Dave Cooks out as coach at Marquette High

[BLT]

This dead horse has almost been beaten to eternal death. I will agree with all the pros and cons listed here, and how important personal choice is. I went to Catholic grade school, public high school and then Marquette. I loved public high school because of the variety of learning, clubs, people. My parents made the choice mine.

When my kids came of high school age, the choice was theirs as well. However, my kids went to public grade and junior high and then Catholic and private colleges. My youngest had a learning disability, a problem with decoding. It took a few years to work through the public paperwork and testing and their conclusion was "there are other kids worse" or "she is just young for her grade" as funds are limited for tutors. So, we took her to Huntington Learning five days a week and all summer where they diagnosed her issue in 30 minutes and put together a learning plan to overcome it. We are talking about a kid who scored in the top 1% in state tests that were multiple choice (where she taught herself to cheat)...could whip through math fact cards, knew sentence structure singularly...but if you gave her a math word problem or asked her to write a simple paragraph simply couldn't, she couldn't read a beginning reader book but only could pick out words....it would be blank for her. We were pleased with c's.

I know there are other kids worse, and public funds are limited, so we chose the private tutor route with Huntington...which cost a lot more than a private grade school. If she was in a private grade school, the pressure would have been too much and she would not have received the attention. She could float at her own pace with kids her level in public school as she worked through her issues after school for many years.

Come high school choice: her older sister was all AP everything, great athlete, wanted the Catholic high school, college prep, very competitive experience. The younger daughter picks the school her sister went to. With caution, we gave her her choice, although the first semester was an emotional struggle despite being placed in lower levels. But her grades came and she was at scores of like 120% at that level. We went to the principal and president, explained her issues, and asked to push her up levels mid-semester to challenge her as she had caught up with seven years of hard work. They agreed, and she continued to flourish to the point where she outscored her AP Honor student sister on the ACT including a 35 on reading, was a multiple year academic All American in her sport, won many other scholarship awards and continues to do so. No way does she get moved up in a public school. Why? Because I was paying and had that voice. The public school principal most likely would never have even met with us.

Very long story short: there is no one right answer for parents...and those right answers may be different as they advance tomorrow.

Funny ending at her graduation as she had all her academic awards in front of her...I told her that I most most proud that she worked so hard to overcome her learning disability. She said with teenager disdain, "Dad, what are you talking about, I never had a learning disability".

[DCwarrior]

Everybody has there own reasons for sending their children to private or public schools and their own history to tell. I went to Catholic schools in Burlington and Marinette and 2 years of public school in Cedarburg before heading to St. Norberts for college. I can unequivocally say the best education I received in that time were the 2 years I attended high school in Cedarburg. My experience though is obviously different than many on this board.

Living outside of DC now - I'm just grateful I live in an area where some of the nation's best public schools are located. I don't feel the need to send my kids to Catholic school to receive a great education and I can save that money each year to put toward their college education. I'm also not a religious person so that aspect doesn't play a role for my family as it does for many on this board.

Bottom line -- each person should do what they feel is best for their family and not be critical of the choices of others.

[Nukem2]

1. Don't need to pay to send a kid to Marquette University either. Whitewater can be just as good...except, there are a whole host of things that can be done at a good private institution that cannot be done at a public school. I am a very staunch supporter of Marquette High and I have seen a lot of good come out of that institution. Like MU, MUHS is small enough that it can make sure kids are on the right path. It cannot take less than bright kids and make them smart. It can keep kids focused and push them to excel. A kid who scores a 33 or 34 on the ACT will have many choices. But the value add for MUHS justifies the cost and it does not end on graduation day.

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I have a neighbor who is an MUHS grad and wanted his son to go to MUHS, but the son was not admitted because of grades / test score. The neighbor said he knew his son would also be afforded the opportunity to have a great education at the local HS ( Homestead in Mequon ), but that he was far more concerned about the intangibles and discipline that MUHS offers and that he experienced at MUHS.

[TheSultan]

Digging this topic back up...so why did MUHS get rid of their new coach after only one year?

[IWB]

He was a train wreck plain and simple.

[TheSultan]

I wouldn't think coaching boys would be *that* much different. Culture clash?

[Goose85]

I wouldn't think coaching boys would be *that* much different. Culture clash?

It was not really a matter of coaching boys v. girls. Issues were with how he dealt with people, both players and non players.
Good move for MUHS to move on.

[TheSultan]

OK thanks Goose and IWB.

[MU88]

MUHS faces numerous obstacles as it tries to compete with the Dominicans, WISCO's and larger public high schools so it will be a tough road to get back to the top.These obstacles include:

1. Rigorous academics for all (don't let these other schools kid you about who is doing college prep work and who isn't -- they have college prep tracks for their kids, but MUHS makes all of their kids take that track)

2. "Feeder" programs from Bay, Falls, Germantown, etc. don't let kids out of them (many have been playing with the same kids since 3rd grade)

3. Diminishing enrollment at Catholic grade schools (which provide MUHS with the bulk of their enrollment); most kids are going to their local public schools and don't want to leave their friends; there aren't that many great athletes at these schools (there are some - but not as many as in the public schools)

4. A cost of around $13,000 a year when you pay for everything (including books and meals)

So, it takes a special type of student-athlete to want to do this -- especially when their friends are hanging out every night and having fun while the MUHS kids are getting their butts handed to them in school.

What MUHS has returning for HOOPS next year is a decent group of kids...with a nice JV team....and a few good freshmen......they will compete, but it will be tough to be elite again.

Not exactly. MUHS has a waiting list to get in. Financial issues haven't had that much of an effect on enrollment (but for one down year 3 years ago). The school offers full scholarships to needy kids and if they succeed, they move the child over to choice in year two. (This allows them to be more selective on admitting kids, since they don't have to follow the choice rules. Once a child attends a school and qualifies for choice, the child (and school) avoids the lottery process.) Choice has become a huge game changer for the high schools. Income limits go up to $96,000 next year. Couple that with the increase payment per student and you are going to see a surge in the size of Catholic high schools. After dropping below 400 a couple of years ago, a school like Thomas More is projecting enrollment to be 600 in the next couple of years. This new breed of choice kids are the types of kids from the types of families (middle class) that used to go to Catholic schools but were priced out of the market over the couple of decades. This will literally save Pius, which was in deep do-do a couple of years ago.

As for MUHS, they don't have any problem attracting kids, especially great athletes and students, with or without choice. They actually have to recruit a little bit now, but everyone has to to that. Their athletic problems are the result of some coaching turnover and some internal coaching issues with respect to some of the teams. Plus, some classes are simply not as talented as others. They will be successful again.