Every year I've looked at the state's school report cards and wondered: Why are so many kids suspended in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools? As the latest report on crime, violence, suspensions and dropout rates shows, last year CMS high school students were more than twice as likely to get short-term suspensions (up to 10 days) as counterparts in Wake and Guilford counties.
Database reporter Gavin Off got state suspension records for the last four years. We're just starting to tease out what they mean, but the school-by-school map he created gives a glimpse of schools where suspensions have been consistently and startlingly frequent.
Some are the ones CMS closed this year, an issue I touched on in an earlier article about how those high levels of suspension are spilling into the schools that took those students. In the four years before J.T. Williams Middle School closed, Gavin's numbers show it averaged almost 162 suspensions per 100 students. That's not a typo -- it means some students were suspended so frequently they drove the average up. Spaugh Middle averaged almost 147 suspensions per 100 in the four years before it closed, and Wilson Middle was at 97 per hundred.
Numbers only provide a starting point for serious discussion. What combination of student behavior and faculty response are turning some CMS schools into suspension factories? Which schools, neighborhoods and volunteer organizations are finding better ways to squelch trouble and keep classrooms focused on learning? Will closing hotspots and/or moving students improve behavior, or just relocate problems?
As always, insights from those of you on the front lines are appreciated.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Suspension factories
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79 comments:
Sorry! DO NOT blame factory response about the suspension rate. Blame the students who act like animals and the parent who allows such behavior to continue. Want to improve CMS schools, eliminate the 10-day suspension, replace it with expulsion, and then convert some of the closed schools to juvenile detention centers. Incarcerate the students and their do-nothing parents.
Ann,
Yes, this is a heavy topic. However, being on the front lines, I will attest to the fact that the leniency at home—for whatever reason—contributes greatly to the attitude of the suspendees. Another factor is that we no longer make parents accountable for their child’s behavior and actions. For example, if there is physical damage, the family no longer pays for it. If you or I had damaged the school or what have you, our parents would have had to pay to repair the damage. Included in that leniency is the pervasive attitude of “I have a right to do, say, act and react however I want.” Combine that with permission from parents to “defend themselves” no matter what and you will have a rampant ill-mannered unruly student body, especially n certain demographically challenged schools.
Let’s face it, the gang mentality revenge, “get them-before-they-get-me” attitude is prominent in many of our communities, cultures and schools right now. This attitude crosses all color lines. It is what is modeled in movies, TV and music.
I am so sick and tired of hearing, “we’ll he was gunna….” Or “So and so said they heard,…”
Until parents and communities take responsibility for the behavior of the offenders, not much will change for the better.
How ironic that the savior of the West side with Project Lift has her school used as an example of leadership, democracy, and culture. The behavior of a student is the direct reflection of the grandparent, caretaker, or occasionally, the parent. (When available)
Why no mention of the demographics that lead the way in terms of overall suspensions?
As a teacher at the school that all the schools that closed sent their children to--I can attest that these (15% of our population)students have no respect for adults and when I call home, the parent says, "Well, I told them to...". Property damage is rampant at this school and a parent even threatened a bus driver yesterday (it was on the news). Some students should be expelled, but aren't. Oh, yes, and originally teachers weren't allowed to write a referral on a student--guidance decided if it was necessary--teachers left.
It will be interesting to track this data in the 9 Project LIFT schools over the next 5 years, since LIFT is putting a lot of emphasis on family support and community involvement.
Whay re there no re-entry coucelling or "half-way house" type programs for suspensions? When the offenders come back, the BS etc. that got them suspended is still there. How about a day or two in ISS and behavior modification sessions before being allowed back into the general population.
Well - 'suspension factory' is a poor choice of words. Your article acknowledges that the suspensions are now spilling over to other schools as some of the high suspension rate schools are closed and the students are transferred to other schools. A pretty clear indication that problem is the animals (aka 'student') and the animal keepers (aka 'parent').
WHAT ABOUT CMS GIVING A HALF-YEAR REPORT ON SUSPENSIONS AT THE NEW K-8 SCHOOLS?
Simple request. Show all the bad stuff at the schools from last year that went into creating the K-8s and compare that to 1/2 year of 2011-12 K-8s.
Reason for request is this state report and the verbal anecdotal reports from CMS about how much success there is at the new schools.
If that's too complicated, just give a report on drugs. Parents are probably more concerned about the younger children crossing paths with that.
Bolyn McClung
Pineville
Typical "it must be someone else's fault" ( the teachers) reaction. You wouldn't last a week in some of these classrooms. No "Project" is going to change the way that some of these kids are raised. Getting these constantly disruptive kids out of the classroom so that those who are actually there to learn, can, is the right and fair thing to do. Instead of throwing money and time and resources at the problem, how about giving consideration to those who have actually been raised to respect others and to strive and improve themselves. That doesn't fit well with the "social agenda", but it sure would be refreshing for a change. The truth can be such a hinderance sometimes.
As some have alluded to, if there is money associated with a group of statistics, then bucket with the least consequences will contain the bad numbers and the bucket with the most incentive will contain the good numbers.
Having an audit is an interesting idea, but audit controls really only work once the numbers are in the system. If they are incorrectly classified before tracking starts, then an audit will be passed.
Perhaps you will posit there should be no leeway in how these events are categorized. Consider our current crop of zero tolerance laws where forgetting a hunting rifle in a locked trunk on school property leads to a felony arrest. Zero tolerance has it's price.
@Ann I feel us readers are being led to one conclusion. If the reporting leads us to believe the violence starts in the home, then the conclusion is we will need programs to help those homes. Therefore, we must support bright beginnings, LIFT, and FRL.
The other less tin foil hat conclusion is the numbers and observations are objective and valid. Thus, we will always have poverty and subcultures within the poverty group which require multi-year services for both the children and adults. It is a cost we as society must bear to give everyone the opportunity.
Nah, I like the conspiracy theory better.
In other words, "How have we, as a community, failed these future felons?"
Enough of political correctness. The solution will not be implemented until we accept the truth. The present ills affecting the educational system are directly and proportionally related to desegregation. Just as the majority of crime is directly related and inversly proportional to race.
Instead of "follow the money", we should "follow the students".
If the problem goes with the students, then, the problem is exactly as most people suspect, THE STUDENTS.
Now that that has been resolved, let's put the BS behind us about facilities, teachers, etc., etc., and focus on the REAL problem.
I think most responsible parents understand this issue and know how to deal with it when it's their OWN children.
The problem in our politically corrected society is how to deal with those "other" kids.
And probably their parents as well.
I'd suggest consulting with someone experienced in handling wild animals for their insights on how to handle the unruly ones.
We can all see the ripples that are coming to the surface, threatening to become a tidal wave, with these past two Your Schools posts, regarding the suburbs and now discipline issues. Too many in this community and in the media for years maintained the politically correct stance that racism and lack of opportunity have created the woes of many minority students, with the suburbs being particularly to blame. With that position becoming harder and harder to defend we are finally seeing an examination of the true causes of the achievement gap. However, the community has become severely fractured, perhaps irreparably, because of that past political correctness. Odd that it never occurred to all those "smart people" running community building organizations or opining on the state of our community that eventually there would have to be some accountability.
http://deconsolidate.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/CMS-Choice-Research.pdf
Let me offer another take. Since the 60s, we've taken prayer and Bible readings out of the public schools. How's that working for ya?
Okay Ann...
You talked about suspensions...
What about expulsion rates?
Any data to correlate to the suspensions, how many offenders of long term suspensions are repeat offenders?
West Meck for example.
Data shows 65 acts of crime or violence.
3.14 acts per 100 students which is double the state average at 1.52, with the CMS average at 1.81.
The kicker here is the expulsion rate per 100 at West Meck? - ZERO
CMS average of expulsions? - 0.01 per 100.
All the more reason to split CMS up into north, central and south division so each zone can apply their own suspension rules. Well, I hope they can .. the one rule for all doesn't work. Then the metrics for schools that are promoting productive behavior will show better results over time than the zoo mentallity of today. It is clear than what is in place today doesn't work.
The problem is we are looking at these children when they reach high school. I am amazed what kids get away with in elementary school! Talking back to/cursing teachers and not respecting them. Flat out refusing to do work because it is "too hard" or "not fun". Unless we have a solution other than suspension to allow our teachers to teach the kids who are there to learn - I support suspensions. And yes - we need to be willing to expel students from a school.
also... JT Williams in 2010/2011 had NO expulsions and NO long term suspensions. Only 136.04 suspension per 100 students.
Unfortunately, suspension often is what these children are looking for to escape the fact that they are grossly behind their counterparts. ISS and school projects(cleaning up) should be the punishment for the majority and save the suspensions for the real troublemakers.
How sad that adults are so frustrated with children that they refer to them as "animals". I hope you are not an educator.
Can it be - the elephant is the room is finally being address? The suburbs have been screaming about it all along but the PC social engineering driven bureaucrats just kept brushing it under the carpet.
The answer is simple. Put Teachers back in charge of the classroom and make principals enforce the rules. Expel students who break the rules and hold parents accountable by fines, jail time or other means(serious means). Stop playing with the issue. Once the students know they will be punished and that parents will be punished, only then will order return to the classroom.
Would anyone suggest a factor that is directly related to the suspension rate?
I will bet the only way you are going to get the attention of most of the parents is when it starts hitting them in the monthly government check.
Anon 9:41
You can ask the NAACP, they know one...
And are screaming bloody murder about "disparate impact".
...And people wonder why the charter schools are getting better and better test scores.
You have to remember too how under-reported these events really are.
There is a lot of hiding and sweeping under the carpet done at the schoolhouse level.
So not only do taxpayers pay for the schooling, free lunch, free section 8 housing, free healthcare, and free welfare checks, when a miscreant damages school property, the taxpayers have to pay to fix it too? Here is the simple solution to all of these problems, hold people and parents accountable for their actions.
Nice school suspension map.
Looks a lot like the crime map and the democratic voting map for the last major election.
This is because of home life not schools. There needs to be a rule that after the 2 strike you go to jail during the day instead of school. If the parents do care about these kids they might as well learn where the kids will be spending time sooner rather then later.
At first I thought more alternative schools would be answer. Maybe it still is to at least cull these out of the general population. In the alternative setting, the Department of Mental Health could require the family unit come in for counseling and at some point once signed off by the counselor, maybe the student could return to the general population.
Both Wake and Guilford are urban counties with demograpics that are similar to Meck. While Raleigh's unemployment rate is lower, Greeensboro's is not. Unless students in both counties are "failing" to a significantly greater degree than in Meck, then it seems to me that the issue must be CMS. What policies does CMS have that are different from Wake and Guildford? Irresponsible parent(s) are the cause, but there is no reason to think they are inherently more irresponsible in Meck than in Guilford and Wake.
Did we get a hint at the reason when all those parents and NAACP-types threw a fit at the closing of those underperforming schools? They showed no respect for CMS or the people who pay the bills. They set the example.
Having taught Algebra II (a "most loved" course, NOT by Students) in a CMS High School AND having served as a "Monitor" for "in house suspension center" in that same School, I can FULLY agree that the problem with BEHAVIOR and DESIRE TO LEARN lie not with the School System or any Teacher, but with the Student and the way they are treated and what they "Learn" AT HOME.
I had better success working with those "in house" suspended kids, helping them with Algebra while they were suspended from another Teacher's Class than I did with many of those same "Mis-Behaving" kids in my own Class. Those kids are CRYING for Attention and HELP !! They aren't getting it at Home ... so they try for it at School. For them, some BAD Attention is better than NO Attention ! Yes, they need help ... and deep down they KNOW they need help. They ALL need to go to a "special class" where they can get that attention. The British sent their "Criminals" to the new Colony of Australia. Let's give our "troubled students" their own place to learn ... and get them the attention THEY need, while taking them away from disrupting the Students that are actually in school to LEARN !
Anonymous at 8:18 is on the money. But, the politically correct "leaders" in Meck would rather chase off taxpayers of all races with school-age children to Union, Cabarrus and Iredell counties than to be fair to the entire county and admit that what is doing had not/is not working.
If you want to really understand why, take a day off work and go into one of the schools listed (if it still exists) and teach classes for a day. You will quickly figure out why many of these future felons are put out of the state sponsored baby sitting service know as public schooling.
Would have been nice to see some demographics in the article of the students that are actually being suspended from these schools - or was that too touchy?
Bolyn- Mr. Fact checker must have missed Ann's report on the pre-k-8 numbers a month ago. The number of suspensions and or expulsions were HUGE. Ann came out with the numbers right after HUGHIE boy paraded 3 principals from some CMS pre-k-8 schools to talk of all the success. Of course a HUGE disparity from the truth as proven by facts from CO. One of Ann's better articles so the facts are out on the issues with pre-k-8 schools to date and they do not paint a bright picture. I am not surprised as CMS did not planning to implement this new school structure mixing the young kids with the older ones other than they were forced too since they closed all the other schools. HOORAY ST. PETER GORMAN and all his other clones ie. Eric Davis,Rhonda Lennon,Timmy Morgan,Trent (your gone) Merchant,Richard,Joyce & Big Coach White.
Having taught Algebra II (a "most loved" course, NOT by Students) in a CMS High School AND having served as a "Monitor" for "in house suspension center" in that same School, I can FULLY agree that the problem with BEHAVIOR and DESIRE TO LEARN lie not with the School System or any Teacher, but with the Student and the way they are treated and what they "Learn" AT HOME.
I had better success working with those "in house" suspended kids, helping them with Algebra while they were suspended from another Teacher's Class than I did with many of those same "Mis-Behaving" kids in my own Class. Those kids are CRYING for Attention and HELP !! They aren't getting it at Home ... so they try for it at School. For them, some BAD Attention is better than NO Attention ! Yes, they need help ... and deep down they KNOW they need help. They ALL need to go to a "special class" where they can get that attention. The British sent their "Criminals" to the new Colony of Australia. Let's give our "troubled students" their own place to learn ... and get them the attention THEY need, while taking them away from disrupting the Students that are actually in school to LEARN !
For every suspension there are probably fifty more that should have been imposed. I subbed at several high and middle schools over the past eight years and witnessed abominable and disgusting behavior. Never again.
Bolyn, your wish is Hugh Hattabaugh's command! He told me he plans to do a midyear update on suspensions and other data at the 42 "transition" schools. (OK, that probably has more to do with directions from school board leaders than your blog post, but still ...)
9:36 - no Jews in your schools? Freudian slip??
Anon 10:47.
Well, it IS a public school...
11:04 - dumb comment, try again.
Remove the repeat trouble makers from regular schools - start a training type school in one of the abandoned schools using security guards in the halls - boot camp like tactics to keep them under control and strong teachers. Let them know that the nest step will be jail.
Anon 11:07
Dumb question.
Just wait a few years Hugh will fix it all ! By that time all the superintendants will have given up on us !
11:21 - I didn't ask a question at 11:07. CMS graduate??
To Ann Doss Helms.. do you really not have a realistic understanding of why the suspension rates are what they are?? Your posing this type of 'commentary requested' story only exposes the real sentiment of those who understand discipline, social order, assimilation and honor versus those who do not have the same values yet seek to accomplish what discipline, etc can achieve.
Anon 11:32
Sorry.
All you anonymice look alike to me.
Ann,
In your crime/violence chart, you show 1,482 "all acts of violence" in 2010/2011.
West Meck alone that year had 1,479 suspensions.
Just out of curiosity, beyond assault, firearms, drugs, alcohol, other weapons and violent acts, what are all these kids being suspended for?
It would be interesting to know what the top 3 or 4 violations are beyond the ones mentioned above.
I can sum up the problem in one instance. My husband worked at North Mecklenburg High School. As part of his day, he was required to work one period babysitting the students in ISS. One student in particular had been sent to ISS for the third time in a week - and it was Wednesday. My husband was required to call the parent because it was the third time.
He told the parent, "Your child was sent to ISS for the third time this week and I'm required to let you know what has happened."
The parent's response? "So? You deal with them when they're at school. Don't call me about it."
This was ten years ago. Nothing has changed since then.
What other option is there for dealing with kids who have anti-social behavior and no interest in learning? Not to mention the lack of parental involvement. What would you have teachers do? It's either suspend the kids or allow them to disrupt the classroom and impede the education of all the other kids.
I'm guessing that the "solution" for this will be increased spending for new programs to address these problem students...which of course will be a complete failure. Change the culture that these kids grow up in and then you will see improvement.
Librarian 12:14
I must correct you. I was at NMHS 10 years ago. Something has changed.
It's gotten worse. Much worse.
If you want to label our schools "Suspension Factories" than you need a term to describe the neighborhoods these kids come from:
"Welfare-funded baby-making factories"
If you're tired of the way CMS runs the schools, take a stand and sign SPARK Educational Performances's Petition to divide CMS into 3 separate districts...
http://www.change.org/petitions/the-north-carolina-state-legislature-divide-cms-into-three-separate-districts-each-with-its-own-taxing-authority
And *like* their Facebook page to stay informed:
https://www.facebook.com/SPARKEducationalPerformances
SPARK, carving up CMS will never fly.
Keep trying though.
Wiley, it may never fly. But, it might result in a large turnout of voters sick of the situation and result in the election of different "kinds" of candidates for everything fron school board to BOCC. As it is most peole don't think they can change the status quo so they don't, and Vilma's "people" keep sending her and like-minded folks into office. And, before somebody calls me racist, Vilma's "people" consist of all colors.
All the powers that be care about is how to extract more money from the suburbanites and redistribute it and how to redistribute the crime to the suburbs.
Lowest common denominator is the battle cry.
Wiley, that's one of the things Gavin is looking at. There's a long list of categories that includes fighting, insubordination, disrespect of staff, aggressive behavior, gang activity -- even the dreaded public display of affection. The less-serious "behavioral" suspensions are far more numerous that those classified as criminal.
Ann,
I realize there are a multitude of reasons. My son was sent to ISS once because he was late to his next class by three minutes because his previous teacher asked him and another student for some help with something that made them late. So my son and the other kid sat out of the class. That was a waste of one day of instruction in that class for those two kids.
It seems to me that fighting and aggressive behaviour would fall under the assault heading but who knows.
Also, is there a distinction between ISS and out of school suspensions in the data or they all lumped together? It appears to be lumped together.
WC, your last example with your son is precisely what is wrong with discipline in CMS and probably most school systems where PC has taken over. Common sense has gone out the window.
It would be interesting to see if there is a corelation between suspensions and high principal turnover? How does the principal turnover compare in Wake and Guilford Counties? As CMS continues to churn principals through schools, I wonder how the lack of consistent leadership and the inability to build relationships with student and parents impacts the need of the principal to use heavy handed administrative disciplinary actions? Or, are high suspensions an outcome of a new principal to show "results" and "order"? Good principals with deep relationships with their students know how to apply the spirit, not the rule of law - No student should be sent to ISS for a tardy caused by a teacher by a good principal.
Ann, it is this type of "gothca" article that undermines the entire educational profession. You should come and sit in some of these schools that you do your reporting on. I suspect you would come away with a whole new perspective. What applied 50 years ago, is no longer applicable in today's one parent generation. Ann, I would recommend you get out of the 1950's and come join us in the 21st century..
2:52, this isn't intended to be a "gotcha." I'm posing a question, not pointing a finger. Absolutely want to spend time in schools before I write a full article on this issue. I don't think there's going to be a simple "gotcha" explanation -- as the comments indicate, this is a complex mixture of student attitudes and behavior, family situations, CMS rules and approaches of individual schools and teachers.
How about shedding some light on the educational establishment starting in kindergarten? We've raised generations of kids who can't be told to sit still, be quiet and pay attention. No, we've got to "criss-cross apple sauce", "button up" and give every kid in class a chance to be the "line leader" on the way to the restroom. On top of this we've got to have "directed instruction", "cooperative instruction", "student lead instruction" and so forth. Then, teachers have to "differentially" teach to those who are "visual learners", "auditory learners", "kinesthetic "learners" and so forth. After this, we've got the "gifted" kids and "EC" kids who need an additional specialty area teacher. Bible readings? That's what "character education" is for so kids can learn to "respect" each other and maybe not throw a chair at the teacher while cussing them out and using the Lord's name in vain. Did I mention "diversity and cultural understanding"? Yes, teachers are also supposed to make sure their lesson plans address every race, ethnicity, culture and sexual orientation. "Curriculum extension" teaching? These are lesson plans that teach a math concept that also addresses an educational outcome in music. Oh, I forgot gender bias issues because boys and girls are different. This is all before we get to standardized testing based on a "pacing" script that correlates with the NC Standard Course of Study. In the middle of all this you hope and pray Johnny learns his multiplication tables before getting off the phone with an irate mother who's mad at you because her little princess wanted a green popsicle during Field Day but got a red one instead.
2:52.
I just described 21st century teaching in my previous post - which might be part of the problem.
-AD
3:29, priceless!
DISCIPLINE
In many surveys, discipline is most often the most noted problem within schools. However, when the same surveys report on the solutions to a poor education, correcting discipline hardly makes the list. Teachers, budgets, parents and administrations are more prominent.
So, in CMS, where does discipline rank on the impact of achievement?
It’s only a question. I couldn’t begin to fathom the answer. But the answer could influence what kind of superintendent we hire or division of the budget.
Bolyn McClung
Pineville
Anonymous at 3:59--I think you nailed it. I don't blame teachers at all; I do blame federal and state elected officials,as well as the Meck school board, and, judging from what just got elected/appointed, these next few years will be doozies! Maybe it will get so bad and the citizens so up in arms that they will have no choice but to change course.
In my opinion, discipline affects those who have a lack of it, unless the lack of discipline by one constantly interferes with an entire class.
Collectively, if there are many who lack discipline, then certainly test scores, droput rates and graduation rates are affected and brings down the whole group.
If we eliminate kids with chronic discipline problems, will test scores and grad rates increase simply because we've eliminated the low achievers from the entire pool?
So what do you do? Keep letting Little Johnny back in time after time and socially promote him or call a timeout and tell parents at the beginning of a new school year discipline will be strictly enforced and if your child continues to be a disruption, they will be kicked out?
I'm all for the latter, but good luck with that approach.
Everyone needs to read Battle Hymn of The Tiger Mother by Amy Chua to see how other cultures view their children's education.
Not saying their approach is perfect, but that is the competition...
This discussion is a little maddening. In most situations, suspensions only occur after MANY redirections, displacements, conversations and detentions. It is, unless the situation involves violence (and a small amount of other things) the culmination of patterns of behavior the student refuses to change.
Suspension factories reflect people within the school population that consistently break rules that at A MINIMUM disrupt the learning of every one else in the class. I no longer work for CMS, but suspensions were never casual or arbitrary in my experience, but the final step in trying to change behaviors better addressed in the home. However, and I love Anne's reporting, this appears to be one more situation in which the school is expected to take responsibility for the failures of the community.
If your area receives half of the funding of another district and has almost twice the students in the classroom then it is:
Taxation
Without
REPRESENTATION
Anon 5:57...
Post your data to support the argument.
Districts, tax amounts taken in, teacher/pupil ratios, etc.
Anne-
I encourage you to go walk around some of these schools that are of the 8 targeted. Please notice the lack of cleanliness, graffiti, 'trailer communities' and the behavior of students during transition times. I gave up erasing graffiti after my fourth magic eraser, 600 pencils, 1,000 sheets of paper, 12 binders, 45 white board markers, 30 highlighters, 45 pens, and 20 rulers were used in ONE MONTH!! Money is not the answer---nor is berating and blaming the teachers. We must put responsibility back on the students and parents. I actually have parents who REFUSE to send their child with paper because that is the school social worker's job!! Enough is enough! I suspect that all schools will have Teach Charlotte/Teach for America teachers because those that love the profession will leave! Oh, yes, and many Teach for America teachers cash in after their two years and move on. What about the educators that knew they wanted to help children their whole life and went to college to train to be a teacher?
I have to wonder if The Gormanator watched the History Channel's program about the Bloods and the Crips? The L.A. public school system decided to disperse gang members to different schools in an effort to solve gang violence. The result of this decision created school environments that facilitated the recruitment of more gang members at more schools. Eventually, both gangs went national and the rest is history.
-AD
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