Dr. Cedrick Gray, Jr. Photo by Trip Burns.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
JACKSON — Following through on a promise he made shortly after he became the Jackson Public Schools superintendent, Dr. Cedrick Gray rolled out several new initiatives yesterday.
Speaking at a luncheon sponsored by Jackson 2000 Wednesday afternoon, Gray said he wants to create an advisory committee to develop an early childhood education program in JPS.
Gray--who has been the schools' chief for 60 days--said 2,100 kindergartners are in JPS, but only 600 kids are enrolled in the district's pre-K program. In other words, two-thirds of kids coming into kindergarten are unprepared, and Gray said he wants to double the number of pre-K enrollees as soon as possible.
"You have a problem when you have 4-year-olds who don't know colors, numbers and sounds," Gray told the audience of about 65 people at the Mississippi Arts Center.
Mississippi's education woes are well documented, and experts believe that many of the problems stem from the fact that Mississippi is one of 11 states--and the only southern state--that doesn't fund any pre-K programs.
The state's failure to get kids ready for their first year of school has proven costly to Mississippi taxpayers. A July Hechinger Institute report published in Time magazine found that one in 14 kindergarteners and one of every 15 first graders had to repeat the grade in 2008. The same report cites figures from the Southern Education Foundation that show Mississippi spent $383 million on children who had to repeat kindergarten or first grade between 1999 to 2008.
Gray also called for establishing a K-12 literacy program and addressing JPS' dropout rate by focusing on students ages 10 to 15.
In addition, he suggested the creation of a Jackson Public Schools Foundation to help fund some of the new initiatives and hinted at hiring a legislative affairs liaison to handle lobbying for JPS.
In the meantime, Gray is asking for parents' help in improving the city's reading culture by reading to their kids 20 minutes per day and providing a quiet reading place at home. Those who don't have kids should also look for ways to get involved, Gray said.
"You may not have a child in the schools, but you have an investment in our city," he said.
Comments
multiculturegirl 11 years, 7 months ago
So his assumption is that if children don't come from a JPS pre-K they aren't prepared. That's a nice way to fool with numbers but how many of those two thirds went to Head Start or a private pre K program. I am not saying its not a good idea I just don't like it when public officials are intentionally dishonest leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
833maple 11 years, 7 months ago
I don't think he was trying to be intentionally dishonest, but rather he was using general statements and drawing some distinctions to make his point. I'm sure a review of the data would reveal that not all of those in that group that did not attend a JPS pre-K program were unprepared. I sent both of my kids through private pre-K specifically for that reason. They entered the second grade with 6th grade reading levels. I know because they had to test to get in JPS because of their birthdays.
multiculturegirl 11 years, 7 months ago
I don't like it. It is a slap in the face to the students and parents of this district I am not saying we don't not have a problem with children being unprepared but for someone who just got here to act as if every child that did not attend JPS pre-K is not ready for kindergarten belittles the efforts of every parent who does prepare their child. Of every Head Start and private provider too. It is insulting to act as if JPS has the only solution to preparing children for kindergarten. Frankly, they are already doing a pretty bad job of everything else so he has some nerve.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID