In an article detailing the fact our most struggling schools are manned by novice teachers, W.C. Gentry said, it's "startling and totally unacceptable" that there are so many novice teachers in low-performing schools. Whats startling is he had no idea. I would say this was one of the worse kept secrets around accept it wasn’t anything close to a secret. Our most experienced teachers don’t want to work at our most struggling schools and the reasons are legion.
Mr. Gentry is the chairman of the board and has been on the board for eighteen plus months, how didn’t he know? This also comes on the heels of last weeks Betty Burney debacle where she cherry picked stats to try and make some self serving point. She was then quickly and summarily debunked by state officials. Friends, she is the vice chair of our school board and has been there six plus years, how didn't she know?. These are two of the people we have chosen to lead us out of the mess we are in and at the same time are two of the reasons we find ourselves in that exact same mess.
I will give Mr. Gentry and Mrs. Burney the benefit of the doubt and say their desire to help children is sincere. The problem is they enter their offices not knowing anything about the public schools and the system they are representing. Neither were teachers in Duval and their prior relationships to our school system are tenuous at best. It would be like me joining a law firm because I watch a lot of Law and Order. Whether it is hubris or they think the school bard would be a nice stepping stone to other political office as many other board members have done, they have put themselves in the position to lead us and it’s a position they are ill prepared for. Is it any surprise that their best solution for our intervening schools not only violates the law but doesn’t deal with the real issues facing the schools.
The situation is made worse by the fact that they get the vast majority of their information from the administration at 1701 Prudential drive who has every reason to put a positive slant on things. That must be where they are getting their information from because we know they are not in the schools every day. Whenever they do go all it is, is a photo op.
This truly is a situation that is startling and totally unacceptable but it’s not for the reasons W.C. gentry would have you believe.
Chris Guerrieri
Showing posts with label w.c. gentry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label w.c. gentry. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Buried in Paragraph 4
In the piece by Topher Sanders detailing W.C. Gentry apology to Education Commissioner Eric Smith for calling him untrustworthy and unreliable there were several interesting pieces.
First the school board plans to turn North Shore K-8 back into just an elementary school. Which to me seems like a good idea, 5 year olds and 14 not only have different issues and should probably have a little distance between them.
Next like a junk yard dog who refuses to give up an old bone, the school board announced they will continue with their plan to split the three high schools, into two each, smaller theme schools that share a common campus over the next three years, this at an additional cost of 1.4 million dollars.
Betty Burney opened her mouth in the piece and said something about, it being about the kids, as if that has ever been a real concern of hers. After all she has been on the board for six plus years now and the problems we had on her day one are still the problems we still have on her day 2000.
Then way down on paragraph four, something highly interesting was mentioned. To me it was if the first signs of intelligent life were discovered or the hammer and the nail were now finally in the same vicinity. The district said for the new schools, they will recruit students, train teachers, put in place new electives, hire specialized personnel and coordinators and improve the rigor of programming in each school's feeder schools. It was the last part; improve the rigor of programming in each school's feeder schools that caused an alarm to go off. Could it be the district is finally getting a semblance of what they should do? Though I still have reservations if they know what that means.
You see kids don’t show up at high school and suddenly lose the ability to read or do math at grade level. No they show up without the skills they need. They are pushed along until they get to high school and there is nowhere else to push them to. I do not blame their teachers for this by the way; their hands have been tied by an administration which cares more about stats than children.
This transformation will mean the district can no longer subtly cajole teachers into giving gentlemen’s c or passing kids without the skills they need to be successful. They will have to trust that their teachers are failing kids that deserve it instead of giving them arbitrary percentages they can’t exceed. They will also have to provide more after school opportunities and legitimate summer school opportunities for the kids who are trying but either don’t get it or need more help. Then for some, heck probably for quite a few it will mean they will have to repeat a grade or two and the district will have to be okay with that.
There will also have to be more discipline in the feeder schools. You can have all the rigor you want and the best teacher too but if kids are running wild then no effective learning can occur. This means teachers will have to be able to write referrals and administrators will have to be okay with that and give kids real and meaningful consequences for their behavior something the district has loathed to do up to this point.
If the district is serious about putting more rigor in the feeder schools and I really hope they are, they should know it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to take a different way of thinking and doing things because for a long time the feeder schools have been pushing kids along without the skills they need, discipline and a work ethic.
There it was all the way down in paragraph four and at the end of it too. Almost like an afterthought what I, many teachers and people concerned with education think is the beginning of the solution to our education problems.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
First the school board plans to turn North Shore K-8 back into just an elementary school. Which to me seems like a good idea, 5 year olds and 14 not only have different issues and should probably have a little distance between them.
Next like a junk yard dog who refuses to give up an old bone, the school board announced they will continue with their plan to split the three high schools, into two each, smaller theme schools that share a common campus over the next three years, this at an additional cost of 1.4 million dollars.
Betty Burney opened her mouth in the piece and said something about, it being about the kids, as if that has ever been a real concern of hers. After all she has been on the board for six plus years now and the problems we had on her day one are still the problems we still have on her day 2000.
Then way down on paragraph four, something highly interesting was mentioned. To me it was if the first signs of intelligent life were discovered or the hammer and the nail were now finally in the same vicinity. The district said for the new schools, they will recruit students, train teachers, put in place new electives, hire specialized personnel and coordinators and improve the rigor of programming in each school's feeder schools. It was the last part; improve the rigor of programming in each school's feeder schools that caused an alarm to go off. Could it be the district is finally getting a semblance of what they should do? Though I still have reservations if they know what that means.
You see kids don’t show up at high school and suddenly lose the ability to read or do math at grade level. No they show up without the skills they need. They are pushed along until they get to high school and there is nowhere else to push them to. I do not blame their teachers for this by the way; their hands have been tied by an administration which cares more about stats than children.
This transformation will mean the district can no longer subtly cajole teachers into giving gentlemen’s c or passing kids without the skills they need to be successful. They will have to trust that their teachers are failing kids that deserve it instead of giving them arbitrary percentages they can’t exceed. They will also have to provide more after school opportunities and legitimate summer school opportunities for the kids who are trying but either don’t get it or need more help. Then for some, heck probably for quite a few it will mean they will have to repeat a grade or two and the district will have to be okay with that.
There will also have to be more discipline in the feeder schools. You can have all the rigor you want and the best teacher too but if kids are running wild then no effective learning can occur. This means teachers will have to be able to write referrals and administrators will have to be okay with that and give kids real and meaningful consequences for their behavior something the district has loathed to do up to this point.
If the district is serious about putting more rigor in the feeder schools and I really hope they are, they should know it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to take a different way of thinking and doing things because for a long time the feeder schools have been pushing kids along without the skills they need, discipline and a work ethic.
There it was all the way down in paragraph four and at the end of it too. Almost like an afterthought what I, many teachers and people concerned with education think is the beginning of the solution to our education problems.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Friday, February 4, 2011
The DCSB becomes unhinged
I found it ironic that I was reading; Members of the Duval County School Board expressed growing frustration Thursday with the state's laws and the education commissioner, with some questioning his trustworthiness. Especially since much of the city is also incredibly frustrated with the school board and we not only question their trustworthiness but their competence too.
They were talking about the prospect of the state both closing four of our schools and the fact the commissioner wasn’t willing to just accept the latest half baked plan the school board came up with to fix them, which in case you missed it is to turn them into two theme schools that shared the same campus.
I neither think they should nor want the state to force those schools to close or be taken over but if you are rational I think you can probably see their point. This date of no return wasn’t issued a week ago, on the contrary it has been on the books for years. Furthermore the solution the school board is proposing, is both not one of the options given but worse than that is the fact it is no real solution at all. How do we expect the kids to do well at two theme schools when they aren’t doing well or well enough in the states eyes at the schools as they are now? The school board is not addressing the problem which is how do kids get to high school without the ability to read or do math at an appropriate level and without the skills they need to be successful, instead they are just trying to buy time until their shipment of magic dust arrives. That also might be the number one reason the state closes the schools, the school board is not rationale. A reasonable person after reading the quotes by them in the paper might think a few of them have become unhinged.
Gentry said. “..the law regarding struggling schools was designed to kill neighborhood schools by putting them on a "death spiral" of options that ends in their closure.” Well sir what do you call the fact that only about ten percent of the sophomores at the three high schools can read at grade level, is that the equivalent of a head ache or a sprain to you? And when you wrote about bussing, well sir, that quite frankly was way over the top."We will again be busing predominately black kids out of their neighborhoods and spreading them all through the school system." Well in case you missed it Mr. Gentry over three thousand kids that could already be attending those schools have chosen to go elsewhere. They in effect are already bussing themselves out of those neighborhoods and spreading themselves all through the school system.
Then Paula Wright, who I had great hope for when elected, said "It's been terribly frustrating because you're working with a program that's researched-based and ready to work, but working against a system that is determined not to let them work." Um excuse me but your statement has more holes in it than a colander. If it is so proven to work why haven’t we done it before and no program will work if the kids don’t have the basic skills it takes to be successful. She then said she has faith in the community. I myself have hope for the community but it is hard to have faith in the community that for a decade now has allowed a massive exodus from these schools and is willing to buy whatever the school board is selling (how well has that worked for the last 30 years by the way).
Next Betty Burney said "I understand when things are political, and I think the commissioner is trying to satisfy a political front, and I'm trying to deal with things on the education front, and the two just don't mix." Whoa, an education front, she wrote, well I remind everybody she has been working on this education front for six plus years now and we currently find the school system on the abyss of losing four schools. If she were a teacher she would be on an action plan and things would not be looking good for her. As for this being about politics, I have no illusions that the state is a friend of ours but I have firsthand knowledge that the school boards solutions to the problem for all of Mrs. Burney’s term in office has been the equivalent of throwing paint against a wall and hoping some of it sticks.
Then there was Tommy Hazouri a lifelong politician who will probably run for dog catcher once he has been term limited out of the school board. He said about the commissioner, “His responses were vague, if responses at all, with no answers,” ironically that’s pretty much what we can say about the solutions that he and the board are proposing, it’s no answer.
The only one of the group that had anything of any substance to say was Becki Couch. She said, "My frustration lies more with the focus from the state level [being only on] what the law says, and that's not really what's best for kids," She was right there, the law is not what is in the best interest of children. However what is best for the kids can't be found in the school boards, two school solution. The kids need structure, they need discipline, they need additional legitimate opportunities to learn the material and they don’t need to be pushed along without the basic skills they need. Mrs. Couch also said”… the state is not connected to reality.” She is right again but unfortunately, as I hope I have pointed out above, the state isn’t the only one who has come unhinged.
Friends we have real problems and we need real solutions. If the school board is not going to be part of this process they should get out of the way. Our city and its children can’t take much more.
They were talking about the prospect of the state both closing four of our schools and the fact the commissioner wasn’t willing to just accept the latest half baked plan the school board came up with to fix them, which in case you missed it is to turn them into two theme schools that shared the same campus.
I neither think they should nor want the state to force those schools to close or be taken over but if you are rational I think you can probably see their point. This date of no return wasn’t issued a week ago, on the contrary it has been on the books for years. Furthermore the solution the school board is proposing, is both not one of the options given but worse than that is the fact it is no real solution at all. How do we expect the kids to do well at two theme schools when they aren’t doing well or well enough in the states eyes at the schools as they are now? The school board is not addressing the problem which is how do kids get to high school without the ability to read or do math at an appropriate level and without the skills they need to be successful, instead they are just trying to buy time until their shipment of magic dust arrives. That also might be the number one reason the state closes the schools, the school board is not rationale. A reasonable person after reading the quotes by them in the paper might think a few of them have become unhinged.
Gentry said. “..the law regarding struggling schools was designed to kill neighborhood schools by putting them on a "death spiral" of options that ends in their closure.” Well sir what do you call the fact that only about ten percent of the sophomores at the three high schools can read at grade level, is that the equivalent of a head ache or a sprain to you? And when you wrote about bussing, well sir, that quite frankly was way over the top."We will again be busing predominately black kids out of their neighborhoods and spreading them all through the school system." Well in case you missed it Mr. Gentry over three thousand kids that could already be attending those schools have chosen to go elsewhere. They in effect are already bussing themselves out of those neighborhoods and spreading themselves all through the school system.
Then Paula Wright, who I had great hope for when elected, said "It's been terribly frustrating because you're working with a program that's researched-based and ready to work, but working against a system that is determined not to let them work." Um excuse me but your statement has more holes in it than a colander. If it is so proven to work why haven’t we done it before and no program will work if the kids don’t have the basic skills it takes to be successful. She then said she has faith in the community. I myself have hope for the community but it is hard to have faith in the community that for a decade now has allowed a massive exodus from these schools and is willing to buy whatever the school board is selling (how well has that worked for the last 30 years by the way).
Next Betty Burney said "I understand when things are political, and I think the commissioner is trying to satisfy a political front, and I'm trying to deal with things on the education front, and the two just don't mix." Whoa, an education front, she wrote, well I remind everybody she has been working on this education front for six plus years now and we currently find the school system on the abyss of losing four schools. If she were a teacher she would be on an action plan and things would not be looking good for her. As for this being about politics, I have no illusions that the state is a friend of ours but I have firsthand knowledge that the school boards solutions to the problem for all of Mrs. Burney’s term in office has been the equivalent of throwing paint against a wall and hoping some of it sticks.
Then there was Tommy Hazouri a lifelong politician who will probably run for dog catcher once he has been term limited out of the school board. He said about the commissioner, “His responses were vague, if responses at all, with no answers,” ironically that’s pretty much what we can say about the solutions that he and the board are proposing, it’s no answer.
The only one of the group that had anything of any substance to say was Becki Couch. She said, "My frustration lies more with the focus from the state level [being only on] what the law says, and that's not really what's best for kids," She was right there, the law is not what is in the best interest of children. However what is best for the kids can't be found in the school boards, two school solution. The kids need structure, they need discipline, they need additional legitimate opportunities to learn the material and they don’t need to be pushed along without the basic skills they need. Mrs. Couch also said”… the state is not connected to reality.” She is right again but unfortunately, as I hope I have pointed out above, the state isn’t the only one who has come unhinged.
Friends we have real problems and we need real solutions. If the school board is not going to be part of this process they should get out of the way. Our city and its children can’t take much more.
Monday, January 24, 2011
W.C. Gentry Shows School Boards True Colors
School Board chair W.C. Genty showed the Duval County Public Schools school board’s true colors today and that’s they are just a rubber stamp for the administration. He did so when he said, “the consensus of the board was to push forward with whatever plan they decide on…” Not this plan or that plan, but whatever plan.
They is the administration. What he is talking about is what to do with our four continuously failing schools, his answer again was, “Push forward with whatever they decide.” In case you didn’t know it the options of what they could do are both varied and numerous but that obviously doesn’t matter. “Push forward with whatever they decide.” These are his words.
Until recently the school board has been made up of casual observers filled with hubris and politicians on the way up or way down (W.C. Gentry himself didn’t run for school board until after a failed state senate bid) and their lack of leadership and rubber stamping whatever the administration puts forth as the gospel is one of the biggest reasons we find ourselves in the education hole we are in. In case Mr. Gentry might not know it but it is not only his and the boards responsibility to understand the problems facing our education system but to also represent the cities children, parents, stakeholders and even it's teachers too. Not just the high priced, low result crew that has taken over the palace on the banks of the St. Johns river and whatever they say.
It’s ridiculous that they would rubber stamp whatever proposal the administration put forth without any investigation or thought and him saying that is what they are going to do, makes me think they don't understand the problem and made no effort to do so. As you send your children to school tomorrow, remember his words, "Push forward with whatever they decide to do." and as you do so maybe you will wonder like me, why do we even have a school board.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
They is the administration. What he is talking about is what to do with our four continuously failing schools, his answer again was, “Push forward with whatever they decide.” In case you didn’t know it the options of what they could do are both varied and numerous but that obviously doesn’t matter. “Push forward with whatever they decide.” These are his words.
Until recently the school board has been made up of casual observers filled with hubris and politicians on the way up or way down (W.C. Gentry himself didn’t run for school board until after a failed state senate bid) and their lack of leadership and rubber stamping whatever the administration puts forth as the gospel is one of the biggest reasons we find ourselves in the education hole we are in. In case Mr. Gentry might not know it but it is not only his and the boards responsibility to understand the problems facing our education system but to also represent the cities children, parents, stakeholders and even it's teachers too. Not just the high priced, low result crew that has taken over the palace on the banks of the St. Johns river and whatever they say.
It’s ridiculous that they would rubber stamp whatever proposal the administration put forth without any investigation or thought and him saying that is what they are going to do, makes me think they don't understand the problem and made no effort to do so. As you send your children to school tomorrow, remember his words, "Push forward with whatever they decide to do." and as you do so maybe you will wonder like me, why do we even have a school board.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Monday, November 29, 2010
Like a broke clock sometimes gets it right so to did school board member W.C. Gentry
Like a broke clock sometimes gets it right so to did school board member W.C. Gentry. In case you missed it he wrote about how it is truly hard to quantify if a teacher is doing a good job in an editorial to the Times Union, Demagoguery no answer to problems of education. The truth is there are so many factors, many out of the teacher’s hands that come into play while teaching. Furthermore I can attest to the seeming randomness of teacher’s evaluation. Where I believe I do a pretty good job, in the last five years I have been high performing once, needs improvement once and satisfactory three times. Where I have had momentary ups and downs, I think overall my performance has been pretty consistent. Good with the kids, bad with the paperwork.
As an occasional critic of the school board I think it would be disingenuous of me to ignore it when they or a member get it right. Don’t worry though, since this is rare I am not hurting my hand writing these type pieces but I thought it was important I mention that I agree with and appreciate W.C. Gentry’s stance on this issue.
Now Mr. Gentry how about getting it right about discipline, curriculum, how we treat many of our disabled children and about a dozen other things that are holding back our school district too. The list is long sir; it’s time you and the rest of the board got working.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
As an occasional critic of the school board I think it would be disingenuous of me to ignore it when they or a member get it right. Don’t worry though, since this is rare I am not hurting my hand writing these type pieces but I thought it was important I mention that I agree with and appreciate W.C. Gentry’s stance on this issue.
Now Mr. Gentry how about getting it right about discipline, curriculum, how we treat many of our disabled children and about a dozen other things that are holding back our school district too. The list is long sir; it’s time you and the rest of the board got working.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The Dog and Pony show: The school board visits Ribault High School
The school board paid a surprise visit to Ribault High School, accompanied by the Florida Times-Union and Action News. (I say 'surprise visit' not because Ribault didn’t know they were coming, but because many people probably weren’t aware that the school board did anything but follow lockstep behind the superintendent). There the school board met with 30 hand-picked students to discuss the issues facing Ribault High School. In case you were wondering, Dog and Pony Magazine rated this visit a five out of five.
Does the school board expect the public to think they care, because of this visit (their third visit to a school in the last ten months)? Talk about an easy schedule and part-time work... There they said they met with children who represented the student body - those from the A.P. classes, student council and ROTC classes. Ummm...I am sorry, but if they wanted to get a true representation of the student body, they should have met with children in the intensive reading and math classes, the kids with no electives on their schedules.
I hope nobody thinks I am being critical of Ribault. I have a friend who works there and she believes they are truly turning it around after years of mismanagement, and that they finally have a team that is headed in the right direction. I wish her luck. Unfortunately she, the rest of the staff, the students, and- heck- the community of Jacksonville itself will need it, as long as we allow this current school board to oversee the management of the county’s public schools.
The school board somehow got mixed up with what it is supposed to do. That’s what will happen when casual observers (filled to overflowing with hubris) want to get involved and politicians use the school board as a stepping stone. Both groups think more of the position as a line on the resume than as a sacred public trust. What they have either forgotten or don’t realize is that they don’t just represent Ed Pratt-Dannals and his high-priced team at 1701 Prudential Drive, they represent the teachers, the stakeholders and the parents of the city as well - or, they should, anyway. They can’t sit back and listen to the reports that come out of the downtown high-rise because they are all glowing reports; even the drop in the F-CAT was somebody else's fault. I'll bet Martha Barret (District 1) and Nancy Bronner asked him what score they should give him (out of 5) and he said, 'oh I don’t know; 4.7...5... something around there'.
They can’t be effective if they just hear his voice. Pratt-Dannals has 270,000 reasons (his salary) to put a positive spin on everything. Instead, they need to get out and talk to the people and three visits in ten months is unacceptable. What are we paying them for anyway? If you guessed 'to rubber stamp what Ed Pratt-Dannals wants', you are probably correct, because that’s all they have done - well, that and give him a $100,000 raise in the last three years.
Not only should the school board be willing to meet with three people standing on a street corner (if they asked), but they should also be in different schools every single day. If they were in my school, they would have found 120 kids and 6 substitute teachers in the auditorium doing nothing. If they were at another, they would have found that the teachers there were told parking on campus was a privilege. I could go on and on, because there are not just a million stories in the naked city - not in Jacksonville anyway - but because there are an equal amount on its school campuses as well. (Though, going to a school is just half the battle, because when they get there, they have to look, too).
Last year when the school board visited my school, they didn’t go anywhere near the trainable mentally handicapped classrooms where kids were packed in like sardines and where learning couldn’t occur. It’s because they didn’t want to see it. I don’t think they wanted to know, to look at the evidence - three school visits in ten months; hand-picked students and zero teacher forums.
When the school board visits schools, they can’t just meet with the hand-picked students either; as much as I think they wish it would, it doesn’t give the most accurate snapshot of what’s actually going on. Willie C. Barron, a two-sport athlete who is also enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program, was profiled in the Florida Times-Union piece; but, for some reason, I think if he was the typical student Ribault has, the school would not be experiencing many of its problems. According to the same article, W.C. Gentry wondered where the other kids were, saying, "if all the kids were like that, you have won the war". I will tell you where they are, Mr. Gentry; they are in their intensive math and reading classes having their joy of learning sucked out of them. Now, a few might be in electives, but not many, because draconian state cuts and policies have eliminated many of the electives.
If the school board is serious (something I doubt) about improving things and getting a real picture of what is going on, it also has to visit the classrooms and see what is happening there. Furthermore, they can’t give notice (months of notice) in the case for the school visits. They have to show up unannounced, and not even the principals should know. Then, they should also meet with teachers - though they will have to meet with most of them off the record and in secrecy, as many are afraid there will be repercussions if they tell about what is actually happening. I overheard a veteran teacher the other day consoling a new teacher who was at the end of her rope because of a not-so-pleasant conversation she had with an administrator. She was told that kids could not put their heads down after the umpteenth benchmark test - instead, she should have had "enrichment work" (i.e., "busywork") for them to do. Her veteran colleague told her to just keep her head down and avoid eye contact. The school board doesn’t want to know what teachers think, and I should know, because I have given them an opportunity to hear from them. I have organized a couple of teacher forums and invited W.C. Gentry and Brenda Priestly-Jackson to the next one. Sadly, they were too busy planning their one trip to a school in the last six months to respond.
Friends, we have serious problems - and we need serious people to solve them. Not people who look at the position of school board member as a line on a resume or as a stepping stone to something else. We shouldn’t look at the "Dog and Pony Show" as an example of how well the school board is doing their job. Instead, we should look at it like it is another blaring example of how they aren’t.
Does the school board expect the public to think they care, because of this visit (their third visit to a school in the last ten months)? Talk about an easy schedule and part-time work... There they said they met with children who represented the student body - those from the A.P. classes, student council and ROTC classes. Ummm...I am sorry, but if they wanted to get a true representation of the student body, they should have met with children in the intensive reading and math classes, the kids with no electives on their schedules.
I hope nobody thinks I am being critical of Ribault. I have a friend who works there and she believes they are truly turning it around after years of mismanagement, and that they finally have a team that is headed in the right direction. I wish her luck. Unfortunately she, the rest of the staff, the students, and- heck- the community of Jacksonville itself will need it, as long as we allow this current school board to oversee the management of the county’s public schools.
The school board somehow got mixed up with what it is supposed to do. That’s what will happen when casual observers (filled to overflowing with hubris) want to get involved and politicians use the school board as a stepping stone. Both groups think more of the position as a line on the resume than as a sacred public trust. What they have either forgotten or don’t realize is that they don’t just represent Ed Pratt-Dannals and his high-priced team at 1701 Prudential Drive, they represent the teachers, the stakeholders and the parents of the city as well - or, they should, anyway. They can’t sit back and listen to the reports that come out of the downtown high-rise because they are all glowing reports; even the drop in the F-CAT was somebody else's fault. I'll bet Martha Barret (District 1) and Nancy Bronner asked him what score they should give him (out of 5) and he said, 'oh I don’t know; 4.7...5... something around there'.
They can’t be effective if they just hear his voice. Pratt-Dannals has 270,000 reasons (his salary) to put a positive spin on everything. Instead, they need to get out and talk to the people and three visits in ten months is unacceptable. What are we paying them for anyway? If you guessed 'to rubber stamp what Ed Pratt-Dannals wants', you are probably correct, because that’s all they have done - well, that and give him a $100,000 raise in the last three years.
Not only should the school board be willing to meet with three people standing on a street corner (if they asked), but they should also be in different schools every single day. If they were in my school, they would have found 120 kids and 6 substitute teachers in the auditorium doing nothing. If they were at another, they would have found that the teachers there were told parking on campus was a privilege. I could go on and on, because there are not just a million stories in the naked city - not in Jacksonville anyway - but because there are an equal amount on its school campuses as well. (Though, going to a school is just half the battle, because when they get there, they have to look, too).
Last year when the school board visited my school, they didn’t go anywhere near the trainable mentally handicapped classrooms where kids were packed in like sardines and where learning couldn’t occur. It’s because they didn’t want to see it. I don’t think they wanted to know, to look at the evidence - three school visits in ten months; hand-picked students and zero teacher forums.
When the school board visits schools, they can’t just meet with the hand-picked students either; as much as I think they wish it would, it doesn’t give the most accurate snapshot of what’s actually going on. Willie C. Barron, a two-sport athlete who is also enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program, was profiled in the Florida Times-Union piece; but, for some reason, I think if he was the typical student Ribault has, the school would not be experiencing many of its problems. According to the same article, W.C. Gentry wondered where the other kids were, saying, "if all the kids were like that, you have won the war". I will tell you where they are, Mr. Gentry; they are in their intensive math and reading classes having their joy of learning sucked out of them. Now, a few might be in electives, but not many, because draconian state cuts and policies have eliminated many of the electives.
If the school board is serious (something I doubt) about improving things and getting a real picture of what is going on, it also has to visit the classrooms and see what is happening there. Furthermore, they can’t give notice (months of notice) in the case for the school visits. They have to show up unannounced, and not even the principals should know. Then, they should also meet with teachers - though they will have to meet with most of them off the record and in secrecy, as many are afraid there will be repercussions if they tell about what is actually happening. I overheard a veteran teacher the other day consoling a new teacher who was at the end of her rope because of a not-so-pleasant conversation she had with an administrator. She was told that kids could not put their heads down after the umpteenth benchmark test - instead, she should have had "enrichment work" (i.e., "busywork") for them to do. Her veteran colleague told her to just keep her head down and avoid eye contact. The school board doesn’t want to know what teachers think, and I should know, because I have given them an opportunity to hear from them. I have organized a couple of teacher forums and invited W.C. Gentry and Brenda Priestly-Jackson to the next one. Sadly, they were too busy planning their one trip to a school in the last six months to respond.
Friends, we have serious problems - and we need serious people to solve them. Not people who look at the position of school board member as a line on a resume or as a stepping stone to something else. We shouldn’t look at the "Dog and Pony Show" as an example of how well the school board is doing their job. Instead, we should look at it like it is another blaring example of how they aren’t.
Public Speaks about SB Ribault Trip: Not Pleased
The Times Union worote about a recent trip to Ribault high school. The topic burned up the TU message board. Below is a fairly typical well measure responce by Ballantine.
Ribault isn't an F school because of a broken computer in the Guidance Office, a shortage of textbooks, or insufficient college prep programs. It is an F school because of a “one size fits all” academic curriculum, and indifferent parents who produced sullen, lazy "students."
Belying the seriousness of the problems are the fatuous statements from people who should know better. For example, W. C. Gentry, a well educated professional, says, “I’m wondering where the other kids are. If the kids are like this, you’ve won the war.” You don’t have to wonder, Mr. Gentry, and you know they aren’t like the 30 selected to meet with you.
Then there’s W. C. Barron, a very promising student, who says, “We want the same programs they have at the beach.” W.C., the programs at the beach are available at Ribault—AP courses, dual enrollment, IB. Most of your classmates don't take advantage of what is already offered. The difference between Ribault and the beaches isn’t the number or kind of academic programs. The difference is the student body and their parents’ involvement. The parents of most of those filling a seat in a Ribault classroom don’t care about education in general, their children’s education in particular, or Ribault as an educational institution—and their children reflect their parents disinterest. What Ribault needs is a curriculum that serves the students we have, not the ones we wish we did. If an opportunity is what your classmates need, it is one that prepares them, not for a college campus they'll never walk, but for a vocation for life that is within their grasp.
Betty Burney tells the Select 30, “Do not let a label define you. Not any of you are F kids. Don’t let it get inside your head.” However, don’t forget that it is the abysmal performance of the student body that makes the label that’s applied to your school. You Select 30 have to overcome the stigma created by the overwhelming majority of your classmates. You've done your part. What are your classmates doing?
Ribault isn't an F school because of a broken computer in the Guidance Office, a shortage of textbooks, or insufficient college prep programs. It is an F school because of a “one size fits all” academic curriculum, and indifferent parents who produced sullen, lazy "students."
Belying the seriousness of the problems are the fatuous statements from people who should know better. For example, W. C. Gentry, a well educated professional, says, “I’m wondering where the other kids are. If the kids are like this, you’ve won the war.” You don’t have to wonder, Mr. Gentry, and you know they aren’t like the 30 selected to meet with you.
Then there’s W. C. Barron, a very promising student, who says, “We want the same programs they have at the beach.” W.C., the programs at the beach are available at Ribault—AP courses, dual enrollment, IB. Most of your classmates don't take advantage of what is already offered. The difference between Ribault and the beaches isn’t the number or kind of academic programs. The difference is the student body and their parents’ involvement. The parents of most of those filling a seat in a Ribault classroom don’t care about education in general, their children’s education in particular, or Ribault as an educational institution—and their children reflect their parents disinterest. What Ribault needs is a curriculum that serves the students we have, not the ones we wish we did. If an opportunity is what your classmates need, it is one that prepares them, not for a college campus they'll never walk, but for a vocation for life that is within their grasp.
Betty Burney tells the Select 30, “Do not let a label define you. Not any of you are F kids. Don’t let it get inside your head.” However, don’t forget that it is the abysmal performance of the student body that makes the label that’s applied to your school. You Select 30 have to overcome the stigma created by the overwhelming majority of your classmates. You've done your part. What are your classmates doing?
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Education Commentary
I thought Marvin Edwards’s commentary on local education was dead on. He is right the problems we are facing aren’t knew but sadly neither is our response to them. We keep electing the same type of leaders over and over. Our school board is still dominated by members of the political machine. All to often it is used as a stepping-stone for politicians on the way up or on the way down.
Tommy Hazouri has a long record of mediocrity, Stan Jordan left to run for state senate before his term was up, W.C. Gentry only ran for the school bard after a failed run at the state senate and Brenda Priestly Jackson recently announced she was running for the city council. What do they all have in common? Well like Eric Smith and Fel Lee two long time politicians who are running for the school board, they have either never been in a classroom or they were in one a very long time ago. If these are the types of leaders we repeatedly put on the school board is it any wonder we have such horrendous results.
Mr. Waters had another point about the money that the city has spent that could have gone to education but my question is what about the money that is dedicated to our school district that could have gone to education. Out superintendent, makes a hundred thousand dollars more than the mayor and as much as the superintendents in both St. Johns and Clay counties. The district spent a million dollars on new cars this year for it’s fleet of 520 cars. Thirty-two other employees most of who are on the superintendents inner circle and don’t work directly with children make over a hundred thousand dollars and we go through licensing agreements like water. Every few years there is some new software, computer program or miraculous education cure that the district uses only to replace when it proves ineffective. Then don’t get me started about the 750-person middle management that the district thinks it needs to perform its functions. These aren’t support or maintenance staff either but the amount of administrators the district has and like the superintendents inner circle they to don’t work directly with children.
I could go on and on adding to Mr. Waters’s points but then again I am the choir he was preaching to. I believe what he is saying and have seen the hopelessness on students, teachers and parents faces alike. Though that brings me to one problem he didn’t mention and that is the sad fact he is preaching to a very small choir. Unfortunately most people either don’t care or just don’t get how important education is. Our city and our children are suffering because of this.
Chris Guerrieri
Tommy Hazouri has a long record of mediocrity, Stan Jordan left to run for state senate before his term was up, W.C. Gentry only ran for the school bard after a failed run at the state senate and Brenda Priestly Jackson recently announced she was running for the city council. What do they all have in common? Well like Eric Smith and Fel Lee two long time politicians who are running for the school board, they have either never been in a classroom or they were in one a very long time ago. If these are the types of leaders we repeatedly put on the school board is it any wonder we have such horrendous results.
Mr. Waters had another point about the money that the city has spent that could have gone to education but my question is what about the money that is dedicated to our school district that could have gone to education. Out superintendent, makes a hundred thousand dollars more than the mayor and as much as the superintendents in both St. Johns and Clay counties. The district spent a million dollars on new cars this year for it’s fleet of 520 cars. Thirty-two other employees most of who are on the superintendents inner circle and don’t work directly with children make over a hundred thousand dollars and we go through licensing agreements like water. Every few years there is some new software, computer program or miraculous education cure that the district uses only to replace when it proves ineffective. Then don’t get me started about the 750-person middle management that the district thinks it needs to perform its functions. These aren’t support or maintenance staff either but the amount of administrators the district has and like the superintendents inner circle they to don’t work directly with children.
I could go on and on adding to Mr. Waters’s points but then again I am the choir he was preaching to. I believe what he is saying and have seen the hopelessness on students, teachers and parents faces alike. Though that brings me to one problem he didn’t mention and that is the sad fact he is preaching to a very small choir. Unfortunately most people either don’t care or just don’t get how important education is. Our city and our children are suffering because of this.
Chris Guerrieri
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