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Why was there only "1" option???; What if the BOE said "NO"?
Topic Started: Jan 2 2006, 07:27 PM (1,942 Views)
NFarquharson
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Elisa,
I was discussing the Title I/AYP issues with you before in that other thread. How do you figure that Cooper would still be a Title I school under the LI? Is there some sort of designation that lasts even though the make up of the student body will change significantly? It seems to me that with the addition of so many students from schools that have less low income students, the new population of Cooper would have a much smaller percentage of low income students. Once all the 5th and 6th graders from the Adams, Roosevelt and other areas are sent to Cooper, will they still have enough of a low income population to get Title I funding? I don't see how, but am curious...perhaps I am missing something that you are seeing. In addition, those same geographical areas will be added in to Emerson and Franklin. In theory under the LI, the populations at Cooper, Emerson and Franklin will all draw from the exact same geographical areas and have the pretty much the same percentage of low income students, wouldn't they?
N
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Elisa
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N-
Good discussion on the other thread. You give thoughtful analysis to your comments. ;) My thinking on Cooper as a 5/6 building is that they will receive Title 1 funding. Under the LI, Cooper will retain it's current kids in 4th and 5th grade, add Cleveland (receives T1 funds), add Nankin Mills (receives T1) students who will merge with Hayes and add McKinley(receives T1) students who will merge with Grant. The numbers of eligible students at Cooper 5/6 may change due to the addition of students from the Roosevelt/Adams merge, Grant and Hayes students. But all feed into Emerson, which is the districts only middle school currently receiving T1 funding. The district identifies schools that receive funds in their annual report, but I didn't see any percentages or numbers for kids in each particular school that receive funds. Without that info. It is difficult to predict but my thinking is that Cooper will get the funding. I am basing that primarily on the fact that Emerson is eligible based on that feeder pattern. The other schools in this grouping that do not receive funds may also has some kids that will qualify.
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fyi
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I agree, Elisa. All the data seems to support that children do better academically
when they have a more stable environment within a smaller school.

So...there goes the theory that the new configuration helps with NCLB and AYP.
I just don't see it improving test scores---if that's what it was supposed to do.

I think there might be something to that "title-1" funding though. Sorry for all
the speculation. When people don't get the answers they need, this is the result.

There must be more to this than meets the eye.
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fyi
Principal
I can't believe they would be reaching 40% with any of these mergers---for title 1 funding. Even if they did, penalties would be higher if the kids didn't make the grade.
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Elisa
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The 40% is the number that they have to reach to be able to use the funds on the entire eligible school population "school wide programs" If they are under that number, then the funds must be used for "targeted programs" only for the eligible group within that school. I can't remember the exact % to receive targeted funds, but it is much lower than 40%.
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fyi
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Well then there goes that theory. In order for them to gain some benefit(under the LI), they would have to be able to use the money as they see fit---not just for the eligible group.
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Elisa
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I read at least 2 papers that alleged districts misuse those funds "to fill holes in the budget" The papers were discussing how much T1 money actually goes into programming that benefits the children. Eventually I will find the link again!. I may have eluded to some of it in the thread with nfarquharson. Maybe it was in the charter school thread? N? Again, there are criticisms of everything. I am not stating that LPS is misappropriating T1 funds. Only that some believe that this happens.
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Elisa
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From the Baltimore Sun, the city is accused of misusing Title 1 funds.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education...ucation-utility



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NFarquharson
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Elisa
Jan 4 2006, 02:33 PM
N-
Good discussion on the other thread. You give thoughtful analysis to your comments. ;) My thinking on Cooper as a 5/6 building is that they will receive Title 1 funding. Under the LI, Cooper will retain it's current kids in 4th and 5th grade, add Cleveland (receives T1 funds), add Nankin Mills (receives T1) students who will merge with Hayes and add McKinley(receives T1) students who will merge with Grant. The numbers of eligible students at Cooper 5/6 may change due to the addition of students from the Roosevelt/Adams merge, Grant and Hayes students. But all feed into Emerson, which is the districts only middle school currently receiving T1 funding. The district identifies schools that receive funds in their annual report, but I didn't see any percentages or numbers for kids in each particular school that receive funds. Without that info. It is difficult to predict but my thinking is that Cooper will get the funding. I am basing that primarily on the fact that Emerson is eligible based on that feeder pattern. The other schools in this grouping that do not receive funds may also has some kids that will qualify.

Elisa,

If you go to http://nces.ed.gov and search by individual school, you will bring up data (a year old) that tells how many students are in the school and how many are eligible for a free lunch (low income/below the poverty level.) If you look at these numbers for the current Title I schools and then combine numbers for schools as will be done in the LI, you can see that there will no longer be 20% low income/poverty level kids in most of the remaining schools. Adding in those areas that have fewer kids with free lunches pushes the numbers enough in the right direction to make the difference.

Just think about how close the numbers are now. Emerson is Title I while Franklin is not. What is the difference right now? Well, the Adams kids do not currently go to Emerson, but they do go to Franklin. The addition of just that one square mile makes all the difference, such that Franklin does not have the needed population to make it eligible under Title I. Likewise, I do not think Cooper or Emerson will be Title I once the changes are made. There is data here to figure this all out. By just doing a rough estimate, I believe that the LI will give Livonia FAR fewer Title I schools. The only unknown factor is the spiltting of McKinnley, since it is not possible to get the exact number of free lunch students that will go to each school it feeds to.

Am I making sense? Take a look and tell me what you think.

N

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ForMySons
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Elisa
Jan 4 2006, 02:33 PM

Under the LI, Cooper will retain it's current  kids in 4th and 5th grade, add Cleveland (receives T1 funds), add Nankin Mills (receives T1) students who will merge with Hayes and add McKinley(receives T1) students who will merge with Grant. 

My youngest children attend Nankin Mills. Dr. Terry, our principal, told us that although Nankin Mills was title 1 last year, it is not currently a title 1 school.
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NFarquharson
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ForMySons
Jan 4 2006, 08:06 PM
Elisa
Jan 4 2006, 02:33 PM

Under the LI, Cooper will retain it's current  kids in 4th and 5th grade, add Cleveland (receives T1 funds), add Nankin Mills (receives T1) students who will merge with Hayes and add McKinley(receives T1) students who will merge with Grant. 

My youngest children attend Nankin Mills. Dr. Terry, our principal, told us that although Nankin Mills was title 1 last year, it is not currently a title 1 school.

Interesting. The information on the web site I quoted above would also indicate Nankin Mills is not Title I, even though the prior years LPS annual report says it was. All of the schools that are Title I are right on the edge of having the minimum numbers like I said, so they can easily change back and forth with just a few famililies moving in or out.
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fyi
Principal
I'm soooooooooo confused! Is being a title 1 school good or bad? Good because
it brings more money in? Bad because there are tougher sanctions for title 1 schools? With the new info it seems like they will have less title 1 schools. Is
that a side effect or was it intentional?
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Elisa
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N.,
This stuff can sometimes be mind boggling. In the midst of it I thought I should just call Mrs. Alles tomorrow and ask her if Cooper 5/6 will retain their funding. :o
I think that the numbers will be close. Maybe they are trying to ultimately avoid the possibility (or the potential) for harsh sanctions if Title schools do not make AYP. But at the same time, it is hard to imagine losing funds that can support the kids who need it most. I felt like they would do what they could to maximize funding. Either way, I think that the LI is a "maneuver" of some kind. Don't you think?
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NFarquharson
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It sure seems that way. I'm not normally one for conspiracy theories, but this has really been bugging me. There just has to be something more...some other reason they want this configuration. It is clearly not supported by research as being the best for academic outcomes and the saving of only 1% of the budget can be had in so many other ways, including keeping K-6. I keep thinking we are missing something that is motivating this...I wish they could be honest and just tell us. I don't think (maybe I'm being too optimistic) that it is some completely underhanded deal/illegal payola kind of thing as some have illuded. What is it we are not seeing about this???
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Elisa
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fyi, I think we are all confused on this one. To figure it out we would have to know how they REALLY feel about the program. But I am sure that NCLB had some sort of impact on the planning of the LI. I think that the increasing proficiency percentages for students each year is putting pressure on districts every where. Districts are making choices based on meeting NCLB's requirements, I wouldn't be surprised if the LI was one of those choices.
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