COPY OF MY REMARKS ON AN IB WEB SITE:
Texas Parent Questions With
Boldness
April 1, 2010 - Congratulations to Mary
McGarr for signing her name and boldly challenging
the "powers that be" in Katy ISD to get answers to
her excellent questions before moving forward with
implementation of IB. TAIB is honored to be cited
as a reference in Mary's post which follows
THIS ARTICLE.
Mary McGarr wrote on Mar 31, 2010 7:13 PM:
"
Parents
desiring
this IB
programme
need to do
their
homework.
Please ask
these
questions:
How much
will a
school
outfitted
to
accommodate
an IB
program
cost for
each level
that is
planned?
(This does
not refer
to
building
costs as
those are
separate--this
is just
the cost
charged by
the IB
organization.)
What will
the
ongoing
cost be
for each
following
year at
each
level?
Does that
cost
always
increase
or does it
diminish
over time?
What
specific
employees
will be
required
at each
level to
accommodate
the IB
program?
Include
program
administrators,
foreign
language
teachers,
etc.
How will
the
regular
curriculum
at Wolfe
be
penalized
in order
to
accommodate
the IB
program?
What kind
of
training
will
teachers
endure
each year
and at
what cost
in order
to be
qualified
to teach
in the IB
school?
How many
students
will be
reasonably
expected
to acquire
the IB
Diploma at
the end of
their high
school
career?
(Lamar
High
School in
Houston
ISD has
been open
for 25
years and
in that
time there
are only
601 IB
programme
graduates!)
Will most
of the
students
who attend
Wolfe be
taking the
full
programme
or just an
IB class
or two
here and
there? If
there are
not
students
enrolled
in the
full
program in
sufficient
numbers,
how will
this fact
affect the
enrollment
numbers
when
students
are not
going to
be
provided
with
transportation?
Since the
cost
elsewhere
is $92 per
course,
what will
be the
cost per
course to
the
student in
KISD?
What are
the
benefits
of an IB
diploma?
Which
colleges
prefer/accept
the IB
diploma
over AP
coursework?
Are AP
courses
more
difficult
than IB
courses?
Are they
comparable?
Why are
they or
why aren't
they?
What is
the
difference
between AP
and IB?
What is
the
background
of the
administrators
who are
trying to
bring this
program to
Katy ISD?
Did they
work with
this
program
somewhere
else? How
successful
was that
program?
How is
that
success
determined?
Will
serving
two year
transient
oil
company
executives
from
foreign
countries
serve the
Katy
community
taxpayers
who get to
remain
here and
pay for
this
program
after the
oil
company
executives
have gone
back to
their
native
lands?
Why is it
that
foreigners
are so
supportive
of this
program?
Will there
be an
athletic
program at
Wolfe? If
not, why
not?
Will there
still be a
Gifted and
Talented
program at
Wolfe? If
not, why
not?
Will there
be a fine
arts
program at
Wolfe? If
not, why
not?
What will
happen
with
Special
Education
students
who might
want to
attend
Wolfe?
How will
building
such a
high
school
affect the
Katy ISD
yearly
budget
(and this
excludes
paying off
the
millions
required
in the
bond
issue)?
Will KISD
be facing
the same
scenario
as
announced
yesterday
by Ft.
Bend ISD
where they
are having
to lay off
administrators
and
teachers,
decrease
bus
routes,
and raise
the number
of
students
per bus
because
they've
spent too
much money
and their
taxpayers
have had
enough or
today in
LaMarque
ISD where
they are
deleting
58
positions
for the
same
reason?
What
binding
requirements
are issued
by the
International
Baccalaureate
organization
with
regard to
keeping/getting
rid of
this
program if
it is
found to
be
unworthy
of our
students?
Could
there be
separation
costs
involved?
How much
would
those be?
If this
curriculum/school
is so
desirable,
why
wouldn't
the
administration
want to
locate it
in the
middle of
the school
district
where it
would be
much more
accessible
and much
more
likely to
be
attended
since
transportation
is an
issue?
Is the
District
planning
to sell
off some
of the
land at
the Wolfe
site if it
is not
needed for
the high
school?
What if
the high
school is
not
built--will
some of
the land
be sold
then?
Why isn't
a brand
new, plain
old, plain
Jane
elementary
school an
option for
the Wolfe
Elementary
site?
You might
want to
start here
in your
quest for
answers:
http://www.truthaboutib.com/
"