Dr. Z’s Little Zoo
A Bubbaworld Opinion/Editorial
Take a group of kids, say ages 11 through 19 or so, all with disciplinary issues and some with juvenile convictions for violent crimes that require them to wear GPS ankle bracelets to track their movements and put this group of kids together in a school that is grossly understaffed, underfunded and under provisioned and what do you have?
The simple answer – Dr. Z’s Little Zoo.
Dr. Z is Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Michael Zolkoski, who arrived on the scene at the start of the 2006-2007 school year and who has since managed to create a nightmare of a social experiment which Zolkoski calls the Tulsa Academic Center.
In hindsight it appears that Dr. Z should have called “his baby”, as he affectionately refers to his creation, the Tulsa Zoo but that name was already taken by the real Tulsa Zoo which is a lot more orderly and a whole lot safer.
If Tulsa Zoo administrators allowed the animals to run the zoo it would likely run smoother and certainly a lot safer than has been the case with Zolkoski’s zoo which has become a major scandal and which will likely lead to numerous lawsuits.
The month of March 2008 has been brutal public relations wise for Dr. Z, who apparently believes that his $200,000 a year salary requires him to toss out everything that came before him and to reinvent Tulsa Public Schools into his image of utopia. Only problem is his vision of utopia has turned into a fiasco with daily fights, gang assaults, racially motivated intimidation and risks of grave harm not only for the students but also for the staff and likely for anyone that happens to be in the vicinity of the hell-hole Zolkoski created.
Only an idiot would put middle school and high school kids together and expect there will be no bullying and intimidation.
Only an idiot would put hardened juvenile criminals together with kids whose worse offense is getting caught with alcohol at a ball game.
Only an idiot would put rival street gang members together and expect them to “get along”.
And only an idiot would close down four alternative schools that were doing a reasonable job in favor of a having a single “zoo” which is doing an absolutely lousy job of educating or even protecting kids from each other and school staff from violent kids.
For $200,000 dollars a year Tulsa deserves a lot better than it has been getting from Dr. Zolkoski who although he holds a Phd. appears to lack the common sense to come in out of the rain.
Until the Board of Education of Tulsa Public Schools comes to its senses and buys out the contract of Superintendent Michael Zolkoski and sends him packing Tulsa Public Schools are going to remain a laughingstock and staff and students at Dr. Z’s Little Zoo are going to remain in danger.
I am not knowledgeable on all the details of this alternative school situation, but I know for a fact that Dr. Z is not an “idiot.” I understand you disagree with the ways he has changed the alternative education options available for TPS students, and it sounds like you want Dr. Z forced out of office. I do not think your case is made more persuasive, however, by calling him “an idiot.” I do want to learn more about this situation. I just want to point out that your credibility is harmed by using terms like “idiot” in your post. I realize you may want to attract attention and readership by using inflammatory terms like this. If indeed, the facts of this case show that Dr. Z has used poor judgement and is supporting a poor policy that is not in the best interests of TPS and the students the district serves, then I think those facts can make that case better and more persuasively than name calling.
You did not include any external links in this post. If instances of school violence have increased as a result of this changed policy, it would be helpful if readers could follow those links which provide further support for your position.
I am glad you are interested in examining educational policies in Oklahoma and advocating for change. We certainly have a great deal of room for improvement in many areas, including the ridiculously low salaries we currently pay our teachers in Oklahoma relative to other states in our nation. I look forward to reading additional posts that you will share related to education issues in Oklahoma. My perception is that increased amount of funding dollars will be allocated to addressing dropout rates in our state by different groups this year. America’s Promise Alliance is going to help sponsor a conference in Oklahoma City this fall, I think:
http://www.americaspromise.org/
We certainly need to do a better job providing options for our students in schools to obtain an education as well as practical skills that will help them be successful vocationally and socially in the future.
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