If you've never heard of a student, "taking the honors level version of a class and then taking the AP level version of the same class. This is the problem with scheduling in this district. You take either the regular level, honors level or AP level, not multiple versions of the same class," you have not been paying good attention. The underlying idea seems to be that a class is always the same, the curriculum is always the same. My class varies from period to period and year to year. Each group chooses what literature to cover. Hardly anything is repeated. More than one student has taken three or even four credits in my classroom--no matter the course title. Regardless of the course's name each one has been different from the last as proved by students' class notes. This whole AP/ Honors issue was trumped up by Hinshaw and Culbertson in order to fire Mr. Baker. It is wholly without real merit. You folks who rally around our West Pointer and hand him knives to wield are doing no student and no teacher a favor.Who, what, where, when, how and why have everything to do with the success rate on AP tests. It is also false to say that "an overwhelming majority of public school systems around the country" don't use block scheduling. Another thing to counteract besides all these bits of misinformation and statistics that money-savers like Piano is that AP credits are not accepted at Vanderbilt, Duke, Harvard, Cornell, Pennsylvania University, Notre Dame, Dartmouth, and Princeton. My students have had their AP 4 and 5 scores accepted for full college credit at Princeton, Harvard, Miami, Notre Dame, University of Chicago--not to mention FL schools. My top student last year had 32 semester hours granted by Notre Dame for her performance on AP tests: that's a free first year plus two additional credits at a $46,730-per-year college. It is false to state that our best universities do not accept AP credits. It is false to state that "the type of class system that students attend doesn't have . . . much to do with test scores." People frequently misremember things, and what used to be true is no longer so. These are specious arguments and cherry-picked statistics that appear to justify cutting the heart out of CCPS to "balance" the budget. The NCLB does not fairly score performance. CCPS teachers and students do and have been doing a wonderful job. My AP English literature class is comprised of one of the most multi-cultural groups in the nation, and we speak only English (except when texts include other languages that must be translated--a surprisingly frequent occurrence). Come to the meeting Thursday afternoon and stop Mack the Knife (even Frank Sinatra sings it). A person from Mexico or Haiti or Brazil or anywhere may be capable of asking for a rest room; this person probably does not have _good_ Spanish or French or Portuguese. A person from Texas or Georgia or Pennsylvania does not have good English. Much depends on who, what, where, when, how and why that person has studied his language--not to mention with whom. It takes work, reading, writing, and speaking and significant application of intelligence with a capable and well-read teacher to acquire good language skills anywhere. Some of us are more adept than others at learning good language skills. Don't be jealous of Hispanics who excel in Spanish. It's just as difficult to speak or write grammatically and with vast vocabulary in any language. None can speak, read, or write well without having worked hard at it. To pass an AP test in any language requires better than good language skills. Students earning 4 and 5 on AP tests have those subjects fully credited by the best universities. It is a lie to say that Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, and other great universities do not grant credit for good AP scores.