Another reason why the local ecomony is in the tank.

This sort of crap in JCPS is exactly why my kids attend private school and will do so thru high school. The new system is nothing more than a way to circumvent separating students by race but instead using income levels. I hope Teddy Gordon challenges this system and wins again too. Oh and before you tell me what right do I have to comment, remember that I still pay taxes for education in Jeff Co.

The ugly truth is that our local government does not listen to the voters. Why? The same voters are the ones that put them in office. The same voters are the ones that don't take the time to learn about the issues and then hold the people in office and those running for office accoubtable for their actions.

Nobody wants to take up the fight. Nobody wants to take the time to go after the ones responsible for this travesty. We continue to see gas prices rise and we continue to see kids bussed all over the county just like before. It was proven unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court, yet the liberal attitude that prevails in this community continues on a proven mistake.

This is not a black/white issue. This is an issue of our children suffering humiliating amounts of time every day in unneccesary trips in order to "balance" the perception that these moronic education supervisors have that putting a low income kid next to a kid whose parents earn more money than his parents will somehow make him a better student.

It is funny that the squeaky wheels complained that JCPS put their scrub teachers in the West End Schools to hold those kids back. Their plan got them the first bussing program and then after years of proven statistics they started complaining that their children should be allowed to attend schools closer to home.

Every teacher that I know teaches equally and usually with great passion. They couldn't care less the color or economic background of their students. They are proffesionals that do their job.

The burden of this misguided system falls sqaurely on the shoulders of the taxpayers and the parents who have to put up with this crap. It is high time something be done to allow a sensible solution, like... hey gow about allowing the kids to go to schools close to their homes? What a novel concept. I am sure it is such a simple solution that it has eluded the intelligensia of the JCPS Board.

BTW

I too am a parent that sent all of my kids to parochial schools. I pay taxes and could have sent my kids to JCPS but instead I made the choice to send them where I felt they would have the best opportunity. Over the years the tuition cost me well over 200K. Was it worth it? I believe so. It was a hardship for us. We scrapped by with older cars and no fancy vacations. There is a lot of personal sacrifice involved with most parents that send their kids to private schools. Most are not rich. Most are average people that want their kids to learn theology as well as moral values, not just "why can't we all just get along?'

There is nothing wrong with JCPS teaching. The problem is that the kids have to sit on busses for hours every day and they are learning first hand that government waste is par for the course rather then common sense.

JCPS and it's liberal policies aren't the only thing screwed up, state wide it's a joke. The lottery came here with big promises of millions of dollars going to education and here we are still mediocre at best. Where the hell is all that money going!!!

Very well written - and thank you for taking the time to share your opinion on this very important topic. I also live out of county, and this is one of the reasons. (though I do have to pay double - taxes in both counties)

Children in Jefferson County are not able to go to school with their friends, or work on homework and projects with kids close by. Mixing kids of lower and higher income brackets actually causes more problems than letting children go to school with their friends. When kids go to school with the kids they know from the same area, no one has a 'leg up'. The children can actually focus on education instead of "who has what" or "you aren't any better than me" mentality.

Economically and environmentally speaking, bussing across the county is about as intelligent as biting a skunk's rear end. We are shelling out big bucks to send pollution spewing gas guzzlers around the county when they could travel a few miles and be done. This would save parents time and money, kids have more time for home work and extra curricular activities. Besides, the farther you and your kids travel everyday: the more likely you are to be involved in a collision. Wow - another solution to Jerry's financial Cordish-cummings (Cordish-cumming = hosing the public to make money with buddies).

Sorry, but this will not change. Jerry cares about Jerry - not you the taxpayer.

again - excellent points and article - I feel for you and your 9 yr old

kickbacks

Good article, thanks "Guest author"

Well written. It is another point of view other than the "Jerry hates all emergency services point of view." It is another point that shows the contempt for government to taxpayers in general. I especially liked the part on how Abramson talks about shortages, furloughs and layoffs yet he continues to let this travesty continue.

The fact Abramson flaunts his "power" with corruption, shady deals and ignorant policies such as this just goes to show you that it is time to replace his sorry butt.

I think a good way to fix the problem would be to have the bus drivers pay to use the busses.

J.A.

Oh my goodness, are you complaining about having to drive 20 miles in rush hours. How about driving across country, working late hours, in my very dangerous job.

Trucker

Whats sad about this article is that the REAL victims are the kids. They are spending more time on the bus in some cases than they do in classes, their parents arent able to be as interactive as they should because of distance / transportation, they will make friends but odds are they wont live anywhere close to each other and therefore only be "school friends", the theory is a good one but it wont do any good if people start taking thier children out of public and put them in private schools, or maybe thats they whole idea....maybe those who have thought of this scheme are seeing a way to cut thier costs...one child out of public schools and into private saves them money...just a thought.

As much as this administration preaches about community what better way to endorse it than neighborhood schools

I dont like the idea of sending my kid to a school with a kid whos parents dont give a shuss about their education. The kids know every cussword in the book by the 2nd grade. Has anyone else ever had to catch a kid for doing something wrong and have to contact the parents and when the parents show up they are worse than the kids? They blame you for putting their kids in cuffs and "Ya Police is just harrassing him".

I know alot of great kids come out of public schools and alot of great parents send their kids to public school. I just feel that if someone is paying good money to send their kids to a private school they are more likely involved in their kids education. The money i pay for private school is well work it and i get to stay out of the politics of JCPS.

Metro Corrections

This site I mean. It has lost it's purpose. It is no different than alot of other sites that those internet cowboys have taken over also.

I hope the admin's here fix it pretty soon.

Since this fine department wants to give furlough days for missing court and violating the wonderful SOP. Maybe the Chief should look at one of his own...his boy toy Troy for violating policy with his departmental info on Facebook. I'm sure he has "special" permission to put that out there....how impressive!!!

Original Author here for an update.

Just got our letter from the school board, not only was it a month late, BUT, it was declined on the basis of their criteria for allowing a transfer is

1 available space at requested schools (we had 3 alternates)

2 programmatic needs of the student (shes in the advanced program so I guess they decided that all smart kids must go to the west end.

3 placement of the siblings ( she doesnt have a school age sibling so I guess were scewed)

4 parental preference ( though all three of our preferences were completely ignored)

5 DESIRE OF THE DISTRICT TO HAVE A DIVERSE ENROLLMENT IN EACH SCHOOL

Last one is a real kicker, apparently it is more important for our white daughter to go to school with black kids than it is for her to have ANY after school care.

We have the option of appealing, BUT they makke you start at square one, the whole application paperwork must have gotten filed in the trashcan so they wouldnt have a papertrail to look stupid by.