Arkansas Blog

"No word yet on whether the board majority's bill of particulars on reasons for the proposed firing of Superintendent Roy Brooks will be discussed then or even made public. "

I don't understand. Do they not have an agenda for the meeting and is it not publicized as being such to the public?

Great. More national embarassment for LR. Love seeing my hometown portrayed as a backwards, racist crime-infested ****hole by the national media.

Sometimes I just want to give up on it.

Any idea if the Brandon Love piece is available online? I'd certainly like to read it. The notion of two tracks at Central has been fairly common knowledge for at least the past decade or so, but it would be interesting to read a student's take on the situation.

ARK. BLOG: I think somebody posted it in full in a comment the other day. I don't currently have it in a form I can paste, but I intend to run it next week or shortly thereafter. Understand one thing: There are not two "tracks" at Central. Tracking is, essentially, illegal. Anyone is free to enroll in AP courses. The complaint -- as explained to me yesterday by John Walker -- is that black students don't get sufficient mentoring or encouragement when they enter AP classes and, in part on account of cultural differences that play out on standardized tests, often don't perform as well as white students. This penalizes them for college consideration and thus discourages many black students from taking AP courses. At the same time, anyone is welcome to take "regular" courses. But the suggestion, again, is that less attention is devoted to outcomes in those courses. I can't judge the validity of these arguments very well, but I do know the beliefs are deeply held. I found more disturbing the more general feelings of racial divisions among students, at Central and, frankly, just about everywhere else.

Whoa, AT Blog! I said "the notion of two tracks" at Central, and I merely used the term that you used in your post. I never suggested that there is de jure or even de facto tracking of students at Central, which, indeed, would be illegal if determined on the basis of race. My comment was just that I have heard about this notion for some time. I do tend to believe that it's likely true to some extent, though I wonder if the problem is ultimately more deeply seated in socioeconomic circumstances than in any sort of racial animus at the school level.

ARK. BLOG: I just wanted to be sure I hadn't misled anyone.

Cato, a good and pertinent question: "Do they not have an agenda for the meeting and is it not publicized as being such to the public?"

I'm not aware of any statement the LRSD board has ever made endorsing sunshine procedures for its meetings.

In fact, a few years ago, I looked at any and every board I could find in Little Rock, both public and for non-profit organizations, to find out how many of them followed sunshine practices such as publicizing agendas in advance, publicizing contact information for board members (or even publicizing members' names), holding open meetings, making their bylaws accessible.

My finding then was that only a handful of boards in the city had such practices.

I suspect not much has changed since then. It's just not how we like to do business--to our shame and discredit.

We prefer to engage in behind-the-scenes character assassination, fueled by personal vendettas, when something like the Brooks-Mitchell thing blows up. We prefer not to make information accessible or to permit public discussion of it. So much easier for the same small group of movers and shakers to keep making all the decisions behind the scenes, dontcha know, when we behave this way.

And all the while, we bleed talent and incur national scorn, as we behave this way....

Here's a link to the Brandon Love piece:

http://tinyurl.com/27sa4p

I posted the link on 4/17 in this blog.

Have the times really changed that much in 50 years?

Read "A Tale of Two Centrals" Brandon Love, a student at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. In February 2007, he participated with other students in IDRA's Brown and Mendez Blueprints for Action Community Dialogues in Little Rock in which educators and community members held roundtables on improving educational opportunities for underrepresented communities, specifically African American and Latino students. The students made eloquent presentations about how they see promises of the Brown and Mendez cases being fulfilled and not being fulfilled in their own schools.

http://www.idra.org/IDRA_Newsletters/April_2007_Curriculum_Quality/A_Tale_of_Two_Centrals/

Posted by: slydog | April 17, 2007 03:54 PM

It's not so much as there are two tracks as there are two schools - one for the whites and one for the blacks.

Max, check your archives. A few years ago Jennifer Reed did a story on a black girl who was a senior at Central. She had won some national award and the Times did a piece on her. She gave the exact same comments as Brandon Love: often the only black in an AP class; white kids and teachers asked her what she was doing in an AP class; black kids accusing her of being a "sell-out" for taking AP courses.

Nancy Rousseau runs the closest thing to a private school within a public school that you can find. EVERYONE in the LRSD knows what's going on at Central, but the press - including the Times - is constantly crowing about how wonderful Central is. The sad fact is that Central is just as segregated in 2007 as it was in 1957.

As I have stated many times in posts on this blog, the top (mainly white) students are allowed to enroll in Central's "magnet" program at the expense of the other high schools. Why is it that Central is 50/50 white/black while the other three high schools are over 85% black? (Parkview is mandated by the courts to maintain a 50/50 balance).

It is no wonder that Central has the "best" of all worlds in athletics and academics. They skim off the "best" and claim them as their own. Max, you have even trumpeted the "return of the LRSD to neighborhood schools." What a crock!! I would safely say that over 75% of the white kids at Central are not even in Central's attendance zone.

ARK. BLOG: I have the figures on the magnet school enrollment portion of Central's enrollment and it is majority black -- 275 black, 248 white and 61 other. I can't say for sure about attendance from outside zones. The attendance zone is large and was drawn to take in many of the neighborhoods that now form the nucleus that still exists for white support in the school district. Having sent two kids to Central I can tell you that the only "skimming" is that which occurs on account of the rich, deep course offering of those bad old AP courses. Many of them were and are exceptional for college prep work. It might or might not interest you to know that my son, one of Central's National Merit finalists, did indeed come from the Central attendance zone and attended there only because he repeatedly wasn't drawn in the lottery for Parkview's handful of magnet seats for white males, his preference for high school.

Nothing's perfect about any of this. Blacks are underrepresented in the AP courses. There are a multitude of reasons, not all of them because The Man wants to keep the black folks down. Some is peer pressure, the well-documented pressure from other black students and mentioned by many top black students -- that you can be ostracized for being an academic achiever.

All of that said: I don't understand the desire on the part of some to tear Central apart. It's a plus to have schools that are recognized draws for top students, particularly a school with Central's unique place in history They create a competitive culture. They produce graduates for top colleges. Parkview, which is a much smaller school, succeeds in this regard, too. Hall is doing better. Fair and McClellan lag badly. But you sound as if you won't be happy until the high achievers have been driven from Central. How that will help the city or the district I'm at a loss to understand.

Finally, Central and most of society in Little Rock is largely segregated -- by race, money, religion and other ways. But as segregated as 1957? I simply don't buy that. Interracial couples didn't go to prom in 1957, to give one example of changes. Not many do today, of course, but it's not unheard of. And no student takes his or her life in his hands for doing so. Our progress is scant enough in race relations that we need not exaggerate to make a point.

And one more thing: Everyone is allowed to attend their neighborhood school. You may choose to attend magnet schools, established under court order to attract white students to inner city neighborhoods. Parkview is entirely a magnet school. A portion of Central is a magnet school. Central has drawn a great number of white students from neighborhoods in its attendance zone.

I graduated from Central two years ago. I did not know Brandon Love, but I feel that his story is inaccurate. Haven taken several AP classes at Central I NEVER heard anyone say anything remotely racially offensive to another student. He makes it sound as is African-American students are constantly ridiculed, which is just wrong (if anyhting what I witnessed was the other way around). Also, his description of the lunch seating makes it sound like there is a whites only area. Most the people I knew sat in a location based on their grade (fresh,soph...) not race. The reason that most students sit outside is because the lunch room holds about 700 people, which is not large enough to seat everyone. I think it is great that Mr. Love is getting involved, although his story is one sided. Central is an amazing school and arguably the best in the state. Everyone I know, who took advantage of the education that Central had to offer, is excelling in college. If African-American students are not taking advantage of the AP classes offered at Central, then the problem begins before Central.

I graduated from Central two years ago. I did not know Brandon Love, but I feel that his story is inaccurate. Haven taken several AP classes at Central I NEVER heard anyone say anything remotely racially offensive to another student. He makes it sound as is African-American students are constantly ridiculed, which is just wrong (if anyhting what I witnessed was the other way around). Also, his description of the lunch seating makes it sound like there is a whites only area. Most the people I knew sat in a location based on their grade (fresh,soph...) not race. The reason that most students sit outside is because the lunch room holds about 700 people, which is not large enough to seat everyone. I think it is great that Mr. Love is getting involved, although his story is one sided. Central is an amazing school and arguably the best in the state. Everyone I know, who took advantage of the education that Central had to offer, is excelling in college. If African-American students are not taking advantage of the AP classes offered at Central, then the problem begins before Central.

Brandon is obviously a talented young man. I found it interesting that he doesn't find it odd that few blacks are in his AP classes but not unusual that Vanderbilt has a black enrollment a fraction of that represented by the population of the Southeast, where most of its students originate. The other issue he alludes to but fails to expound on is the negative connotation of participating in AP classes amongst his black peers. That's a whole discussion in and of itself, I think.

I agree with Central Grad that much of this is predetermined well before these students ever make it to Central. Check 5th and 8th grade exam test scores from these students and I would wager the difference occurs there as well. I agree with an earlier poster that the differences are largely socioeconomic.

Slydog, look at Central's boundaries on the LRSD site. They take in most of West LR and all of the Heights and Hillcrest. There's your answer.

Central's "magnet" program is International Studies - not Advanced Placement. Max, are the numbers you have for this year? If so, why are there more than 500 seats in the program - a little less than 1/4 of the total school population. I called Central and no one there seems to know exactly how many magnet seats they are allowed. It seems that if you are the right person (green as in money, or white as in skin) you can enter the hallowed halls.

Please check your numbers again and find out how many of those magnet seats are taken by students outside of Central's attendance zone. Two years ago, over 70% of the students in Central's magnet program were zoned for Hall.

It's not that we want to tear Central down - we just want everyone to know that it is two schools in one. In addition, its "success" rests on its ability to skim the best and brightest from across the city.

Also, why doesn't the media report on the real things that happen at Central?? The only coverage given to the riot at Tiger Daze last year was a weak article in the ArkDemGaz in which a parent "thought" she heard shots. In reality, dozens of squad cars and policemen had to use tear gas to break up the mob. Guns were involved and one student was beaten with brass knuckles. Why did the media cover this up?

ARK. BLOG: A lot of supposition, not much fact. Why do you resent the fact that quality academics make people want to attend Central? And, by definition, all magnet seats are filled by people outside the attendance zone (except shadow zone students). I'm not aware of any seat limit on people coming from within the attendance zone.

Nice math, AT Blog. Your figures cited above do not show that blacks are a majority in the magnet program, as you claim. 275 blacks, 248 whites, and 61 "others" would make blacks a 47% plurality, not a majority. Perhaps you should try enrolling in an AP Match course or something.

And I don't think Slydog wants to "tear Central down." I take his comments to mean that he'd like to see every student in the LRSD have access to the fine educational programs available at some select schools. No real equality can exist in Little Rock schools until a kid at McClellan has access to the same classes, the same programs, and the same opportunities available to the kids at Central or Parkview or even Hall.

ARK. BLOG: Right, plurality. But the point missed by slydog is that this isn't a white preference program, as the numbers clearly show. I do believe slydog would prefer to see the Central program broken down. I've heard that sentiment expressed too many times by John Walker and others to believe otherwise. I think they offer a pretty full offering of advanced courses at most other schools. Some of the excellence comes from long-term teachers, many of whom arrived at Central when the situation was iffy and success there was by no means assured. I'd be interested in what you have to show about a lack of similar programs at other schools. A lack of similar students, no doubt. But you can't make those students attend elsewhere. I think if you forced a distribution of existing faculty across the five campuses of the district, though, you'd certainly achieve slydog's seeming aim of driving tstudents out. You want to encourage centers of excellence everywhere, no doubt. But here's the question: Are you actually judging differences between schools by course offerings, or by the number of Merit finalists and science fair winners? They indeed teach AP courses at McClellan. The academic all-star nominees from McClellan regularly have transcripts showing full slates of AP courses.

Max, can you explain why every high school in LR is a magnet school or has a magnet program except for Hall? Yes, students have a choice, but each magnet program is supposed to have a limited number of seats.

Central Grad - from your spelling and syntax choice you weren't in any of the AP classes. Maybe that's why you didn't hear the negative comments.

Aporkalypse - Why is Hall 80% black when its attendance zone is majority white?

And I should enroll in an AP Typing course--"Match" ought to be "Math."

Thanks Max for defending those who attend Central on the magnet program, which is completely legal and not underhanded. When choosing an elementary or middle school for my children, we chose our neighborhood schools (which were not majority white at that time). When choosing a high school, we selected the place that was the best fit for our oldest child -- we wanted the best education that would hopefully get him a nice college scholarship (it did). He could have attended Hall (and probably would have been at the top of his class instead of barely in the top 30 at Central), but I wouldn't trade his wonderful high school experience for anything. Hall is filled with fantastic teachers and has a fantastic principal, but we made a choice we thought was best for our son. I wonder whether the person tearing down Central would have been happier if my child was in a private high school?

Also, to beat what I thought was a dead horse one more time, if you can't read at grade level when you leave elementary school then you probably aren't going to succeed in an AP class in high school. Of course there are black and white kids capable of doing well in AP classes who don't take advantage of them. Some because of peer pressure; some because they don't want to do all the extra work, and some because their parents don't know to encourage them. On another side of the coin: my children have experienced some middle school pre-AP classes where the teachers slowed the entire class down to accomodate children who weren't academically ready for the class -- AP teachers do not slow down for anything. Most teachers offer before/after school tutoring for their students, but few take advantage of that opportunity. In fact, Central has a complete schedule of tutoring (posted in the hallways) in all core subjects for 9th and 10th grade students.

"Aporkalypse - Why is Hall 80% black when its attendance zone is majority white?"

Do you have a link for that figure?

I would assume it's because white families that want their children to get the best education send them to private schools, Parkview or Mills if they live in that zone. A lot of people in LR move into Central's zone for the express purpose of sending their kids there. Others use a close family member's address, whether white or black I know several families that have done this.

Slydog - thank you for making fun of me haha, always a great argument. I guess my lack of education should show that anyone can sign up for AP classes. Have you graduated from Central within the past few years? Assuming you did not, how do you know what is said in AP classes? or what happens within the walls of Central?

I used to teach at McClellan, AT Blog, and I know that it has AP courses. I also know teachers who have taught AP courses at Parkview and Central, and those courses are much more rigorous than the AP courses taught at McClellan. The McClellan AP courses are AP in name only, and that cheats the kids at the school who would benefit from real AP courses.

But I'm interested in your invocation of the AT Academic All-Star nominees. How many of the kids who receive big write ups (winners, finalists, whatever you guys call them) have been from McClellan the past, say, five years? Being an alumnus and former teacher, I always look for McClellan kids, but I cannot recall any recent ones. Gosh, that couldn't be because McClellan is not quite at the same level as the other schools, could it? Nah, surely not.

ARK. BLOG: I'd be the first to agree with you that the students there haven't matched up to other nominees, which is why the judges chose others as winners. And, as I said earlier today, McClellan lags, along with Fair, behind the other high schools in the district. Our difference seems to be about why this occurs. You seem to want to blame Central somehow. Surely you don't argue that they assign the worst teachers to McClellan, given that you taught there. Joking. I don't know about teacher assignments. I think the situation is about race and economics of the student body. But the days of busing-based integration plans are over. Short of that, I don't know how you reshuffle the deck chairs.

Aporkalypse - Go the Arkansas Department of Education and click on Statistical Information.

Here's the data for you:
Central: 74 Asian, 1268 Black, 42 Hispanic, 6 Native American, 1010 White- Total 2400 or 52% Black

Hall: 16 Asian, 1055 Black, 142 Hispanic, 1 Native American, 108 White - Total 1322
1055/1322 = 79.8% BLACK

Parkview is 49.6% Black
McClellan is 90% Black
JA Fair is 87% Black

Do you want another amazing statistic? There are 1736 White students in the 5 LRSD high schools. 1010 go to Central. That would be 58% of ALL WHITE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS enrolled in the LRSD attend Central. Please explain how this happens???

If you remove the court-mandated Parkview numbers It makes it 1010/1263 or 80%. Why is it that 80% of all white high school students attend ONE high school - Central.

Please explain your way out of this one, Max.

ARK. BLOG: It's called choice. And it's legal. And it's a function of what parents think is best for their kids. You don't like it. If the rules were being broken, that's one thing. But you seem to simply resent the fact that a number of white parents have decided that Central is their school of choice. (As I told you, mine, for one child, would have been Parkview.) You could bust up the faculty and course offerings at Central so as to discourage these students from going there, I suppose. You could dumb down Central and spread some of the courses and teachers around elsewhere. But I suspect the net effect would be to drive some more people out of the school district. Perhaps that would be fine with you.

Max -

From last year's numbers there were 311 students who were zoned for Hall but were attending Central. Of the 311, 185 were white.

If your numbers are correct and there are 248 white kids total in Central's "magnet" program this means that 75% of the white students in Central's program were actually Hall students.

Please explain.

ARK. BLOG: If your figures are correct -- and I have no idea if that's so -- I presume the students applied for the magnet program, as they are allowed to do.

Max - You are incorrect about magnet seats being only for people outside the zone. Parkview has no zone. It sets aside seats for each district.

Central, Fair, and McClellan have a set number of seats - most are reserved for students in that zone. If there are any extra, students from outside the attendance zone may fill them.

From your comments, you seem to suggest that Central has the best teachers in the LRSD. The truth is that the students who attend Central and do so well academically would thrive at ANY school. In other words, the kids already come to Central SMART. Central doesn't make them smart, they already are.

ARK. BLOG: I didn't say that. I said magnets have shadow (neighborhood or attendance) zones. At Parkview, there are indeed allotments for each district. But it's very simple. If you are IN the attendance zone, you do not need to gain admission by a magnet seat. You're in regardless.

Also, I didn't say Central had the best teachers. But I said it had many good teachers. Many of them are in the AP courses that kids seeking admission to competitive colleges want to take. It is not a bad thing, it seems to me, for kids to seek out schools that offer such things. You seem to want that to come to an end. For what purpose?

And there are economies of scale at work. You can't offer all of the highest level courses at all schools because the demand simply doesn't exist. So you have a place that concentrates many of those courses where the demand is greatest.

Slydog,
You are right. Some of those kids are SMART, and they go to Central to become SMARTER. What's wrong with that? Also, perhaps their parents are also SMART. So, if a SMART parent is given the option to send his/her child to the school that produces the majority of the National Merit students in the entire state, gee, I would think a SMART parent might take that option. Granted, some kids are going to be National Merits no matter where they attend high school (and I've done my job as a parent, so mine are covered to the best of their abilities). But I really want my children to receive the scholarship money that goes with a National Merit, so I chose Central. Yeah, Central is kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy, but so what? It those 1000+ kids aren't at Central, then they are at a private high school or "split" among the public schools -- which just dilutes the talent, because frankly there ain't that much to go around after the ridiculous number of private schools in our area take away the familes with the economic means to forego public.

ARK. BLOG: It's called choice. And it's legal. And it's a function of what parents think is best for their kids. You don't like it. If the rules were being broken, that's one thing. But you seem to simply resent the fact that a number of white parents have decided that Central is their school of choice.

Whoa ...sounds like public charter school concept...

Max...you are getting hammered here. I don't understand the thread.

Many families want their kids to be at Central for the AP courses....so that is a bad thing? Certainly no kid has ever been turned away from an AP course because of his race. Maybe a kid chose not to take an AP course because of his race, but they are open to all.

Do you want to break up this fine AP track sending kids to the Ivy league and dumb down the district a little more?

Do you want to drive off more of these families who want a quality education and be left with the families who don't care? And yes...spare me any tripe that some parents are working too hard and are too busy to ever go to the school...you need a certain mass of involved parents at any given school for that school to turn out quality kids. That is simple math.

I'm just not sure what the point is of how many of each race are in which track?

I can't believe this is unfolding just in time for all the national news coverage of the 50th anniversary of 1957. How sad for a city that has so much to offer.

I don't think you can find a school district in American with 5 or more high schools where there's not significant variation between the different schools in terms of quality. Part of the problem, no doubt, is that Fair and McClellan are much smaller and therefore offerings are more limited, and that their students all come from south of I-630. In coming years these two schools will also become the ones where Hispanics become a large portion of the student body.

Another comment for Slydog. Hall isn't listed as an official magnet, but it is the University Studies high school. Students at Hall can take classes through UALR for college credit while attending high school. This option is very attractive to some parents worrying about college funding.

"Another comment for Slydog. Hall isn't listed as an official magnet, but it is the University Studies high school. Students at Hall can take classes through UALR for college credit while attending high school."

But there are four very important differences between Hall and the magnet schools:

1. The LRSD has given absolutely ZERO money and support to the program for the past nine years. The other 4 high schools get fat supplemental budgets for their magnet program.

2. While magnet students to the other 4 receive bus transportation if they live outside the zone - Hall does not.

3. The other 4 magnet programs are available to students at ZERO cost. Students at Hall still have to pay a portion of UALR's tuition and fees.

4. Hall has NEVER been able to participate in the Magnet Fair held at Park Plaza to recruit students like the other 4 since it is not officially a magnet school.

Let me make sure I'm getting this right, Max. If parents choose to segregate their children by their CHOICE of schools, then it's okay. Isn't that the same mindset as 1957?

It is utterly ridiculous that 85% of white high (58% to Central and 27% to Parkview) school students in the LRSD go to two schools. You don't see anything wrong with this?

Don't forget NCLB. I'll let you guess which of the three high schools are on Year 3 for School Improvement? If your son or daughter was not able to get into Central or Parkview would you want your kids to be going to a failing school? You criticize Bush and his policies, but you are his number one supporter when it comes to NCLB.

ARK. BLOG: I've never said a single kind word about NCLB. Like it or not, the courts have spoken. The days of shuffling kids for racial balance are over. I think kids are better served by integrated environments. Central and Parkvew are, at least, desegregated. You may wish all you want that we could split them up and parcel them out all over town, but it can't be forced under existing law. Parents may put their kids where they wish to put their kids. And if they cannot, many of them will go elsewhere.

One additional comment about NCLB. Every school must make adequate yearly progress for the combined population and subgroups. Some schools (which "discourage" or prevent students from certain groups from enrolling) are able to remain Reserved Values. This means that if you have less than 40 students from one of the subgroups it is the same as if you had zero so that subgroup doesn't count against you. Central doesn't have to worry about 3 of the subgroups because they suggest that Hispanic students go to other schools. The three groups are Hispanic, Limited English Proficient (usually Hispanics), and Migrants (guess what? Hispanics again).