State panel overseeing city schools overlooks home-grown assets

I should not be surprised at the events surrounding the state Academic Distress Commission’s activities. Coming from areas outside the Youngstown School District and with limited expertise, its members have completely overlooked the assets already available to them.

Our public should know how well-qualified our school board and chief are:

Board member Anthony Catale has a degree in government with a combined major in communications and substitutes in the YCSD classroom. He certainly knows the limitations of governmental policies as related to accountability.

Superintendent Dr. Wendy Webb knows Title I better than anyone in this area and most notably better than the distress commission. She has always found ways to fulfill the mission of Title I funding without violating its terms.

Board member Lock Beachum is currently chairman of the Council of Urban Boards of Education that is a subcommittee of the National School Boards Association. As such, he has been the lone voice “crying in the wilderness” trying to get others to understand what urban school districts’ problems/solutions are. As such, he is supremely qualified to know what is going on at the national level.

Yet the state Superintendent of Public Instruction Deborah Delisle brought in a superintendent from a school district who, by her own admission in her request for help, knows absolutely nothing about urban school districts and Title I funding. This commission decided to pay $100,000 each to some outside experts to develop what our people have already identified as areas of Title I funds that cannot be touched as well as six “experts” to coach principals.

Asking for a waiver of Title I funding is totally out of the question. You parents out there should be writing state Sen. Joe Schiavoni as well as Gov. Strickland in outrage.

When will you tire of funds set aside for our children being used to “pay” another set of experts to duplicate what our own district has already accomplished? Parents, these are your children. Don’t allow your voice not to be heard.

DELORES T. WOMACK

Youngstown