Join MTC if…
- you like challenges. MTC is a challenge, and it is hard; however, it is completely worth it, if you’re up for it.
- you want to change. MTC will surely change you, for better or for worse.
- you’re up for living away from big cities and the metropolitan lifestyle. MTC places you in Mississippi (seems logical, right?), so if you’re up for living in Mississippi, join MTC.
- you want to be a part of something big. Mississippi needs teachers; Mississippi needs good teachers. As a member of MTC, you have the opportunity to be a good teacher in Mississippi.
- you want to teach. MTC claims that if you can teach in the districts it places you in, you can teach anywhere. Talk about comforting- if you can survive this, you can go anywhere else and be okay.
- you don’t want to teach. MTC is incredible work experience in a difficult environment; I’m convinced that if I can survive (and thrive!) this, that I can do well just about anywhere. Although if you don’t want to teach, you should probably at least really like people- MTC is tough if you’re anti-people.
- you wanted to do Teach for America but weren’t accepted. MTC is better: FREE MASTERS (no strings attached- it is truly free, books and all!), full teaching salary with benefits, a support system that is second to none- from the summer interns to the faculty to the second years, MTC is there for its participants- in good times and in bad, connections and resources in every possible placement site. Enough said.
- you want an adventure. No, MTC is not the wild west; however, it sure provides one crazy experience for all participants.
- you are flexible/ are okay with learning how to be flexible. You have to be as a part of MTC. Your school will probably not be organized, and because of their lack of organization (among other things), you will need to be flexible. Even when you really, really do not want to be.
- you prefer the SEC to the Ivy League. Only kidding. However, SEC football is king in Mississippi, and as a part of MTC, you will be enrolled as a graduate student at the University of Mississippi. Love your alma mater, but embrace your new school and Mississippians will start to see you as one of their own rather than an outsider.
Don't join MTC if...
- you don't like challenges. MTC is an incredible challenge. From the students
you will teach to the administration you will work under and the people you
will work with, everything will test you and try you. MTC is HARD.
- you think you can change the state of education in Mississippi. You can't, and you won't. You might have a positive impact on the lives of a handful of students, but you certainly will not change the state of education in Mississippi. The system has been messed up for far too long, and just like Kofi Annan learned with the instability in Kenya, peace will only come if those directly involved, rather than outsiders, want it to come.
- you hate the South. Mississippi is a different world, and those who know that who live there tend to be okay with that. Yes, red meat is a staple in many diets. Yes, people talk with accents that are sometimes impossible to understand. Yes, there are A LOT of really crappy drivers in Mississippi. Yes, rain can add a lot of extra time to your daily commute. Yes, the logic in Mississippi might seem illogical. to you. To them, it makes plenty of sense- accept that fact.
- you'd prefer to live a cosmopolitan lifestyle in a big city. Mississippi doesn't have any of that. The largest "city" is the capital, Jackson, and if you include the tri-county area, the city's population doesn't even top half a million people. Culture exists in Mississippi; however, you must keep your eyes open in order to find it.
- you’re unorganized. I know there are plenty of people in MTC who will tell you that they are not organized. Do not believe them. As a participant in MTC, you must be able to balance teaching in a critical needs school district with your own coursework. The courses, while not as demanding as undergraduate coursework, still require you to work on your own time. In addition to balancing teaching with studying, you also need to be able to make time for you, time away from school, MTC, and all things teacher related. You won’t survive if you don’t make time for you.
Although I am not completely new to the teaching profession, I often feel similar to first-year teachers since I am in my first year at KIPP Delta in Helena, Arkansas. In certain ways (easy and plentiful access to resources, myriad intelligent and hard-working colleagues, high expectations on student behavior and academic output) KIPP is very different from the school I taught at the past two years in Belzoni, Mississippi. In other respects (socioeconomic and racial demographics, general lack of student motivation, administrative acquiescence to parents) it is quite similar to my previous school. In reflecting on this first semester, three major realizations that I have encountered come to mind. I will reflect on each briefly:
1) KIPP students are no different from other students.
The students that I work with in Helena are very similar to my students from Belzoni. If often feel like Helena belongs on the other side of the Mississippi River somewhere deep in Quitman or maybe Leflore County. It would closely resemble other large Delta towns like Greenwood, Clarksdale, and Indianola. Prior to moving to Helena I thought that the students at KIPP were better off socioeconomically than average Delta kids or that they had more committed parents than normal. I found that my students have no silver spoon in their mouth and few doting soccer moms in their house. Students misbehave just as much at KIPP as they do at other public schools. What has actually been even more surprising is the heightened level to which a number of students misbehave as they seem to attempt to either get expelled or get their parents to take them out of KIPP due to our high behavioral and academic expectations.
2) KIPP entails a major commitment on the part of teachers.
The commitment that KIPP teachers make to their students begins early. In looking at my Gmail Inbox, I count over 50 emails sent between myself and KIPP administrators and fellow teachers between the first week of June when I accepted their offer of employment and the last week of July when we began our professional development/orientation. This is in addition to (at least) weekly phone call check-ins while at home in New Jersey that my school director (principal, essentially) and I had regarding my assignments. Yup, assignments. With due dates, criteria and all. On my first day of professional development I had a beautiful new cell phone waiting for me at work. This phone is with all the time and the number goes out all over to colleagues, parents, students, and anyone else who would like to contact KIPP Delta's 7th grade math teacher and debate team coach.
My work day usually begins at 5:30 and I'm usually at school sometime between 6 and 6:30 a.m. I'm rarely the first (or second or third) teacher there. Prep periods are scant and I'm one of the lucky few teachers with a morning AND afternoon one. Multiple teachers have NO PREP PERIOD. I'm also fortunate in that I only teach one core subject. Other teachers teach two (i.e. math and science or English and social studies) and some teach two strands of a core subject in the same classroom (i.e. algebra to 20 kids on the right side of a classroom and geometry to 10 kids on the left side...simultaneously). Although the regular school day ends at 4 p.m. (recently shortened from 5 p.m.) most teachers are expected to do an hour of an extracurricular activity and/or an hour of tutoring in their subject area each evening. Thus, my work day usually ends at 5 p.m. due to daily math tutoring and on Tuesdays and Thursdays it ends at 6 p.m. due to my coaching the debate team. I'm usually home about an hour after my work day ends...although I live only a few minutes' drive from my school. Saturday school occurs bi-weekly throughout most of the school year and a three-week long summer school is mandated as well.
3) KIPP is the most innovative educational environment I have ever been a part of.
If you are psycho about teaching (and yes, essentially all MTCers fit into this category...at least all of those who last a year) then you will fit right in at KIPP. Far too often I felt that I was working much harder than my colleagues at my previous school. I would literally be laughed at for grading papers (even EXAMS). I was often the first teacher there and the last to leave. Students complained that my class was harder than their others. And on and on and on.... At KIPP, more or less all teaches are crazy, hard-working beasts. Almost everyone on the faculty is 20-something or barely in their 30's and from all corners of the nation. Together we are part of an amazing educational experiment that allows us to choose our own books and curricular material, teach using innovative instructional strategies, change the schedule on a daily basis as necessary (need an extra half hour for math? Just send a text to the phone of the ELA teacher), and sometimes even kidnap kids to get them to achieve at the very highest levels possible (ask me for stories). Where else could you have a school director mandate that teachers jump on a table in the cafeteria in front of the entire student body and sing and dance on cue or enter a classroom where intense pre-algebra instruction is occurring and mandate that every student smile at him while telling the teacher to hold up the arms of students who refuse to smile so they can be tickled into submission (both have happened to me this semester)? Anything but ordinary. Simply extraordinary.The movement is moving.
Chimaobi Amutah
EDSE 647
Book Review
Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has The Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?
by Michael Eric Dyson
Each year in cities and towns large and small throughout the United States races for municipal office seem to boil down to two dominant, pervasive, and recurrent political issues: public safety and public education. Crime and education are so important to citizens because they concern not only the voters themselves but, most often, their invaluably precious children. Whether one looks at statistics outlining arrest and incarceration rates or dropout and literacy rates, the racial group doing the worst across the board is Blacks. Myriad theories have been put forth as to why this is the case and a plethora of articles and books have been published based on formal, scientific research as well as informal observation and reflection. In the book Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has The Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind? by venerable Georgetown University professor of sociology and cultural commentator Michael Eric Dyson, Dyson reflects on Bill Cosby’s take on why the community that he is a part of seems to fare so poorly in this society.
The book’s antecedents lie in a highly controversial speech that Bill Cosby delivered in May 2004 after receiving an award at a commemoration event paying homage to the historic Brown v. Board Supreme Court decision of 1954. In his speech, Cosby decried the state of Black youth today who speak improper English, fervently pursue careers as athletes and rappers, and lack the basic self-discipline and motivation to make anything of themselves, their families, and their communities. Cosby’s comments sparked a firestorm of responses, most critically from other Blacks who felt as though Cosby’s age, wealth, and fame have left him out of touch with the current youth of the Black community and thus disqualifies him from making such generalized and hyper-critical statements. Michael Eric Dyson was one such critic who has made a point of combatting Cosby’s harsh rhetoric.
In his book, Dyson, in true social scientist form, makes the case that extrinsic issues are more to blame for the myriad issues facing urban Black youth of today than a lack of quality parenting as Cosby professes. Dyson points to still-present and documented institutional racism that accounts for police arresting and charging Blacks at rates much higher than other racial groups as well as prosecutors seeking trial and incarceration more often than plea bargaining and judges issuing lengthier prison stays for Blacks. Dyson places Cosby in the same tradition as other elitist Blacks throughout U.S. history who were heavily critical of Blacks who they felt embarrassed the race, particularly in front of Whites--the “Afristocrats” as Dyson cleverly deems them. He makes these points all the more personal with regards to Bill Cosby by pointing to Cosby’s own struggles as a parent such as fathering a daughter out of wedlock and having another daughter publicly struggle with overcoming a drug addiction.
This book is highly pertinent to the work that we as educators do, particularly at my current school. The KIPP network of charter schools in general and KIPP Delta in particular prides itself on working in rough inner-city and rural communities with majority-Black and Latino students from low-income backgrounds. One of the hallmarks of KIPP is discipline and the lengths to which we go to have our students speak, sit, walk, and even read with proper etiquette is amazing. Visitors to our school from local farming groups to the Governor of Arkansas remark at how amazingly well-behaved, courteous, and well-spoken our students are. This behavior seems to fly in the face of their preconceived notion that our students would be the type of students that Bill Cosby lambasted so passionately back in 2004. Our poor, Black students are expected to be loud, speak improperly, get into fights, and not have high standardized test scores. Far too often, students internalize these expectations and they morph into self-fulfilling prophecies. Thus, Dyson is correct in saying that low-quality parenting is not the predominant factor contributing to the state of Black youth today. Sadly, a lack of exposure to their own possibilities and a dearth of self-esteem are more deserve a greater share of the blame.
though i think arne duncan's speech on "teacher colleges" was pretty well-crafted, i don't know if i truly still understand the concept of a teacher's college. before i get into explaining why perhaps the most important thing could be to fund these institutions, i think i need to see if i actually believe in what they are aimed at doing.
No, it doesn’t have to. No matter how constrained a teacher is, I’ve determined that school does not have to be a creativity killer. To apply some ancient, wise words (2 Corinthians 4:8-9): “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; … struck down, but not destroyed.” In other words, NCLB and the obsessive, accountability-driven administrative directives it begets cannot single-handedly kill creativity in the classroom. Sure, state tests “stigmatize failure,” as Ken Robinson states. Teachers, though, do not have to stigmatize failure.
Take a measure as simple as rewarding students for non-academic feats, for instance. Awarding Student of the Month to the most spirit-lifting comedian in the classroom validates him as much as a good grade. Teacher-initiated rewards address and negate Robinson’s contention that school only the intellectual successes at school are the winners. He contends that “the whole purpose of public education …is to produce university professors. … We shouldn’t hold them up as the highest form of achievement…they live in their heads.” Nay! The purpose of school is to make something productive out of young peoples minds and hours. Sure, there are ugly class wars circling around how those minds and hours are spent. But ideally, school is for producing more productive (emotionally, spiritually, vocationally --- not merely intellectually) members of society. School is where students have training wheels for how to function as adults. It’s a mini-society. I think Robinson would be a huge fan to Rousseau’s anti-social, child-centered vision of education. Unfortunately, as pastoral and sweet as this vision is, it falls short of what humans were created for: to serve and better each other.
No, schools do not “squander” the innate creativity in children wholesale, as Robinson overconfidently asserts. Schools are the environment in which time is set aside for creativity to be required. Without the structure of school, creativity wilts. Robinson is right to point out the paradoxical nature of creativity, such as that we do not mature into creativity, but rather we outgrow it, but he misses this important paradox about it: creativity needs structure just like fire needs oxygen. Without the push and the constraint to fuel creativity, or the probing questions of the teacher, or the small encouraging remarks along the way to the final creative product, a child’s creativity will be stifled. Also, in a school functioning properly, in which reading aloud and extolling reading should be a daily activity, the imagination will find no lack.
As to Robinson’s allusion to Picasso’s quote that we grow out of creativity, neither do I fully agree with this. Older children (teens) can use colors, tweak words, arrange sounds, plan projects and papers and speak more eloquently and purposefully than their younger counterparts. Who has the authority to say that creativity with more direction and eruditeness is somehow weaker than the innocent creativity that streams from a little mind? Classifying creativity in an hierarchy (eerily akin to what NCLB test standards do—classify schools and student achievement) and judging creativity as “the production of something both original and useful” (paraphrase) is rather utilitarian itself. Robinson defines creativity to uptightly, I’m afraid.
The Tunica River Park affords a host of opportunities for people who are seeking to understand the historical importance of the Mississippi River's usage from its beginnings with the Native Americans and conquistadors up through it's present-day significance as a major channel for transporting goods and individuals through the American midwest. In an ideal world my students would be able to visit the park and take advantage of the plethora of exhibits and time periods featured at the museum. However, structuring this time to maximize my students' learning must be undertaken carefully so that my students get the full effect of the academic experience of the Tunica River Park and do not simply view the excursion as pointless field trip.
Some of the before school activities that I could have my students complete are:
1) Completing a KWL chart to document students' knowledge prior to visiting the Tunic River Park
2) Researching the history of the Mississippi River and how it has been used in the past by disparate groups
3) Visiting a local river (i.e. the Yazoo River) and having students read about its historic regional significance
Some of the activities I could have my students complete while they are at the Tunic River Park are:
1) Creating a timeline to document the settling of the area around the Mississippi River
2) Describing the work of major figures who settles or worked along the Mississippi River
3) Formulating a schedule for other groups of students to complete a walking tour of the park on their own visit
Some of the activities I could have my students complete after their visit to the Tunica River Park include:
1) Finishing their KWL chart by filling in five things they learned from their visit to the Tunica River Park
2) Developing a community service project to spread the word throughout the Delta about the river's import
3) Writing a persuasive letter to a member of Congress urging them to allot money for sharing the river's history
When teaching in the districts that MTC places us in, tangible success is often hard to come by. Failure seems to be what is constantly in our face as we think of all the things that our students are doing besides learning, all the places that our students will likely end up besides college, and all the classroom management issues we face that make us want to roll over and call out sick. Every. Single. Day. Still, it's in the little things that teachers anywhere but especially in "critical needs" districts must focus on to maintain drive and focus and continue doing what too many others have deemed highly improbable or flatly impossible for centuries: educating poor Blacks.
In many of these districts MTC teachers teach in standardized tests are seen as foreboding signs of eminent doom and embarrassment. In these places, teaching "to the test" is often resorted to as the means through which educational salvation is reached. Teaching to the test is one thing but when you're in a school environment where, from day one, what's communicated to teachers is that teaching to the test is the ONLY thing, well then you're at KIPP. On some level this is understandable as testing determines so much at charter schools like KIPP from our enrollment to our ability to woo private funders to the very renewal of our charter with the state of Arkansas. However, I cannot help but shake my philosophical belief that I have more important life skills to teach my students than finding equivalent fractions and answering multiple choice items using process of elimination.
In any event, our big state test in Arkansas is called the ACTAAP or the Benchmark Exam. KIPP Delta in Helena has some of the highest test scores in the state at the middle school and high school levels. Last year, 94% of our 7th graders at KIPP Delta scored proficient or advanced on the mathematics Benchmark Exam compared to 66% of 7th graders statewide and only 33% of students in Helena-West Helena's regular public school system. What makes this even more remarkable to many is that our school is 99% Black, 99% free/reduced lunch, and in the heart of dilapidated downtown Helena close by local housing projects, gang territory, drugs, and prostitution. Last year's 7th grade math teacher who got these results was so successful that she has been given the green light to found her own school which will be opening in Blytheville, Arkansas in the fall of 2010 as a new KIPP middle school. She's only a year older than me. The venerable 7th grade math slot was thus available when I applied to KIPP this past spring and who teaches this course with the districtwide spotlight on it now?: me. The Black, hood guy from Harvard with two years of (social studies) teaching experience who's a few credits away from a master's degree in education.
Anyway, to my success story. In preparation for the end-of-the-year Benchmark Exam we take practice Benchmark Exams every month. We chart the progress of our students and use the practice Benchmark Exams to target particular students and skills for remediation and re-teaching. Results are scrutinized for hours on end at the individual, school, and district levels. It is highly nerve-wrecking to see where your students are at month-by-month and to know that the results will be known almost immediately by your peers and superiors and reflect your quality as a teacher. Lovely. In any event, the first practice Benchmark Exam we took was in late September. We took a second one two weeks ago in late October and although the success or failure of my students on the September exam could largely be attributed to what my students came into 7th grade knowing, my school director was clear in communicating that the October exam's results would be all my own.
Much to my surprise and the surprise of many a colleague, I'm sure, not only did my students' scores increase from the first to the second practice Benchmark Exam but these were the only scores that increased in any grade level, in any subject area at the entire school. Fifth, sixth, and eighth grade math scores went down. Fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade literacy scores went down. Fifth, sixth, seventh, and eight grade reading scores went down. Fifth and seventh grade science scores went down (we don't do sixth and eighth grade science testing). ONLY 7TH GRADE MATH SCORES WENT UP!!! I was elated when I saw the numbers displayed on the dry erase board at our faculty meeting the night we stayed at school until 10 p.m. grading exams and inputting results on our district network for more scrutiny. When looking at the individual students and their performances from the first to the second practice Benchmark Exam, I also noticed that most of the students whose scores increased were taught by me and not by the more experienced and better respected 8th grade math teacher who takes 15 of my 7th graders into his algebra class each day.
That's wassup. Right?
the conversation with rita bender was pretty...sweet, to say the least. i talk A LOT, most of the time unnecessarily, during our meetings and classes. but with this, i really didn't want to. i wanted to sit back and take it in.
Finding information about the city of Jackson that is accurate can be difficult. Depending on the topic, the city might hide the information pretty deep in the Jackson website, or it is buried somewhere inside a 50-something page PDF document. Other statistics seem to disagree with each other, depending on the source. There are numerous individuals who would love to provide their own statistics or opinions on specific situations - politics, education, crime rate. Sorting through information to be able to find the most accurate and up-to-date information can be difficult, but there are interesting and useful things gleaned in the process. The following information is an attempt to examine and assess the community of Jackson, Mississippi in the fall of 2009.
1. Defining the Community
The city of Jackson is in an extremely effective location for trade and economic growth. As the capital of Jackson, there are many goods produced and services offered. City-data.com notes that the "diversity of businesses and industry and its position as the state capital help insulate the metropolitan area from the economic downturns experienced by other cities." There are sixteen banks in the city, four of which have their headquarters in Jackson (Consumer National Bank, Trustmark National Bank, First American Bank and First Commercial Bank). In the tri-county area of Hinds, Madison, and Rankin counties (Jackson has land in all three counties), agriculture is a $180 million business. Cattle is the main good, although cotton, grains, poultry, and timber are also vital to the agricultural portion of the city's economy. There are 500 manufacturers present throughout the city. The automobile industry is a promising new sector for growth, as the Nissan Motor Company opened its major plant in neighboring Canton, Mississippi and created over 3,300 new jobs. The community also produces fabricated metals, electrical and electronic equipment, food products, apparel, wood products, furniture, transportation products, portable electric tools, and aircraft parts.
2. Geography
The city of Jackson encompasses approximately 109 square miles, about 2 square miles of those being water and the rest being land. The city of Jackson is located about 294 feet above sea level. It is equidistant (for the most part) from New Orleans (to the south), Memphis (to the north), Atlanta (to the east), and Dallas (to the west). This distance to nearby major cities for trade is aided immensely by the transportation systems available to Jackson. There are two airports, Jackson-Evers International Airport and Hawkins Field. Though closed to passenger traffic, Hawkins Field still handles an impressive amount of air traffic. Two major train lines, Canadian National and Kansas City Southern, run through the city. The railroad system runs through the city and is fully functional and highly used. The closest port is the Port of Vicksburg, located on the Mississippi River on the border between Louisiana and Mississippi, 45 miles west of Jackson. The city is located on the Pearl River and also has access to the Ross Barnett Reservoir. The city itself sits on top of a volcano, the peak of which is located 2,900 feet below the feet of the Mississippi Coliseum.
3. Basic Demographics
Though there are different numbers provided by different sources, a 2006 count puts Jackson at a population of 177,977. Throughout the 1990's, the city experienced a 5% decline in population. In the years of 2000-2005, the city has been believed to have declined in population by 3%. The racial breakdown of the city remains about the same, regardless of any increase or decrease in population. A little over two-thirds of the city is African-American, making up about 71% of the population, and the white population representing with 28%, and the last 1% being the percent of Asian individuals. This is, I believe, always the makeup for the city limits of Jackson, Mississippi. The surrounding "suburbs" - Brandon, Byram, Clinton, Flowood, Ridgeland, Madison, Richland - would not follow this same racial breakdown. According to the 2000 census, there were 67,841 households in Jackson. 39% of those households had at least one child under the age of 18 years. Only 35% of the households represented married couples, whereas over 25% of the households were single-parent households, held together by a female. The city has a median income of a little over $30,000, which is less than half the national average. The city also boasts a fairly high crime rate, with 979 violent crimes per people.
4. Economic Elements
Simply driving through downtown Jackson can give you a picture of the economic situation of the city, but after some research, I'm not so sure if it is an accurate picture. Though the unemployment rate of the city (10.4%) is higher than the national average (6.9%), there are a lot of other factors that lead me to believe the overall picture is not as bad as it might seem. According to job tracking trends in the city, "the number of Jackson, Mississippi jobs has increased by 63% since January 2008 (simplyhired.com)." There are pieces of data that can raise an eyebrow of concern - over 60% of the households in the city earn less than $50,000 a year, though the national average income for a household is $60,000. One should remember, however, that real estate and cost of living in Jackson is among the lowest in the nation. A lowered household income in Jackson compared with the rest of the nation would not necessarily mean a lowered quality of life.
Also, 67% of the population has less than an associate's degree to claim as their highest level of education. Again, though this statistic could seem troubling, it is important to remember the type of job opportunities that Jackson has to offer. The top employers are the State of Mississippi (32,000), The United States Government (5,500), Jackson Public Schools District (4,500), Nissan Motor Company (4,000), and Baptist Health Systems (2,700). Many of these jobs offer opportunities to people of all different educational levels. Also, the average commute is 19 minutes, and, as the city of Jackson is not extremely large and is easily traveled, it stands to speculate that those individuals who occupy jobs that require higher levels of education could (and very likely do) live outside the city limits and reside in the suburbs. There are several publicly-traded companies that are headquartered in Jackson, being: Cal-Maine Foods, Inc.; EastGroup Properties, Inc.; Parkway Properties, Inc., and Trustmark Corporation.
There are also new incentives being offered to attract new companies, and to encourage existing companies to step up and reinvent their organization. For new businesses, the city offers lowered taxes, high quality labor, training programs, and tax credits for companies who create new jobs and provide basic skills for training and/or childcare. For existing companies, The City of Jackson Storefront Improvement Program offers grants for exterior structural improvements in designated areas of the city. There is encouragement for new businesses to locate in designated areas of the city, and there is a push for revitalizing the entire "downtown" section of the city.
5. Physical Infrastructure
The city of Jackson is serviced by two airports - The Jackson-Evers International Airport deals with both commercial and industrial air traffic, whereas Hawkins Field only deals with industrial air traffic. Three major interstates run through the city - 55, 20, and 220. The major U.S. Highways of 49, 51, and 80 also run through Jackson and help to make the city easily traveled. The State Highways of 18 and 25 (Lakeland Drive) make travel to the suburbs quick and easy. Other major veins through the city - State, Capitol, Northside, and Fortification Streets, Terry Road, and Woodrow Wilson/Clinton Boulevard - make travel easy. JATRAN is the form of public transportation, but its usefulness could be questioned. It only runs Monday-Saturday on 13 routes from 5:00am-7:00pm. There is no evening travel for safety reasons, and no travel on Sunday for...well, religious reasons. The fare is $2.00 each way. Being from a major city, I just want to quickly state something. 13 routes in a city the size of Jackson is not enough to be useful. Also, perhaps because it is not used much, the rate is incredibly high for a city the size of Jackson. As much as I've noticed, the public transportation system is not used much. There are taxis, but they are all companies or privately owned, as there is no city taxi system. Jackson is a hub for both Greyhound and Amtrak services. Jackson also has a railroad system for trade which is highly trafficked, mainly by Canadian National and Kansas City Southern Railways.
6. Cultural and Recreational Resources
Though Jackson is a comparatively small city, there are many cultural and recreational opportunities and resources. Ballet Mississippi performs throughout the world, and every Christmas performs The Nutcracker at Thalia Mara Hall. They host the Ballet Competition every fourth year, rotating with Moscow, Helsinki, and various towns in Bulgaria. There is the Celtic Heritage Society of Mississippi, which hosts the Celtic Festival late every summer (early September this year). The campus of Jackson State University has a botanical garden, which is used for academic and recreational purposes. The Jackson Zoo can be considered small when compared with other major zoos, but it is a major hotspot for fundraisers, school functions, and community programs. The Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum is the home for many local proms, business meetings, and tours. There is a recreation of an old village in the Delta, and the amount of history contained in the museum and on the lands is a great source of information for the culture of Mississippi. The Mississippi Museum of Art has a great standard collection of photographs telling the story of Mississippi, including award-winning photographs from Eudora Welty. The MMA also is home to different traveling installations, including a recent collection of work from world-renowned artist Raoul Duffy. The MMA is free of charge and is a center of culture of students, citizens, and visitors alike. The Mynelle Gardens, located in south Jackson are a center for weddings, anniversary parties, and church functions. New Stage Theatre is home to productions - both independent and "traditional" - and is well-visited throughout the year. The Russell C. Davis Planetarium is a staple of school students and is becoming a popular location for the young adult population of the city. There are numerous community organizations, functions, and fundraisers throughout the city which keep citizens involved.
7. The Power Structure
Jackson uses the Mayor-Council government style with the Mayor being elected at large and then seven Council members being elected from the seven Wards of Jackson. The city is headed by the mayor, currently Harvey Johnson, Jr. There is also a Central Administrative Officer, who serves as a link between the Mayor's office and all other offices and departments; a City Attorney, who is in charge of city litigations; a City Clerk; a seven-member Council; Civil Service Commission; Historic Preservation Commission; Jackson Housing Authority, and dozens of other organizations, commissions, and committees. In regards to who holds real power and who makes things happen, I think it depends on where you are. For the area of my school, it's all in the hands of Councilman Stokes and the Police Department. Also, the School Board controls most of what concerns me, as my daily life pretty much is confined to the school building. Each members seem to focus on a specific issue - whether it's the Library System Administration Board scraping funds together for 13 months to renovate the Eudora Welty Library after a damaging fire, the Jackson Zoological Park petitioning for money for another outdoor habitat for the orangoutangs, or the Jackson Redevelopment Authority Board of Commissioners listening to bids for the Hotel King Edward, each committee has power in its own right. Behind this report, there is a nifty flowchart, provided by the Mayor's Office for the City of Jackson, to help better understand the roles of individuals in the city.
8. Role of Governmental Agencies
As mentioned above, each governmental agency is given a lot of autonomy for their specific area. The School Board handles most of the issues regarding JPS, the Police and Fire Departments handle their issues, the Housing Authority and Redevelopment Committee deal with specific issues. All of these committees and agencies report, at the end of the day, and through a round-about pattern, back to the Mayor's Office. Funds that are needed, events that will be held, permits that need approval all must go through the Mayor's Office. This is also where the CAO comes in hand. A lot of the work that needs to go to the Mayor is handled and organized by the CAO, making the job of the Mayor a task that one can handle. In the city, I really do feel that citizens are encouraged to show up, speak out, and act on issues that concern them. I think a lot of issues might not be solved overnight in this manner, but they're definitely dealt with and not just pushed under a rug.
9. History
Jackson has a history that is similar to that of most Southern cities, moments of glory and moments of...well, shame. To be as brief as possible, the city was originally part of the Choctaw Nation and in 1830, the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek removed the Native Americans from most of the land, and the city became the permanent seat of government for the state of Mississippi. The city was first referred to as LeFleur's Bluff because it had been founded by Louis LeFleur, and it was founded along Natchez Trace. In a report to the Mississippi General Assembly in 1821, surveyors had reported that Jackson had "beautiful and healthy surroundings, good water, abundant timber, navigable waters, and proximity to the trading route Natchez Trace." Rail systems developed the city after the Civil War. During World War II, Hawkins Airfield was used as a training base for all the Dutch military crews (after 1941).
When the Civil Rights Movement began to gather steam, Jackson saw a lot of action. On June 12, 1963, Medgar Evers was murdered by Byron de la Beckwith, which increased the already intense activity in the city. Massive, public movements for Civil Rights and voter registration followed the murder and became extremely effective in putting Jackson on the map of Civi Rights. Civil Rights issues ensued until June of 1966 when James Meredith organized a march from Memphis to Jackson and (after being hit by a sniper's bullet during the march) delivered a speech to a crowd of 15,000 regarding the implementation of Civil Rights legislation. May 15, 1970, police killed two and wounded twelve during a protest regarding the Vietnam War. The incident made national news.
In 1997, Harvey Johnson, Jr. became the city's first African-American mayor. He was followed in 2005 by Frank Melton. The somewhat comical years of Melton's reign witnessed martial law, wearing arms on school and church property, a marked increase in both unemployment and violent crime, questionable antics, and (my personal favorite), stopping a school bus to give children hugs. In 2009, Melton passed away after election results, and Harvey Johnson, Jr. was re-elected to the position of mayor.
10. Community Barriers
In summary of most of the information gathered so far, the serious problems that face the community are poverty, unemployment, crime, and level of education of the population. Many of the individuals in the community do not finish high school, do not finish on time, and if they do finish, they do not go on to college. In my specific school, the graduating class last year started out their freshman year with a little over 250 students. They graduated only around 150, and those were pretty good odds, considering the area and the odds they are facing. A 10.4% unemployment rate that seems to be increasing, a population that is continuously decreasing, and a median income that is half of the national average are not good things to have on your side. The crime rate will likely take a nosedive with the new administration, but even then, it is nowhere close to the national average, and would still be considered a dangerous city.
11. Values
Values of Jackson would include Christianity, education, and progression. Everywhere you go, there are churches, church groups, church festivals, church reunions, and preachers. Christianity, regardless of the depth of belief or practice, seems to be a binding force and a bonding place for most citizens in Jackson. Jackson Public Schools and Jackson State University create a foothold for education to take a prominent place in everyone's life. Someone has a friend, neighbor, neice, nephew, grandchild, or child in JPS, and most individuals become involved in the JPS family. A lot of JSU alumni tend to stay in the area and stay involved in the educational field, giving weight to the education in Jackson. A new value that seems to have taken hold is that of progression. Whether it's rejuvenating downtown or renovating an old museum, there seems to be an air of recognition that Jackson has fallen behind the times and must catch up. There is a willingness to go forward, as long as there is still an appreciation for the way things were, since people tend to view the way "things were" as the way they "should be."
12. Uniqueness
There are many unique things about the city of Jackson, but there is one thing that always catches my attention: the crime rate. As of 2007, Jackson had more than double the national average for the United States. After looking at car theft, arson, rape, robbery, and other violent crimes, Jackson's crime rate was calculated at 703.5, whereas the national average is 320.9. In 2007, Jackson was ranked as the 23rd most dangerous city, but in the closing months of Frank Melton's tenure, the city saw a spike in crime, and (unofficially) rose to the 14th most dangerous city in the United States. Malcolm McMillian was, at one time, holding the offices as both the Sheriff and the Police Chief of Jackson. However, in summer 2009, Tyrone Lewis stepped in as Chief of Police for JPD and McMillian retained his position. There has been a concerted effort on all parts to reduce crime in Jackson, so one could that effort to show in new statistics.
Also, two other interesting facts about Jackson: the city is ranked 10th in the nation in concentration of African-American same-sex couples, and it is located on top of a volcano, making it the only capital or major city in the United States to boast that physical feature.
13. Schools, Colleges, and/or Universities
If not saturated with anything else, Jackson is definitely soaked to the brim with education. Given the largest public education system in the state, an equally impressive selection of private school opportunities, and an awesome array of higher-education choices, Jackson can hold its own in the education realm. Jackson Public Schools is comprised of 38 elementary schools, 10 middle, and 8 high schools. There are also alternative schools, career placement and development programs and schools, adult education, and environmental education locations.
In regards to private school opportunities, Jackson 32 different schools, ranging from Pre-K to 12th grade, affiliated with religions ranging from Roman Catholic to Church of God in Christ, co-ed and single-sex school. There are many different private schools in the city, and they offer a quality alternative to the public school system. The Mississippi School for the Blind and The Mississippi School for the Deaf are also located in Jackson.
Comparing the two school systems is very interesting. According to the Mississippi Department of Education for the 2006-2007 school year, the public school system is made up of the following racial groups: African-American (94.8%), White (4.4%), and Asian (0.2%). Interestingly enough, private schools are made up of basically the same racial groups, just in a completely different ratio. African-American students make up only 25.5% of the private school population, Whites bring in a whopping 73.2% of the population, American Indians 0.6% of the private school population, Asian 0.4% of the private school population, and Hispanic students make up 0.3% of the private school population.
Also interesting is the number of children in Pre-K programs in public and private schools. In Jackson Public Schools, there are about 520 children in Pre-K, but around 2,750 children in the kindergarten classrooms. Private schools in Jackson, however, see around 950 children in the Pre-K programs, and then about 700 children in the kindergartens. Finally, perhaps most interesting (or most upsetting), are the comparison of high school students. Public schools had (according to the 2006-2007 Mississippi Department of Education information) 2,900 students in grade 9, but only about 1,500 (half) of the students travel through to the 12th grade. In the private schools, however, there are about 360 that enter the 9th grade, and almost all of those (and some additional ones, as well, as the number was somewhere around 380) will graduate the 12th grade.
Once a student makes it through the gauntlet of a Jackson education, they have plenty of opportunities presented to them to stay in Jackson for their higher education. Jackson State University was founded in 1877 and is a public, Historically Black College or University (HBCU). Most graduates are focused in education or business studies. Reformed Theological Seminary was founded in 1963 and has different campuses throughout the South, with the Jackson campus being smaller (about 450 students) and focused more on Master's programs. Millsaps College was founded in 1892, is a private and religiously-affiliated institution (Methodist). Belhaven College was founded in 1883, and is a Presbyterian-affiliated college, preparing students for different leadership roles in their adult lives. The University of Mississippi Medical Center was founded in 1955, and is the stepping ground for medical students.
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