St. George City Incorporation News

[Antrell Williams]

How does one fix education?

What's the difference in Baton Rouge schools and better districts like Zachary?

[dan326]

^ That's a very good question, but why wasn't it asked earlier when others said the same thing?

[Mr. Burnham]

How does one fix education?

What's the difference in Baton Rouge schools and better districts like Zachary?

Demographics. 

 

Zachary has a smaller population of  kids that come from a terrible home life. The real tragedy is there, kids who have a huge leg down in life because they do not have the home support our care that some of us here may have had. For some of these kids they are more worried about getting shot or where their next meal is coming from, homework is a small priority. The real question I guess would be, "How do we create a school system that addresses these problems?". 

 

For me the answer is frank, you take out the problem. For the St. George people that seems to mean leave and say f@#% you while doing it. For me I say take home life out of the equation. Board the kids like they do in Africa, give them a chance to succeed in life. You make sure that the schools have good discipline, bring more technology into the class rooms, staff it with good people that will encourage these kids, and let them visit home on breaks if needed. Make three or four boarding schools and give parents the choice to either put the kids in the boarding school where they will be fed, educated, and cared for, or put them in a regular public school, if a parent does not decide within an allocated time the kid(s) are placed into the boarding school. Harsh, yes, but it would be the best thing for these schools and kids. 

 

The hard part would be getting the kids who have good home environments to come to these schools. 

 

My question to St. George is why they did not try implementing the same things that they would have done in St. George to the BR schools? It seems the only answer that I can find is that the St. George system (and the ones for Zachary and Central) only work if you have a low population of poorer kids and a higher population of wealthier kids. 

[dan326]

Exactly,  a lot of children care nothing about school and there's nothing that can be done but expel them. 

[Antrell Williams]

Demographics. 

 

Zachary has a smaller population of  kids that come from a terrible home life. The real tragedy is there, kids who have a huge leg down in life because they do not have the home support our care that some of us here may have had. For some of these kids they are more worried about getting shot or where their next meal is coming from, homework is a small priority. The real question I guess would be, "How do we create a school system that addresses these problems?". 

 

For me the answer is frank, you take out the problem. For the St. George people that seems to mean leave and say f@#% you while doing it. For me I say take home life out of the equation. Board the kids like they do in Africa, give them a chance to succeed in life. You make sure that the schools have good discipline, bring more technology into the class rooms, staff it with good people that will encourage these kids, and let them visit home on breaks if needed. Make three or four boarding schools and give parents the choice to either put the kids in the boarding school where they will be fed, educated, and cared for, or put them in a regular public school, if a parent does not decide within an allocated time the kid(s) are placed into the boarding school. Harsh, yes, but it would be the best thing for these schools and kids. 

 

The hard part would be getting the kids who have good home environments to come to these schools. 

 

My question to St. George is why they did not try implementing the same things that they would have done in St. George to the BR schools? It seems the only answer that I can find is that the St. George system (and the ones for Zachary and Central) only work if you have a low population of poorer kids and a higher population of wealthier kids. 

We agree wholeheartedly on the first part....

 

Taking home out of the equation doesn't take the issues out of the equation. It also sounds like years of courtroom battles and ridicules from every other state, if not illegal.

 

Exactly,  a lot of children care nothing about school and there's nothing that can be done but expel them. 

Obvious sarcasm?

[Mr. Burnham]

We agree wholeheartedly on the first part....

 

Taking home out of the equation doesn't take the issues out of the equation. It also sounds like years of courtroom battles and ridicules from every other state, if not illegal.

 

Obvious sarcasm?

Sounds like legal battles, but do you really think some of those parents would care? The ones that would have the option to put them in a normal public school.

[Antrell Williams]

Yes, actually I do.

[richyb83]

It's about socio-economics...& parental involvement does make a tremendous difference! It has become a glorified baby-sitting service for many! However  Students with a good support group in the home have much better chances for success. EBR School System has some fantastic teachers that go over & beyond in the classroom...but they can not get on the bus w them & force the student to do their homework or study for a test! Then they come back the next day only to fail? & this reflects on the teacher being sub-par? And if they decide to drop-out of school; this reflects poorly on teacher performance ratings...is that fair? Teachers are under a tremendous amount of pressure..esp in EBR!

 

Take a good teacher from Zachary or the other parishes everybody is flocking to & let them teach in EBR...See how good those teachers are then! Most people on the outside have NO clue! Also in EBR...BRHS & other magnet programs take the cream of the crop & leave the rest for them to deal with!

 

And bec of co$t...HS & Middle Schools are moved ridiculously early to 7:10a.m. & Elementary schools moved back to 8:30 to accommodate Bus Routs....they are virtually setting up many students to "Failure"...getting to bus stops in the dark at 5:30a.m.; catch transfer buses in between then to school. Then wonder WHY the student is so tired & sleepy and do not focus on their work more!

[Mr. Burnham]

Yes, actually I do.

Ideally you would never force, you would give people the choice. A normal public school or allow them to be boarded for the school year.

It's about socio-economics...& parental involvement does make a tremendous difference! It has become a glorified baby-sitting service for many! However  Students with a good support group in the home have much better chances for success. EBR School System has some fantastic teachers that go over & beyond in the classroom...but they can not get on the bus w them & force the student to do their homework or study for a test! Then they come back the next day only to fail? & this reflects on the teacher being sub-par? And if they decide to drop-out of school; this reflects poorly on teacher performance ratings...is that fair? Teachers are under a tremendous amount of pressure..esp in EBR!

 

Take a good teacher from Zachary or the other parishes everybody is flocking to & let them teach in EBR...See how good those teachers are then! Most people on the outside have NO clue! Also in EBR...BRHS & other magnet programs take the cream of the crop & leave the rest for them to deal with!

 

And bec of co$t...HS & Middle Schools are moved ridiculously early to 7:10a.m. & Elementary schools moved back to 8:30 to accommodate Bus Routs....they are virtually setting up many students to "Failure"...getting to bus stops in the dark at 5:30a.m.; catch transfer buses in between then to school. Then wonder WHY the student is so tired & sleepy and do not focus on their work more!

When you add in the house environment for some kids, it is even worse.

[dan326]

Richy put my sentiment in much better words, no I wasn't being sarcastic. Schools aren't magic brain factories, you get what you put in.

Edited August 7, 2014 by dan326

[Antrell Williams]

It's about socio-economics...& parental involvement does make a tremendous difference! It has become a glorified baby-sitting service for many! However  Students with a good support group in the home have much better chances for success. EBR School System has some fantastic teachers that go over & beyond in the classroom...but they can not get on the bus w them & force the student to do their homework or study for a test! Then they come back the next day only to fail? & this reflects on the teacher being sub-par? And if they decide to drop-out of school; this reflects poorly on teacher performance ratings...is that fair? Teachers are under a tremendous amount of pressure..esp in EBR!

 

Take a good teacher from Zachary or the other parishes everybody is flocking to & let them teach in EBR...See how good those teachers are then! Most people on the outside have NO clue! Also in EBR...BRHS & other magnet programs take the cream of the crop & leave the rest for them to deal with!

 

And bec of co$t...HS & Middle Schools are moved ridiculously early to 7:10a.m. & Elementary schools moved back to 8:30 to accommodate Bus Routs....they are virtually setting up many students to "Failure"...getting to bus stops in the dark at 5:30a.m.; catch transfer buses in between then to school. Then wonder WHY the student is so tired & sleepy and do not focus on their work more!

I went to one of those schools in Ascension and you hit the nail on the head, not all of those teachers were as bright as their degrees would have you believe.

 

If I'm not mistaken a school district in New Jersey(?) pushed the start time somewhere around 9:00a.m. and it seemed to improve performance.

[Mr. Burnham]

I went to one of those schools in Ascension and you hit the nail on the head, not all of those teachers were as bright as their degrees would have you believe.

 

If I'm not mistaken a school district in New Jersey(?) pushed the start time somewhere around 9:00a.m. and it seemed to improve performance.

Changing the starting time is not a bad idea, I bet it would even be better for a lot of parents that get out at 5-6. 

[cajun]

St George isn't considered part of Baton Rouge just because someone claims it so....it's basically an unincorporated suburb and has always been outside of the city limits.

The damage to relations in EBR has already been done by a 44 year long program that included forced bussing, followed by a successful attempt by Baton Rouge democrats to block a new ISD in St George without incorporation. Things got even worse when some very worried politicians in Baton Rouge started crying racism in response to the incorporation effort...as if there is no problem with public schools in EBR and that ISDs are some kind of radical concept that never happens anywhere. Their publicists earned their fees by having very slanted, biased stories printed in national publications that make the entire metro look incredibly stupid. Those wounds don't heal easily. A lot of new enemies were created with that, and they aren't going away. Divisions will be exacerbated even more when the lawsuits start flying after this passes.

Edited August 13, 2014 by cajun

[richyb83]

LSU requests annexation of South Campus into BR
 

As expected, LSU has filed a petition to annex into the city of Baton Rouge its Ben Hur Research Station and its Fire and Emergency Training Institute, both of which are located south of the main campus in unincorporated East Baton Rouge Parish. The request, which was made by the LSU Board of Supervisors and signed by LSU Chancellor and President F. King Alexander, comes just a day after L'Auberge Casino & Hotel and several adjacent landowners applied to be annexed into the city of Baton Rouge. Both requests are significant because they potentially increase the footprint of the city at the expense of the proposed city of St. George, which is seeking incorporation in the unincorporated portions of the parish.

 

Though LSU does not generate any tax dollars for the city, its annexation request is something of a moral victory for those who oppose the St. George movement. "LSU and the city of Baton Rouge have a mutually beneficial relationship," Alexander says in a statement of the university’s reasons. "We prefer to remain part of this city, where we have been since 1869. We find no justification to merit having our land divided between two jurisdictions, and have concerns that such division could adversely impact services critical to our students."

 

The LSU property to be annexed is a nearly 2,000-acre tract south of campus between Nicholson Drive and River Road. LSU attorney Shelby McKenzie says Alexander consulted with the leadership of the Board of Supervisors before filing the petition.

 

Organizers of the St. George effort criticized the LSU annexation request as an attempt to thwart their attempts to incorporate. "This is nothing more than a continued attempt by the city to invalidate the legal and democratic petition process and stop a vote from happening," says St. George spokesman Lionel Rainey. —Stephanie Riegel

 

http://www.businessreport.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=daily-reportPM&date=20141008

[Mr. Burnham]

LSU requests annexation of South Campus into BR

 

As expected, LSU has filed a petition to annex into the city of Baton Rouge its Ben Hur Research Station and its Fire and Emergency Training Institute, both of which are located south of the main campus in unincorporated East Baton Rouge Parish. The request, which was made by the LSU Board of Supervisors and signed by LSU Chancellor and President F. King Alexander, comes just a day after L'Auberge Casino & Hotel and several adjacent landowners applied to be annexed into the city of Baton Rouge. Both requests are significant because they potentially increase the footprint of the city at the expense of the proposed city of St. George, which is seeking incorporation in the unincorporated portions of the parish.

 

Though LSU does not generate any tax dollars for the city, its annexation request is something of a moral victory for those who oppose the St. George movement. "LSU and the city of Baton Rouge have a mutually beneficial relationship," Alexander says in a statement of the university’s reasons. "We prefer to remain part of this city, where we have been since 1869. We find no justification to merit having our land divided between two jurisdictions, and have concerns that such division could adversely impact services critical to our students."

 

The LSU property to be annexed is a nearly 2,000-acre tract south of campus between Nicholson Drive and River Road. LSU attorney Shelby McKenzie says Alexander consulted with the leadership of the Board of Supervisors before filing the petition.

 

Organizers of the St. George effort criticized the LSU annexation request as an attempt to thwart their attempts to incorporate. "This is nothing more than a continued attempt by the city to invalidate the legal and democratic petition process and stop a vote from happening," says St. George spokesman Lionel Rainey. —Stephanie Riegel

 

http://www.businessreport.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=daily-reportPM&date=20141008

You left out L'Auberge. 

 

St. George is being very hypocritical, they are waiting until the Spring to put the thing on the ballot as a way to have the vote favor them. Then they want to moan and groan about how BR is keeping people from making their own choice. 

[Antrell Williams]

Baton Rouge is doing their best to silent St. George. It's no myth.

[Mr. Burnham]

Baton Rouge is doing their best to silent St. George. It's no myth.

Well they are, but I think St. George is also twisting the truth and trying to control the circumstances to control the outcome. BR did similar things this summer with all of those bills. 

[itsjustme3]

Well they are, but I think St. George is also twisting the truth and trying to control the circumstances to control the outcome. BR did similar things this summer with all of those bills.

Careful. Your one sidedness is showing.

[Antrell Williams]

Well they are, but I think St. George is also twisting the truth and trying to control the circumstances to control the outcome. BR did similar things this summer with all of those bills. 

That's what happens. It's a game just like politics.

[Mr. Burnham]

Careful. Your one sidedness is showing.

I think I'm in between. Firstly I think what they are proposing is WAY too big. And I don not think that it is 'all about education'. In the same regard I think that Baton Rouge has taken the wrong approach. Instead I think they should have talked with St. George to reach a deal that would be digestible for both sides. Reaching agreements and working with others to create something everyone can get behind. 

 

At this point neither side is truly supporting democracy. 

 

That's what happens. It's a game just like politics.

True, true, only this game has a lot more on the line then most political games.

I should say most political games here. 

[Antrell Williams]

I think I'm in between. Firstly I think what they are proposing is WAY too big. And I don not think that it is 'all about education'. In the same regard I think that Baton Rouge has taken the wrong approach. Instead I think they should have talked with St. George to reach a deal that would be digestible for both sides. Reaching agreements and working with others to create something everyone can get behind. 

 

At this point neither side is truly supporting democracy. 

 

True, true, only this game has a lot more on the line then most political games.

I should say most political games here. 

Baton Rouge and EBR should have actually reformed education rather than busing kids all over the parish. The school board did this to themselves and they deserve every bit of this whole fiasco.

It's hard to deny the St. George area it's own school district, even without it being a city. And I've been seeing plenty of Better Together signs in St. George and I think they are aware of the insanely high taxes that will be necessary to construct the many new schools that will be required.

I've been neutral on this topic for a while, seeing the benefits on both sides of the fence. Will be quite an interesting next few years.

[cajun]

At this point neither side is truly supporting democracy.

I actually admire St George for pushing very hard to legally and democratically change their situation instead of moving away.

Sometimes the democratic route is ugly.

Baton Rouge's reaction to this has definitely created a lot of division. What we are seeing is established political house fighting off a grassroots movement.

As a general rule, governments hate it when citizens try to bring changes and localize power. Movements like that threaten the political careers of a lot of people and draws attention to where government fails miserably (in this case, public schools).

I have been reading about the school split in Memphis this year. The tax dollars follow the student (and this is true in Louisiana as well) in te average daily attendance formula, and the municipalities that started their own districts only bad to raise taxes to the minimum level required by the state. Most of them are planning new school buildings as well. I think the argument that taxes would have to jump to stratospheric levels are unfounded fear mongering by people who are against St George. St George would control their own destiny and they could vote to raise or lower their own municipal taxes independent of East Baton Rouge. Even the most conservative suburbs here in Atlanta tax themselves to support their schools because the community has a very different philosophy on the role of education in a child's life than the inner city does. I see that difference today driving the pubs for St George.

I think St George would be an incredibly competitive district....especially if they could hire one of the superintendents or administrators from Livingston or Ascension who can head hunt the better faculty from those districts.

Edited October 13, 2014 by cajun

[Antrell Williams]

I think St George would be an incredibly competitive district....especially if they could hire one of the superintendents or administrators from Livingston or Ascension who can head hunt the better faculty from those districts.

 

What would that accomplish? I never attended EBR schools but I wouldn't imagine there's a significant difference besides parent involvement and socioeconomic status of these students.

[cajun]

What would that accomplish? I never attended EBR schools but I wouldn't imagine there's a significant difference besides parent involvement and socioeconomic status of these students.

Finding the best available faculty and staff plays a huge role in the competitiveness of the district. Someone who knows who is a gem and who is dead weight and the ability to recruit good talent is important. Everyone from the teaching staff to the football coaches to the cafeteria workers should be the best possible candidates.

[Antrell Williams]

Finding the best available faculty and staff plays a huge role in the competitiveness of the district. Someone who knows who is a gem and who is dead weight and the ability to recruit good talent is important. Everyone from the teaching staff to the football coaches to the cafeteria workers should be the best possible candidates.

Let me tell you this, Dutchtown was chock full of incompetent teachers. Not only that, I don't agree with our nations model for education anyway so I feel that plays a larger or equal role than quality of staff.