Reorganize the School System in Indianapolis

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You have been hired to reorganize the school system in Indianapolis. You are highly regarded as innovative and also able to get grant funds to improve school systems. What is your diagnosis of the IPS school system? What are your recommendations for improving the system?

Indianapolis public school system (IPS) has been in existence since 1847. The system is situated in the state of Indiana and it manages 64 schools, which include high schools, elementary schools, and grade schools among others. In addition, it offers optional programs to students at no costs.

Moreover, according to the IBJ news (Para. 4), the system encourages performance metrics on each student by a teacher, and hence, this move is geared towards evaluating the performance of students.

In addition, a teacher in arsenal technical high school, which is part of the Indianapolis system, admits that IPS is committed to making more data available to teachers to enable effective learning of students.

There seems to be a shortage of teachers in the IPS systems; indeed, when teachers are scarce, performance of students drops due to lack of attention for each student from the teacher. IPS mission is “to prepare and empower all students for life” (Indiana public schools (IPS) website Para. 1), thereby, an evident initiative that the system has adopted is offering magnet and optional programs that meet the needs of the students.

In addition, the system offers vocational training and provides programs that enable the challenged students to prosper academically. Some of the tools the current IPS system uses include cutting–edge technology, which involves internet access to all classrooms.

The presence of full-day kindergarten classes whose purpose is to prepare the kid for higher academics in the future and the capability of the IPS Corporation to fight against discrimination and racism has created a conducive environment for students to study.

Nevertheless, the IPS Corporation needs to be more effective and remain at a competitive advantage compared to other corporations, and be able to compete with chartered schools, which have high academic standards.

Despite IPS system having to manage many schools, it is still remaining effective, and its success can be attributed to its objectives that put student’s interest first and recruiting professional staff.

The student’s potential is discovered and then developed, with more magnet programs as opposed to other systems; the students can choose from a variety, varying from arts to finance among others.

In order to improve the Indianapolis school system, funds are required in order to reorganize this system. To avoid the cases of school bus delays that have been experienced in the past, an appropriate bus contractor needs to be hired and maintained to ensure efficiency in the transport department.

An effective bus contractor has to prove that there will be no more complains of children been picked up late at any time. Therefore, to be able to win the heart of IPS, it is important that a test period of one month is exercised and when he proves to be effective, he should be given the contract fully.

When children are picked on time, parents schedule is not interfered with by having to drive their children to school; in addition, the kids are able to start their day according to the school’s timetable without any delays. Generally, morning lateness affects the whole day’s schedule thus interfering with the student’s learning.

It is however evident that most of Indianapolis public school system are from low-income families, for instance, Clarence Farringdon elementary school whose students are entitled to free lunch and breakfast; however, they rag behind academically.

Children are usually affected by their family situation at home, hence some may be unable to concentrate in school, and therefore, other than offering free food to the children, the IPS management should implement guidance and counseling department, which will provide a listening ear and a shoulder to lean on for the affected children. With such a strategy in place, these students will stop raging behind academically, but succeed in their studies.

Another profound point is in the area of hiring teachers for IPS system. For the system to achieve satisfactory results for all of its schools, it needs to hire qualified teaching staff, and at first on contract basis.

When teachers are hired and not employed permanently, they will work hard to gain recognition and perhaps secure a permanent employment; therefore, management should only be able to renew teacher’s contract depending on performance of the student.

This strategy will create a sense of accountability for teachers and they will put all their effort to benefit the students academically.

According to research conducted on Indianapolis public schools in 2009, it indicated that about 85% of principals in these schools have employed some teachers without taking them through an interview process, hence negatively affecting the students academically later on.

The results also indicate that IPS Corporation delays hiring of teachers, thus quality teachers are hired by other corporations. Therefore, the management should implement rules that cease delays in terms of hiring (The new teacher project, pp 2). Findings showed that there exists poor customer care of the IPS human resource that hinders consistency among staff and principals of IPSS schools.

This is evident in term of hiring, lay offs and displacements, such that, when teachers are searching for placement, the human resources do not assist appropriately. Only 51% felt supported as they tried to fill for vacancies in their schools and they seek qualified candidates for positions.

This is a clear indication of lack of effectiveness of the human resource of the IPS school system; therefore, for this system to sustain its competitive advantage, ways to implement a resourceful and effective human resource should be implemented (The new teacher project, pp2). Human resource is normally considered the pillar of an organization, since it is mainly concerned with the issues that relate to employees.

For an organization to operate fully there must be existence of employees who usually contribute to the growth of any corporation. Therefore, when the needs of employees are met, they feel motivated and in return, they attain a job satisfaction that enables them to work towards attaining the organization’s goals and objectives.

This is because good experiences at the place of work lead to satisfaction (Argyle, pp 2). Moreover, to improve the human resource department of IPS, rules governing layoffs, placement and evaluation of teachers must be revised and developed. First, the corporation should consider the teacher’s layoffs, such that, a teacher’s effectiveness and quality should be a determining factor on who is retained and who is laid off.

Forced placement should be eliminated and the recruitment process that involves interviews and selection to be adopted. Hiring of teachers should not be delayed, hence enabling IPS to attain the best candidates for the job.

In addition, an effective evaluation system should be adopted to enhance feedback and support for the teachers, and basing evaluation on their ability to promote students academically.

Communication should be enhanced by creation of an online data management system that allows the human resources department to provide timely information to the school administration and staff concerning the staffing process.

Both the suburbs and the Sunbelt have had major impacts on cities. What are these impacts – are they good for the cities? Why is this so?

Sunbelt grew rapidly during the 20^th century and the rise of the Sunbelt was evident with the oil availability, the low cost of building industries, and the recreation facilities present in the area with a favorable climate (Urban Politics 9). Some of the major impacts that the Sunbelt have had of the cities include the separation of needs and resources of a nation and the competition for these resources.

However, most people are attracted into moving to the Sunbelt due to the friendly climate, existence of natural resources like oil, which contributes to making life easier. Tourism is another factor that attracts people to the Sunbelt, since the existence of places such as Disneyland gives one an unforgettable experience.

The high technology industries exist in this area, hence easier to find employment, and employers are able to attain cheap labor. The presence of highways provide effective transportation for goods, hence many businessmen prefer doing business in such areas – air transportation enables easy accessibility to imports and exports and also creates room for international business.

According to Bolin et al (pp 318), over 7 billion pound of toxic waste chemicals were released to the atmosphere, which were generated from the industries in the Sunbelt. Such wastes are hazardous to the population of United States and could cause harmful effects if not monitored and regulated.

Some of the Sunbelt cities like phoenix produce large amounts of pollution to the environment. In addition, this city is replacing farmland with its industries that deal with electronics and semiconductor manufacturers, thus leading to the growth of this city. However, these companies are operated on a capitalism culture of downsizing, cheap labor, and outsourcing among others.

According to Hollander (pp 47), regarding a research he conducted on 140 Sunbelt cities, as of 2006, Sunbelt cities continued to grow despite the housing crash, and their population increased dramatically between 2006 and 2008. However, when housing prices began to sink, some of the Sunbelt cities like Florida, Georgia and Alabama lost their population.

It was evident that the Sunbelt cities had low rates of school dropouts as compared to other cities. Suburbs emerged around the 1850’s, and in the early years, they were described as those areas with less urban characteristics related to poverty, mostly where more immigrants live, due to the need of space for larger families.

However, today, suburbs are described as the communities that surround the cities and mostly include single and multi-family homes, away from the noise and pollution of the cities; indeed, most of the citizens in the United States live in the suburbs.

With the emergence of the suburb in the early years, there resulted ownership of homes among the middle class citizens; however, the suburbs provided support to the United States economy after war.

Due to the presence of more homeowners, home products were on demand and this led to cottage industries, which have today been converted to home depot and direct buy among other corporations. Due to the emergence of industries such as automobiles, the need for infrastructure increased, thus leading to the construction of effective highways to enhance easy accessibility in transportation.

The railway was the first and fast mode of transportation used everyday since it was cheap. Mostly, each suburb consists of people of the same race, age and status and the houses built in such locations are similar in size, design, and appearance.

Today, most job opportunities exist in the suburbs due to the shift of commercial parks from within the city to the suburbs; nevertheless, the rising growth in population in the suburbs is leading to a reckless construction of houses.

The emergence of suburbs have led to segregation of people regarding how they settle, since each neighborhood mostly contain people of the same race, but most especially status matters most when it comes to the affordability of a home.

It is evident that the contributing factor of movement from the cities to the suburbs is due to the high level of pollution and the congestion in the cities. In the suburbs, the house prices are cheaper and tax is low as compared to that of the cities.

The easy accessibility of infrastructure enables people to get to work fast. In addition, the presence of broadband, video conferencing and internet allows most people in the suburbs to work from home.

Due to the cheap way of life, factories are also moving to suburbs, since the cost of buying land or renting operating space is cheap.

With such impacts on the cities, both the Sunbelt and the suburbs have played a major role in the development of the United States as a nation. The capability of moving to a house that one can afford is a boost to the citizens as they vary in term of finances and wealth.

Nevertheless, the Sunbelt cities have played a major role in boosting of tourism due to their favorable weather, while the existence of industries has contributed to the growth of these cities.

However, the presence of industries in these cities has highly contributed to the emission of harmful gases to the atmosphere that would contribute to global warming. This is the main reason why some of the citizens move from the polluted cities to the cool atmosphere in the suburbs.

Works Cited

Argyle, Michael. Do Happy Workers Work Harder? The effect of job satisfaction on work performance. 1989. Web.

Bolin, Bob et al. The ecology of technological risk in a Sunbelt city. Environment and Planning, Vol. 34, pp. 317-339. 2002. Web.

Hollander, Justin. Sunburnt Cities: The Great Recession, Depopulation and Urban Planning in the American Sunbelt. NY: Taylor & Francis Publisher. 2011.

IBJ News. Indiana bringing information revolution to public schools. 2010. Web.

Indiana public schools (IPS) Website. 2009. Web.

Obront, Lynda. The Importance of Incentives in Times of Economic Downturn. 2010. Web.

Potter, Michael. Competitive advantage: creating and sustaining superior performance: with a new introduction. NY: Simon and Schuster Publisher.1998. Web.

The new teacher project. Improving human capital practices: Indianapolis Public Schools. 2009. Web.

Urban Politics. Sunbelt cities/ Frostbelt cities; PSCI 4020. Web.

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Reorganize the School System in Indianapolis

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