A friend posted on Facebook: National Make A Difference to Children
Month. Duval County Public Schools will never make a difference in any child's
life until they realize the value of continuity. To which I jokingly replied, are you about
to have your 3rd principal in four years? Her answer, YES!!!
Before I get started talking bout the importance of
continuity I wanted to bring up a couple things up. First I think school based
leadership is the most important school factor determining success or failure.
A good principal can push a school forward where a bad principal can set a
school back. Regrettably here in the county over the last few years who one
knew not ones ability often determined many promotions to principal. This has
led to numerous bullies pretending to be principals running many of our schools
and others who rose way past their ability.
Next, the other day at a community meeting Superintendent
Vitti said he wasn’t responsible for what happened before him and in a lot of
ways he is cleaning up the messes he inherited and no more is this evident than
in his 45 principal moves. This means over 30 percent of our schools will have
new leadership this year alone and this is on the heels of a hundred other
moves over the previous three years. If he feels he needs to clean house, more
power to him but he also needs to put in place a system that makes sure we
don’t need to clean house in the future.
At the community meeting I spoke about above many
complained about how they had 4 principals in five years and how every time a
new principal came in it took them time to get going but worse it always led to
staff turnover. They said they usually lose veterans those teachers that know
best what they are doing, those with the most experience.
And here comes the real problem, the vast amount of our
turnover occurs at our schools that can afford it the least. Principals of the
schools on the Northside and Westside where there are high amounts of poverty
are more likely to last just a year or two while their Southside and beach
counterparts can look forward to long terms. That means every year the schools
that need the most stability go through a fair amount of upheaval, this sets
kids back. Maybe little Johnny in the suburbs can take it but little Jamal on
the north side needs all we can do to help him be successful.
Another friend wrote on Facebook: I have noticed a bunch of
overall turnover at Stockton. What is going on? Is this normal? I've only
experienced dcps as a parent for two years, but it already doesn't seem right.
I grew up in Fernandina where you had the same teachers as your parents. Very
off-putting.
Duval County Public Schools will never get things right. It seems they are on a mission to destroy new teachers with good potentials. Teachers with mathematics engineering, and physics degrees who want to pursue an alternate route will never make it just because they are placed in the worst schools(west of St Johns river) where they have to work 90 to 100 hours per week, and are coerced into mentoring 6 students, each, and prepare 60 to 70 grade recovery packets for each of the first 3 quarters and then still do a grade override for the last quarter. And, as in my case, you may be instructed to call 6 parents after the dismissal bell, in the afternoon, and much more. I could not find the time to do the GK test within the specified time because of working too many hours (90 - 100) per week, and being too tired to do anything for myself. I was also a traveling teacher, with a Total Replaced Hip, pushing a large trolley with a heavy duty IBM laptop, a projector, a document camera, a heavy teacher's edition, one or two boxes of workbooks, my briefcase, my lunch bag, and other materials, through throngs of the most unruly students, to 4 or 3 classrooms, depending on whether it was A-day or B-day. The Administration did not care that I am a disabled person. They kept pushing the students to a DEAD END life of CRIME and WELFARE. My favorite quote from My Principal is; "Teachers, we have to think for them, until they become 18, or they leave." This was a 6 figure salary guy. Go Duval County Public Schools; destroy every mathematician, every engineer, and every physicist that comes your way. A country is well judged by the way it treats its teachers.
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