The Times Union has long been a big part of my life. My mother worked there for nearly thirty years and I have fond memories of sitting around the table with her reading the paper. Now however I have to say I am a bit frustrated with the paper. They seem to be on the wrong side of the education debate. Even in their news pieces there seems to be a slant.
In a recent article about Micelle Rhee, controversial former D.C. schools chancellor, addressing the Florida Legislature, Brandon Larrabee sited her presence in the movie, Waiting for Superman. I say movie not documentary because many of its dramatic scenes were staged. Mr. Larrabee referred to the movie as being critically acclaimed, I say the movie was blatant propaganda made by a public school hating film maker, financed by billionaires interested in increasing their share in the education market through misinformation, teacher demonizing, charter schools and an increased reliance on standardized testing. In case you blinked, you should know that education has become a multi-billion dollar business.
You know what really gets me? It’s the fact that many of those that embraced Waiting for Superman as the gospel are the same people that will dismiss a Michael Moore movie as Hollywood crap. I share many of Michael Moore’s views but I know when I watch his films to do so with both eyes open and to take them with a grain of salt.
Even if all of what was portrayed in Waiting for Superman was true regardless of the fact much has been debunked, (sadly however that didn’t get nearly the press the film did) it would still only show a miniscule fraction of what is going on in our schools. It would be like looking at three doctors you knew were bad and then condemning the whole medical field nationwide because of their actions. Sadly however when Mr. Larrabee says critically acclaimed he gives the movie more credibility than it deserves.
You expect a slant from their columnists take Ron LittlePage for example. In Ron Littlepage’s column about the state potentially withholding funds if some of our schools don’t improve, he talks about the education commissioner losing him, well I can tell you right where he lost me. It’s when he wrote, “But we now have a strong School Board and a strong superintendent in place who are putting extra effort into improving these schools.” Mr. Littlepage exactly what school board and superintendent are you talking about?
This school board and superintendent, instead of following the law which I agree is draconian and instead of addressing the real problem, kids getting to high school unable to read and do math at grade level, without the skills they need to succeed, came up with some half baked plan to cut the schools in half creating two theme schools that would share the same campuses. And you are surprised the state said no thanks?
That proposal was not extra effort, instead it was crazy and a common definition of crazy is to do the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Well friends we have been waiting for over a decade for 1701 Prudential Drive to fix those schools. The superintendent by the way was there every day and several members of the school board have been there for years and not one of there quick fixes have worked. They reason is they stubbornly refuse to address the real issues those schools have and because of that nothing has changed.
Mr. Littlepage, I don’t want the schools closed or taken over, but we have real problems which need real solutions and if you, the school board and the superintendent aren’t going to part of that it’s time you got out of the way and let somebody else try. That in case you are still lost is all the state is saying.
Then there are the editorials, columns without authors. A couple of editorials ago a Times Union editorial asked, what doesn’t the School Board get. Well I am now asking the Times Union’s editorial board the same question. What don’t you get?
We have the superintendent and school board we need in place, the school board is heading in the right direction, we need to have patience. Do you know where those statements and dozens similar to them have come from? They over the last few years, that’s years, have come from editorials that have been written by the Times Union’s editorial board. How much patience can and should we have? How many ideas thrown like paint against a wall hoping something sticks are we supposed to endure from the school board and the administration at 1701 Prudential Drive?
I know editorials are little more than opinions but when put in respected forums like the Times Union they carry weight, they both influence others opinions and policy. And in this case they propagate the failed policies of our local education system and that is causing children to fall through the cracks. It is hurting kids.
Times Union if we follow your advice and be patient and this latest solution to save our ailing schools doesn’t prove to be any more effective than the last few are you going to take responsibility for all the children doomed to a menial existence or who have had their development retarded. Are you going to apologize to their families or the victims of the children who turn to crime because quite frankly they aren’t suited for the workforce or college? Or like you did a while back are you going to call for more patience, and are you going to say, when these members of the school board leave or are superintendent retires, the next ones are competent and sincere too.
Patience is one of the problems we have and I think when children’s futures are on the line we need urgency. Though like the editors of the Times Union are entitled to theirs, that’s just my opinion.
I am not saying you have to agree with me all I am asking is to think what is best for the children. Pushing them trough without the skills they need to be successful and without discipline and a work ethic is not what’s best for children. Cramming them into a one size fits all curriculum regardless of desire and aptitude is not what’s best for children. Deamonizing teachers and endorsing propaganda is not whats best for the children. What the times union reporters and editorial staff often recommend is not what is best for children.
The Times Union has a powerful voice; I wish they would speak more for the kids and not the superintendent, school board and others.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Showing posts with label Times Union. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Times Union. Show all posts
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
What doesn’t the TU Editorial Board Get?
A couple of editorials ago a Times Union editorial asked, what doesn’t the School Board get. Well I am now asking the Times Union’s editorial board the same question. What don’t you get?
We have the superintendent and school board we need in place, the school board is heading in the right direction, we need to have patience. Do you know where those statements and dozens similar to them have come from? They over the last few years, that’s years, have come from editorials that have been written by the Times Union’s editorial board. How much patience can and should we have? How many ideas thrown like paint against a wall hoping something sticks are we supposed to endure from the school board and the administration at 1701 Prudential Drive?
I know editorials are little more than opinions but when put in respected forums like the Times Union they carry weight, they both influence others opinions and policy. And in this case they propagate the failed policies of our local education system and that is causing children to fall through the cracks. It is hurting kids.
Times Union if we follow your advice and be patient and this latest solution to save our ailing schools doesn’t prove to be any more effective than the last few are you going to take responsibility for all the children doomed to a menial existence or who have had their development retarded. Are you going to apologize to their families or the victims of the children who turn to crime because quite frankly they aren’t suited for the workforce or college? Or like you did a while back are you going to call for more patience, and are you going to say, when these members of the school board leave or are superintendent retires, the next ones are competent and sincere too.
Patience is one of the problems we have and I think when children’s futures are on the line we need urgency. Though like the editors of the Times Union are entitled to theirs, that’s just my opinion.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
We have the superintendent and school board we need in place, the school board is heading in the right direction, we need to have patience. Do you know where those statements and dozens similar to them have come from? They over the last few years, that’s years, have come from editorials that have been written by the Times Union’s editorial board. How much patience can and should we have? How many ideas thrown like paint against a wall hoping something sticks are we supposed to endure from the school board and the administration at 1701 Prudential Drive?
I know editorials are little more than opinions but when put in respected forums like the Times Union they carry weight, they both influence others opinions and policy. And in this case they propagate the failed policies of our local education system and that is causing children to fall through the cracks. It is hurting kids.
Times Union if we follow your advice and be patient and this latest solution to save our ailing schools doesn’t prove to be any more effective than the last few are you going to take responsibility for all the children doomed to a menial existence or who have had their development retarded. Are you going to apologize to their families or the victims of the children who turn to crime because quite frankly they aren’t suited for the workforce or college? Or like you did a while back are you going to call for more patience, and are you going to say, when these members of the school board leave or are superintendent retires, the next ones are competent and sincere too.
Patience is one of the problems we have and I think when children’s futures are on the line we need urgency. Though like the editors of the Times Union are entitled to theirs, that’s just my opinion.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Will somebody please ask the DCSB the right question?
The Times Union asked the Duval County school board, do they get it? The answer to everybody by now should be a painfully obvious no? Its 2011 friends and the problems we are experiencing as a district with reading, intervening schools and so many other things did not magically appear over night; they have been here for decades. Though to solve these problems perhaps the district only needs to answer one question.
The question the Times Union and the city should be asking is how did all these children get to high school without the ability to read and in many cases do math at the appropriate level? Want to figure out why so many kids are doing poorly, well figure out how and why so many kids were passed onto high school without the skills they need to be successful. Answer this question and we might be able to figure out what to next. I can tell you what the answer will not be and that is they suddenly forgot everything they learned.
Friends as long as we continue to shrug our shoulders or turn a blind eye to why this is happening, as long as we don’t figure out why kids show up to high school unprepared and change it, we will continue to find ourselves in the same failing position, regardless of whatever fly by night fix, and make no mistake, splitting the failing schools into two theme schools each is as fly by night as you can get, the school board comes up with.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
The question the Times Union and the city should be asking is how did all these children get to high school without the ability to read and in many cases do math at the appropriate level? Want to figure out why so many kids are doing poorly, well figure out how and why so many kids were passed onto high school without the skills they need to be successful. Answer this question and we might be able to figure out what to next. I can tell you what the answer will not be and that is they suddenly forgot everything they learned.
Friends as long as we continue to shrug our shoulders or turn a blind eye to why this is happening, as long as we don’t figure out why kids show up to high school unprepared and change it, we will continue to find ourselves in the same failing position, regardless of whatever fly by night fix, and make no mistake, splitting the failing schools into two theme schools each is as fly by night as you can get, the school board comes up with.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Times Union takes it's first step
I felt like a new father who watched his baby take his first step when I read the Times Unions recent editorial on education. It was like they were finally walking up to the problems we have in the city. Sadly I have also been writing to them for years explaining how our school district wasn’t just failing minority children, that we’re an equal opportunity robber of hopes and dreams.
Now that the Times Union has taken that first step, it’s time for them to take another and ask the hard questions. We get that half our children can’t read at grade level once they get to high school but what somebody at 1701 Prudential drive needs to explain is how did all these children get to high school without the skills they need to be successful and how are our high schools supposed to miraculously catch them up? Is the Times Union not asking these hard questions because they are afraid they won’t like the answers?
Like the editor wrote, we ignore this at our peril.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Now that the Times Union has taken that first step, it’s time for them to take another and ask the hard questions. We get that half our children can’t read at grade level once they get to high school but what somebody at 1701 Prudential drive needs to explain is how did all these children get to high school without the skills they need to be successful and how are our high schools supposed to miraculously catch them up? Is the Times Union not asking these hard questions because they are afraid they won’t like the answers?
Like the editor wrote, we ignore this at our peril.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Thursday, January 6, 2011
The economics of teaching
According to a recent article published in the Florida Times Union, one out of nine teachers is brand new this year. That means they have never taught before. In addition, according to our Superintendent five out of nine teachers have four years or less teaching experience. Nothing determines the success of a community as much as a quality education and I am incredibly concerned about these numbers. For any business, these statistics would indicate a staggering turnover rate. I am not saying experience is the one determining factor in the quality of our children's education; however, I am saying experience definitely helps.
I believe the number one reason teachers leave the field of education is the lack of support from the administration when dealing with unruly children. I can not emphasize more and I will say it till I am blue in the face. Ten percent of children take up ninety percent of a teacher's time and energy and not in a positive way. This leads to many children who need just a little extra help to fall through the cracks. And so many teachers run from the classroom ripping out their hair. The level of disrespect coming from some of these kids is unbelievable. I think we're hired to be responsible for them, because their parents can't do anything with them, and the juvenile justice system had had its budget whacked too.
So, here's the lowly paid teachers on the front lines of solving one of society's largest problems. But what is the value of an education... how can we teach that with a straight face while at the same time many of us are wondering how we're going to pay both our mortgage and our student loans?
This brings me to the second reason I believe many teachers leave the field, and plainly put, it's all about the money. Teachers get paid on a step system. Salaries are based on how many years they have of experience teaching. I am on step seven because this is my seventh year working for the district. Quite frankly, in today's economy the money is not that great.
First year teachers start at thirty-seven thousand dollars. But compare that to the national average of what people with bachelor's degrees make according to the US Census bureau in 2005 and we're far behind $51,206 dollars. Teachers with bachelor's degrees on the current pay scale are not scheduled to receive a salary of 51,206 dollars, well almost that amount anyway, until they are twenty years into their careers.
Now if I had a master's degree (which would cost about $20,000 in tuition) I could expect to make that amount after 19 years. However, the national average for people with advanced degrees is over seventy-four thousand a year. That national average salary for 2005 isn't even on the Duval County Teacher salary chart; no teacher in Duval county no matter how long they teach or how educated they are, or how many rewards they receive will ever make that amount.
Furthermore our yearly increases do not keep up with inflation. After one year, the first year teachers raise is less than one percent or about 20 bucks a month. In Jacksonville inflation is currently about seven percent, which means second year teachers have about seven percent less spending money, and then this problem just snowballs. Teachers are annually crippled by inflation, because teachers' salary increases are so minuscule. Most teachers stay less than five years because often they can't afford to stay any longer. Not only does each year, their checks don't go as far, but who wants to work at a place where after five years due to inflation your actual buying power has decreased by ten or more percent.
The newspaper today had an article about budget cuts. One of the areas scheduled to be cut is supplies. The district pays for supplies! This was news to me. At the beginning of the year, I spent about two hundred and fifty dollars to outfit my room and this was generously refunded to me by the teacher lead money. Since then, I would say I spend on average about twenty-five dollars a week on things for my room. This is money which will never be refunded, and I consider myself frugal when I compare myself to many other teachers. Then there's the kid who has forgotten his or her lunch money again, or doesn't have a winter coat and guess who finances that? Usually it's the teacher. Continuing education, recertification, teaching materials and so much more each year also bite into our annually shrinking pay.
Our Superintendent has said through these next budget cuts he is hopeful that he can maintain the present level of teacher pay and benefits. I am confident his recent massive raise is not in any danger. Or the generous salary earned by the School Board and other school administrative officials, when I say we don't go into teaching to be rich I obviously just mean most of us. Here is the thing unless Mr. Pratt-Daniels wants to continue with the massive hemorrhage of turnover in teachers he had better do better than try to keep the status quo.
I have sent him and school board literally dozens of ideas designed to increase teacher compensation. My plan is basic. It does not give teachers more actual money but it does have their buying power increased. Basically, teachers would be eligible for various employee discounts through out town. My selling point was: What corporation or business would not want nine thousand new customers and the prestige of saying they support local education in their advertisements and literature? I have heard nothing back. You would think in these difficult times the administration would want suggestions and ideas from anyone and everyone. Sadly, this does not seem to be the case.
Even if they flat out hated my ideas there are so many things our superintendent and the school board could be doing. All I hear about is cutting this and cutting that. I am not sure if they were elected to look at a spreadsheets bottom lines and say; "Let's get rid of this and that." I thought they were voted in to make things better.
Here is a free one Mr. Superintendent and school board! Please go meet with out elected officials in Washington and have them propose teachers be exempt from the federal income tax. A huge segment of the population believes the IRS and the income tax is already on the way out anyway. Let's get ahead of this. For that matter let's have police, fireman, other first responders and our military forces also be exempt from paying federal income taxes as well. I believe if you are going to commit your life to helping society, society at least should pay you a wage which allows you to pay your bills, which allows you to live.
I know in these economic times, everyone feels the pinch. But if the extra five thousand dollars taken out for taxes is returned to me it is not going to make me rich. It would be the difference in having a savings account and not having one. It would be the difference between teachers' paying for emergencies with their money rather than their credit cards. It will be the difference between me and many others staying or leaving teaching. And wanting to make a difference is what brought us here in the first place.
I believe the number one reason teachers leave the field of education is the lack of support from the administration when dealing with unruly children. I can not emphasize more and I will say it till I am blue in the face. Ten percent of children take up ninety percent of a teacher's time and energy and not in a positive way. This leads to many children who need just a little extra help to fall through the cracks. And so many teachers run from the classroom ripping out their hair. The level of disrespect coming from some of these kids is unbelievable. I think we're hired to be responsible for them, because their parents can't do anything with them, and the juvenile justice system had had its budget whacked too.
So, here's the lowly paid teachers on the front lines of solving one of society's largest problems. But what is the value of an education... how can we teach that with a straight face while at the same time many of us are wondering how we're going to pay both our mortgage and our student loans?
This brings me to the second reason I believe many teachers leave the field, and plainly put, it's all about the money. Teachers get paid on a step system. Salaries are based on how many years they have of experience teaching. I am on step seven because this is my seventh year working for the district. Quite frankly, in today's economy the money is not that great.
First year teachers start at thirty-seven thousand dollars. But compare that to the national average of what people with bachelor's degrees make according to the US Census bureau in 2005 and we're far behind $51,206 dollars. Teachers with bachelor's degrees on the current pay scale are not scheduled to receive a salary of 51,206 dollars, well almost that amount anyway, until they are twenty years into their careers.
Now if I had a master's degree (which would cost about $20,000 in tuition) I could expect to make that amount after 19 years. However, the national average for people with advanced degrees is over seventy-four thousand a year. That national average salary for 2005 isn't even on the Duval County Teacher salary chart; no teacher in Duval county no matter how long they teach or how educated they are, or how many rewards they receive will ever make that amount.
Furthermore our yearly increases do not keep up with inflation. After one year, the first year teachers raise is less than one percent or about 20 bucks a month. In Jacksonville inflation is currently about seven percent, which means second year teachers have about seven percent less spending money, and then this problem just snowballs. Teachers are annually crippled by inflation, because teachers' salary increases are so minuscule. Most teachers stay less than five years because often they can't afford to stay any longer. Not only does each year, their checks don't go as far, but who wants to work at a place where after five years due to inflation your actual buying power has decreased by ten or more percent.
The newspaper today had an article about budget cuts. One of the areas scheduled to be cut is supplies. The district pays for supplies! This was news to me. At the beginning of the year, I spent about two hundred and fifty dollars to outfit my room and this was generously refunded to me by the teacher lead money. Since then, I would say I spend on average about twenty-five dollars a week on things for my room. This is money which will never be refunded, and I consider myself frugal when I compare myself to many other teachers. Then there's the kid who has forgotten his or her lunch money again, or doesn't have a winter coat and guess who finances that? Usually it's the teacher. Continuing education, recertification, teaching materials and so much more each year also bite into our annually shrinking pay.
Our Superintendent has said through these next budget cuts he is hopeful that he can maintain the present level of teacher pay and benefits. I am confident his recent massive raise is not in any danger. Or the generous salary earned by the School Board and other school administrative officials, when I say we don't go into teaching to be rich I obviously just mean most of us. Here is the thing unless Mr. Pratt-Daniels wants to continue with the massive hemorrhage of turnover in teachers he had better do better than try to keep the status quo.
I have sent him and school board literally dozens of ideas designed to increase teacher compensation. My plan is basic. It does not give teachers more actual money but it does have their buying power increased. Basically, teachers would be eligible for various employee discounts through out town. My selling point was: What corporation or business would not want nine thousand new customers and the prestige of saying they support local education in their advertisements and literature? I have heard nothing back. You would think in these difficult times the administration would want suggestions and ideas from anyone and everyone. Sadly, this does not seem to be the case.
Even if they flat out hated my ideas there are so many things our superintendent and the school board could be doing. All I hear about is cutting this and cutting that. I am not sure if they were elected to look at a spreadsheets bottom lines and say; "Let's get rid of this and that." I thought they were voted in to make things better.
Here is a free one Mr. Superintendent and school board! Please go meet with out elected officials in Washington and have them propose teachers be exempt from the federal income tax. A huge segment of the population believes the IRS and the income tax is already on the way out anyway. Let's get ahead of this. For that matter let's have police, fireman, other first responders and our military forces also be exempt from paying federal income taxes as well. I believe if you are going to commit your life to helping society, society at least should pay you a wage which allows you to pay your bills, which allows you to live.
I know in these economic times, everyone feels the pinch. But if the extra five thousand dollars taken out for taxes is returned to me it is not going to make me rich. It would be the difference in having a savings account and not having one. It would be the difference between teachers' paying for emergencies with their money rather than their credit cards. It will be the difference between me and many others staying or leaving teaching. And wanting to make a difference is what brought us here in the first place.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Another silly teacher comparison
I hate having to explain basic things to adults, I think they should just get it. Yet once again the Times Union has proven it doesn’t understand what teachers do or what the problems with education are. They demonstrated thus when the clumsily compared teachers to foot ball coaches after they wrote: Many of us have no patience with even mediocre football coaches before a change is made. Why do we have so much more patience with fair-to-poor schooling?
With a nod to my friend Roger Daily I will attempt to explain some of the differences between teachers and football coaches.
Football coaches have kids that want to be there, who are excited and who want to do well, teachers often do not.
Football coaches often have all the resources they need after all what players comes to practice without their pads. Many teachers are constantly supplying materials to their students or their classes are going without.
If a kid acts up, is late or misses practice the football coach has many options to discipline them. I have my teacher look and voice and if I have to write a referral rarely does anything meaningful happen to the student.
If a kid curses out their coach or threatens them they can be kicked off the team, I have to take them back the next day.
Are we seeing the differences? Do I need to continue because I am just getting rolling?
If the Times Union is talking about college coaches well for the most part they are well compensated, where I know many teachers who live in fear of an illness or a blown tire or some other mundane life occurrence as they are little more than pay check to pay check. I know more than a few teachers with second jobs.
Football coaches don’t have administrators breathing down their backs telling them what play to call and when to call it. No, they were hired at least partly because of their creativity and initiative. Sadly for teachers learning schedules and curriculums have robbed many of them of those things.
Football coaches get to pick and choose their players, where teachers have to try and do their best with whoever sit in their seats.
Football coaches have staffs that help them. I have a lady who if I am really nice to her might make me some copies if she doesn’t forget or if a million other things don’t come up.
Football coachers aren’t buried with mountains of paperwork that only have a superfluous relationship with teaching, teachers are.
Is that enough are the differences now readily apparent?
When the Times Union and others make these childish and inaccurate comparisons (Finland anyone?) they do teachers and education a disservice. You see we have serious issues and it is going to take serious people to solve them.
With a nod to my friend Roger Daily I will attempt to explain some of the differences between teachers and football coaches.
Football coaches have kids that want to be there, who are excited and who want to do well, teachers often do not.
Football coaches often have all the resources they need after all what players comes to practice without their pads. Many teachers are constantly supplying materials to their students or their classes are going without.
If a kid acts up, is late or misses practice the football coach has many options to discipline them. I have my teacher look and voice and if I have to write a referral rarely does anything meaningful happen to the student.
If a kid curses out their coach or threatens them they can be kicked off the team, I have to take them back the next day.
Are we seeing the differences? Do I need to continue because I am just getting rolling?
If the Times Union is talking about college coaches well for the most part they are well compensated, where I know many teachers who live in fear of an illness or a blown tire or some other mundane life occurrence as they are little more than pay check to pay check. I know more than a few teachers with second jobs.
Football coaches don’t have administrators breathing down their backs telling them what play to call and when to call it. No, they were hired at least partly because of their creativity and initiative. Sadly for teachers learning schedules and curriculums have robbed many of them of those things.
Football coaches get to pick and choose their players, where teachers have to try and do their best with whoever sit in their seats.
Football coaches have staffs that help them. I have a lady who if I am really nice to her might make me some copies if she doesn’t forget or if a million other things don’t come up.
Football coachers aren’t buried with mountains of paperwork that only have a superfluous relationship with teaching, teachers are.
Is that enough are the differences now readily apparent?
When the Times Union and others make these childish and inaccurate comparisons (Finland anyone?) they do teachers and education a disservice. You see we have serious issues and it is going to take serious people to solve them.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Times Union off base
By Roger Daily
The Times-Union starts out the New Year conversation on education (which should be a firestorm in Florida in 2011) by comparing education to coaching football. I have done both extensively and I can vouch there exists some similarities. Their "analogy?" Since high-profile football coaches are held accountable for their team's performance (e.g., get fired) then a similar hot seat for teachers is in order. The problem is that football players are there VOLUNTARILY. They WANT to be there. They love it, are getting a scholarship, getting a salary, etc. K-12 students are compelled to attend. The difference there is obvious. Add in the fact that those high-profile coaches are compensated with a significantly higher salary, and the analogy falls apart. Are you serious, T-U? The analogy was cute, concise, and totally misleading. C'mon!
.
The Times-Union starts out the New Year conversation on education (which should be a firestorm in Florida in 2011) by comparing education to coaching football. I have done both extensively and I can vouch there exists some similarities. Their "analogy?" Since high-profile football coaches are held accountable for their team's performance (e.g., get fired) then a similar hot seat for teachers is in order. The problem is that football players are there VOLUNTARILY. They WANT to be there. They love it, are getting a scholarship, getting a salary, etc. K-12 students are compelled to attend. The difference there is obvious. Add in the fact that those high-profile coaches are compensated with a significantly higher salary, and the analogy falls apart. Are you serious, T-U? The analogy was cute, concise, and totally misleading. C'mon!
.
Insulted again
They wrote: "If you could make all the teachers as good as the top quarter, the U.S. would soar to the top ... So can you find the way to capture what the really good teachers are doing?" - Bill Gates in Newsweek.
"Football teams do this all the time." - Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, in Newsweek.
Our comments: Many of us have no patience with even mediocre football coaches before a change is made. Why do we have so much more patience with fair-to-poor schooling?
I have three questions for the editors of the TU, my first two are; What do you propose we do times union, and couldn’t we use this same argument with any profession, including ignorant newspaper editors.
At this point the Times Union have gone from ridiculous to embarrassing. They should put on the mastiff, we hate teachers. Why not be honest?
My last question is, do you (the TU editors) really believe teachers as a group are horrible or the number one problem facing education or are you just trying to curry favor with the rich and powerful, the flavor of the moment. If it is the former back up what you say with some facts and if it is the later which is what nobody with with any knowledge about education agrees with (hello poverty, destroying creativity and initiative, wrecking discipline, teachers being forced to pass kids without the skills they need and one size fits all curriculum) then admit it because you not doing so is doing all of society a disservice.
Hi, mu name is TU editor, I hate kids and teachers, please buy my paper.
sick
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
"Football teams do this all the time." - Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, in Newsweek.
Our comments: Many of us have no patience with even mediocre football coaches before a change is made. Why do we have so much more patience with fair-to-poor schooling?
I have three questions for the editors of the TU, my first two are; What do you propose we do times union, and couldn’t we use this same argument with any profession, including ignorant newspaper editors.
At this point the Times Union have gone from ridiculous to embarrassing. They should put on the mastiff, we hate teachers. Why not be honest?
My last question is, do you (the TU editors) really believe teachers as a group are horrible or the number one problem facing education or are you just trying to curry favor with the rich and powerful, the flavor of the moment. If it is the former back up what you say with some facts and if it is the later which is what nobody with with any knowledge about education agrees with (hello poverty, destroying creativity and initiative, wrecking discipline, teachers being forced to pass kids without the skills they need and one size fits all curriculum) then admit it because you not doing so is doing all of society a disservice.
Hi, mu name is TU editor, I hate kids and teachers, please buy my paper.
sick
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Mayor Peyton calls Duval County school district colossal failure
In a Times Union editorial Mayor John Peyton referred to the Duval County Public School District as a colossal failure. Wow right, not just a failure but a colossal failure. Why didn’t he just say a failure of biblical proportions?
The Times Union said they wouldn’t go that far, after all the district has received a B grade from the state. Sorry to disappoint the Times Union but it is a gentlemen’s B as the district has become an expert at massaging certain numbers like more kids taking A.P. classes, giving fewer suspensions and making it nearly impossible to withdraw kids to inflate our grade. Though to be honest I wouldn’t go as far as “colossal failure” either.
The truth is there are incredible things going on at all our schools; even our supposed worse schools and for the most part they are the interactions between our teachers and our students. The thing is the district cannot continue to put our students and teachers in no win situations and then scratch their heads when they don’t succeed to the level that they wanted. It’s a wonder and a credit to our fine teachers dedication and professionalism that we are doing as well as we are.
We can’t continue to push kids through with out the skills they need, ignore discipline and over load and dump on teachers. We must try to address our most struggling kids problems most of which aren’t school related and also have more than the one size fits all, everybody is going to go to college curriculum which serves fewer and fewer children that we have now. If we want to be successful that is. If we don’t do those things then it probably won’t be long before the Times Union as most of the city already does, agrees with the mayor.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
The Times Union said they wouldn’t go that far, after all the district has received a B grade from the state. Sorry to disappoint the Times Union but it is a gentlemen’s B as the district has become an expert at massaging certain numbers like more kids taking A.P. classes, giving fewer suspensions and making it nearly impossible to withdraw kids to inflate our grade. Though to be honest I wouldn’t go as far as “colossal failure” either.
The truth is there are incredible things going on at all our schools; even our supposed worse schools and for the most part they are the interactions between our teachers and our students. The thing is the district cannot continue to put our students and teachers in no win situations and then scratch their heads when they don’t succeed to the level that they wanted. It’s a wonder and a credit to our fine teachers dedication and professionalism that we are doing as well as we are.
We can’t continue to push kids through with out the skills they need, ignore discipline and over load and dump on teachers. We must try to address our most struggling kids problems most of which aren’t school related and also have more than the one size fits all, everybody is going to go to college curriculum which serves fewer and fewer children that we have now. If we want to be successful that is. If we don’t do those things then it probably won’t be long before the Times Union as most of the city already does, agrees with the mayor.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Editorial Bias
I know editorials are little more than opinions but when presented in respected forums like newspapers they often take on more meaning than that and many people believe what is written to be fact. Take for example the Times Union writing about how only 23 percent of America’s top graduates go into education as if that is a bad thing. Can any other profession boast about so many top graduates joining it. Are 23 percent of the nations top grads entering law enforcement, or medicine or business or any other field? I don’t think so and if the stat is right that means over a fifth or our supposed best and brightest are choosing education over the thousands and thousands of other careers out there. But instead of celebrating that it’s used as an indictment against teachers. Here is a stat the Times Union didn’t mention, less than half of all first year teachers whether they are the best the nation has to offer or not do not make it to year five preferring to find employment in other fields. Rarely are the reasons, the children or the money, given for their decision to leave.
Then the Times Union further muddies the water by comparing American teachers to the teachers in Finland, which draws the vast amount of its staff from the top third of college graduates. They fail to mention that teachers in Finland are paid substantially more than their American counterparts, there classes are very small, they play a role in policy and curriculum and are one of the most highly unionized groups around. Comparing teachers in both countries is not like comparing apples and oranges it’s like comparing apples to a five-course meal, with America being the apple.
There are many issues in education and teacher quality is one of them, as we should always strive to put our best and brightest in our classrooms. However if we were to list the issues with education, poverty, standardized tests, one size fits all curriculum, a lack of discipline, unfunded mandates, etc. teacher quality however would be way down the list, not at the forefront as the Times Union and others would have the public believe.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Then the Times Union further muddies the water by comparing American teachers to the teachers in Finland, which draws the vast amount of its staff from the top third of college graduates. They fail to mention that teachers in Finland are paid substantially more than their American counterparts, there classes are very small, they play a role in policy and curriculum and are one of the most highly unionized groups around. Comparing teachers in both countries is not like comparing apples and oranges it’s like comparing apples to a five-course meal, with America being the apple.
There are many issues in education and teacher quality is one of them, as we should always strive to put our best and brightest in our classrooms. However if we were to list the issues with education, poverty, standardized tests, one size fits all curriculum, a lack of discipline, unfunded mandates, etc. teacher quality however would be way down the list, not at the forefront as the Times Union and others would have the public believe.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Spitballing: Should black kids be seperated by sex
Did I actually just read that black kids couldn’t learn if the sexes were together? I reread the passage three times and sure enough that is exactly what I read. Whoa, I thought, that isn’t going to go over so well. What I am talking about is the suggestion that boys and girls be separated at Ribault high school recently offered by the Florida Times Union in an editorial.
I don’t think the Times Union was being racist despite the fact it came off that way to me, a white kid from Murray Hill, on the contrary they were merely spit balling ideas to improve Ribault high school. Improving Ribault and all our struggling schools is something the whole community should all be trying to do.
There other idea was to turn part of Ribault into an advanced academic charter school with uniforms, a longer day, and contracts between parents and students, with an expectation that every student is accepted to a college, you know everything that Stanton and Paxon are supposed to be without the uniforms, contracts and longer days. Could the Times Union on the heels of suggesting that the sexes shouldn’t be mixed at black schools also be suggesting that black kids can’t achieve without contracts, uniforms and longer days too?
My mind was truly spinning though I will give the Times Union the benefit of the doubt and offer some hopefully less controversial suggestions of my own. Though my suggestions aren’t just for Ribault high school they are for all the area high schools.
Let’s start with kids in Junior High not being passed to Ribault high school or any high school without the skills they need to be successful. Then let’s get rid of the one size fits all everybody is going to college curriculum we have now, you know the one that has been failing at Ribault and a few other schools for a decade now and instead develop multiple curriculums that prepare children to be productive citizens whether than plan to attend college or not. You want a kids not that interested in school to do well in school? Well give them a skill where they can be making 15-20 dollars an hour within a few months of graduation. Teach them to be their own boss not just how to pass a test, the f-cat, that they will never use or see again. I would love for every kid to go to college, however we don’t have the kids the powers-that-be wish we had we have the kids we do and we should plan accordingly.
Then how about instead of overloading the teachers at the various schools with meeting after meeting and forcing them to do hour upon hour of superfluous paper work we encourage creativity and autonomy after all teachers teach, complicated board configurations don’t. Then lets make sure there is discipline in the classes and hallways because a few bad apples can spoil a whole classroom or a school. We also need social workers and counselors in our schools because quite often why a kid acts up or does poorly in schools has nothing to do with school. At the schools we are just addressing their symptoms while ignoring their sickness.
We could try ideas that might work, that might make a difference or we could separate the sexes.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
I don’t think the Times Union was being racist despite the fact it came off that way to me, a white kid from Murray Hill, on the contrary they were merely spit balling ideas to improve Ribault high school. Improving Ribault and all our struggling schools is something the whole community should all be trying to do.
There other idea was to turn part of Ribault into an advanced academic charter school with uniforms, a longer day, and contracts between parents and students, with an expectation that every student is accepted to a college, you know everything that Stanton and Paxon are supposed to be without the uniforms, contracts and longer days. Could the Times Union on the heels of suggesting that the sexes shouldn’t be mixed at black schools also be suggesting that black kids can’t achieve without contracts, uniforms and longer days too?
My mind was truly spinning though I will give the Times Union the benefit of the doubt and offer some hopefully less controversial suggestions of my own. Though my suggestions aren’t just for Ribault high school they are for all the area high schools.
Let’s start with kids in Junior High not being passed to Ribault high school or any high school without the skills they need to be successful. Then let’s get rid of the one size fits all everybody is going to college curriculum we have now, you know the one that has been failing at Ribault and a few other schools for a decade now and instead develop multiple curriculums that prepare children to be productive citizens whether than plan to attend college or not. You want a kids not that interested in school to do well in school? Well give them a skill where they can be making 15-20 dollars an hour within a few months of graduation. Teach them to be their own boss not just how to pass a test, the f-cat, that they will never use or see again. I would love for every kid to go to college, however we don’t have the kids the powers-that-be wish we had we have the kids we do and we should plan accordingly.
Then how about instead of overloading the teachers at the various schools with meeting after meeting and forcing them to do hour upon hour of superfluous paper work we encourage creativity and autonomy after all teachers teach, complicated board configurations don’t. Then lets make sure there is discipline in the classes and hallways because a few bad apples can spoil a whole classroom or a school. We also need social workers and counselors in our schools because quite often why a kid acts up or does poorly in schools has nothing to do with school. At the schools we are just addressing their symptoms while ignoring their sickness.
We could try ideas that might work, that might make a difference or we could separate the sexes.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Opportunity Lost
Ribault, Raines and Jackson provide the city an opportunity.
The Times Union called the situation our most struggling schools find themselves in an opportunity. In case you haven’t been following the story, if Ribault, Raines and Jackson high schools and North Shore Junior High fail to improve they could be in store for some drastic changes, which could include shutting the schools down. The state rewriting the school grade rules and the district forcing advanced academic programs into their halls thus far has not been enough.
In a way the Times Union is right but it’s not just the schools that have an opportunity, it’s the district and the city itself. That’s right we the citizens of Jacksonville have an opportunity to examine how the district is run and demand changes be made. The district has an opportunity to finally start doing things the right way. It’s no wonder kids at the three high schools struggle as many have been pushed there without the skills they need to succeed. Most can’t read a grade level and less than half can do math yet some how they find themselves in high school, where after ninth grade there is nowhere left for them to be pushed to.
Is that the responsibility of the teachers at the fore mentioned schools who are asked to make years worth of gains in a few months or is it the fault of the district who has all but ordered teachers to pass kids whether they have the skills to or not. The answer is neither; it’s the citizens of Jacksonville through electing casual observers and politicians on their way up or way down to the school board. It’s the citizens of Jacksonville who have either tuned a blind eye to the problem or have just accepted the skewed reality being sold by those at 1701 Prudential Drive who are more concerned with protecting their niche than doing what is right for our children, that are ultimately responsible.
Kids should not be passed along without the skills they need and if they need extra help it should be provided, with legitimate and mandatory after school and summer school opportunities. Isn’t that the bare minimum of what our schools should be doing?
We find ourselves as a city and as a school district in a very precarious situation but the Times Union is right. The district has an opportunity to start doing things the right way the way they should have been doing things all along, or we the citizens of Jacksonville have the opportunity to say enough is enough, if you are not going to do it we will find somebody who will. All other opportunities are nearly too terrible to contemplate.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
The Times Union called the situation our most struggling schools find themselves in an opportunity. In case you haven’t been following the story, if Ribault, Raines and Jackson high schools and North Shore Junior High fail to improve they could be in store for some drastic changes, which could include shutting the schools down. The state rewriting the school grade rules and the district forcing advanced academic programs into their halls thus far has not been enough.
In a way the Times Union is right but it’s not just the schools that have an opportunity, it’s the district and the city itself. That’s right we the citizens of Jacksonville have an opportunity to examine how the district is run and demand changes be made. The district has an opportunity to finally start doing things the right way. It’s no wonder kids at the three high schools struggle as many have been pushed there without the skills they need to succeed. Most can’t read a grade level and less than half can do math yet some how they find themselves in high school, where after ninth grade there is nowhere left for them to be pushed to.
Is that the responsibility of the teachers at the fore mentioned schools who are asked to make years worth of gains in a few months or is it the fault of the district who has all but ordered teachers to pass kids whether they have the skills to or not. The answer is neither; it’s the citizens of Jacksonville through electing casual observers and politicians on their way up or way down to the school board. It’s the citizens of Jacksonville who have either tuned a blind eye to the problem or have just accepted the skewed reality being sold by those at 1701 Prudential Drive who are more concerned with protecting their niche than doing what is right for our children, that are ultimately responsible.
Kids should not be passed along without the skills they need and if they need extra help it should be provided, with legitimate and mandatory after school and summer school opportunities. Isn’t that the bare minimum of what our schools should be doing?
We find ourselves as a city and as a school district in a very precarious situation but the Times Union is right. The district has an opportunity to start doing things the right way the way they should have been doing things all along, or we the citizens of Jacksonville have the opportunity to say enough is enough, if you are not going to do it we will find somebody who will. All other opportunities are nearly too terrible to contemplate.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Who uses statistics
There is an old saying that I think is somewhat appropriate when discussing education and that’s only liars and politicians use statistics. Friends that’s the set up.
I recently read an editorial in the Times Union describing how over the next decade the nation will desperately need more individuals with college degrees and we were projected to fall about three million short. They sited several impressive statistics from several impressive organizations and implied America’s economic future was at stake. I was sold, just like that.
Just like I was sold when years ago the school board gave a talk about how children who fail the sixth grade rarely finish school and like I was sold when the same school board explained why they needed to tweak ninth grade promotion requirements. It seems if a kid fails sixth grade their percentage of reaching high school is greatly diminished and if they failed ninth grade their chances of finishing high school also drop greatly. That’s why it only takes five credits to pass ninth grade. The powers-that-be reasoned students would be able to make up the missing credits over the next three years.
On the surface I found none of the aims and statistics unreasonable, after all we want kids to pass, we don’t want kids to drop out and we want kids to go to college and I also believe we should do almost anything we can to make sure those things happen. Nope none of it is unreasonable at all, when taken in a vacuum that is.
Though that’s the thing with statistics, they can give you percentages or odds but your son or daughter, niece or nephew or neighbor is not a number on a spreadsheet they are an individual and should be treated as such. When we don’t fail kids, push them along or put many in situations they have no business being in then they pay they price not the statistics. Furthermore when the above statistics play a role in developing our policy and philosophy as a district we can easily see the problems that they create, and that my friends, is the rub.
If we pass sixth graders without the skills they need to be successful we have just sent their problems down the line and we can do so all the way to high school where even there it only takes five credits to pass the ninth grade. However once they get to tenth grade there’s nowhere else for them to get moved to, then friends it’s sink or swim and many aren’t swimming. I would be very interested to know what grade sees the most kids drop out. I would bet it would be right around tenth grade where promotion requirements loose much of their flexibility. But hey we got them there right?
Then not every child is going to college and our push to make every child do so is littered with failure. Our graduation and drop out rates are high. Seventy percent of our graduates have to take remedial classes and the rates of kids passing advanced placement tests has been steadily declining. What good is having all these rigorous classes like algebra II and chemistry if we don’t have the rigor.
Friends you have to realize that just passing kids along and then them not being prepared are directly related to each other. We can have the great hopes and dreams but don’t our children deserve realistic ones. Then you have to realize we have to make a change before more of our kids become nothing but statistics.
We can’t govern how we do things based on statistics generated in far off think tanks by people who have never worked with our kids. We need to get in with the kids ourselves and find their strengths and weaknesses and deal with them individually. If it’s fail them in sixth grade that should be all right as well as long as they use the extra time to get the skills they need to be successful. If that’s go to college great, if it’s not that’s great too. Regardless our aim should be to prepare them to be good and productive citizens.
Teachers can’t be forced to worry about how their students will do in a global economy if they can’t keep the students awake in their classes. We can’t demand that every student is prepared for college but at the same time be okay that more than a few don’t make any effort in school.
We need to worry about the students we have in front of us not the students we wish we had. We need to do what we can do and not be so fixated on what we wish we could do. We can look at the statistics and odds but we need to know that sometimes people beat the odds too.
If we don’t we’re going to have other statistics to worry about such as a spiraling economy that never recovers, a higher crime rate and more and more children neither prepared for college or the workforce who just drain society of what few resources it has.
If we don’t make any changes what do you think the odds of that are?
That my friends is the tragedy.
I recently read an editorial in the Times Union describing how over the next decade the nation will desperately need more individuals with college degrees and we were projected to fall about three million short. They sited several impressive statistics from several impressive organizations and implied America’s economic future was at stake. I was sold, just like that.
Just like I was sold when years ago the school board gave a talk about how children who fail the sixth grade rarely finish school and like I was sold when the same school board explained why they needed to tweak ninth grade promotion requirements. It seems if a kid fails sixth grade their percentage of reaching high school is greatly diminished and if they failed ninth grade their chances of finishing high school also drop greatly. That’s why it only takes five credits to pass ninth grade. The powers-that-be reasoned students would be able to make up the missing credits over the next three years.
On the surface I found none of the aims and statistics unreasonable, after all we want kids to pass, we don’t want kids to drop out and we want kids to go to college and I also believe we should do almost anything we can to make sure those things happen. Nope none of it is unreasonable at all, when taken in a vacuum that is.
Though that’s the thing with statistics, they can give you percentages or odds but your son or daughter, niece or nephew or neighbor is not a number on a spreadsheet they are an individual and should be treated as such. When we don’t fail kids, push them along or put many in situations they have no business being in then they pay they price not the statistics. Furthermore when the above statistics play a role in developing our policy and philosophy as a district we can easily see the problems that they create, and that my friends, is the rub.
If we pass sixth graders without the skills they need to be successful we have just sent their problems down the line and we can do so all the way to high school where even there it only takes five credits to pass the ninth grade. However once they get to tenth grade there’s nowhere else for them to get moved to, then friends it’s sink or swim and many aren’t swimming. I would be very interested to know what grade sees the most kids drop out. I would bet it would be right around tenth grade where promotion requirements loose much of their flexibility. But hey we got them there right?
Then not every child is going to college and our push to make every child do so is littered with failure. Our graduation and drop out rates are high. Seventy percent of our graduates have to take remedial classes and the rates of kids passing advanced placement tests has been steadily declining. What good is having all these rigorous classes like algebra II and chemistry if we don’t have the rigor.
Friends you have to realize that just passing kids along and then them not being prepared are directly related to each other. We can have the great hopes and dreams but don’t our children deserve realistic ones. Then you have to realize we have to make a change before more of our kids become nothing but statistics.
We can’t govern how we do things based on statistics generated in far off think tanks by people who have never worked with our kids. We need to get in with the kids ourselves and find their strengths and weaknesses and deal with them individually. If it’s fail them in sixth grade that should be all right as well as long as they use the extra time to get the skills they need to be successful. If that’s go to college great, if it’s not that’s great too. Regardless our aim should be to prepare them to be good and productive citizens.
Teachers can’t be forced to worry about how their students will do in a global economy if they can’t keep the students awake in their classes. We can’t demand that every student is prepared for college but at the same time be okay that more than a few don’t make any effort in school.
We need to worry about the students we have in front of us not the students we wish we had. We need to do what we can do and not be so fixated on what we wish we could do. We can look at the statistics and odds but we need to know that sometimes people beat the odds too.
If we don’t we’re going to have other statistics to worry about such as a spiraling economy that never recovers, a higher crime rate and more and more children neither prepared for college or the workforce who just drain society of what few resources it has.
If we don’t make any changes what do you think the odds of that are?
That my friends is the tragedy.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Local media strangly silent on Scott's education plans
I appreciate the Folio writing about Rick Scott’s disaster of an education plan, which boils down to welfare for the well off. Strangely the local media especially the Times Union has been silent on the issue. So silent I can’t help but wonder if after not endorsing him they have decided it’s better to join him. They have already joined him in discounting teachers influence on education.
One thing I wish the Folio would have also mentioned is the makeup of his 23-person education team. There, for profit charter schools, which would directly benefit from the new education voucher program, businesses and even carpet-baggers (controversial former Washington D.C. chancellor Michelle Rhee) are represented. Sadly the one group left in the cold is teachers. Scott actualy has one on his team though he teaches at a virtual school. So much for working together with all the partners involved in education.
Disappointingly that’s the norm when assembling groups to talk about education. The aforementioned Times Union’s City of Hope steering committee also has no actual classroom teachers. Can you imagine a group assembled to talk about medical issues but didn’t include doctors or legal issues that didn’t include the police, well Rick Scott and the Times Union can.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
One thing I wish the Folio would have also mentioned is the makeup of his 23-person education team. There, for profit charter schools, which would directly benefit from the new education voucher program, businesses and even carpet-baggers (controversial former Washington D.C. chancellor Michelle Rhee) are represented. Sadly the one group left in the cold is teachers. Scott actualy has one on his team though he teaches at a virtual school. So much for working together with all the partners involved in education.
Disappointingly that’s the norm when assembling groups to talk about education. The aforementioned Times Union’s City of Hope steering committee also has no actual classroom teachers. Can you imagine a group assembled to talk about medical issues but didn’t include doctors or legal issues that didn’t include the police, well Rick Scott and the Times Union can.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Monday, December 20, 2010
The Times Unions love affair with the superintendent continues: part one
The Times Unions love affair with the superintendent continues. In a recent editorial they wrote: Just like a good school needs a great leader as principal, a school district should have a consistent vision and a dynamic leader to carry it out. Now, with a strategic plan in place, and meaningful evaluations of Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals, Duval has a productive relationship between board and superintendent. Let’s hope that becomes the standard for the future.
I’ll be honest I have a problem the strategic plan and it’s not just because it reduces children to numbers and data points on a graph and not because the implementation of it is done with such a narrow minded focus that there are often unintended consequences (the erosion of discipline for example) but because who it managed by. Duval counties strategic plan is the equivalent of me allowing my students to write their test and then grade it as well. There is no neutral party monitoring it to see if it is effective only people who have manifest need to see the numbers improve.
As for the principals evaluations by the school board if you are a reasonable person and read them, then you to probably have questions. Businesses report not wanting to move here because of our school system, seventy percent of our graduate have to take remedial classes once they enter college, potential employers say they can’t find good candidates from the pool of recent graduates and teacher morale is shot and despite all this the superintendent garnered near perfect evaluations from the school board. Say you do like him and think we are headed in the right direction doesn’t above deserve some kind of needs improvement mark? This is made all the more exacerbating by the fact he helped pick the numbers in the strategic plan and then was in charge of gathering the numbers.
If you think the district is headed in the right direction, you are probably a member of the school board, the superintendent and his inner circle or an editor for the Times Union; you are sadly misinformed, because we’re not.
We have serious problems and we need a superintendent who is willing to tackle them and a newspaper that is willing to report them. Until that happens the citizens of Jacksonville and it’s children are being done a huge disservice.
I’ll be honest I have a problem the strategic plan and it’s not just because it reduces children to numbers and data points on a graph and not because the implementation of it is done with such a narrow minded focus that there are often unintended consequences (the erosion of discipline for example) but because who it managed by. Duval counties strategic plan is the equivalent of me allowing my students to write their test and then grade it as well. There is no neutral party monitoring it to see if it is effective only people who have manifest need to see the numbers improve.
As for the principals evaluations by the school board if you are a reasonable person and read them, then you to probably have questions. Businesses report not wanting to move here because of our school system, seventy percent of our graduate have to take remedial classes once they enter college, potential employers say they can’t find good candidates from the pool of recent graduates and teacher morale is shot and despite all this the superintendent garnered near perfect evaluations from the school board. Say you do like him and think we are headed in the right direction doesn’t above deserve some kind of needs improvement mark? This is made all the more exacerbating by the fact he helped pick the numbers in the strategic plan and then was in charge of gathering the numbers.
If you think the district is headed in the right direction, you are probably a member of the school board, the superintendent and his inner circle or an editor for the Times Union; you are sadly misinformed, because we’re not.
We have serious problems and we need a superintendent who is willing to tackle them and a newspaper that is willing to report them. Until that happens the citizens of Jacksonville and it’s children are being done a huge disservice.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Offended
As a teacher I get offended when non-teachers like Stephanie Hirsh, executive director of Learning Forward and Dawn Wilson Duval County’s director of professional development talk about improving teacher quality, (11/29 letter to the editor, Training Teachers). Sure teacher quality is an issue and we should always strive to put out best, brightest and most capable in our classrooms but they, like the editors of the Times Union, Bill Gates and many of the public are missing the real issues facing education.
Things will never truly improve unless we change the ways we do things. We can’t continue to under fund education, ignore discipline, socially promote children without the skills they need, have a one size fits all curriculum and put both teachers and children in situations were success is unattainable and expect to have success.
Teachers are just one part of the puzzle but recently they are the ones getting all the attention. Why does the public who refuses to adequately fund education by continuously electing politicians who don’t care about public schools, parents who abdicate their responsibilities, policy makers who hold teachers and children alike back with their inane procedures and the children themselves many of whom lack any sense of a worth ethic and an understanding of common manners get a pass?
All the professional development in the world won’t make a bit of difference until we work on the real issues facing education.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Things will never truly improve unless we change the ways we do things. We can’t continue to under fund education, ignore discipline, socially promote children without the skills they need, have a one size fits all curriculum and put both teachers and children in situations were success is unattainable and expect to have success.
Teachers are just one part of the puzzle but recently they are the ones getting all the attention. Why does the public who refuses to adequately fund education by continuously electing politicians who don’t care about public schools, parents who abdicate their responsibilities, policy makers who hold teachers and children alike back with their inane procedures and the children themselves many of whom lack any sense of a worth ethic and an understanding of common manners get a pass?
All the professional development in the world won’t make a bit of difference until we work on the real issues facing education.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Suspended Belief
Suspension centers made the Times Union today, this is a piece I rote about a year ago about them. -cpg
“School suspensions drop dramatically” was the headline of the December 8th issue of the Florida Times Union. Good news right! Reading this the people of Jacksonville might think things are “dramatically better” here in Duval County sadly however that is far from accurate. All it is another case of smoke and mirrors propagated by the Duval County School Board. This time however they had accomplices as the Times Union and education writer Topher Sanders refused to bring up any issues of substance.
Such as how are suspensions down 71 percent but referrals down only 30? In the past were administrators just suspending students at the drop of a hat? How have teachers written over 19,000 referrals but less than fifteen percent have resulted in suspensions, are teachers writing students up for the most trivial of offences? The article said thirteen hundred children have been referred to the suspension centers, but it doesn’t say how many have actually attended? Even if they all attended which is extremely doubtful wouldn’t that mean the suspension centers are operating at less than five percent of their capacity? Did we waste two million dollars in their creation? If these students aren’t technically suspended and they aren’t in schools what are they? Why hasn’t the school board just said, refer all suspended children to the suspension centers. This by their computing process would eliminate all suspensions. A 71% drop is great but a 100% drop is even better.
Would you like to know some reasons why referrals are down here in Duval County? Well make sure your tables are in their upright position and you have strapped yourself in, because you are about to go on a wild ride.
The biggest reason there are fewer suspensions is because some teachers have stopped writing children up. Quite frankly nothing happens too many of them when they do so. Students rarely receive appropriate consequences for their behavior and even freshmen psychology students will tell you that often leads to worse behavior. Furthermore teachers are afraid to write up children. If they write to many referrals then their classroom management skills are questioned and that can affect their evaluations. So instead many teachers just endure little Johnny or little Suzie’s disruptive, disrespectful and defiant behavior. Sadly however they aren’t the only ones that have to do so; it’s the other children in the class who have come to learn who have to endure it too.
Suspensions are also happening less because suspending kids affect a schools grade. The school board would rather keep misbehaving children in school without real consequences for their behavior, again despite the fact this practically ensures the behavior will repeat and worsen. And it doesn’t matter to them that this also robs parents of the opportunity to be parental and steals instruction time from children to whom school is important. Meeting their self imposed benchmark and looking better in the eyes of the state, not teachers and students are apparently their chief concern.
Referrals are being ignored. Boxes of unprocessed referrals were recently found at my school and where I can’t say with a certainty this happens elsewhere I wouldn’t be surprised, but I do know that more than half the referrals I write I never get back.
Finally suspensions are happening less because the school board told principals to suspend less and they told their deans to suspend less, regardless of the consequences.
Who wins when these things happen? It’s not the teacher that can’t teach, the children that can’t learn or the children who don’t receive consequences for their actions? It’s the school board who can point to deceptive statistics pat themselves on the back and say; look we’re doing a good job.
Continuing, the principal quoted in the piece said, “If a teacher is talking to a child rather than stopping instruction to write them up, then you get better results and you’re building relationships.”
The thing is which she must have forgotten is that teachers are already talking to the unruly students and probably a lot more than to the students who care about school. Please have a seat, please stop talking when I am talking, please pay attention, please stop bothering your neighbor, please stop screaming at me, and please stop cursing at me usually follows, if you want to talk I am here for you and what can I do to help.
Furthermore all the teachers I know only write up kids when they are forced to, when a student’s behavior is so badly or their defiance is so great that teachers have no other choice. Also while the teacher is spending so much time on the unruly student, who do you think is being neglected? I’ll tell you it’s the students who want to be there that are.
If keeping little Johnny in my class means, Linda, Michael, Bob and Allen can’t learn, then little Johnny has to go.
I had a parent teacher conference a few weeks back where the parent was very angry with me accusing me of singling out her child. He had been written up nine times, seven by me, one by a sub and one by another teacher. This child, a second year freshmen also had six F’s and one D on his report card the first nine weeks and at the conference I brought e-mails about this student from all his other teachers, saying he didn’t do any work and didn’t behave in their classes either. I reasoned to the mother, who cares most about this student, the person who just accepts their behavior or the person who says enough is enough, you need to improve. At the mother’s insistence he is now in another class and his grades and behavior are as bad as ever.
Offering no consequences for behavior doesn’t seem to be working. If you want proof sit in on a tenth grade geometry class or ninth grade reading class at your average turn around school. Or look in the streets and jails of our city. How about we try the opposite and give some consequences including suspensions for bad behavior, it seemed to work for our parents and our grandparents.
When the Times Union prints these misleading puff pieces on behalf of the school board it does their readers, the citizens of Jacksonville and most importantly the children of Jacksonville a disservice. The Times Union should write an article about how the school board and the school system here in Jacksonville is in trouble, deep trouble and we need the help of the whole community to turn it around because if we don’t things are going to get worse much worse. That story would at least be accurate.
“School suspensions drop dramatically” was the headline of the December 8th issue of the Florida Times Union. Good news right! Reading this the people of Jacksonville might think things are “dramatically better” here in Duval County sadly however that is far from accurate. All it is another case of smoke and mirrors propagated by the Duval County School Board. This time however they had accomplices as the Times Union and education writer Topher Sanders refused to bring up any issues of substance.
Such as how are suspensions down 71 percent but referrals down only 30? In the past were administrators just suspending students at the drop of a hat? How have teachers written over 19,000 referrals but less than fifteen percent have resulted in suspensions, are teachers writing students up for the most trivial of offences? The article said thirteen hundred children have been referred to the suspension centers, but it doesn’t say how many have actually attended? Even if they all attended which is extremely doubtful wouldn’t that mean the suspension centers are operating at less than five percent of their capacity? Did we waste two million dollars in their creation? If these students aren’t technically suspended and they aren’t in schools what are they? Why hasn’t the school board just said, refer all suspended children to the suspension centers. This by their computing process would eliminate all suspensions. A 71% drop is great but a 100% drop is even better.
Would you like to know some reasons why referrals are down here in Duval County? Well make sure your tables are in their upright position and you have strapped yourself in, because you are about to go on a wild ride.
The biggest reason there are fewer suspensions is because some teachers have stopped writing children up. Quite frankly nothing happens too many of them when they do so. Students rarely receive appropriate consequences for their behavior and even freshmen psychology students will tell you that often leads to worse behavior. Furthermore teachers are afraid to write up children. If they write to many referrals then their classroom management skills are questioned and that can affect their evaluations. So instead many teachers just endure little Johnny or little Suzie’s disruptive, disrespectful and defiant behavior. Sadly however they aren’t the only ones that have to do so; it’s the other children in the class who have come to learn who have to endure it too.
Suspensions are also happening less because suspending kids affect a schools grade. The school board would rather keep misbehaving children in school without real consequences for their behavior, again despite the fact this practically ensures the behavior will repeat and worsen. And it doesn’t matter to them that this also robs parents of the opportunity to be parental and steals instruction time from children to whom school is important. Meeting their self imposed benchmark and looking better in the eyes of the state, not teachers and students are apparently their chief concern.
Referrals are being ignored. Boxes of unprocessed referrals were recently found at my school and where I can’t say with a certainty this happens elsewhere I wouldn’t be surprised, but I do know that more than half the referrals I write I never get back.
Finally suspensions are happening less because the school board told principals to suspend less and they told their deans to suspend less, regardless of the consequences.
Who wins when these things happen? It’s not the teacher that can’t teach, the children that can’t learn or the children who don’t receive consequences for their actions? It’s the school board who can point to deceptive statistics pat themselves on the back and say; look we’re doing a good job.
Continuing, the principal quoted in the piece said, “If a teacher is talking to a child rather than stopping instruction to write them up, then you get better results and you’re building relationships.”
The thing is which she must have forgotten is that teachers are already talking to the unruly students and probably a lot more than to the students who care about school. Please have a seat, please stop talking when I am talking, please pay attention, please stop bothering your neighbor, please stop screaming at me, and please stop cursing at me usually follows, if you want to talk I am here for you and what can I do to help.
Furthermore all the teachers I know only write up kids when they are forced to, when a student’s behavior is so badly or their defiance is so great that teachers have no other choice. Also while the teacher is spending so much time on the unruly student, who do you think is being neglected? I’ll tell you it’s the students who want to be there that are.
If keeping little Johnny in my class means, Linda, Michael, Bob and Allen can’t learn, then little Johnny has to go.
I had a parent teacher conference a few weeks back where the parent was very angry with me accusing me of singling out her child. He had been written up nine times, seven by me, one by a sub and one by another teacher. This child, a second year freshmen also had six F’s and one D on his report card the first nine weeks and at the conference I brought e-mails about this student from all his other teachers, saying he didn’t do any work and didn’t behave in their classes either. I reasoned to the mother, who cares most about this student, the person who just accepts their behavior or the person who says enough is enough, you need to improve. At the mother’s insistence he is now in another class and his grades and behavior are as bad as ever.
Offering no consequences for behavior doesn’t seem to be working. If you want proof sit in on a tenth grade geometry class or ninth grade reading class at your average turn around school. Or look in the streets and jails of our city. How about we try the opposite and give some consequences including suspensions for bad behavior, it seemed to work for our parents and our grandparents.
When the Times Union prints these misleading puff pieces on behalf of the school board it does their readers, the citizens of Jacksonville and most importantly the children of Jacksonville a disservice. The Times Union should write an article about how the school board and the school system here in Jacksonville is in trouble, deep trouble and we need the help of the whole community to turn it around because if we don’t things are going to get worse much worse. That story would at least be accurate.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
I hope you get me, if you read one, I hope it is this one
Often when I read a piece about teaching from the Times Union editorial staff I roll my eyes and sigh. I wonder to myself how they would feel if came in and told them how to edit a piece or that the way they wrote their editorials was all-wrong. I wonder what they would think if I said, the number one goal of the Times Union should be to improve its editorial staff. Now sometimes they get it right but they showed today was not one of those days when they wrote, The American people get it. Improving the quality of teaching should be the No. 1 goal of American education. The truth is the American people do not get it and neither does the editor who wrote the piece.
I do get it though. The public education system in the United States is failing and teachers are the ones on the front line. The last decade has seen education produce a generation of kids ill prepared for either college or the work force and seen the United State's standing in the world drop dramatically. Citizens, and rightfully so, are tired of crime in their streets and a lack of civility in our neighborhoods and in our stores, something that education needs to take at least some responsibility for. Likewise they look at the KIPP and other charter schools and see amazing things happening and wonder why that can’t be replicated at PS this or PS that. Then they hear about things like vouchers and merit pay and I admit in a vacuum they sound like good ideas and wonder why teachers as a whole are resistant. Furthermore there has been a well coordinated and I believe very misinformed campaign to improve teacher quality, waged by prominent Americans like Bill Gates, Mike Bloomberg and even President Obama among others. I get it, Americans are tired of kids failing and dropping out, they are tired of kids that can’t read or do much more than play video games and the person standing in front of them with a “who me” look on their face isn’t Alfred E. Newman it’s a teacher. I understand their frustration, I feel their angst and I too worry about the future.
What the public doesn’t get and what the author of today’s editorial doesn’t get, is where teacher quality should always be an issue and we should always strive to put our best and brightest in the classroom, is the fact they have been hood winked, as we already have many of our best and brightest and perhaps just as important willing already in our schools. Sure there are bad teachers and we should do our best to remove them but nothing will improve as long as we continue to do things the way we are doing them now.
You ever wonder why the school district hasn’t just switched the faculty at Stanton one of the best schools in the whole country with one of the faculties at Ribault, Raines, Jackson or Forrest high schools, supposedly some of the worse that are about the same size. Why haven’t they done it, just pulled the trigger? Well it’s because they know it wouldn’t make the slightest difference. At the end of the day Stanton would still be one of the best schools in the nation and those others would still be struggling. Friends it’s not teachers that are destroying the American education system, it’s the policy makers, those in far off ivory towers many of who have never been in a classroom or if so it was in an era long past that are in the process of signing educations death warrant.
Teaching is the only profession I can think of run by non teachers and the only profession that anybody thinks they can do. Where is the man on the street when it comes to cancer, it’s been around for a while, shouldn’t doctors have cured it by now, you know what doctor quality must be a problem, lets replace all the doctors. Firemen and the police by-in-large, contractors, garbage workers, scientists, and engineers, and speaking of engineers where is my jet pack, if Gilligan had one in the seventies we should all have one now, the quality of our engineers must be abysmal, all get a pass from the man on the street and the editor typing away but teachers don’t.
Also if teaching is so easy, why do forty percent of teachers not last five years. If teaching is so easy why until the economy soured was there always a shortage, and if teaching is so easy, what were the five teachers who quit my school before the first nine weeks was over thinking? The truth is teaching is not easy, there are no summers off anymore and very few, despite the day for most starts well before nine, are home by five.
The system has put teachers in impossible situations and then told the public to point their fingers at them and demands their heads when they can’t succeed, well the system and editors of papers that is. Neither of who, actually get it.
Teachers did not decide to destroy discipline, I had a kid put his hands on me earlier this week and threaten to beat me up and because I was to slow getting the referal to the office they sent this charming young man back to his class and then when I asked a dean to come with me to confront another young man who refuses to come back to class after lunch, I was told she couldn’t be bothered.
Teachers did not put all kids into a one size fits all curriculum. Why are kids who want to work with their hands or who are interested in the liberal arts forced to take classes they aren’t only interested in but will never use. Not every kid is going to go to college and we need to start servicing their needs instead of sitting back and hoping somebody comes along with a magic wand and turns them into the kids we wish we had. Friends we have the kids we have, not the kids we wish we had and must plan accordingly.
Teachers did not systematically strip away the joy of learning from many children. Electives, the arts and trades have disappeared from many schools and we are forcing kids who we should be elated by if they read a comic book to read Ethan Frome or some other classic they neither want to nor can relate to.
Teachers did not decide that the massive volume of paper work that have very little to do with actual teaching is what they should be doing, nor did they decide to strip out their creativity and flexibility to adhere to learning schedules and pacing guides.
Teachers did not decide to institute high stakes testing, which is all education has become. They know a test should be a component of education not the end all be all that it is today.
Teachers did not put so many kids, influenced by their neighborhoods abandoned by their parents into yet one more no win situation, their schools. No friends, that was you man and woman on the street and editor of the paper, you did it by allowing special interests to hijack and people who have no business being anywhere near a school to be in charge of education, you did it, teachers are just playing the hand you dealt to them.
That’s not to say teachers haven’t done some things. Teachers did decide to enter the profession because they wanted to help children and because they wanted to make a difference, not to get rich or garner some authority or celebrity. Teachers also decided to sacrifice their precious time and money for the sake of their students often while their own children wait in extended day or go without and teachers by and large are doing the best they can with what they have been given, which sadly in many cases is not that much. It's should be a credit to the fine men and women who show up everyday, underappreciated and the targets of the uninformed that they are holding things together as well as they are. This is what the public and Times Union editors should get about teachers. This is what they should think about before they start talking about improving teacher quality.
Paraphrasing Lieutenant Colonel Martin Jessup: Friends we live in a country that has schools many of which are struggling and those schools have to be manned with teachers. You going to do it man on the street, you going to do it editor of the newspaper? Teachers have a greater responsibility than you can fathom. You might weep for those children left behind and fallen through the cracks, I weep too but you have a luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. Because you don’t know the truth, because you do not want to know the truth.
I hope you get me, because anybody who feels teacher quality is the problem, obviously doesn't get what is happening in our schools.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
I do get it though. The public education system in the United States is failing and teachers are the ones on the front line. The last decade has seen education produce a generation of kids ill prepared for either college or the work force and seen the United State's standing in the world drop dramatically. Citizens, and rightfully so, are tired of crime in their streets and a lack of civility in our neighborhoods and in our stores, something that education needs to take at least some responsibility for. Likewise they look at the KIPP and other charter schools and see amazing things happening and wonder why that can’t be replicated at PS this or PS that. Then they hear about things like vouchers and merit pay and I admit in a vacuum they sound like good ideas and wonder why teachers as a whole are resistant. Furthermore there has been a well coordinated and I believe very misinformed campaign to improve teacher quality, waged by prominent Americans like Bill Gates, Mike Bloomberg and even President Obama among others. I get it, Americans are tired of kids failing and dropping out, they are tired of kids that can’t read or do much more than play video games and the person standing in front of them with a “who me” look on their face isn’t Alfred E. Newman it’s a teacher. I understand their frustration, I feel their angst and I too worry about the future.
What the public doesn’t get and what the author of today’s editorial doesn’t get, is where teacher quality should always be an issue and we should always strive to put our best and brightest in the classroom, is the fact they have been hood winked, as we already have many of our best and brightest and perhaps just as important willing already in our schools. Sure there are bad teachers and we should do our best to remove them but nothing will improve as long as we continue to do things the way we are doing them now.
You ever wonder why the school district hasn’t just switched the faculty at Stanton one of the best schools in the whole country with one of the faculties at Ribault, Raines, Jackson or Forrest high schools, supposedly some of the worse that are about the same size. Why haven’t they done it, just pulled the trigger? Well it’s because they know it wouldn’t make the slightest difference. At the end of the day Stanton would still be one of the best schools in the nation and those others would still be struggling. Friends it’s not teachers that are destroying the American education system, it’s the policy makers, those in far off ivory towers many of who have never been in a classroom or if so it was in an era long past that are in the process of signing educations death warrant.
Teaching is the only profession I can think of run by non teachers and the only profession that anybody thinks they can do. Where is the man on the street when it comes to cancer, it’s been around for a while, shouldn’t doctors have cured it by now, you know what doctor quality must be a problem, lets replace all the doctors. Firemen and the police by-in-large, contractors, garbage workers, scientists, and engineers, and speaking of engineers where is my jet pack, if Gilligan had one in the seventies we should all have one now, the quality of our engineers must be abysmal, all get a pass from the man on the street and the editor typing away but teachers don’t.
Also if teaching is so easy, why do forty percent of teachers not last five years. If teaching is so easy why until the economy soured was there always a shortage, and if teaching is so easy, what were the five teachers who quit my school before the first nine weeks was over thinking? The truth is teaching is not easy, there are no summers off anymore and very few, despite the day for most starts well before nine, are home by five.
The system has put teachers in impossible situations and then told the public to point their fingers at them and demands their heads when they can’t succeed, well the system and editors of papers that is. Neither of who, actually get it.
Teachers did not decide to destroy discipline, I had a kid put his hands on me earlier this week and threaten to beat me up and because I was to slow getting the referal to the office they sent this charming young man back to his class and then when I asked a dean to come with me to confront another young man who refuses to come back to class after lunch, I was told she couldn’t be bothered.
Teachers did not put all kids into a one size fits all curriculum. Why are kids who want to work with their hands or who are interested in the liberal arts forced to take classes they aren’t only interested in but will never use. Not every kid is going to go to college and we need to start servicing their needs instead of sitting back and hoping somebody comes along with a magic wand and turns them into the kids we wish we had. Friends we have the kids we have, not the kids we wish we had and must plan accordingly.
Teachers did not systematically strip away the joy of learning from many children. Electives, the arts and trades have disappeared from many schools and we are forcing kids who we should be elated by if they read a comic book to read Ethan Frome or some other classic they neither want to nor can relate to.
Teachers did not decide that the massive volume of paper work that have very little to do with actual teaching is what they should be doing, nor did they decide to strip out their creativity and flexibility to adhere to learning schedules and pacing guides.
Teachers did not decide to institute high stakes testing, which is all education has become. They know a test should be a component of education not the end all be all that it is today.
Teachers did not put so many kids, influenced by their neighborhoods abandoned by their parents into yet one more no win situation, their schools. No friends, that was you man and woman on the street and editor of the paper, you did it by allowing special interests to hijack and people who have no business being anywhere near a school to be in charge of education, you did it, teachers are just playing the hand you dealt to them.
That’s not to say teachers haven’t done some things. Teachers did decide to enter the profession because they wanted to help children and because they wanted to make a difference, not to get rich or garner some authority or celebrity. Teachers also decided to sacrifice their precious time and money for the sake of their students often while their own children wait in extended day or go without and teachers by and large are doing the best they can with what they have been given, which sadly in many cases is not that much. It's should be a credit to the fine men and women who show up everyday, underappreciated and the targets of the uninformed that they are holding things together as well as they are. This is what the public and Times Union editors should get about teachers. This is what they should think about before they start talking about improving teacher quality.
Paraphrasing Lieutenant Colonel Martin Jessup: Friends we live in a country that has schools many of which are struggling and those schools have to be manned with teachers. You going to do it man on the street, you going to do it editor of the newspaper? Teachers have a greater responsibility than you can fathom. You might weep for those children left behind and fallen through the cracks, I weep too but you have a luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. Because you don’t know the truth, because you do not want to know the truth.
I hope you get me, because anybody who feels teacher quality is the problem, obviously doesn't get what is happening in our schools.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
More of the same, School Board excludes the public
The following was in the November 9th issue of the Times Union:
The Duval County School Board is holding a special meeting at 10 a.m. today in Room 613 of the School Administration Building at 1701 Prudential Drive. The board will hold a public hearing before it votes on updates to its official policies.
The board will consider incorporating into its policies the process used to create, review and amend the district strategic plan, update the responsibilities and authority of the board, update the policy that governs professional development for non-instructional personnel, and update the policy to require all comprehensive high schools have an acceleration program.
I hope everybody sees the problems with this. First the school board announces the meeting to the public on the day of the meeting. Then they have the meeting at a time that practically ensures nobody can or will come. This my friends is not how government is supposed to work and I have to say it severely diminishes my optimism for this new board that for the first time in a long time actually has members who have worked in local classrooms.
If we want things to improve for our schools and our children, the school board is undoubtedly going to have to include the public, not think of creative ways that exclude them. They must change their ways and stop paying lip service to the citizens of Jacksonville.
I am reminded of a quote from one of our national treasures, Mark Twain, who was hopefully being studied somewhere as the new school board decided to leave out the public during their very first meeting. “First God created idiots; that was for practice, then he created the school board.”
I will hope for better but sadly after seeing how the school board has been run for the last decade and one meeting, I will prepare myself for more of the same. "
The Duval County School Board is holding a special meeting at 10 a.m. today in Room 613 of the School Administration Building at 1701 Prudential Drive. The board will hold a public hearing before it votes on updates to its official policies.
The board will consider incorporating into its policies the process used to create, review and amend the district strategic plan, update the responsibilities and authority of the board, update the policy that governs professional development for non-instructional personnel, and update the policy to require all comprehensive high schools have an acceleration program.
I hope everybody sees the problems with this. First the school board announces the meeting to the public on the day of the meeting. Then they have the meeting at a time that practically ensures nobody can or will come. This my friends is not how government is supposed to work and I have to say it severely diminishes my optimism for this new board that for the first time in a long time actually has members who have worked in local classrooms.
If we want things to improve for our schools and our children, the school board is undoubtedly going to have to include the public, not think of creative ways that exclude them. They must change their ways and stop paying lip service to the citizens of Jacksonville.
I am reminded of a quote from one of our national treasures, Mark Twain, who was hopefully being studied somewhere as the new school board decided to leave out the public during their very first meeting. “First God created idiots; that was for practice, then he created the school board.”
I will hope for better but sadly after seeing how the school board has been run for the last decade and one meeting, I will prepare myself for more of the same. "
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Vote no on amendment 8
Look there are problems with the class size amendment. Electives, exempt from the amendment are going to become dumping grounds and holding pens for kids. Special education classes, which traditionally have been small, will see their numbers rise too. Despite these two glaring over sites I think it’s time we stopped letting the state off the hook and began to fund education properly.
The Times Union who has never met a teacher whose opinion they like had a different more reasonable take on why we should vote for it and that is it is going to cost money and it is. This is different from the powers-that-be, whom in a completely lack of genuineness have long acted like they were suddenly doing the state a favor by trying to roll back the class size amendment, they say in order to give school districts more flexibility. To bad they didn’t think about that when they were doubling the homestead exemption, allowing owners of multiple houses and snowbirds take advantage of it and dozens of other breaks to special interests. This isn’t a favor to districts it’s the desire to continue to do favors for special interests that suddenly has the state in a panic to roll back the class size amendment.
Though it’s right about there that the Times Union starts to be disingenuous. In the last eight years despite glaring problems during the same time the class size amendment began to be phased in, the state of Florida saw tremendous learning gains, and what the Times Union sees as reasonable many of the citizens of Florida, parents teachers, and children see as giving the state one more opportunity to shirk it's responsibility to provide a first class education to the children if Florida. Furthermore for every Harvard story (way to cherry pick a study Times Union) I can show you ten that say smaller classes lead to increased learning.
There are indeed problems with the class size amendment but there are even more problems with amendment 8 and chief is it was written by people who don’t really care about education or the states children.
Don’t let them off the hook, insist the state takes education seriously, and insist they tell our children that they are important
The Times Union who has never met a teacher whose opinion they like had a different more reasonable take on why we should vote for it and that is it is going to cost money and it is. This is different from the powers-that-be, whom in a completely lack of genuineness have long acted like they were suddenly doing the state a favor by trying to roll back the class size amendment, they say in order to give school districts more flexibility. To bad they didn’t think about that when they were doubling the homestead exemption, allowing owners of multiple houses and snowbirds take advantage of it and dozens of other breaks to special interests. This isn’t a favor to districts it’s the desire to continue to do favors for special interests that suddenly has the state in a panic to roll back the class size amendment.
Though it’s right about there that the Times Union starts to be disingenuous. In the last eight years despite glaring problems during the same time the class size amendment began to be phased in, the state of Florida saw tremendous learning gains, and what the Times Union sees as reasonable many of the citizens of Florida, parents teachers, and children see as giving the state one more opportunity to shirk it's responsibility to provide a first class education to the children if Florida. Furthermore for every Harvard story (way to cherry pick a study Times Union) I can show you ten that say smaller classes lead to increased learning.
There are indeed problems with the class size amendment but there are even more problems with amendment 8 and chief is it was written by people who don’t really care about education or the states children.
Don’t let them off the hook, insist the state takes education seriously, and insist they tell our children that they are important
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