Thursday, May 6, 2010
Get Out
Eugene decided to suspend about 50 students from Arlington yesterday for not following school rules. Does anyone else think it was odd he did the suspensions now with school almost over? Wouldn't it have made more sense to do this at the start of the year and set a precedent that IPS won't tolerate this kind of behavior? Leave to Eugene to be a day late and few dollars short.
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It was simply a photo op. If Eugene was serious about his failed dress code and six step discipline policy, he would have had his administrative staff enforcing it since last August. It is a joke. The teachers know it. The students know it. The building principals know it. I wonder if it was connected to the rebuke Eugene White received from the voters on election day.
ReplyDeleteI am glad they are suspended. I wish other schools would follow. Rules have to be followed. It is the only way it works. I also disagree to do this starting next year. Now is the time. Make your point now and then next fall they know you mean business.
ReplyDeleteA day late, a buck short...probably the same reason that Justin Hunter is enforcing his dress code right now for TEACHERS while the kids go crazy and do whatever they want to do. EGO TRIPPING!!
ReplyDeleteSo why were the rules not enforced in the first half of the year?
ReplyDeleteSends a great message about IPS. Everything positive that is going on within the system is overshadowed by this meaningless, narcissistic act by the good Doctor. If you do not think there are many positive things occurring within the system then you ain't in the system.
I agree, just a photo op, it was embarrassing to see those students on the news last night, sagging and throwing gang signs.
ReplyDeleteLet's see a follow up the parents' meeting required to get these kiddies back in school.
Worrying about enforcing this rule late in the year misses the point.
ReplyDeleteThe real question is why wasn't the dress code firmly enforced a few years ago when it was adopted???
Is Justin Hunter making House follow the dress code????
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty horrified by the comments people left for the article about this in Indystar.com.
ReplyDeleteIt is horrifying. And very sad. I tell myself it isn't a fair representation of public opinion, that a disproportionate number of people who reply on those boards are retired and come from a generation where narrow-minded thinking and bigotry were acceptable. But I'm probably being naive.
ReplyDeleteTwilnke toes (AKA) Eugene did this to justify a change in administration there.... the place is a off the chain....
ReplyDeleteThis kind of posturing only makes IPS look foolish. IPS does not have the ability to properly enforce a dress code without destroying itself. If they were to actually to fully enforce it, they either wouldn't have enough students in attendance to get funding or they would have more lawsuits from silly parents than they could possibly handle.
ReplyDeleteA photo op, day late. Should be enforced all year not just when the wind blows right for the administration. Students and parents need to follow the rules from day one, not day two. ALL IPS schools need to comply to the dress code (strongly)
ReplyDeleteThey sure enforce it in the elementary schools. I got a phone call once because my 7-year-old forgot to put a belt on (her pants fit appropriately, even without it). They said they'd loan her one "this once" but they really made a big deal out of it, sent something home for me to sign and return, scolded her, etc. I had her keep a spare one in her backpack from then on. It seemed a little over the top to me at the time, but it seems even more so if they aren't even going to enforce it in the later grades when it really matters.
ReplyDeleteI am retired and I am not narrow minded, bigoted or naive. I think your comment about retired people was narrow minded, bigoted and naive.
ReplyDeleteThank you. The young people of today seem to forget that the newly retired were the youth of the civil rights movement and the Vietnam protest era. Many of us are still tuned in.
ReplyDeleteAre you guys idiots? Everything you have said has insulted every single teacher at Arlington who have screamed at the out and out defiant students all year to adhere to the dress code. Do any of you know any teachers or students there? I don't care if he did it three weeks before school is out, AT LEAST HE DID IT !!
ReplyDeleteI know teachers and students at Arlington and I share your frustration with the inconsistent and even lack of support the teachers receive. Nonetheless this sort of action could and should have been done in August. In September. In October. Eugene should have called the school administration in for one of his "private" meetings and read them the riot act. In August. In September. In October. That is supporting the teachers. This sort of "get tough" charade makes a mockery of the teachers at Arlington. It says to the public that you are not competent and cannot run your school. Therefore the Doc has to come in and take it on. Remember according to him 60% of you are useless anyway. A key question in the recent board elections was how to get a positive message out about IPS. This is not how it is done. This is not how a Superintendent supports his teachers and school staff. It is how me makes a mockery of them.
ReplyDeleteoops that last sentence s/b It is how he makes a mockery of them.
ReplyDeleteShould use the Word program.
in response to an above comment about school 15-House gets to do whatever she wants!! She can put her hands on the the kids and does it all the time), talk anyway that she wants to the teaching staff and work when/if she feels like it!!! Bit, she does follow the dress code to the "T"- !!!
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the news tonight showing the parents of the kids suspended from Arlington I would say the apples don't fall far from the tree.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the news tonight showing the parents of the kids suspended from Arlington I would say the apples don't fall far from the tree.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your comment I would say that you have never been a parent that has had dealings with IPS at E. Walnut. The Central office does not want or care about parent input. It is a just a game to them as it is to you.
This should have happened a long time ago. White doesn't care. He simply wants his name to remain in the news. He couldn't even be bothered to clean up the mess. According to the paper, parents had to attend a meeting at 7pm last night before there students could return to school. Parents were still showing up at 7:50. If he was serious, he would have shut the doors at 7:05. Oh.....but he couldn't because HE WASN'T EVEN AT THE MEETING.
ReplyDeleteDr. White did not show up to the meeting that he created in the first place? Unreal.
ReplyDeleteWhat a disgrace. After causing all of this negative attention for IPS, the fool, Eugene, doesn't not even have the good sense or respect to show up and face the parents. No wonder his candidates for school board lost and no wonder Busch and Gore will be beaten in 2012. They are his puppets and allow him to embarrass the system this way.
ReplyDeleteHow can you complain about parents showing up late when Eugene White failed to show up at all. At least, the tardy parents did show up which is more than you can say for Eugene.
ReplyDeleteHow can I complain about parents showing up late? I can complain about whatever I want to complain about. It's called freedom of speech. I don't support White in the slightest and complained about him not showing up as well. Parents showing up an hour late just shows that they don't take things seriously, and that is something that is important. I will complain about it because it all starts at home and that is the reason many IPS students act the way they do.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mean that you didn't have the right to complain about the parents' tardiness. I, too, think it shows how a student developed a pattern. I just wanted to emphasize 2 things. The time was assigned to the parents without their imput. We have no idea of what their personal schedules were and how they had to be rearranged. While not good, late is better than not showing. Secondly, Eugene White never showed up. I guess he is too important or too busy or on one of his many taxpayer paid trips to be able to show up. Make no mistake, I hate tardiness but I hate arrogance and bullyism even worse and White displays both of those qualities.
ReplyDeleteRE: "Parents showing up an hour late just shows that they don't take things seriously, and that is something that is important."
ReplyDeleteDid you consider that a parent who showed up at all really is taking this seriously, but perhaps might have been delayed due to work or transportation constraints? I'm no longer an IPS parent and although I have work flexibility and good transportation, I happen to know that not all IPS parents are in the same shape. Jobs in the lower socio/economic levels don't tend to allow flexibility for meetings and such. Imagine having to catch a bus to an IPS meeting after work. That's not making excuses but just looking at things from a more realistic perspective.
Whose the teacher at Arlingon that started all this to begin with? She threw the teachers under the bus. I guess that is okay because she is an acting administrator being paid out of special ed. funds. So are two other special ed teachers,one walks the hall instead of doing inclusion classrs for students and the other one spends most of his time at ISU, working on DR. that's how important special education is to Eugene. But I'm sure that is okay because the culprit ( phone caller) and Eugene have it like that. If this woman would work as hard as she does at stirring up messes IPS/Arlingron would be better off. Hey, Eugene you are only as good as the people you surround yourself with, better look at yourself!
ReplyDeleteSo what time would be convenient for parents of children that choose not to follow the rules? 7:00pm is ample time for people to travel after a first shift job whether it be by foot, bus, bicycle or car. I think the whole thing is a joke to begin with, but when do you suggest a better time for a meeting is? No wonder teachers can't get in touch with parents.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you assume that everyone works a first shift job? Who keeps the world running the other two shifts? We also have parents with illness in the families, babysitting problems and transportation problems. I think you are looking at this through your rose colored middle class glasses. Hell, there are times when I could not make a 7pm meeting. Any of us who have raised children know that despite the best parenting and attempts to teach respect and following rules that our children sometimes stray from what they have been taught. While many of our parents are uncaring and uninvolved, I think to label all of them with that negative sentiment is very unfair to many of our parents.
ReplyDeleteWhy hasn't IPS-BS said anything about how Superintendent Tony Bennett called IPS out (not in name but still) in his congressional hearing remarks on May 4th.
ReplyDeleteHe mentioned he had Superintendents who sit in a room and say they have 60% inneffective teachers and the unions don't stand up or contest that fact.
Well lets see. What superintendent in Indiana recently said that? Our unions does not defend us.
Now the Superintendant of Public Education is throwing us under the bus in front of congrss because of Dr. Whites and his hosilities.
(Excuse the gram and spell errors it early morning and I just woke up and watched this. I am mad and tired now! Not normally a good way to respond but still want to get it out. Our union should have responded and should respond.)
Here is the link to the hearing. It was near the end that Dr. Bennet calls us out. Listen to the whole thing it is interesting.
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/223606
Oh for goodness sakes, forget it. I cannot believe you are arguing such a stupid point. Nobody assumed people only worked first shift jobs. If they worked second, they wouldn't have been there at all. I don't believe anybody labeled them with ANY negative sentiment. You yourself said many of them are uncaring and uninvolved. This is almost comical.
ReplyDelete"7pm is ample time for people to travel after a first shift job." ......Please explain [1] how many of the affected parents work first shift jobs and no overtime, [2] how many of the targeted parents depend on public transportation, [3] when was the last time you used IndyGo to travel from one part of the city to another. Wouldn't a more compassionate treatment of parents have been to asked them to schedule an appointment to come in and discuss the difficulties of their children? I just think Eugene White thinks he can bully the parents in the same manner that he bullies school board members and staff.
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny how many posts are defending parents when typically posts are saying that most things are parent faults. Maybe you are trying to bully someone for simply having an opinion that is different from yours.
ReplyDeleteYes, Eugene White is a bully and he gets away with entirely too much. That is what this topic is about, not ganging up on someone that posts on this board just as you do.
In response to your THREE questions:
ReplyDelete1. That doesn't even make sense, so no explanation needed.
2. How do YOU know that many of the parents that night depended on public transportation? Nobody should assume anything.
3. The last time I used IndyGo was approximately 2 weeks ago. However, they aren't traveling from one city to another. I belive IPS serves Indianapolis. If they were traveling to another city, they wouldn't be attending IPS, would they? Traveling across the city does take time, but not 2 hours.
I agree that the whole process was gone about completely inappropriately. This should have been done from the beginning of the year, and not two weeks before the end of school. It makes no sense at all. However, do you really think if parents couldn't attend a meeting at 7pm, they would be able to attend a meeting during the day that they scheduled by appointment? We'll use your theory of working first shift, overtime and using public transportation again.
Your points are invalid and if you want to come at someone negatively, please do so more intelligently. Thank you for your input and have a wonderful day!
I don't have a dog in this fight, but I think the person angry at the parent defender comes across as way more hostile than the one defending parents. The defending parents poster is just making the same points people make when they defend teachers -- don't automatically jump to assumptions that people don't care or are doing a sucky job. Getting angry about your right to prematurely and unfairly judge parents just makes you look silly, although you're certainly right that you have a constitutional right to look silly.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the topic...
ReplyDeleteIt is time that they took this action. (It shoudl have happened on the first day of school). It should be expanded to all IPS schools. The dreess code has been around for, what is it, three years or more? Rules are rules and it is time to enforce them. It is sad it is at the end of the year but it sets the tone for the next school year. Bravo Dr. White. You (almost) did this one right. There should have been multiple options for parents to respond IMO.
Why did Dr. White go to Arlington that day? Was it the intention that this would occur? How did the press come across the story?
ReplyDeleteeverybody keep running your mouths, but what about all the employees who had to put up with name calling, and threats because of all this.
ReplyDeleteArlington has been out of control all year. What do people expect 4 principals in a little over a year. What a joke.
This whole concern with uniforms goes against a body of research (Professor Brunsma of University of Missouri). The research makes clear that "uniforms do not improve learning or behavior." I'm thinking it's about control; because these education leaders have to impress the public, they focus on the very superficial element of a student's outer dress! What happened to the "invitational" ambience that schools are supposed to promote? What happened to the inspiration educators are supposed to engender? The leaders, especially Tony Bennett, are stuck in reverse---going back to the 19th century when teachers and administrators had control. Is anyone addressing the age of technology? These kids have cell-phones in their pockets and these phones are on vibrate and students can text without looking at the keys! What's going to happen when schools in Indiana are going to be given a letter grade? How can students learn when they are suspended for such trifling violations? And if they are in a classroom, they're engrossed in texting! Reform, if Bennett wants to talk reform, he has to get out of reverse and go forward into the 21st. century!
ReplyDeleteTo the careless reader who posted the 3 responses to the questions. NO mention was made about traveling from one city to another. It said from one part of the city to another. However, Indygo serves Carmel, Fishers, and Greenwood so it does serve other cities. Do you happen to think that some of the parents might work in those cities and need to use IndyGo. One of the main reasons Indygo expanded into those cities was because many potential employees could not take a job there due to lack of transportation. I don't understand your anger and hostility but you certainly lack an understanding and compassion about many of the hurdles that our students and parents face. We need to work WITH our parents and not categorically bash all of them for being bad parents. Afterall that is what Eugene does to his employees. We do agree that this was too little, too late. I suggest you take a chill pill and get to know some of the parents of your students. Visit their homes. Meet them for a cup of coffee. Most of them want the best for their children even though some may not have the parenting skills to fully do what is needed.
ReplyDeleteI have no anger and hostility whatsoever. When people attack me when I simply state that if this meeting had to occur in the first place (which I happen to think is ridiculous and the whole thing should have been handled differently), then EVERYONE (parents AND Dr. White) should have been there on time. I was not saying anything negative regarding parents and I believe I stated that it was a joke that Dr. White was not even able to attend to see the drama that he created. Instead of people telling me how wrong I am, look at the problem at hand.
ReplyDeleteWhy are students being allowed to text in classrooms? As a teacher, can't you take their phone away?
ReplyDelete"Being allowed"??? If a teacher is involved in instruction in a class of 25-30, what equipment does the teacher have to monitor those 25-30 cell-phones on vibrate! Get real! Who's allowing it? You miss the point about the age of technology that is driving us to let go of the 19th-century, school-as-factory mentality. Checking uniforms is a red herring to defocus the public's attention from the great failure of our educational leaders to effect real reform. Our high-schools are becoming drop-out factories and the non-thinkers keep doing the same old thing that doesn't work.
ReplyDeleteLots of attitude around here lately! I guess a lot of people need summer break!
ReplyDeleteI still think the dress code is the best thing to happen. I really got sick of seeing jeans hanging below butts and silver and gold chains hanging around necks.
ReplyDeleteTry to think outside the box! Dress code is so surface and safe thinking! This is about inspiring kids to learning; don't you love to learn? Aren't you excited about new ideas? Make learning exciting! Dress-code thinking is so 19th century---people stuck in neutral. There are exciting programs out there: New Tech High at Tech H.S. is a national program that has educators from around the nation visiting here to see why kids love to go to their classes! Why be hateful to them? Are there control freaks in education? YES!
ReplyDeleteWhat good is a dress code if it is not enforced???
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the poster above about 21st century thinking. I think we're the minority, so I thought I'd throw out my nod of encouragement. I, too, think inspiration is the key to education, not control and hostility. I wish there were more of us!
ReplyDeleteI'm a parent and if the kids hate the dress code, why not use that as an incentive. Why not offer free dress passes to kids who make the honor roll, good for the whole grading period. It would make being on the honor roll cool, and I think it would really have a positive impact on student performance.
ReplyDeleteIt might get the honor students bullied and assaulted, too.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing like a "Kick Me" sign to invite ridicule.
Parts of our culture view academic success as undesirable.
Even if you're right, honor roll kids wouldn't be required to wear free clothing, only allowed to. But I don't think you're right. Many very popular students are good students, and many of the kids who are b/c students would see it as worth the extra effort to be able to wear popular clothing.
ReplyDeleteI'm a high school teacher, and I think it would be a wonderful idea. But as you can see from this board, we have a lot of cynics that would stand in the way of a policy like that. Don't you know that poor urban kids are barely above wild animals? You have to treat urban kids differently. They can't dress like suburban kids. You can't name their schools, just number them. It's important that they constantly remember they are poor urban kids. They have to be controlled, kept in their place, treated with constant disapproval and scorn. Only then will they see the superiority of middle class values and middle class education system.
ReplyDeleteGood post. From a poor urban parent ;)
ReplyDeleteDon't forget this mess was created by Prudence Bridgwater and Jane Kendrick. Blame the right folks.
ReplyDeleteI've heard Prudence is in the hospital. The chickens are coming home to roost.
ReplyDeleteWhy is Prudie in the hospital? Her tongue worn out?
ReplyDeleteTo the cell phone poster:
ReplyDeleteStudents are not ALLOWED to text, they just do it. It's very difficult in a class of 30-40 students (yes some classes have 39 students in them) to monitor all the student and teach. Then when you ask them to hand over their phones, they refuse to give it to you and god forbid you try to take it from them. Some students, usually the ones caught doing the wrong them are defiant and confrontational and are just looking for a reason to curse at teachers and throw things.
now maybe I'm letting my alternative school teaching experiences color my view but I know that I have MANY MANY problems with these students. Of course if I was 15 in the 6th grade I'd probably throw all my work on the floor and say I'm not doing this f---ing work too. Well probably not since my parents would have killed me. Different world.
The building administrators simply return the phones to the students who use them in class the next day. At least, that is how it works at Tech and the principal could care less.
ReplyDeleteAll this is about to change with Annie Roof and Samantha Adair. White as new board members. Surprise visits and micro managing the superintendent will be the norm. :-)
ReplyDeleteI hope those two women can stand up under the bullying and intimidation tactics of Eugene White. They may need the support of the community as he will be unmerciful with them. He believes he is their boss. He has Mary Busch and Elizabeth Gore on a leash. They would never think to ask him a question or to disagree with him.
ReplyDeleteGore even broke a promise to the School #48 parents because she was so scared of him.
What is amazing about this topic is that so many have been all over IPS and White for NOT enforcing anything. Then when they do, you complain about the timing, the way in which the code was enforced. Many of you are as bad as the kids we teach! No wonder they may seem to be without a clue. So are WE!
ReplyDeleteNot on the subject of this post-but how much will IPS be paying the new basketball coaches for Howe and Washington? See the story from the Star:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20105080337
Jason Delaney has lots to recommend him, a lousy W/L record at Southport and a suspension for inappropriate behavior toward a colleague. I wish someone could explain this to me.
Great! We just got rid of all of the losers at Washington only to replace them with someone worse.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else read the teacher bashing of Manual principal, Rocky Grismore in today's Star? The poor attendance and tardiness at his school where he has been principal for several years is all the fault of the teachers for not doing their jobs. No wonder Eugene White promoted Grismore. Rocky has sold his soul to the devil for a job promotion. Time for a new toupee!!
ReplyDeleteIt IS the fault of the teachers if they are not standing out in the hall each passing period and not calling home if a student does not show up to school. Yeah, some say it is going above and beyond. But I think of it as a part of the job. Where I teach, I see 2 out of 10 (on average) teachers in the hall each passing period. The other 8 are the big complainers about how many kids are tardy each day. That defies logic.
ReplyDeleteIf that is case that teachers are NOT doing their jobs then it is the job of the principal to remedy that situation. How many YEARS has Rocky Grismore been at Manual? 6? 7? 10? It is also the responsiblity of the building administration to do something about it. I have a student who has been tardy 60 times. I have repeatedly called home. I have assigned detentions which never get served. I have used Eugene White's magic 6 step discipline policy. Of course, I started out by talking with the student and trying to find out why and to counsel with him. None of this works. Now I just mark him absent as it is obvious that the building administration does NOT care.
ReplyDeleteI hear you.
ReplyDeleteabout a student being tardy and the teacher needs to call home...lol which phone number do we call? Most of the phones are disconnected. These kids don't want to learn...after all what good is an education going to be for them? You can't say they will make more money because they will laugh in your face...money is easy to come by....just go out and take it...or have a baby.
ReplyDeleteClassy, very classy. I'm amazed you don't have a better connection with your students. Learn from your betters, sweetie. There are many of them doing what you are too incompetent to manage, and you'd be amazed at how "these kids" respond to real teachers when they're lucky enough to get them.
ReplyDeletere: about a student being tardy and the teacher needs to call home...lol which phone number do we call?
ReplyDeleteI have a working, valid number on every one of my students. To not have one at the school is a safety concern. Do you ever call parents just to say their child is doing well or to check on them? Probably not. That is why you do not have working numbers. You rant seems to relate to something bigger than numbers, however. In just a few ill-constructed sentences you manage to analyze teen pregnancy, crime, and the value of education among IPS parents. You are obviously going into this with the wrong attitude. Maybe you should go start a career somewhere else. Teaching is about relationships and based on your attitude evident in your post, you are not a people person so you should not be in this profession. Before you come back with some CRAP like, "I am a great teacher" or "I do build relationships" just save it. Your true colors show and you are obviously "one of the 60%" as I like to say.
I am SO sick of the teachers coming on here and jumping everyones cases as if they are perfect. Stop suggesting teachers have coffee with parents, telling teachers that they need to learn from their betters, that it's their fault they don't have a working number for some parents. It is absolutely ridiculous. We are all in the same system and should be supporting each other, not thinking you are better than someone else, because trust that you aren't.
ReplyDeleteStudents aren't responsible for the phone bills..parents are. This should not stop you from building relationships with students and I don't understand why you think meeting a parent for a cup of coffee is so ridiculous. It builds bridges and does so in a non threatening situation. Try it. I do and it works.
ReplyDeleteWait a minute. You think I should support you see people like you as part of the same team as I am on. But you don't think you should put forth that same effort for students and parents? Put down your crack pipe and think about what you're saying. I'll side with students and parents over your hateful incompetence any day of the week. I AM better than you. I'm a better teacher and a better person, and you bring down the entire profession when you post your nonsense on this forum.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't want to invite argument from devoted teachers, then don't post inflammatory comments that would infuriate most self-respecting educators. If you showed your "about a student being tardy" post to 100 different teachers, 95 of them would be horrified. If you don't want that pointed out, then keep your ignorant ugliness to yourself. If you choose to exercise your right to make your ignorant ugliness public, then don't be surprised when other teachers want to separate themselves from you.
ReplyDeleteI am the person that posted that I am tired of everyone jumping down each others throats in here. I haven't posted anything else, so I am saying this from an outsiders point of view and not voicing my concerns with the topic one way or another. There is no reason anyone should feel they are better than anyone and for the last poster to assume that I am the one writing their opinions on IPS parents is incorrect. I'm simply stating that you cannot assume that these teachers have not attempted to meet with these parents. Don't assume they haven't gone for coffee. Just don't assume, period. We are ALL equal. I know that this will get torn to pieces and I will be ridculed, but so be it. It's just an opinion.
ReplyDeleteWe're not all equal. If you want to be associated with the crap posted above, then go for it. I don't. And I will publicly denounce it EVERY time it is posted.
ReplyDeleteThose who assume they aren't part of the problem usually are the problem.
ReplyDeleteWhy not install cell phone jammers in the secondary schools? Then it wouldn't matter whether kids brought phones to school; the signal would not go anywhere!
ReplyDeleteBecause then teachers and office staff wouldn't be able to use THEIR cell phones and THEIR text messaging! LOL
ReplyDeleteBest $200 you could ever spend, if you are fed up with students using phones in class:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.phonejammer.com/product.php?productid=16139&cat=249&page=1
It will jam cell phone signals within a 20 meter radius. And you can switch it off if you want to make calls during your prep period.
170 students not 50 and that number is inaccurate too. There were children on the bus that weren't on the list. Many left and came back the same day. After the meeting he didn't attend. It was down to 68. The "list" wasn't enforced anyway after the first meeting. It was all a hoax. Children are allowed to have phones because no one backs teachers in the building when they try to take them.
ReplyDelete