Letter: Disparaging letter lacks the facts

hi

i like the new name of diversity--lower social economic subgroups..i bet they all wear black clothes for identity

Matt, earlier you asked us to recommend your school for a $6 million dollar bond, half of which is a loan. Just because we don't want to do that doesn't mean we don't "cheer" your kids.

Wow, they've done so well, in such a "crappy old school." I think that makes my point right there.

No... saying CCDS is as "diverse" as Shasta and Sierra View doesn't count! I'm sure this charter school is fine and I would consider it for my kids if I were in that situation, but please cut the b.s.

Again, this cry of "elitism" comes from the far left and radical right. The far left, on ideological grounds, wants all children to be taught alike, whether smart, disabled, slow or whatever. The radical right despises public education, also on ideological grounds. Reagan, their hero, hated public schools.

That's why parents who care for their children's future need to take charge and insist on the best education they can afford. Let the extremists worry about their own unfortuante children.

Joe Sixpack- FINALLY we agree on something! Whew!

The people making these claims of exclusivity are choosing to be uninformed. As this letter says, this information is easily available on the internet. The clams will still be made though because people want to be angry and CCDS makes an easy target.

Chico neighbor wrote:

No... saying CCDS is as "diverse" as Shasta and Sierra View doesn't count! I'm sure this charter school is fine and I would consider it for my kids if I were in that situation, but please cut the b.s.

Exactly what I was saying. Why bother with proof or facts when you can just deny the evidence. How is it b.s. to COMPARE SCHOOL REPORT CARDS? This is information available to anyone with an internet connection. Look at the school report cards for these schools and check these numbers.

When people wonder why the schools in this town are a mess, come to the forums and see how unwilling people are to actually learn and accept information.

Why compare how diverse you are to 2 of the least diverse schools? Why not compare CCDS to the district as a whole; CCDS 21% non-white, CUSD 35% non-white. Or how about comparing CCDS to the the other schools on your side of town.
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged; CCDS 23%, Chapman 92%, Parkview 62%, Emma Wilson 35%.

I've got nothing against CCDS, but I am sick of the rhetoric. Quit bragging about your test scores, we all know it is mainly due to parent involvement.

Sean wrote:

Why compare how diverse you are to 2 of the least diverse schools? Why not compare CCDS to the district as a whole; CCDS 21% non-white, CUSD 35% non-white. Or how about comparing CCDS to the the other schools on your side of town.
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged; CCDS 23%, Chapman 92%, Parkview 62%, Emma Wilson 35%.
I've got nothing against CCDS, but I am sick of the rhetoric. Quit bragging about your test scores, we all know it is mainly due to parent involvement.

so I presume your argument is that CCDS needs to be the MOST diverse school in town before folks will quit saying CCDS is exclusive and doesn't reflect society? I actually compared CCDS to three schools in town, not two. Is CCDS as diverse as Chapman? No. Is this rhetoric? I'm not sure how you call facts "rhetoric."

And please finish reading my letter, I'm not bragging about CCDS test scores, I made it very clear I cheer for all kids in Chico. I'm proud of Shasta's test scores, I think that is great. Sierra View is doing well...bravo.

I'm confused, am I suppossed to apologize for parent invovlement? Is the argument that if/becaue other schools don't have the same level of parent involvement CCDS should somehow limit parent invovlement so there is a level playing field?

Matt,

I appreciate your efforts to write the facts. There will always be people to take shots at us anyway. Look at what is going on with Inspire Charter? "Oh they hired the best teachers." You can't win. It happened to ACT, West, CCDS, and anyone who stood above the norm. " If you get good scores, you must be cheating. If parents are involved, you are elitist. If you are a good leader, then you're unfair to the schools that don't have good people." No matter what you do, you get the crazies out there.

The CUSD district office has a terrible reputation right now. Instead of improving, they want to bring down everyone else. I think the people who are attacking us, are the same ones who attack every school that succeeds.

I wish there were some buildings in town that we could renovate. We know that we will continue get the royal shaft with CUSD unless we find our own place. I would rather bite the bullet now and do that. Let CUSD have the old campus. Let it remain run down just like they want it.

Blue Oak did it right. I think we should do the same. In the long run will be better off if we never again have to deal with Chico Unified.

Chicoan wrote:

Joe Sixpack- FINALLY we agree on something! Whew!

Well thank for the compliment. It depends on the issue if we agree. I guess.

Chico neighbor wrote:

No... saying CCDS is as "diverse" as Shasta and Sierra View doesn't count! I'm sure this charter school is fine and I would consider it for my kids if I were in that situation, but please cut the b.s.

hey Juanita, I agree the "cheering for school kids" is 100% seprate from the Prop 1D decisions. I appreciate that you cheer for CCDS (and all Chico school kids) yet don't like the Prop 1D. I respect that, and we can repectfully disagree. What I don't respect are people that dislike charter schools for whatever reason and don't like Prop 1D simply because it is a charter that received this allocation from the state.

Just FYI, this isn't money being redirected from CUSD kids. It is money set aside from the state that can ONLY be allocated to charter schools for site rehabilitation or new construction. You may feel the state shouldn't have set that money aside, but once they did, I would presume everyone in Chico would be happy that a multi-million dollar construction project could be brought to Chico.

juanita wrote:

Matt, earlier you asked us to recommend your school for a $6 million dollar bond, half of which is a loan. Just because we don't want to do that doesn't mean we don't "cheer" your kids.
Wow, they've done so well, in such a "crappy old school." I think that makes my point right there.

Sorry, I replied to the wrong post. My post a second ago was directed at Juanita's post (above).

Matt Meuter wrote:

<quoted text>
so I presume your argument is that CCDS needs to be the MOST diverse school in town before folks will quit saying CCDS is exclusive and doesn't reflect society? I actually compared CCDS to three schools in town, not two. Is CCDS as diverse as Chapman? No. Is this rhetoric? I'm not sure how you call facts "rhetoric."
And please finish reading my letter, I'm not bragging about CCDS test scores, I made it very clear I cheer for all kids in Chico. I'm proud of Shasta's test scores, I think that is great. Sierra View is doing well...bravo.
I'm confused, am I suppossed to apologize for parent invovlement? Is the argument that if/becaue other schools don't have the same level of parent involvement CCDS should somehow limit parent invovlement so there is a level playing field?

Yes, this is true. Until CCDS is the most diverse school in town, they do not deserve to have any approval so they can get money from the state, not the district to fix up a Chico Unified-owned campus. If you are 21% diverse but not 30% diverse you do not deserve a new roof or new paint. Sorry.

Oh, and counting how many non-white people are at your school before determining worth is not racist.

Ignore them wrote:

Matt,
I appreciate your efforts to write the facts. There will always be people to take shots at us anyway. Look at what is going on with Inspire Charter? "Oh they hired the best teachers." You can't win. It happened to ACT, West, CCDS, and anyone who stood above the norm. " If you get good scores, you must be cheating. If parents are involved, you are elitist. If you are a good leader, then you're unfair to the schools that don't have good people." No matter what you do, you get the crazies out there.
The CUSD district office has a terrible reputation right now. Instead of improving, they want to bring down everyone else. I think the people who are attacking us, are the same ones who attack every school that succeeds.
I wish there were some buildings in town that we could renovate. We know that we will continue get the royal shaft with CUSD unless we find our own place. I would rather bite the bullet now and do that. Let CUSD have the old campus. Let it remain run down just like they want it.
Blue Oak did it right. I think we should do the same. In the long run will be better off if we never again have to deal with Chico Unified.

The district created a special school for the Spanish Immersion program at Rosedale. They kicked Rosedale kids out and gave this special program their own school. Now, if you are white and speak English, you cannot go to that school in later grades, only if you get in the lottery early. If someone decides to leave in 2nd grade, that spot is empty unless you speak Spanish. How elitist is that? I don't see any complaints in this forum about that special school. They are trying to make it a charter school too. Will they be treated as poorly as CCDS by the district?

Why does this town always hate success and make it so hard to be successful?

Matt Meuter wrote:

<quoted text>
so I presume your argument is that CCDS needs to be the MOST diverse school in town before folks will quit saying CCDS is exclusive and doesn't reflect society? I actually compared CCDS to three schools in town, not two. Is CCDS as diverse as Chapman? No. Is this rhetoric? I'm not sure how you call facts "rhetoric."
And please finish reading my letter, I'm not bragging about CCDS test scores, I made it very clear I cheer for all kids in Chico. I'm proud of Shasta's test scores, I think that is great. Sierra View is doing well...bravo.
I'm confused, am I suppossed to apologize for parent invovlement? Is the argument that if/becaue other schools don't have the same level of parent involvement CCDS should somehow limit parent invovlement so there is a level playing field?

Matt,
I'm just trying to understand why you chose those 3 schools for your comparison. Your facts showed that CCDS is nearly identical to what many people would consider the 2 most exclusive CUSD K-6 schools. Doesn't really seem to help your cause.
As far attacks go, I believe they are a response to the letter writing campaign on behalf of CCDS to obtain the 1D funds. If not for all the letters in support of CCDS there would not be any letters attacking them. I personally don't have a problem with CCDS.
Your letter among many of the others mention how great the CCDS test scores are as if they are a direct result of the curriculum and the school itself. Highlighting this fact helps others attack you as elitist. My suggestion is to tone down that part of your campaign if you want to win the hearts and minds of Chicoans, we already know you're doing well. You're battling incompetent buffoons at CUSD, so try to keep he people on your side by not pissing them off more than CUSD already does.

Matt,
Almost forgot, selective use of facts is rhetoric.

It is amazing to me that the critics continue to forget that we ARE a public school! The facility is a PUBLIC facility. Those 560 students would be sitting in a seat somewhere else if CCDS didn't exist. We get LESS funding per student than CUSD, so taxpayers should be happy. Our students are your neighbors, your paperboys, the kids on your little league team. They aren't imported from somewhere else.

Will the same critics take huge shots at Inspire High when they are given a building at Chico High or will they realize that they are all our kids? Inspire is starting for the same reason we did. I can't wait to hear that board member who hates charters say how Inspire will ruin public schools!

Hearing people criticize our racial makup is no different than criticizing PV or Shasta or your own school board. Gosh, why doesn't your school board reflect the percentage of minorities in Chico? At least that's a fair question. How many males are on your board compared to male percentages in town? I think it was funny when a board member questioned CCDS about minorities without realizing what they were sayiing.

The CUSD board has four women and one cross dresser. Isn't that representative of Chico in general?