“They were second from the bottom in terms of academic performance,” said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Janet Barresi. “If I had a student there, I would be thrilled to have my child out of that school. This should not be a surprise to them. There were several parents who expressed concern.” Located at 537 […]
karl springer
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Building brains
Credit: Shannon Cornman The idea was generated in December 2010 when the school district’s board of education approved funding for the pre-K teachers over a four-year period. Sixty have been hired so far, with an additional 60 slated to be added by the 2014-2015 school term. A report from the district last year shows full-day […]
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School struggles
Instead, a credit check exposed the high number of underperforming students. OKCPS Superintendent Karl Springer and board president Angela Monson noted on Nov. 29, 2012, that the last audit of Douglass had been in 2009. The remarks came as they declined to blame the crisis on Brian Staples, the former Douglass principal who had resigned […]
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A failed philosophy
I agree with Bleakley that we do have some well-meaning board members, educators and civic leaders who have made sincere attempts to address the ever-growing problems with our schools. I also agree these attempts have resulted in failures, except for some successful efforts in specific schools. It is these “specific, successful schools” I would like […]
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School daze
The revelation comes amid allegations by some former Douglass teachers and administrators that former Principal Brian Staples altered student grades and attendance records to make it appear that the beleaguered school was improving. At a heated news conference yesterday, Oklahoma City Public School officials blamed the mess on violations of policy and procedures, but declined […]
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School shakeup
Karl Springer and Brian Staples visitedwith Jesse Jackson at Douglass earlierthis year. Credit: Shannon Cornman District officials did not disclose details of that probe, but said the results were being turned over to the Oklahoma County District Attorney, the state Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education. As Oklahoma Gazette first reported in […]
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Wanna bet?
Superintendent Karl Springer has made a friendly wager with his Miami counterpart, Alberto Carvalho, over the outcome of the NBA Finals pitting the OKC Thunder against the Miami Heat. If the Heat prevail, Springer has agreed that, once school resumes, he would wear a Heat T-shirt for a day, as well as teach a class […]
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Action precedes Jackson
Police responded to Douglass shortly after 8:30 a.m. today, after a fight broke out among seven girls in a hallway. Two of the girls were arrested. “It was well before the Rev. Jesse Jackson got on campus,” said Kathleen Kennedy, executive director of communications for Oklahoma City Public Schools. “They will be disciplined according to […]
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A reluctant partnership?
Karl Springer Shannon Cornman Two Oklahoma City Public Schools have landed on the highest-priority school improvement list: Shidler Elementary School and Roosevelt Middle School. An Oklahoma City charter school, Santa Fe South Middle School, originally was on the list, too, but is getting further consideration. The process of determining which schools are in need of […]
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Choosing school choice
In fact, it exemplifies the fundamental problem with public schooling, a monolithic one-track train. Perhaps 40,000 kids shouldn’t be on the same train on the same track to begin with. A train is a vastly outmoded form of transportation for 40,000 children all traveling on different paths. The few bright spots in the OKC public […]