School Redistricting

[Freakzilla]

I took my pitchfork and torch up to my kids school last night ready to hang someone.

I bought my house specifically so my kids could go to the school they're in and now they've built a new school and want to send the kids in my neighborhood (the only 'hood on that side of the road) to a white trash school.

My wife has started a web site and I suggested she get a petition going.

Anyone been through this and have any advice?

[SandRider]

yeah, lemme get woke up and over this bitch of a hangover.

there's a number of pieces of paper you can file to
get your kids to go where you want - don't know
specifically about Georgia - are y'all still under the
Fair Access Supreme Court thing from 1960-whatever ?
that complicates it - Little Rock School District is still technically
under Federal supervision since 1956.

this is oneof the issues I split with the Democratic party on -
public schools are bullshit in principle - you do have the right
(should have the right, depending on Georgia's deal with the
Feds) to send your kids to school of your choice, regardless of
district. It's going to be a bitch of a fight, tho. The Feds don't want
people to understand that, like the income tax thing. Revolutions
have been started over less..

;lemme dig around some -
taking effect the next school year ?

[SandRider]

shit, I forgot, first thing to do, TODAY, is go get a PO Box
in the district you want, in case you do end up have to fake
a residency.

Again, don't know about Georgia, but I know our travelling
windfarm guys that have kids with them do that - find the
school in the area they want and get the PO Box - in Texas,
that appears to either be legal or not enforced. (This is a big
personal freedom state, you know.)

[SandRider]

Starting point : Georgia DOE
http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/tss_title_pare ... itleChoice

Title I, Part A Public School Choice

When schools do not meet State targets for improving the achievement of all students, parents need to have better options, including the option to send their child to another school.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) responds to that need by giving parents of children enrolled in schools that receive Title I funding and that are identified for “school improvement” the opportunity to transfer their children to a school that has not been so identified. These provisions of the statute, along with other elements that focus new attention and resources on turning around the schools identified for improvement, are critical mechanisms for achieving the vision embodied in NCLB, a high-quality education for all children.

The No Child Left Behind Act amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) in a number of areas to strengthen parent involvement and choice in education. The most critical amendments, and the subject of this guidance, require LEAs to provide the opportunity to transfer to another school to students enrolled in schools that administer Title I programs and that have been identified for (1) school improvement, (2) corrective action, or (3) restructuring (both in the planning year for restructuring and in any implementation years).

from that page :

Andrea Moore
Director, Parent Outreach
1854 Twin Towers East
205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive SE
Atlanta, GA 30334
(404) 657-1793
(404) 651-9111
TitleI@doe.k12.ga.us

{edit}
Georgia Department of Education
Complaint Procedures under the No Child Left Behind Act
.pdf file

http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/DMGetDocument. ... 770&Type=D

{edit}
or, charter schools - your state apparently passed some leg last year:
http://www.gppf.org/article.asp?RT=&p=p ... 080516.htm

[SandRider]

or, get the white trash school declared "unsafe"
under Georgia law :
http://www.gadoe.org/aypnclb.aspx?PageReq=AboutUSCO

Unsafe School Choice Option (USCO)

Georgia's Goal for USCO

To lead the nation in improving student achievement, we have to ensure that all of our schools provide safe, nurturing environments where students can learn and are valued and respected, and to do that we have to maintain stringent standards. The focus of the rule is not to label schools as unsafe, but to work with LEAs proactively to identify those schools at risk of being labeled persistently dangerous and provide them with the professional development and technical assistance they need to improve.

Unsafe School Choice Option (USCO) Facts: Ensuring that all of Georgia's Schools are Safe Under No Child Left Behind, states must develop a definition of "persistently dangerous" schools and allow public school choice for students who have been victims of a violent criminal offense or who attend a school that meets the definition.

Georgia's Definition of a Persistently Dangerous School

Any school in which for three consecutive years:

* At least 1 student is found by official tribunal action to have violated a school rule related to a violent criminal offense (including aggravated battery, aggravated child molestation, aggravated sexual battery, aggravated sodomy, armed robbery, arson, kidnapping, murder, rape, & voluntary manslaughter) either on campus or at a school-sanctioned event;
* At least 2% of the student body or 10 students, whichever is greater, have been found to have violated school rules related to other identified criminal offenses, including non-felony drugs, felony drugs, felony weapons, terroristic threats;
* Any combination of 1 & 2.

Public School Choice

* When a school meets the criteria for three consecutive years, local education agencies (local school districts, herein referred to as LEAs) must within ten school days notify parents of each student attending the school that the state has identified the school as persistently dangerous.
* Within 20 school days from the time that the LEA learns that the school has been identified as persistently dangerous, the LEA must give students the opportunity to transfer to a safe public school, including a safe public charter school, within the LEA.
* LEAs must adopt a policy that facilitates the transfer of students who are victims of violent criminal offenses. This policy shall provide that the transfer shall occur within ten school days of the commission of the violent criminal offense, and to the extent possible, shall allow victims to transfer to a school that is making adequate yearly progress and has not been identified as being in school improvement, corrective action, or restructuring.

Transportation will be provided only up to the limit of funds provided by the federal government for transportation.

School Improvement Plans

* Once a school is labeled persistently dangerous, it is required to develop and implement a corrective action plan to address the problems faced by the school.
* To get off of the list, the school must go through one school year below the persistently dangerous threshold and reapply to the Georgia Department of Education. After ensuring that all corrective action has been completed, GaDOE shall reassess the school using the criteria for persistently dangerous schools as specified in the rule.
* Though a school must meet the criteria for 3 consecutive years in order to be labeled persistently dangerous, local & state officials will work with school administrators, parents, educators, & others to address safety concerns after just one year.

[SandRider]

Foundation applauds Georgia school choice law May 15, 2008
Texas parents should have similar choices for their children

AUSTIN – The signing of a universal school choice law in Georgia should encourage Texas lawmakers to provide parents and students with more educational choices here, according to the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Yesterday, Gov. Sonny Perdue signed legislation that creates both individual and corporate tax credits for contributions to “Student Scholarship Organizations,” which are privately-run, non-profit organizations that award private school scholarships to children enrolled in Georgia public schools.

“There are nearly two dozen school choice programs operating across the country, with Georgia’s and Louisiana’s being open to all students,” said Foundation education policy analyst Brooke Dollens Terry. “They are observing what we did in the Edgewood ISD pilot here – school choice benefits both the children who exercise their school choice, and the children who remain in the public schools.”

Taxpayers are eligible for dollar-for-dollar income tax credits up to $1,000 for individuals; $2,500 for married couples filing jointly; and 75 percent of a corporation’s tax liability. Taxpayer contributions may not be earmarked to a particular child. There are no demographic restrictions on which students may be awarded scholarships, but the tax credits are capped at $50 million per year.

“Georgia is the latest state to embrace the idea that parents are better equipped than the public education lobby or government bureaucrats to select the best educational environment for their children,” Terry concluded. “Texas owes it to its families and its future to follow suit.”

The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas. Additional research on school choice is available on the Foundation’s website, www.TexasPolicy.com.

[Freakzilla]

The guy from the BoE last night said there was no "school choice" law anymore.

Thanks for the unsafe info, I'll show that to my wife.

[SandRider]

Bullshit. Enacted May last year. Unless your state courts knocked
it down, the ledge hasn't had time to repeal. Nothing about that on
the DoE website. (that I found). Call that woman Andrea Moore.

You may have to go private. Or charter. Or religious. (non-Catholic
kids do well at Catholic schools because the nuns have to take care
on the specific religious issues - kids end up getting just an education)

I guess it depends on your opinion of the entire public school concept.
You might get together with the other parents in your neighborhood
that are affected and get working to improve (and make the DoE improve)
the school you're be re-districted to.

Interesting issue - an urban/suburban one, too. Out here, our issue is
consolidation, and little towns losing their football teams. That's a much
easier issue to resolve, it just takes money.

[Sole Man]

hERE'S MY ADVICE: kILL EVERYONE INVOVLED.

qUICKLY, SILENTLY.

[SandChigger]

I was kinda wondering what a "white trash school" would be like and what effect it might have on your kids, but the previous post just answered that one for me.

Freak, when is this change supposed to take effect?

[Schu]

hERE'S MY ADVICE: kILL EVERYONE INVOVLED.

qUICKLY, SILENTLY.

Dammit Sloey, that's what you always say...

[Freakzilla]

I was kinda wondering what a "white trash school" would be like and what effect it might have on your kids, but the previous post just answered that one for me.

Freak, when is this change supposed to take effect?

Next school year.

[Robspierre]

Good luck Freak, looks like Sand Rider has given you some good places to start.

Rob

[Sole Man]

hERE'S MY ADVICE: kILL EVERYONE INVOVLED.

qUICKLY, SILENTLY.

Dammit Sloey, that's what you always say...

And you have problem with this becuase...?

[Omphalos]

My kid goes to the best school in Northern California. Its right here in our neighborhood. When we signed him up I got there at 4:30 in the morning and I was #98 out of 100 spots. Most of the assholes in front of me had a power bill from a family member who lived in the area, though they lived somewhere else. Dicks.

[Robspierre]

My kid goes to the best school in Northern California. Its right here in our neighborhood. When we signed him up I got there at 4:30 in the morning and I was #98 out of 100 spots. Most of the assholes in front of me had a power bill from a family member who lived in the area, though they lived somewhere else. Dicks.

That happens with the school my mom teaches kindergarten at, it''s one of the better ones even though it's in one of the poorer sections of Alamogordo.

Rob

[Freakzilla]

My wife has gotten a petition going and a web site. Our neighborhood has been rezoned three times in last five years.

[Eyes High]

Freak: You and your wife could also consider homeschooling. I hope you get this all worked out.

I believe parents should have more rights when it comes to education of their children. I remember when the local neighborhood school use to be a selling point to a house. Now, it seems like more and more places are no longer using common sense when it comes to deciding which school a child should go too. Good luck.

[DuneFishUK]

I can see the point of denying parents choice - A shit school is always going to be a shit school if all the good kids get sent to another one. Who goes there is a big part of the character of a school.

But this sounds bollocks! Starting new kids in a new school is one thing, but forcing them to change schools on a whim is another - messing them about like that can't be good on any level. I thought everyone was aiming for stability in the family these days?

Good luck.

[Sole Man]

The problem with Family Stability is you can't beat your kids anymore.

My gGrandfather's favortire trick was to throw his kids up i nthe air and let them fall on the ground when they were bad. When i was bad my father grab me, throw me on the bed, and whip my ass. Now you can't do either of these, you can't even yell at the damn little brats anymore!

Damn women, they really fucked up society...

[A Thing of Eternity]

Just found this thread, sorry to hear about this Freak. Raise hell if you can.