Tom, have you tried to FOIA any information related to analysis conducted by the District about how busing affects student test scores? Horton and the administration are pitching the new school as something righting some historical wrong that occurred when the Foster School was shut down in the 70s.
Tom, have you tried to FOIA any information related to analysis conducted by the District about how busing affects student test scores? Horton and the administration are pitching the new school as something righting some historical wrong that occurred when the Foster School was shut down in the 70s.
I have never heard them make the educational case like, "the kids are going to better in school by not having to take the bus." They have all the data to conduct an analysis that could show that kids taking the bus are underperforming compared to students with similar socioeconomic characteristics who don't take the bus.
In the academic literature, I haven't seen any studies that support this claim. There are lots of studies that show racial and class segregation in schools has disproportionate negative impacts on low income kids and kids of color.
We can have a debate as a community on whether using $40 million dollars from the operating fund is worth the symbolism of "righting an historical wrong", but there needs to be an explicit understanding of what the real impacts on students will be.
It would be interesting to FOIA to see if they have done such analysis. If they have done the analysis and it shows the busing has no impact on student performance, that needs to inform discussion of the need for the new school. If they have not done the analysis, that brings up questions about the Board and administration's focus.
Tom, have you tried to FOIA any information related to analysis conducted by the District about how busing affects student test scores? Horton and the administration are pitching the new school as something righting some historical wrong that occurred when the Foster School was shut down in the 70s.
I have never heard them make the educational case like, "the kids are going to better in school by not having to take the bus." They have all the data to conduct an analysis that could show that kids taking the bus are underperforming compared to students with similar socioeconomic characteristics who don't take the bus.
In the academic literature, I haven't seen any studies that support this claim. There are lots of studies that show racial and class segregation in schools has disproportionate negative impacts on low income kids and kids of color.
We can have a debate as a community on whether using $40 million dollars from the operating fund is worth the symbolism of "righting an historical wrong", but there needs to be an explicit understanding of what the real impacts on students will be.
It would be interesting to FOIA to see if they have done such analysis. If they have done the analysis and it shows the busing has no impact on student performance, that needs to inform discussion of the need for the new school. If they have not done the analysis, that brings up questions about the Board and administration's focus.
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