Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The answer is 'no'. No one has figured out how to it on a large scale.

Fairfax County has the 11th largest school system in the country. So, it can be done on a large scale. It is majority minority. It has 26.7% in free/reduced price lunches, many more should be considering the COL. 16% ESOL. It spends much less per student than many city schools and higher class sizes.

Do you not understand the difference between city and county? Two very different animals.

I was commenting the "No one has figured out how to do it on a large scale." Fairfax County has.

Helsinki.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The answer is 'no'. No one has figured out how to it on a large scale.

Fairfax County has the 11th largest school system in the country. So, it can be done on a large scale. It is majority minority. It has 26.7% in free/reduced price lunches, many more should be considering the COL. 16% ESOL. It spends much less per student than many city schools and higher class sizes.

I live in a small city where 95+% of students qualify for free or reduced cost lunch and over 30+% are English language learners-once you hit the tipping point where almost all of the children in the system are poor, and middle class families stop seeing public schools as an option, you need an exponential amount of resources to support students.

Problem is that no one has on a large scale been able to break the SES/Test score gap. Large city districts are majority low SES school systems and perform accordingly. Some are worse than others, have to agree on the poster above about Philadelphia, but the answer is no. Neither have small rural districts, nor poorer suburban districts like PG. Education can not save the nation from our loss of the middle class, it is only a lagging indicator.

Anonymous wrote:If you can find a majority republican big city. It will have good schools.

What are the two largest majority GOP cities, PHX and SLC? Even IND and Houston are majority Blue.

Anonymous wrote:If you can find a majority republican big city. It will have good schools.

LOL! You're funny!

Or, if you're serious, please give some examples of "republican big cities with good schools".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The answer is 'no'. No one has figured out how to it on a large scale.

NYC has a gifted and talented program. G&T is taboo in DCPS. Who would want them in your school system?

For kids with behavioral issues, for all the money DC spends on schools it could send some to hire more aides and interventional instructors to really help them. Then they'd have a much better shot at achieving. The short-term cost will surely offset the long-term.....

This X 1,000,000

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This depends on what your "schools that work" goals are - High standardized test scores? Higher order thinking skills that lead to college preparedness? Differentiated and individualized learning that tracks how far a student progresses from year to year? Graduating higher percentage of students?

School systems do different things well. For me, I don't care much about standardized tests. I'd rather look at ow many students progress at least one grade level from year to year in reading, math and science.

How would you measure this without standardized tests? I don't know of any school district that publishes this information.

I realized I'd get this question after I pushed "submit." I mis-wrote... I don't have an issue with standardized tests. I agree they are necessary. However, I'd like the data to compare my child's score throughout her academic career - ensuring that she's progressing from year to year. RATHER than comparing her classroom/grade with another classroom/grade in another school down the road. I just that think the latter approach is more effective at ensuring kids learn. Also, I'd prefer any standardized test to include teacher feedback.

Ok, so valuing what you value, are there any cities or urban school systems that you feel do this well, with the differentiated learning and success with students advancing at least a grade level each year?

2 things: unions and demographics. Heck look at the demographics of all of those southern states and get back to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The answer is 'no'. No one has figured out how to it on a large scale.

Fairfax County has the 11th largest school system in the country. So, it can be done on a large scale. It is majority minority. It has 26.7% in free/reduced price lunches, many more should be considering the COL. 16% ESOL. It spends much less per student than many city schools and higher class sizes.

Do you not understand the difference between city and county? Two very different animals.

According to the guy featured in this article, the answer to OP's question currently is "no":

http://greatergreatereducation.org/post/22755/should-we-give-up-on-urban-public-school-districts-and-replace-them-with-something-completely-/

"In The Urban School System of the Future, Smarick says that despite decades of effort, urban public school districts like DCPS continue to serve the vast majority of their students inadequately. In his view, they will never generate the results disadvantaged kids deserve.

"What's needed, he says, is a "portfolio" approach. Instead of having the school district serve as the sole or even dominant operator of schools on a permanent basis, a city would manage a portfolio of its K-12 schools."

Anonymous wrote:If you can find a majority republican big city. It will have good schools.

Yes, please tell us about all the great urban school districts in Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, etc....

FWIW, Salt Lake City's districts rank 57th and 63rd out of 69 districts in the state of Utah. Doesn't get much more Republican than that.

Anonymous wrote:The answer is 'no'. No one has figured out how to it on a large scale.

Fairfax County has the 11th largest school system in the country. So, it can be done on a large scale. It is majority minority. It has 26.7% in free/reduced price lunches, many more should be considering the COL. 16% ESOL. It spends much less per student than many city schools and higher class sizes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The answer is 'no'. No one has figured out how to it on a large scale.

NYC has a gifted and talented program. G&T is taboo in DCPS. Who would want them in your school system?

For kids with behavioral issues, for all the money DC spends on schools it could send some to hire more aides and interventional instructors to really help them. Then they'd have a much better shot at achieving. The short-term cost will surely offset the long-term.....

NYC has a 100 year legacy of providing excellent education for high achieving students. For the rest, not so much.

If you can find a majority republican big city. It will have good schools.