USVI Schools

One thing to keep in mind about USVI schools are any stateside schools for that matter is...
Education is primarily a State and local responsibility in the United States. It is States and communities, as well as public and private organizations of all kinds, that establish schools and colleges, develop curricula, and determine requirements for enrollment and graduation. The structure of education finance in America reflects this predominant State and local role. Of an estimated $909 billion being spent nationwide on education at all levels for school year 2004-2005, about 90 percent comes from State, local, and private sources.

That means the Federal contribution to national education expenditures is about 10 percent. This 10 percent includes educational expenditures not only from the Department of Education (ED) but also from other Federal agencies, such as the Department of Health and Human Services' Head Start program and the Department of Agriculture's School Lunch program. Subtract these other dollars, and ED is left with less than 8 percent of total education spending. ED's $71.5 billion appropriation, by the way, is about 2.9 percent of the Federal Government's nearly $2.5 trillion budget in fiscal year 2005.

Most states pay for a large portion of their education bill through local property taxes. Here in the USVI our local property taxes are dirt cheap and I am a fiscally conservative Republican yet would favor raising property taxes here if it would help the local schools. Nothing outrageous but my condo here has a property tax bill of about $1500 per year. Where I lived in N.J. the same value of my condo would of cost me about $12,000. The $12k IMO is robbery but the $1500 is also ridiculously low and should be between $3-4k.
Bottom line is it is the USVI Govt's responsibility to fund and create standards for our local public schools and they have done a very poor job of it. Hopefully your husband can make an impact but at the end of the day it is up to the citizens of the USVI to make a change to the public education on the Islands.

David - great analysis. I remember that when I was growing up in Washington State, there were strong school districts and ones where nobody wanted to move because they knew the school levies and bond issues never passed and the schools and children suffered from it. When you don't have the $$ to pay teachers and buy books and build quality facilities, what you pass onto the children is the thought that they aren't important enough to educate. You instead teach them to expect sub-standard opportunities in life. A few will demand more and scratch out a future for themselves, but most will assume that they will never have anything better and their adult lives play this out. You reap what you sow. It can take generations to undo the educational deficit that has occurred in the USVI (and in some mainland areas, also) to raise the expectations of the population so that they find ways to improve their opportunities in life. It can't be handed to them ready made by the federal government. Some things have to come from within. As long as the population continues to accept the sub-standard schools and the political corruption and the criminal activity that isn't curtailed by the police department, nothing will change. An educated population is less likely to turn a blind eye to the corruption and the crime because they would feel stronger in their ability to perhaps do something to change it. And that may also be why the local government doesn't do more to improve the schools. If they see that it would threaten their omnipotence and possibly put an end to some of the corruption, they have a vested interest in NOT educating the population well.

thanks to both of you..very informative. It is a shame that all of those parents who are ferrying their kids off to private schools couldn't invest that money into the public school system instead. I've heard the private schools on the islands are quite expensive. As long as the wealthier residents have this as an alternative, I am guessing the locals and less fortunates will simply continue to receive substandard education. What a shame.
I find it hard to believe that teacher pay would be the big culprit, because I know that there are a lot of really good teachers who are certainly not doing it for the money. I am guessing the problem is more related to buildings that are falling apart, crowded classrooms, lack of supplies, etc.
And I certainly agree that increasing the property taxes could do a world of good. You just have to find enough voters to support the cause. Here in Florida we have such a large retirement community that frankly we don't get a lot of support on education issues. Our tax-paying voters are no longer thinking about the children... they are thinking about better golf courses and ways to decrease the speed limit lol.

I believe that the VI spends more per pupil than most school districts in the states. However, it is how it is apportioned that is part of the problem. There is a very top heavy bureaucracy and a heavily unionized work force that prevents bad apples from being removed. Our current administration is proud of their fiscal accomplishments- they redid the Governor's house on St Thomas and the Lt Governor's house on St Croix at the cost of several million, but one school was closed most of the school year for "mold," one of the junior high schools had a fire (did they ever finish repairs?), one high school gym floor is falling apart, the other high school gym leaks like a sieve, they turned the one successful elementary school (small classes and excellent teachers) into an alternative school for out of control adolescents and so it goes. You can keep up with the education department through the on line newspapers- www.virginislandsdailynews.com and www.onepaper.com (The Source.)

Bravo EE! You said it all!!!

Money is not so much the problem around here. The main problem lies with a severely bloated bureaucracy and the people in charge who drain and profoundly mismanage public funds -- much to the detriment of all, ESPECIALLY the children.

Leila, if you want some additional insight as to the problems around here, spend a few months or so reading the local papers that East Ender has given you the links to. It would be very interesting to get your perspective once you have done so...........................................

Bureaucracy is almost univerally the problem in U.S. public education. We spend nearly $7k per student in the U.S. but of course a lot of that gets caught up with the bereacrats and the bean counters and never reaches the kids.
This place continually reminds me of living in Washington D.C. where they had more money in the education budget then a lot of other places yet had schools in disrepair,overcrowded classrooms lacking supply's. In D.C. it could be traced to corruption, incompetence and mismanagement. I have not lived here long and have no kids but if I did they would be in Antilles from what I have seen. Sad especially since I am a proud product of the public education system but I would not dare send my kid to a public school system like the U.S.V.I.

David,

You said:

"This place continually reminds me of living in Washington D.C. where they had more money in the education budget then a lot of other places yet had schools in disrepair,overcrowded classrooms lacking supply's. In D.C. it could be traced to corruption, incompetence and mismanagement.

AND

"I would not dare send my kid to a public school system like the U.S.V.I."

I say:

(tu)!!!!

This is SO true IMHO -- especially the "corruption, incompetence and mismanagement" part.

It just seems like such a shame, especially for those who can't afford expensive private schools. I am intentionally waiting 15 more months before relocating because I want my youngest son out of high school. I refuse to pay for the education that is our right in this country. And I have heard by everyone I have asked "don't send your kids to public school in the Virgin Islands because the schools are horrible". What does that say for those who are attending those schools? Or do they not "count" because they aren't part of the wealthier residents?
thank you again for your information...i will start reading over the resources you have given.

It is my opinion that the Caribbean is very much a "have" and "have not" focused place. Ironically, many statesiders relocate with the belief that they are headed for a flip-flop utopia where everyone lives the "one love" mantra. I believe the opposite is true. I believe the Caribbean to be more "status" focused that much of the mainland......and such an attitude is much more widely accepted as the norm. There seem to be very definite lines of distinction....not only for income and status, but also for heritage. There is still a very "old school Caribbean" way of viewing people and their place in society.

My mom often speaks of how hurt she felt when she learned that some of her black island friends (natives) would not accept her french island friends (natives). It didn't matter that he french island friends owned land and businesses.....they were still "goats" to her black island friends and, therefore, were not welcomed and mom could not host an event that entertained both groups at once. On one occasion early in mom and dad's island residency, mom was invited to spend the day at the home, by the pool, of a black native friend. She asked if she could bring her French friend (her best friend on the island) and was told "no".

Then there is the whole "doctor/lawyer/politician crowd"......which was celebrated with lavish parties, exclusive social clubs (the Orchid Society), etc. This school of thought is a contradiction to what most would imagine about the USVI, but that's how it was then and, based on what I know, is how it is today. As islanders arrive from other islands to take up residence in the USVI, these ideas seem to become more pervasive since these ideas seem to more deeply rooted in those groups.

I write this because I don't think the islanders are all going to chip in and fix the public school system. Who would dare have their child be the guinea pig in that experiment? The separation of schools and classification of children is right in line with how it has always been in the islands.......haves and have nots.

Hi Leila, I am moving to STT on Agust to teach at an elementary school. I vesited the island a month ago and met with several elementary and high school principals. I have never felt so welcome to teach at public schools. I am going to have a $7.000 dollars cut of my present salary but I will gain irreplaceable experiences teaching at the island.

dear Leila
as one of the rare parents who actually sent their kid (caucasian) to a public high school on st croix and then ferrried her off to Country Day School for the next 3 years...like hell I was going to risk her life to "change a system from within"!
We let her go to Central High for a year for JROTC - OMG what an experience!
WE were finally advised to get her out quick - as she had been noticed by a violent group and her life might not be safe.
That on top of no books, no classes, no teachers, no science equipment - stabbings, racism etc...."ferry" to the Private Schools - hell, yes.

With much respect to those who make the choice to move down - WHY? I may be wrong in assuming, Jane, that you choose to live there.

WHY would anyone choose to live in a place where their child would experience such in a public school system? How do you feel about living in such a place? Isn't the school system a direct reflection of the general environment? I don't know anything about the Country Day School.

Placing children in private school due to the desire to give them a superior education is one thing. Placing them there to save their lives is another.

I am having a hard time with this.

blu,

jane is one of the many who came and left. Her experiences are not indicative of everyone's experiences. I know of many counter-examples.

Ah, ok, thanks. I thought she was still there.

As one who has somewhat defended public schools, I understand the bitterness that comes from having a bad experience with the schools. I know of people who came to STT from down island to seek a better income and life and were very disappointed. They didn't want to send their kids to the schools here and went back down island. I am currently very upset with the lack of concern overall for the kid's education. The lack of action by the government is horrible. They spent millions of dollars funding what most consider extra-curricular items while still sending kids to schools like Cancryn. They are fixing the walking bridge by Cancryn for the kids safety. It makes me want to laugh, cough, and cry. Eventually you just gamble and hope for a good teacher that can teach kids despite the conditions. I have two children in public school and am quickly losing patience. It takes an entire week to find and talk to the right person in the education department to just find out that there isn't enough room in summer school for my daughter who didn't pass first grade. Everyone is usually friendly and wanting to be helpful, it is just that the system is so screwed up that no one knows who I need to talk too nor what I should do. I never did get a school schedule and was lucky enough to only show up on two occasions when school was not in session. I picked my kids up at noon one Friday because a teacher had told me the day before that Friday was a half day. I took my kids with me to Havensight to run an errand and a parent recognizing the uniforms asked me if school was out. I told her it was a half day, of which she had no idea and had to scramble to pick her kids up. So it isn't just me. I have seen a lot of parents irritated and upset because of many issues with the schools.

I know many of you would then ask me why I pursue sending them to public school or don't act to change things. Remember the advice that coming here to change things will only result in pulling your hair out and locals not siding with you? Well it is true. No matter how bad the school system, no one seems willing enough to do anything about it. Well, maybe not, there has been teacher walk outs, protests and such, but very little change. I don't know, I am currently pulling my hair out...

Teresa

Bluwater, I don't know Jane's particular circumstances but it's obvious from her post (I think) that her daughter was a white teenager newbie entering the public school system who was obviously "different" from either the local black students or the local white students who came up through the system (and knew from experience how to deal with it.) A very difficult situation to deal with because teenagers can be total ruffians and, in the case of the school system here, much worse.

I don't doubt that when Jane moved to the Virgin Islands she had little idea of what her daughter could expect from not only the educational system here but all the peer pressure of relocating her daughter as a teenager where cliques are already established and where the bad kids and even some of the good kids pick on newbies. This is the reality of the public education system and until and unless the local government seriously commits itself to educational reform, the same old is going to continue ad nausea. Young children transported from off island into the public school system here don't necessarily benefit from quality education but they certainly learn how to deal with their peers.

When you were here as a child at Sibilly on St Thomas, Bluwater, things were calmer and quieter. Much has changed since those days and there are continuously reported incidences nowadays of juvenile crimes, many of them right on school grounds with students not only carrying knives and guns onto campus and threatening students but carrying through on the threats.

Things CAN change if people demand change and don't take no for an answer. Unfortunately, sheep follow herd and so everything worsens day to day and generation to generation.

I really cringe these days about that wonderful catch-all of, "Hey, my vote won't make a difference!" or, "NAH! Don't want to say anything because "they'll" come back at me!"

Hello? Do you think that living anywhere insulates you from the world? Fantasy and fat chance but you can either sit back and accept what goes on, on the assumption that this will all just pass you by (which eventually it will not because life just happens to be like that) or you can stand up and speak your piece on even small things. Which eventually segue into larger things.

We have a good media route here in the Virgin Islands. Not perfect but good. St Thomas Source which is on-line, The Avis, the Daily News, my good friend Sam Topp's daily talk show on Radio One - and much more. Nobody needs to be intimidated and certainly shouldn't be. Voices are heard.

Cheers!

Gosh, I am so frustrated reading all of this and I don't even live there. No room in summer school for a first grader who didn't pass? No schedule? Is there any reason why there are no charter schools - something not as expensive as the privates, but above the publics?

I can tell you, Teresa, that your story of down islanders sounds right. My own son, 19, attends an Ivy League college. During the 1.5 yr period prior to the start of college, our lives were filled with research about admissions to the top 20 colleges in the country. I learned something very interesting: a large number of the black students in the top US schools are from the Caribbean - not the USVI, but other Caribbean islands. As a matter of fact, the number of Caribbean blacks gaining admission to the top 10 school is so disproportionate that the stateside black students that the stateside parents are complaining that the schools are getting their "diversity" from the Caribbean blacks as opposed to the US blacks. The US educated black students, in general, have trouble competing with their Caribbean counterparts.

I have seen the admission stats and related SAT scores of these Caribbean students and the results are amazing. They com with the scores to compete, no affirmative action boosts needed (Ivys don't use affirmative action, but they do seek to diversify their campuses and will give a student a slight break on scores if that student brings some diversity or other interesting story to the campus) . Being that I had lived in theUSVI, I checked further to see where these students were coming from. It turned out that there were not coming from the USVI. Rather, from various other Caribbean islands.

Jane,
I am looking at keeping my 15 year old daughter her this fall. She is a sophmore in high school, and I am considering CDS. What is the procedure to get enrolled? Looks like from the website that it is conditional on a lot of factors. Can you give me any info?

Thanks,

Linda
719-6418 or PM me

Country Day and Good Hope both have enrollment caps on each grade. First you will need to check with their office to find out if they have an opening for a sophomore for the upcoming year. If they have a space, then they will want to meet her and have her take some placement/entrance exams. All incoming students are required to have a physical exam form filled out by their doctor. Some grades are also required to have blood and/or fecal test work done. They'd need an immunization record and her school records for grades at her most recent high school. If she is accepted, you get to start writing checks each month comparable to a mortgage payment for many people for her to go to school. If she stays in Country Day through graduation, she will likely be off to a great university and well launched into her adult life.

Thanks for the info Alexandra. I saw the "mortgage" tuition listed. I did see too that they offer merit scholarships and guarantee tuition assistance for those who are "need based" - whatever that means. I will contact both schools this week.

We just think this is the better option for her than to return to where she was.

Thanks again!

I think Jane may be exaggerating. i've visited Central many times and there was never a time when I saw books, classes, teachers and science equipment. They might lack a good amount of these things, but they do exist in the school. She is making it sound like there's none in the school at all. Also, I know a ton of people who have gotten a good education in the public school system and gotten accepted into good institutions like Ivy League schools. I myself went to private school, but I still know quite a few good people come out of the public school system even though it's severely lacking. I also know a couple of white people who have done alright in the public school system, so Jane's story is not necessarily applicable to any and every statesider white person who steps foot on the islnad.

Bluwater - that's not true. They do have Black people from the USVI attending Ivy League schools. I am one of them and I know many others. You also need to take into account that the USVI has one of the smallest populations in the Caribbean. Of course a country like Trinidad or Jamaica would have much more of their countrymen in Ivy League schools than the USVI because of their higher population.

DL, I didn't say there were no blacks from the USVI attending. What I wrote is true - statistically. Perhaps it is because of the larger populations from other Caribbean islands. However, I believe education in some of the other Caribean islands is far superior to the USVI. Would you deny that?

From working with many peoples from the other islands down here I would agree. But you have to realize - much to my patriotic sole's dismay - that most of the other islands have British Education as they are or have history of being British Territories. Note - I am not even close to knowing history - just what these people have told me. But it does appear that the education is better.

Although I have met some super smart kids from here that went to the private schools that ended up in Ivy League schools.

ok - I wish that I was, but I was not exaggerating. Not one word.
My daughter was the ONLY white child at Central and Kent Moorehead, the then Principal, (who we knew from living in PR) advised us to remove her.
Her survival skills are way better than most in a situation like that due to our years spent living in Puerto Rico - realistic expectations of living in a different culture, fluent Spanish, ability to bond, blend and take refuge in the Hispanic 'clique' in the School -etc etc.
she was also gifted athlete and represented CHS ROTC at the Caribbean Competition in St Thomas - incidentally we chaperoned on that trip - sweltering school gym with a thousand adolescents over 3 nights - lol!!!

Her English teacher was absent for half of the semester - no substitute and the classroom locked - no supervision. Fights, stabbings during that time. She hid every day in the ROTC building - God Bless Sergeant Cruz.
No textbooks available for the Science semester and in Caribbean History, frequent teacher absences with no sub etc. That was the class where a movie was played in class,for black history month, that informed the class that all white people stank like raw chicken,,,,no comment from the teacher! Block semesters so only 4 classes - in one two week period, she had no teachers for any class.
Local VI residents asked us if we were insane sending her to CHS - after a year there, yes, we were.