- From what I understand, the school did not ask for more than $10,000 per episode.

- The school used to act as the agent for all it’s students but this time MTV wrote individual contracts with the students outside of the school’s influence. I don’t know if they did that because the school puts demands on it (very doubtful) or because the kids were pre-selected.

- Applying 1 week before school starts & getting admitted is highly unlikely. There is a waiting list. There are plenty of local students who want to go. That’s the kind of rule-bending people do for celebs & rich folks.

- Yes, SCPA is a public institution so YES they SHOULD make their selection process public.

I knew of this show coming up almost a year before anyone else in the city. I had a ear down at the school when some of the staff were murmuring about it. I kept my mouth shut as I was excited this would raise their profile. It did, but there are sacrifices going on for that fame which I don’t appreciate.

Most of my information is 1st hand OR 2nd hand (I talked with the actual person(s) involved).

Librariangrrl is pretty spot on in my opinion.

You may not be outraged, but I am getting there.

I just re-read your article, and you ask a very good question at the end–had this information come out prior to the election, would there have been a different outcome?

I completely understand the feelings you have about not wanting to contribute to negativity directed at the city, but those are feelings, I have long ago learned to part ways with.

There is a lot that needs to be fixed within our governing structure(s) if this city is to realize and reach its potential. The first step of this process is self-actualization which must include identifying and accepting, as a city, our flaws.

If we pretend like those flaws don’t exist, they just end up complicating the problem and making it worse.

Thanks you for writing this.

As much as I love this city, education is a far more important issue to me, and frankly, I find our failure to provide our youth with viable alternatives to the broken education system that we offer them, intolerable.

Should this all play out the way I think it probably will, this is def. something the school board needs to be held accountable for!

I agree with everything that has been said, I just think it needs to be researched further. I’ll see what I can work into my schedule with the hopes of uncovering the answers to some of these questions.

Randy – absolutely do not expect SCPA to weigh in on all of their admitting students. Their process is published on their website. I don’t know whether anyone has asked them the questions you posed. Most folks feel they don’t have access to the school board to ask them. Maybe that is part of the problem and I do think you have a horse in this race; you’re a voter.

Fairness in edcuation, be it funding or otherwise, hits close to home for me. Partly because I lost my senior year of HS to a failed levy; partly because we could not afford to send my brother to SCPA when he was admitted; and partly because I am a voter and deeply love my city.

I am not outraged; just concerned. Librariangrrl hit on these concerns very well in her post.

Again, thanks to everyone for the feedback and the dialogue. We need to use our voices – and our ears.

There are a few things to consider:

1. As someone who loves this city very much, and as someone who tries to promote this city in whatever way possible, the show is def. good for the promotion.

2. As someone who believes in transparency being the most important part of governement and good community, I feel like there’s a lot going on behind the scenes that probably isn’t following standard admissions protocol (I’m not sure about this, but admissions ONE WEEK BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS? Isn’t there a list?)

3. As an educator, ANY and ALL schools are suppose to act as a safe haven for students, not as a tool of exploitation. From my perspective, SCPA is a school much like Walnut, in that it offers talented individuals an alternative to CPS (which for the most part, are failing students). Considering the way the state has set up financing for the public school system in Ohio, the admission of out of state students seems a bit… shady, to say the least.

This is certainly an issue that should be watched.

“CPS/SCPA just did the kids no service. They may have brought up the visibility of the school but the illusion of success or “we’ve arrived” exists when it’s far inferior to what it could/should & has been.”

I have no horse in this race, but I just don’t understand the outrage over all of this. Has anyone asked SCPA or MTV whether or not these students were hand picked? Has anyone asked SCPA whether or not they asked for more than $10k/episode? If we want these answers, then we should probably ask them to the relevant people involved…that’s all I’m saying. Once we have hard evidence supporting the many claims out there then there will be reason for outrage, but until that point I’ll save my outrage for other causes.

But again, I refocus this part of the conversation back to MTV for a moment to say I don’t fault them. They’re an entertainment company & would want to make sure their main characters were best for creating the interest they sought. A quickly as I refocused it to MTV I’ll seguay back to the CPS/SCPA fingerpointing….

Despite MTV’s desire to make a “hit show” (highlighting talent THEY selected independently of the school) that is just one component of a larger inequal deal that CPS & SCPA agreed on.

Considering how much disruption this creates in the school (interrupted classes, non-cast children directed how/where they should go by MTV, creation of special performances/audiences, etc.) 10,000 is far below a proper compensation. Further, the children tertiary to the storyline are dealing with this level of peer competition.

CPS/SCPA just did the kids no service. They may have brought up the visibility of the school but the illusion of success or “we’ve arrived” exists when it’s far inferior to what it could/should & has been.

I am taking the opportunity here to say that my thoughts and hopes are with the students of Little Miami. I’ve been through what they are currently experiencing. They deserve FAR better…