it seemed that  beachum and murray gave webb an unbiased evaluation while the other boe members were at complete end of the spectum in this evaluation.

[The Hammer]

Here is what I posted in regard to this subject on the Vindy.com forum:


In terms of the board, I have said it a long time ago when board of ed. discussions ruled this forum's that the board of education's job is to hire and evaluate the superintendent; hire and evaluate the treasurer; and set policy. That's it. The superintendent is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the district and is the one who sets personnel in place. If the district is failing, it is up to the board to set her straight. Instead of getting on these forum's and unloading we should all get to the next board meeting and call for board members to hold her accountable in her evaluation that I'm sure will be coming up soon.

I just looked up some old Vindicator articles just to make sure my memory served me correct in that back in December 2007 when Jamel Tito-Brown, Mike Write, and Kathryn Hawks-Haney were departing the board (Brown went to city council, Write lost re-election, and Haney did not run again), and just before three new board members were to take office, they gave Dr. Webb a 3 year contract extension. This came after they did not complete an evaluation of her in 2006 and she got an automatic 1 year extension. My point here is that while I agree that state of Youngstown City Schools is ridiculous there are three board members that have never had a discussion on Webb's contract (Murphy, Catale, Atkinson, and I'm curious to see what they do with Dr. Webb in the situation they are in. Vindy articles also reminded me that this past year (2008) members Catale, Murphy, and Modarelli gave Dr. Webb an unsatisfactory evaluation, yet there were people in the community outraged that they gave her such a poor evaluation, which is still beyond me.

The bottom line is with the state of finances in Youngstown, although they have drastically improved, I don't think it is reasonable to fire Webb with two years left on her contract. That would mean the taxpayers dish out almost $250,000 plus whatever the salary of a new super would be. As a taxpayer, I would not be happy with that. I think if Webb really cared about the Youngstown City Schools she would recognize that she is unable to get the job done and step down so the board can immediately look to find her replacement so that there could at least be a possibility of improvement on the report card this coming year.

Here are some of the articles I referenced for your viewing pleasure and so we are all more informed taxpayers:

http://www.vindy.com/news/2007/aug/06/no-evaluation-done-for-superintendent-webb/

http://www.vindy.com/news/2007/nov/19/youngstown-school-board-gives-webb-new-three-year/

http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/nov/24/webb-gets-mixed-reviews-from-city-school-board/

http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/dec/17/speakers-express-their-support-for-webb-in-face-of/

[PMDragon]

I agree with Rick in that city needs to reduce the unwanted, undisciplined & moral-less children but how. All kids are unconditionally granted the right & opportunity to a free education. Regardless of how unsavory their characters may be. As far as public schools needing good competition well we've always had that and have strived despite all odds to meet the challenges of competition.
Rusty, the battle for years has been all about providing positive, nurturing environments for kids as well as striving to build good character toward becoming productive members of society. Our schools have adopted and staffs have been trained and continue to implement  countless programs, strategies to do just that.
Rick, vouchers are the downfall of public school systems. While charters accept students only to collect state money. Then when they can't or won't deal with controlling poor behaviors (social/emotional/economic issues) and can't convince parent involvement they fail/expell them & return them to public school system just in time for state testing therefore adding to the burdon of our overall academic performance reports and financial stability.  Public schools have bursts in enrollment bi-annually following state attendence counts and pre-testing periods. Those being rejects from charter schools.
City school students and families deserve to have new, high-tech buildings (as much as any other kids) with proper ventilation, acoustics & facilities to promote optimum learning environments.
Legislation needs to make parent/guardians accountable for childrens development ie: feed them, get them to school regularly, doing homework and family involvement and support of school/education. Yes, You got it Sarge and Kenny! Bravo!

[sfc_oliver]

Bravo Kennyjoe.

[kenneyjoe330]

Now Now my good people - the thread here is Yo Public Schools - and preferably not getting personal    -  Yes Unions have something to do with it --- I am a union person myself and feel this county - FOR THE W-O-R-K-I-N-G  PERSON     OWES  MUCH to the unions -  however ancient history reveals much about Guilds of sorts and then please do not forget other collage graduates and intellectual people have unions of sorts - "Da Bar" and "A.M.A." just to name two.   You know today kids play "Where's Waldo" ?  Well in our day and even today we still play "Where's Jimmy" (do I really have to put a last name on him ? ) ! ! !   
$ and power corrupt - that includes Unions and as well as political SERVANTS ! ! !  I have a BIG PROBLEM with the average union police person  - but as I said this is about Youngstown Public Schools.
I agree with others that said very plain and simple the problem is with PARENTS and LOVE ! ! !    The term "It takes a Village to raise a child"  literally angers me to no end ! ! !
IT TAKES A MOTHER AND FATHER WORKING TOGETHER TO COMPRISE THE BASE OF A VILLAGE or ANY NEIGHBORHOOD.  It also takes a commitment to DO GOOD AND AVOID EVIL and to treat OTHERS as you would want to be treated.  R E S P E C T has a lot to do with it also - but SHOULD BE EARNED BY THE YOUNG and NOT be automatically DEMANDED from the OLD.  I do believe that is a very large part of Youngstown City School's problem.  Some kids think the only thing school is good for is to be COOL in the eyes of their peers and because they are CHILDREN  have no idea "about education" or it's importance.  I am POSITIVE these children are smart and have much talent however it is not properly directed by their PARENTS who got together to have them in the first place ??

Whew  gonna S T O P for now.

[iwasthere]

rr i have the guts to stand behind my convictions. i use this screen name to let people know that i am involved in the daily discourse of current happenings in ytown. if you kept up with your current reading concerning Ohio charter schools, you would know they are failing miserably behind the majority of the Ohio public schools achievement scores. the charter schools are there for profit only achievements not for the betterment of the inner city school children or any children of any school districts in Ohio. the Ohio made for profit charter schools have been existence for over ten years. when will they start showing improvement for the inner city school age children ten, twenty, fifty or more years, rr? as for my vast wealth, it was there for making and the taking. i was not afraid to go out to work and come home with dirt under my fingernails, and sweat on my brows that is the financial reward for any individual(s) in this country. rr, is that not your work ethic philosophy or are you jealous of my financial success by my hard work?

[Rick Rowlands]

Yes, they used to be called public SERVANTS, but now it seems we are now serving them with gold plated retirements, health care, and work rules which practically prohibit firing.

[Rick Rowlands]

iwasthere, truth is I do know who you are!  I was just hoping that you would have the guts to stand behind what you believe in.  It says a lot about a person's character when they will hide behind screen names and not want to be linked to their comments on this board.   As for me, you all know who I am and where I stand.

So what is your point about this one charter school failing?  The Youngstown Public School is also failing, so what point are you trying to make?  Inner city children are a tough group to try to educate, and not every approach will work.  But a couple may find their niche and become effective, it just takes time.

Why not enjoy your retirement and leave the teaching to someone who has recently graduated college?  You've apparently already made your money, but thats not enough, you have to take a job away from a recent graduate who probably now has to leave the area to find work.  You are really helping your community with that one!!! 

[sfc_oliver]

Gee Iwasthere, I had all that without a Union.

[rusty river]

From this I still say that the parents must be involved in education or for the most part it will fail.

I completely agree with both your posts. If the kids don't want to learn, and the parents don't care whether or not their children learn, they won't learn, no matter what the school system does.

[iwasthere]

RR you will never know who i am  because iwasthere operates in a secrecy mode aka CIA, interpol and the wwd. the experiment with the Ohio charter schools have failed miserably in this state. the charter school that is/was operated by Mt. Calvary Pentecostal Church, their operating status was taken away due to academic and financial deficits. RR you always want to blame the unions in this country for all the evil woes but it takes more than one party to screw the mission statement of the organization up for that no one benefits. iwasthere benefitted from a union membership aka a pension for the rest of my life(retired at the age of 48) i am forty-nine as of today. my life expectancy for my family genes goes well into the 80-90 age bracket. i have another forty more years to spy on you without you ever knowing it. i also have healthcare insurance through my retirement plan until i reach medicare age. I also started another career in teaching that carries another pension plan when i retire in another ten to fifteen years. this was done through my union membership that gave me education reimbursement for my college classes when passed with a C or better. can you say that for yourself at your place of employment? GO USA UNION POWER!

[sfc_oliver]

I graduated from Youngstown South back in 1971. I remember some great teachers and some who were not so great. Looking back I can see some that were there for a paycheck and others who actually cared. But most of all I remember my parents making sure we made it to school on time every day and that we did our homework. And that they attended every PTA and parent teacher meeting. From this I still say that the parents must be involved in education or for the most part it will fail.

[northside lurker]

What a waste of gov't dollars it was for Taft to give this school district millions for new school buildings. The districts getting the EXCELLENT marks should be getting those dollars!

This is off-topic, but the order of the school districts in the school rebuilding program is determined by each community's poverty level.  The poorer the community a school district serves, the greater the state's share of the cost will be, and the sooner they will be on the rebuilding list.

[Rick Rowlands]

Rusty River,

The legislature needs to set the same standards for both charter and public schools. On this we agree. 

As I previously said, if the public school cannot compete (due to rigid union contracts) then it should fail.  No special dispensation because  union thugs are running the show.

I truly do not understand how anyone can still support the notion of the Youngstown Public School system..  It has been proven to be a failure over and over.  We do not tolerate such substandard service from any of the private sector services that we enjoy, so why accept it from the school?  Would you hire a contractor that was rated as a failure?  Would you shop at stores that was rated the same?  Wait, you wouldn't have to because those firms would go belly up, and you would have a host of better run businesses to choose from. 

Forcing a citizen to give their hard earned money under threat of imprisonment to prop up a failed government agency is one of the greatest failures of our system of government.

[ytowner]

I am grateful that I was able to attend an EXCELLENT institution in the Mahoning Valley, Ursuline High School. Say what you want about the Parochial/Catholic schools in our area, they are truly in a league of their own in most of the communities in our area.

I understand it is a MAJOR sacrifice to attend a Parochial school due to the tuition costs, but it is something most parents will not regret.

I am still a true believer in school vouchers. But the easiest way to fix these schools is by getting that WENDY WEBB out of her job. How in God's name does she still hold that damn position. It pisses me off even talking about her and her DISGRACEFUL performance.

What a waste of gov't dollars it was for Taft to give this school district millions for new school buildings. The districts getting the EXCELLENT marks should be getting those dollars!