Not a single 8th grader at the I Promise School LeBron in Akron, Ohio, a school founded by LeBron James, has passed their state math test in three years, and critics are blasting the school for its unkept promises.
When LeBron James dropped into Akron with great fanfare and media coverage in 2018, promising to fund a new sort of school to help educate young people in his hometown, many hailed him as just the savior the city needed. But did James’ “I Promise” school fulfill its promises? Test scores are showing that it hasn’t.
Now, even Akron school board members are beginning to question James’ commitment to actual education and wondering if it was more about burnishing his reputation as a philanthropist than a serious effort to reform and reinvigorate education.
LeBron James addresses the media following the grand opening of the I Promise school on July 30, 2018, in Akron, Ohio. The new school is a partnership between the LeBron James Family Foundation and Akron Public Schools. (Allison Farrand/NBAE via Getty Images)
Last week, members of the Akron school board began taking a closer look at James’ so-called I Promise school and found that real academic achievements are few and far between.
The state of Ohio also found problems.
Per Yahoo News: “Two of I Promise’s biggest subgroups of students, Black students and those with disabilities, are now testing in the bottom 5% in the state, landing the school on the Ohio Department of Education’s list of those requiring targeted intervention.”
New school signage is seen at the grand opening of the I Promise school on July 30, 2018, in Akron, Ohio. The new school is a partnership between the LeBron James Family Foundation and Akron Public Schools. (Allison Farrand/NBAE via Getty Images)
Akron school board President Derrick Hall said he was “disappointed” by the school’s serious deficits.
“For me as a board member, I just think about all the resources that we’re providing,” Hall told the media. “And I just, I’m just disappointed that I don’t think, it doesn’t appear like we’re seeing the kind of change that we would expect to see.”
Keith Liechty-Clifford, the Akron School District’s director of school improvement, said, “It is discouraging.”
Large inspirational murals at the I Promise school on July 30, 2018, in Akron, Ohio. The new school is a partnership between the LeBron James Family Foundation and Akron Public Schools. (Allison Farrand/NBAE via Getty Images)
James’s school makes airy assertions about how important education is on its website on a page touting its “I Promise Method.”
With education as the driving force of change, the LeBron James Family Foundation is not only spreading that impact and improving lives of inner-city students and families, but also shifting the course of an entire community. Focusing on his hometown of Akron, the Foundation’s I PROMISE program provides year-round resources, access to opportunities, supportive skill development, constant encouragement and other wraparound supports to more than 1,300 Akron Public School students who have all been guaranteed college scholarships if they do their part. These efforts have culminated in the groundbreaking new public school – the I Promise School – that is taking an innovative approach to providing a challenging, supportive, and life-changing education, creating a new model for urban public education.
James earned much media praise for dropping into Akron in 2018 to announce his grand school funding ideas.
“This is a huge moment, not only in my life, not only in my family’s life, not only in the foundation’s life but for these kids and for the whole city of Akron more importantly,” James said in a speech on opening day. “This is a huge moment for all of us.”
LeBron James makes his way through the crowd during the opening ceremonies of the I Promise School on July 30, 2018, in Akron, Ohio. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
But it soon came to light that Ohio taxpayers were still paying most of the school’s expenses, just like any other school. More than 75 percent of the funding is still coming from government sources.
There is also still inner-city crime to deal with on the campus of James’ school, too. Last year a teen was beaten to death in the school’s parking lot.
Now the Ohio Department of Education is about to pour even more state-funded resources into the I Promise school in a desperate attempt to increase test scores.
In hopes of turning the failing school around, the Akron School District has assigned a new principal for the coming school year. That candidate, Stephanie Davis, pronounced her hopes for the future.
“One of the things I’m most excited about coming into the I Promise School is the optimism and energy around getting our students to a level of achievement we know they’re capable of,” Davis said. “At the recent board meeting, our preliminary (state testing) data was shared, but it’s important to note that proficiency is based on mastering grade-level standards.”
But Board President Derrick Hall also tried to take the heat off LeBron James’ foundation, saying that criticism should be on the heads of school officials, not the foundation. “The foundation’s not here to educate our kids,” Hall said. “That’s our job.”
LeBron James addresses the media following the grand opening of the I Promise school on July 30, 2018, in Akron, Ohio. The new school is a partnership between the LeBron James Family Foundation and Akron Public Schools. (Allison Farrand/NBAE via Getty Images)
Still, it is remarkable that despite all the media stroking James received for his school investment plan, he is also getting a pass for that same school’s utter failure to educate.
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