Thursday, July 24, 2008
By Wendy Gragg
Tribune-Herald staff writer
The meeting scheduled for tonight at G.L. Wiley Middle School to discuss the school’s future has been canceled.
Instead, options for the future of the chronically low-performing school will be discussed at an Aug. 7 school board meeting at the Waco Independent School District Conference Center.
East Waco leaders and Waco ISD board members held a lengthy and heated meeting Wednesday afternoon before deciding to postpone tonight’s meeting. The options the administration has drawn up for the school will be available beginning today for the community to consider before the rescheduled meeting, district officials said. But late Wednesday, school officials had not announced where the options would be available for viewing.
The East Waco contingent, which included pastors and community members, said it was insulting to be called to today’s now-canceled meeting on such short notice and without any idea about the options. Some major church meetings are being held this week also, which would make it hard for church leaders to attend, some of the pastors said.
Some pastors said they felt blindsided by the article in Tuesday’s Tribune-Herald that said the district is considering a fall 2008 closure as one of its options. The consensus from East Waco leaders is that if the state can give the school one more year to boost its state test scores, the district should give it another year as well.
This year, Wiley garnered its fifth “unacceptable” rating from the state, making it eligible for closure by the Texas Education Agency. State Commissioner of Education Robert Scott instead decided the school should be taken out of Waco ISD’s hands and run by alternative management. But Scott postponed those sanctions for one year, and voiced his confidence that the school would raise its test scores.
“We want closure off the table as an option until after the May 2009 TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) results,” said Jimmy Hunter, pastor of Toliver Chapel Baptist Church, suggesting the next round of test scores be a deciding factor in the school’s fate.
Joe Bedford, pastor of Greater Zion Missionary Baptist Church, said Wiley’s closure would be too much of a blow considering East Waco already is losing one school through the consolidation of Doris Miller and J.H. Hines elementary schools. It would turn the area into a ghost town, he said.
“It’s an insult to our community to be continuously dismembered, one by one,” he said.
McLennan County Commissioner Lester Gibson asked how the district could be ready to make the decision to close the school this year when even the school board members have not seen or discussed the options the administration is crafting for Wiley.
“I’m worried about the logistics,” he said.
Board member Alex Williams said that, like his constituents, he wanted closure to be eliminated as an option for Wiley.
Board president David Schleicher, however, said he wanted it to remain a possibility.
“It’s better to have the public debate about it now,” Schleicher said.
wgragg@wacotrib.com
757-6901
Comments
By Lawyer in Houston
Jul 31, 2008 12:36 AM | Link to this
Hello people,
You do realize that this is the typical conversation of African Americans. We put each other down all the time. It is time to work together to solve the problem. No matter what is written on this blog, we are not going to be graded. If someone does not cross their t, look over it and deal with the issue at hand. The issue at hand is the fate of your community and G.L. Wiley. Now in thinking this matter over, Waco ISD is losing almost 9,000 or more dollars each year to a school that is not producing. Think about it, do you like to lose money or do you like to earn money? Now for those schools who are doing great, the district will continue to spend money. This is a scenerio. I have a daughter who is 21. If she is not making passing grades, her dad and I will not continue to pay for school-it becomes a waste!! Now although I know Wiley has some hell of good teachers, there are also some who are just their.
First things first-find the problem.
Second, always see if the problem is too costly for a solution
Third, you must figure out what needs to be done.
If in fact, the problem was the people inside, it is time to do a little switching just for a year or so:
Your best teachers need to be at those low performing schools at least for a year. Now of course, you do not send all your good teachers from one school, but you send at least two from each school. Wiley has only about 200 students and due to the crunch that they are in, the students may not need to change classess, many times students lose focus.
Now the task is who are your good teaches. Your good teachers are teachers with a failure rate of 0-4 out of 20 students. Your maybe teachers are those with a failure rate of 5 or less.
Two possible solutions are at stake because I read what Waco students going on a sponsored trip.There is a gentleman who does alot for Wiley by exposing them to various trips according to Waco sources and I like the goodwill, but that money that is raised for trips need to be money set aside for fall, winter and spring camp to raise those scores. Sure it is fine to go and visit the beautiful black historical sites, but if you are still failing TAKS, what is the use?
Secondly, if fate has it and the school is closed, you really need to think about where these teachers should go. Don't just stick them in a place to have a warm body, make sure that they are a match. Also, to the board and community, when teachers are selected or administrators, the board as well as the human resource department and chairs need to have a say. What I hear in Waco is that the administrator is allowed to select teachers, which is fine, but we need someone with the outside knowledge who can disern between a good teacher and a good friend. Politics play a hell of a role in the law field and education. Allow your community, parents and officials to select candidates because what happens is you get a Good ole' boy or good ole' girl in the position, which also happens to be a good ole' friend, and you get bad results because the expectation is not there. In conclusion, to the community and anyone who happens to read my long comments, I wish you guys the best of luck and remember to put kids first and hire highly qualified individuals because of their skill and not because of the piece of paper in hand!!
By :)
Jul 25, 2008 10:49 PM | Link to this
Rob, your such a JACK ***!!! Can you understand that you jerk??? Trying to correct bloggers for mechanical errors. You people that sit here all day and do that are just born losers that have nothing to do. Loser!!!
By Mike
Jul 24, 2008 4:37 PM | Link to this
Family Man, you hit the nail on the head....and said it much better than I did. My concern is that the parents will not change, even if they are put on notice.
Concerned Waco Citizen, My wife is a teacher and I tend to agree that the TAKS does limit teachers, but all of the other schools have to meet the same standards as Wiley, and they are succeeding, so it has to be something else.
Rob, Although I knowticed ; ) the errors, but your responses are hurting the point that you were initially trying to make.
By Rob
Jul 24, 2008 2:18 PM | Link to this
Wow! Will "Mom of Wilson B" be next to make attacks?
By FAMILYMAN
Jul 24, 2008 1:04 PM | Link to this
PEOPLE... PEOPLE!!!! This is a FAMILY CRISIS! How many of the parents whose children attend G.L. Wiley actually bother to attend PTA meetings or even get to know their child's teachers? Donıt tell me it doesnıt have to do with the topic at hand... it all goes back to the family. Education starts in the home. Home trainingı mannersı respect for authorityı self respectı etc. The blame always gets directed at those at the top, be it administrators or teachers... but I beg to ask, who's in charge of the home? I am now convinced to say, give them one more year. EAST WACO, it is time to put up or shut up!
By concerned waco citizen
Jul 24, 2008 12:55 PM | Link to this
The situation at Wiley is sad. Wiley has been a part of Waco ever since I was a youngster. The problem is not the teachers or the community. The problem is the emphasis on the TAKS Test. Back 20 years, teachers were able to teach at a speed in which where everyone could learn. Now in the modern times..lessons are rushed so all the TAKS objectives can get covered. The state now judges shools solely by TAKS Standards.
I am against closing Wiley. One thought I have is the district needs to find a way to increase the enrollement at the campus. Maybe they could add a few more streets to its attendance zone. The reason why I am suggesting this is because if Wiley only has around 200 students... the school really suffers when each student fails. But if more students are on the campus, each student score would weigh less.
I am really condused why the district added Brazos Middle School. It was really not needed. When it was added, the enrollement at Wiley dropped.
By Wife of Wilson B.
Jul 24, 2008 12:28 PM | Link to this
To Rob:
It truly bothers me that you have analyzed the blog comments! Being a graduate student a blog is a safe place that does not need an APA style of writing! IT'S COMMENTS! Get a grip and focus on the issues at hand. If you have such great ways of correcting, then maybe you have great ways to correct the problems at hand. You might want to go back and check your use of "a part" and "apart" before you choose to correct someone else.
By B.T.
Jul 24, 2008 12:21 PM | Link to this
In sum:
1. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink;
2. A struggling school in the community is better than no school at all.
By Mike
Jul 24, 2008 11:44 AM | Link to this
To Wilson B
What does "I wouldn't be surprised if you worked in the Administration office after all the comments I've made." mean?
By Former Wiley Wildcat
Jul 24, 2008 11:33 AM | Link to this
It is sad when such a devestating event is about to take place in the community and we have to read such derrogatory comments. Wiley can bounce back from the low-rating. With the right
teachers and staff support Wiley can bounce back. It doesn't stop there,they need help from the community. Volunteers who are concerned about the school need to step in. Most of all they need PARENTS to be concerned. I believe with these ingredients Wiley can move forward. And for the gentleman with the comment about Wiley becoming a HOLE. I wouldn't say that to my worst enemy because it would hurt them. It shows what kind of person you are!!!!!
You,ve been served.
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