Gutting discipline, destroying rigor, treating teachers like second-class citizens and the fact that we don’t have an attendance or tardy policy and barely have a discipline policy are all bad for our kids but what’s even worse is the FCAT. Teaching to the test has dumbed down our kids and harmed our schools. All across the nation schools and districts are pushing back and it is time that Duval County did too.
Duval County has had a history of doing the opposite of what is best for our kids, raising standards, embracing Teach for America and KIPP along with the self inflicted wounds above and dozens of programs they have tried to place in our schools but then quickly dismissed are just a few examples.
It is way past time the board and district did the right thing for our kids and a good place to start would be to push back against the test.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
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ReplyDeleteI had to delete your comment because we don’t call people names just because we disagree with them on the site.
ReplyDeleteOnce again I will say, I think the prudent and responsible thing to do is wait and see if there is improvement before they are allowed to expand.
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ReplyDeleteThat’s not a fact, that is you opinion, jut like it is my opinion that you are an angry and disturbed person, who doesn't understand what facts are. Feel free not to return...
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DeleteI am not allowed to have opinions because I disagree with you?
ReplyDeleteSeriously?
We're not having a discussion; you are ranting because somebody disagrees with you. You are making things up and distorting opinions because you somehow feel it bolsters your "opinion".
ReplyDeleteJust so there is no confusion. I don't feel the KIPP School should be allowed to expand until it shows improvement. Where not a fan of the FCAT and a believer it doesn't adequately reflect learning, it is the measure we are using. For the kids there to do so poorly and regress is a red flag. It concerns me.
I will also add the more I learn about KIPP the less and less I feel as if it has a place in the education landscape.
They don’t use books, the continuously test, the school days are way to long and mandatory Saturday school??? It sounds like a nightmare for children.
Now if you would like to post something about why you think it should be allowed to expand, feel free and I will leave it up.
You are allowed to have your opinion but you aren't allowed to be disrespectful.
ReplyDeleteHere is a format for you. I beleive the KIPP school should be allowed to expand for the following reasons...
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ReplyDeleteYou must be a treat to be around... once again, attacks are not evidence... you have nothing but a lot of free time apparently...
ReplyDeleteSo lets try it this way. Why do you think they should be allowed to expand and does their low scores or lack of apparent progress not bother you.
ReplyDeleteNotice no name calling...
Let people decide for themselves. If they agree with you, I have no problem with that, I enjoy substantive debate. But by squashing legitimate disagreement, not even letting people read what I have written, you take away their right to decide for themselves. I can't believe you would do that.
ReplyDeleteI have given you plenty of oppurtunities to give your opinion, instead you have ranted and name called and now you are threatening, are you an 8 year old boy? Johnathon Bennet is my contact at the Times Union, feel free to contact him... in the meantime...
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think they should be allowed to expand and does their low scores or lack of apparent progress not bother you?
Chris, I have listened intently as you have outlined what you feel are the shortcomings of the current system, and while I agree with the general direction you are taking with your criticisms, I think that some, or possibly all, of your claims against them seem to share two essential qualities: 1) your criticisms are not very specific, and are centered around generalities that may or may not be supported by your statistics, and 2) I have not heard one suggestion, or even an idea, of how to SPECIFICALLY offer an alternative method of dealing with the issue at hand.
ReplyDeleteFor instance you call for rigor, respect for teachers, to end teaching to the test, to improve teacher morale, etc., but it comes off as just bitching, frankly, and not that I don't commiserate entirely with what you claim, I do not hear solutions that have a ring of do-ability to them.
Bring this sense of concrete ideas to the table, and you may just have a campaign.
Until then, it comes off as a rant, one with which I happen to agree, but a rant nonetheless.
These problems took decades to become entrenched, and many involve civil rights legislation that no one wants overturned or violated, and some involves cultural norms that most or many, including yourself, would not espouse. (For instance your comment about the KIPP school[ugh] requiring Saturday school.)
For starters, what would be a consequence for "skipping school"?
You and I both know that school suspensions are often used differently for different students, and to suspend a kid who wants precisely that, is not to necessarily serve that student. So what do you do as a result? Do you make his school success plan even more difficult for him to visualize? Exactly what would this new "consequence" that we will replace the current model look like?
I need some more specifics about what kind of soap you plan to use, before I am ready to throw the baby out with the fetid bathwater.
And lastly, this may seem like nitpicking, but in your video, and when you speak, please make the correction of the use of "good" vs "well", because from a standpoint of "walking the walk", it is also imperative that you "talk the talk", because it speaks to your ability to demonstrate the rigor and discipline you want to demand from your colleagues, not to mention all of our students.
And get a nice shirt-- maybe even a tie. Show a little respect for the meritocracy you decry is under attack from lack of respect.
Each of us decide on a daily basis just how much respect we will get, and we either demand it, or we abandon our self-respect and accept whatever comes our way simply by gravity of our job title.
That type of respect I do not want...the type where someone is respected because of his job title, because as we have all seen, any old bald-headed thief can spend $60,000,000 out of the $300,000,000 he stole and get the title of governor.
I like to think i have come up with lots of solutions, look at the Pages, ten things we should do, solutions that don't break the bank and ten questions for chris, any issue you can think of I believe I have covered, including suspensions, though they may sometimes get buried.
ReplyDeleteExplore the site some, use the search box, and if you feel I haven't addressed something or done some improperly, then we'll talk.
As for wearing a tie, I imagine down the line I will buy one, but I can get respect both because I give it to those who deserve it and I demand it as well.