The joke will be on IPS.....most of the young teachers I teach with are already looking for jobs in other systems. They recognize chaos when they see it and don't like working for an arrogaqnt bully any more than the experienced teachers. Most of the Teach for America teachers who have completed their 2 year requirement are not returning either.
Nobody cares! If they did there would public outcry over things like catered events such as the one going on right now at #110. If the rampant waste in this system were controlled, they could hire hundreds more teachers instead of firing them.
Eugene and his lapdog, Mary Busch probably want to fire some teachers so they can hire some of their friends in administrative jobs in the Ed. Center and funnel more money through Mary's employer, the University of Indianapolis.
@catered events such as the one going on right now at #110.
What is the event? I'm tired of working with educators who can't float an idea unless it's supported by a banquet table laden with tasty goodies. Little wonder why taxpayers look at education with such disdain. Gluttony at its finest.
Don't know what the event is. I just saw the catering van and people carrying stuff in. Doesn't matter though. No excuse whatsoever to have any kind of catering anywhere in IPS paid for with tax dollars. There's also no excuse for all expense paid trips for anyone to anywhere for any kind of "conference" when we have the technology to connect anywhere in the world with the click of a mouse. All this crap going on everywhere but there's not even enough money to keep paper in the damn copy machine.
Mary Busch raised hell and pouted when it was proposed that the catered meal served before the board meetings should be discontinued. Miss Thing.....of University of Indianapolis fame ..wanted her free catered meal...free to her paid for by the taxpayers of IPS....
Yesterday, our PIT luncheon was catered by Donato's (Paid via our Social Committee dues), with salads and desserts provided by non-homeroom teachers. I didn't see any media covering our event.
I found it interesting that Bubba White did his Northwest Balanced Calendar meeting on PIT day, when no teachers could attend.
I heard the same cuts were coming from an administrator that attended a recent meeting downtown. They were told by the brass that schools could see a lost of 5 to 6 teachers. The Cadre will be gone, so its bare bones staffing, unless you are one of the chosen schools that Dr. White supports.
They are looking to cut anyone for any reason. There is a teacher at my school who is on FMLA leave. He is being called by downtown (3x he has mentioned so far) being told to return to work. Did not matter about his health or the fact that he was highly contagious.
"Your school is a turn-around school and no teacher should be missing any days for any reason. Your being out even though being aproved FMLA is that almost of abandoment of the job." according to Kay Kelly on his answering machine that I heard last night while dropping groceries off.
He also has two other calls from other downtown administrators.
He told me he fully expects to get a poor evaluation this year and put out of his current school because of this illness. Last year his evaluation was nearly perfect. He said the doctor does not expect him to be fully ready to return until around the week before Thanksgiving.
Kay Kelly, Miss Personality, is perfect for a job devoted to leaving impersonal voice mails. Isn't she past an acceptable retirement age? IPS really DOES need to get some fresh people in top-level administrative positions!
It is a federal law violation to bother an employee who is on FMLA....someone needs to file a complaint or contact the IEA...if Ann Wilkins isn't completely in the back pocket of Eugene.
About the copy paper...this is the reason our students don't learn, because of teachers like you. Copying tons of stupid worksheets, so you don't have to get out of your chair and teach is not the answer. Copy paper does not teach!!
Kay Kelley has her job because she will do anything White asks her to do. She is another Willie Giles, and she is violating federal law From the Department of Labor SEC. 105. PROHIBITED ACTS. (a) INTERFERENCE WITH RIGHTS.-- (1) EXERCISE OF RIGHTS.--It shall be unlawful for any employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under this title. (2) DISCRIMINATION.--It shall be unlawful for any employer to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any individual for opposing any practice made unlawful by this title. (b) INTERFERENCE WITH PROCEEDINGS OR INQUIRIES.--It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any individual because such individual-- (1) has filed any charge, or has instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding, under or related to this title; (2) has given, or is about to give, any information in connection with any inquiry or proceeding relating to any right provided under this title; or (3) has testified, or is about to testify, in any inquiry or proceeding relating to any right provided under this title. http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/fmlaAmended.htm#SEC_105_PROHIBITED_ACTS
Mary Louise, do you do anything but post obnoxious negative comments about teachers....the most successful, energetic teachers need to use a copy machine. I do agree that copying tons of worksheets is not the answer but...your ignorant blanket statement is straight from the Ed. Center where there is a surplus of copy machines and tons of copy paper.
Did you receive the letter from Dr. Bennett about taking over failing schools and how your salary will be at what the State of Indiana feels like you are worth. He will not honor the Contract and if you want a job, you will have to work his hours, days, and under PERF. This mean horrible health insurance, no Teacher's Retirement Fund, no benefits, and sick days will be cut back. Bennett is doing the back stabbing work for Mitch, teachers will become nothing but a low level clerk under Mitch.
What reliable source do we need? This happens EVERY year! It is common place! To the copy paper, when the books we have are CRAP, we need copies from better sources. When there are supplemental activities i.e. workbooks that IPS refuses to buy, we need copies. When we a get something off the internet and need to "Mark the text" (loved by ALL IPS admin) we need to make copies- You cannot mark your computer screen. AND yes worksheets come in handy when I am sick and can't come to work because I can't talk! I do get out of my desk and teach, but I also make about 200 copies a week. By the way the turn around meeting was NOT on PIT day at Northwest, it was on Thursday. FMLA is a joke in IPS, first they say have it, then they say no. It takes them over a month to approve it. When I did my FMLA, I had a week off. I took sick days and by the time I was all healed and happy I got the FMLA papers. Good thing IPS cares about their teachers.
Bennet is going to cut your salary, take away your medical insurance, lengthen your work day, add some evenings and Saturdays, remove you from Teacher Retirement and fire you for no reason especially if you are experienced and cost more........People wonder why no one wants to work for IPS!!! Bennett and Daniels are ready to begin the dismantling.....if you can, get out while you can.
There was a meeting at Northwest on Wednesday at 7 pm, at the same time PIT was going on. The meeting Thursday was at Tech. People really need to get their facts straight. Furthermore, we are all going to be working year round next year, I think it's a done deal, the meetings are just a formality so that downtown can cover their hineys. I don't know about sick time for FMLA, but the two times I have applied I got my letter in fairly good time. They do suggest you file at least 30 days prior to going on FMLA leave (per my dr.). Unfortunately it seems like so many people have lost sight of the importantance of a good education for the students. Sad.
School Reform, including the take-over of schools, is a bi-partisan activity. President Obama and Arne Duncan, the US Secretary of Edcation, both support Charter Schools, strict accountability, testing, and 'grading' schools. In fact, Obama won the 2008 election with one of his campaign promises to expand the numbers of Charter Schools. So, we teachers can blame BOTH Democrats and Republicans for our demonization. It's a national trend, not something special to Indiana.
I don't think school reform is about demonizing teachers. I think some teachers want to have it both ways. They want to receive credit and respect for the students who are educated, but they don't want to be held accountable in any way for the ones that are not. If we recognize the best teachers, then we are accused of "bashing" the not-the-best teachers. But if we say, don't worry about quality teachers, it doesn't matter. What matters is parents. Let's save our money and go back to the simple, inexpensive classrooms of the 1950s, then we're not respecting the profession.
District Seeks Input on Proposed Calendar 09-30-2010
IPS is considering a plan to change the school year calendar from a traditional one that features a 10-week summer break to one that creates breaks throughout the year, providing more time on task for students.
Called a "balanced" calendar, this new schedule features 9-week instructional blocks followed by three-week breaks. Summer break is reduced from 10 weeks to just five.
"Research shows this calendar will serve our urban students better than our current one," said Superintendent Eugene G. White. "By providing remediation opportunities during the school year and spending less time away from school during the summer, we expect our students' academic achievement to rise."
During the three-week breaks, students will be able to attend "intercessions" for remediation.
The public wil have a chance to discuss this proposal during five public meetings throughout October. Each meeting begins at 7 p.m. The meetings are:
■Oct. 6, Arlington Community High School, 4825 N. Arlington Ave. ■Oct. 14, Broad Ripple Magnet High School for the Arts and Humanities, 1115 Broad Ripple Ave. ■Oct. 18, Emmerich Manual High School, 2405 Madison Ave. ■Oct. 27, Arsenal Technical High School, 1500 E. Michigan St. ■Oct. 28, Northwest High School, 5525 W. 34th St. Under this new schedule, if students participate in the intercessions, they will be in school 200 days. If they do not attend school during the breaks, they still will receive 180 days of instruction.
If approved by the School Board, this new schedule would take effect in August 2011. The Board is expected to vote on this plan on Nov. 23.
Question.....If it takes affect in August or 2011, how can staff be required to report on July 28, 2011? That's the day of the Big Gene Show at Tech, already listed in the Balanced Schedule handout at the meeting.
"Research shows this calendar will serve our urban students better than our current one," said Superintendent Eugene G. White. "By providing remediation opportunities during the school year and spending less time away from school during the summer, we expect our students' academic achievement to rise."
1) What research? Cite your sources. 2) Remediation opportunities? Define those opportunities specifically, please. 3) Who precisely will provide these remediation opportunities? 4) What remediation courses will be available? ELA and math? Or, all courses? 5) Will the providers of the remediation be compensated at their hourly rate per contract? Or, will they receive the $20 per hour rate? 6) Will the remediation days be contract days for certified employees or just add-on's? 7) Will IPS receive 'extra' funding for these remediation days? Or, will IPS use existing funding in a 'rob Peter to pay Paul' manner?
To: There was a meeting at Northwest on Wednesday at 7 pm. No, sorry, YOU are incorrect. PIT is always on a Wednesday. This past Wednesday being the 27th, which was the same day that White spoke to whoever appeared in the Tech H.S. auditorium, which is right next to the Tech H.S. cafeteria, where PIT was held. Read the website at least.
I never got to vote about the balanced calendar in regards to the techers union supporting it. And there is no evidence that changing the school year is going to increase the scores. It is just going to take away summer break for the kids and teachers. By the way I am really ticked off at the president of the union. When do we get to vote her out.
We do not have a contract for this year. Our contract expired at the end of last school year. That is why we get paid the same amount as last year. And IEA is strangely silent about negotiations. Might be another 3 years. When do we get a president who cares about the teachers?
I think that people should not be so hateful on here. Forgive me for getting the venues wrong. Regardless of where the meeting was, there was STILL a meeting the same night at PIT. I do read the website every day. But, if it makes you perfect people feel better putting someone down for getting a minor fact incorrect, more power to you. I have better things to spend my energy on.
"Every child enrolled is worth saving" I think that is true for elementary school, but when students come back to school after having been in Jail for 2 months or when the "Child" is 21 years old and only has 20 credits, I don't believe it is possible to save them.
"when students come back to school after having been in Jail for 2 months... I don't believe it is possible to save them."
While the odds of saving them may be against us, does that mean we shouldn't even try? If we can convince 5 kids to stay in school, graduate, and maybe even go to college, that's 5 fewer dropouts and probably 5 fewer criminals on the streets. Or, should we just lock them up for a few years? That's what we've been doing, and I don't think that's been working out very well for anyone involved.
"Only God can save a child" as an educator I can "help" them get on the right path and work towards achieving an education, however some children can only be "saved" by the grace of God!
I feel that about 90% of our students are on the "right track" on schedule to graduate and so forth. I have many students that ask me for help filling out job applications, but I tend to think that there are a few that get lost along the way and no one can do anything for them.
If 90% of students are "on the right track", why is the IPS graduation rate less than 50%? Sell your delusions someplace else, we're all stocked up here.
I think you are the one who has an inaccurate idea of IPS student population. There are many factors that contribute to the problems in IPS, some of them "client side" (parents, families, students) and some of them "server-side" (teachers, school,curriculum, administration, regulations, etc.). I would agree that 90% of IPS students are "on the right track" meaning if placed in optimal "server side" conditions, they could excel. I think it's a myth that good students have families that spend all their free time promoting school. They don't. But when a kid gets a bad teacher or takes a difficult class or struggles with a particular policy, those families are able to advocate for their children and help them. Disadvantaged students don't have that and they fall behind. As they fall further behind their advantaged peers they begin to identify with academic failure and eventually dismiss the value of school in their lives. I think the far majority of the problems in IPS are that simple. But you can't get grants or win votes by simply saying "we need to do a better job of teaching kids."
While my students have multiple problems, the majority of them are eager to learn. The problem is that our leadership in IPS from Eugene to the big haired one on the school board only care about impressing the powerful community leaders. If they would work as hard to give staff the tools to get the job done, we would see improvement in achievement and attitude. Until Eugene and Mary are gone, there will be no improvment. Can't wait until the next school board election.
Regardless of what the problems are or how you rationalize them, the numbers don't lie. IPS doesn't have anywhere near a 90% graduation rate and never will. So saying that 90% of them are "on the right track" is meaningless if there are no results. Blaming poor results on a poor quality student population is just stupid since IPS (or public education in general) bears much of the responsibility for making them that way by breeding an entitlement mentality.
Breeding an entitlement mentality? If you mean entitled to welfare, I suppose you're right. Because they certainly don't feel entitled to much else. They don't feel entitled to safe classrooms, to kind teachers, to a quality education or to good jobs. I agree that IPS and public education bear much of the responsibility. But I think we need to START breeding an entitlement mentality. We need to convince these kids and their parents that they have a right to the same kind of education we give the rich kids and they are entitled to scream from the rooftops that IPS is stealing their education funding from them and using it for political and personal gain and then blaming them and their parents when they aren't educated.
Back to Gadwell and Outliers, that sense of entitlement is an indicator of success in school and in life...the kids who are raised to question authority, to feel entitled, and parents who support students interest are all harbingers of future success, how does the "uniform policy" work with that one?
Total and absolute bullshit. NOBODY should be entitled to a free education! They should have to work there ass of to get one. That way they will either appreciate it and take advantage of it or get the hell out of the way of the ones that do.
You're certainly entitled to your views about public education, but surely you agree that while we currently have tax-funded education, that poor people deserve access to as good of an education as rich people are receiving with that same tax funding, right? Certainly, nobody believes that rich people are entitled to tax-funded education and poor people are not.
That makes no sense. You'll involve yourself in promoting irrelevant hypothetical policies, but not in a discussion about the current possibilities under the current laws. What a great use of your time and energy.
Funding education for the poor is way down on the list of things I would ever want to cut, and I'm pretty conservative. I can see the argument for vouchers, school choice, reform, etc. But our crappy education system has contributed to our national economic crisis, and I can't imagine how bad it would be if only the wealthy had access to an education.
You people are some of the most pathetic sheep I've ever seen. What makes you think the poor wouldn't have access to education? They find plenty of ways to get access to what is important to them. Drive through any ghetto in this city and look at the houses. You will see satellite dishes and customized cars everywhere. I am far from a rich man. My children have never been to your worthless public schools. People find ways to pay for what is important to them regardless of income level. If they don't think their kids education is important, I sure as hell don't think its something I want to help them pay for. Now you're probably gonna call me selfish. Well guess what, that's damn right. If you don't like it you can kiss my ass. I'm getting tired of watching my hard earned taxes get wasted.
I don't think you're selfish. I think you're stupid. You think the ghettos are bad now, try eliminating public education funding. An uneducated society would hurt even the educated people because the uneducated would drag the economy down with them. Selfish I can tolerate. To thine own self be true and all that. And I try to be patient with stupid people who are at least nice. But I have no use for mean, stupid people. And everything you're posting is mean and stupid.
I think the issue is that, in the past, people valued education because not everyone could get one - and parents saw that an education was a way for their children to get ahead and they valued it and pushed their children to do well to enable them to have opportunities that they did not have. I was the first girl in our family to go to college and my parents always stressed the importance of education. However, once we started providing everything to students with no accountability on the part of the family, we devalued it. I remember calling parents who could not get out of bed to see that their child had taken their medicine...they didn't need to get up to see that the child had supplies, books, lunch or even breakfast because they knew the school would have everything. I do not begrudge those things but I am sad that some parents no longer seemed to value the educational opportunity enough to accept even the least responsibility for their child's success.
I heard she was at # 60 because the building is completely out of control. Parents are upset because there is no control by some of the teachers in the building. Children are running the halls. Candy and gum are ever flowing. Teachers are called "Bitches" and nothing is done. Could be more...
Pumpkin, walk into any IPS high school and find a junior- or senior-level class. Government, U.S. History, Physics, whatever. Look at the kids who have done everything they possibly can do in this system. And tell me they are prepared for college. Tell me they got a fair break. Tell me IPS isn't stealing from the poor and giving it to the rich. You're throwing out your racist, elitist garbage like it's fact, and it's not. The problem with IPS is that people figure out that it's a lie. Even if you do everything right in an IPS school, you're not prepared for anything except poverty.
What does it matter who was at #60? Nothing's going to be done about it. If the parents are upset, so what? If they don't complain to the right people, their words will fall onto deaf ears.
It's really hilarious to watch the leader there attempt to intimidate certain people. Here's my personal message to her: You'll never be able to intimitate me because I have ZERO respect for you. Never have had. Never will have. All you're accomplishing is creating problems where there previously were none.
Racist?!! You just proved how much of a worthless dumbass you are. I haven't even HINTED at anything remotely about race. I don't give a damn if their purple or from a whole different planet, they shouldn't be entitled to anyone else's money to pay for their education. I challenge anyone to justify the department of education under the constitution. It has no right to exist. There's a fact for you to chew on.
Ok you are the reason we should have better public education: their purple- They're purple they sit on their ass- They sit on their asses there ass of to get- Their asses off to get
and that doesn't even account for half of the errors. Now let me tell you imagine these people without even a first grade education. Why do you think that is ok? If you like your tax dollars, and don't want to give them to others, I suggest you change your mind. Imagine if over half the people didn't even have an eight grade education, that would mean you'd pay more for things like their healthcare, their food stamps, their clothing, etc etc. The government has programs and programs for people without money. And I don't know if you know this, but education IS MONEY!
Oh you poor lost liberal soul. You just don't get it. I'd happily live in a country where absolutely NO entitlement programs existed. If that means I fail and I die without the government to bail me out, then so be it. Don't think I didn't notice your failure to address my point regarding the constitutionality of the department of education. Your flawed logic only serves to prove my point. One entitlement program doesn't get the desired results so another must be created or have more funding. Get rid of them all. Yes, people will fail. Some may even die. Could even be me. It would get a lot worse before it got better, but when it did we would be a much better country. I know you don't agree. I don't expect my text full of errors to convince you. You work toward your goals. I'll work toward mine.
There is more than one person arguing with you, but I for one am not a liberal. But that doesn't mean I want to become a 3rd world country either. Without an educated work force, commerce grinds to a halt. There would not be enough customers, not enough money being circulated, and the entire economy would depress. I agree that you're only proving that you didn't have enough education, public or not. Even most libertarians suggest we first eliminate entitlement programs for the wealthy, then the middle class, then the poor, so that the market could accommodate the change gradually. Less expensive education options would be created, as well as alternatives such as more on-the-job training. And charities would take over education for the poor. If you knew your history, you'd know that poor people living among wealthy people don't starve to death. They steal. Can you imagine the crime rate we would have if we just suddenly eliminated public services to the poor. Even selfish people know there is practical wisdom in charity.
And I'm the one who called you racist because I assumed you were the same person trying to convince us that black people are intellectually inferior to white people last week. There's no way there are two of you.
I'm all for exchange of ideas and lively debate, but this is just absurd. The only way we will ever have a privatized education system is if we start with vouchers and then phase them out. So discussing what the country would be like without it is crazy. It's never going to happen. No matter how much the Internet loony thinks it should happen. Now run along and let the grown ups talk.
"People find ways to pay for what is important to them regardless of income level. If they don't think their kids education is important, I sure as hell don't think its something I want to help them pay for. Now you're probably gonna call me selfish. Well guess what, that's damn right. If you don't like it you can kiss my ass. I'm getting tired of watching my hard earned taxes get wasted."
So in your belief system the sins of the parents should be visited on the children? Children in the "ghetto" have little control over how their parents spend their money or what they value. And the parents have been sold a bill of goods that your value and esteem is established by tennis shoes, big screen tvs, cable, cell phones and all the rest of those material things...and who do you think is selling them those things? Check your stock portfolio or mutual fund because it may be YOU.
This is why if we want to address this problem we as educators must start to work hand in hand with parents...in a gentle but persuasive manner to sell parents on the value of being educated. I've never talked to a single parent who has said "I don't care what kind of a life my kid has."
It doesn't help to do this when we have teachers and administrators who have bought into the materialistic aspects of wealth being tied to education. It is hard to tell a parent "Your kid needs to have an educations so you can own a big black Escalade like me." when the parent knows that they can get the same thing with no education and a career in crime.
A "third world" country would be preferable as long as it was a FREE country. Government should be responsible for infrastructure, law enforcement and defense. NOTHING ELSE. Sins of the parents visited on the children? Hell yea! The more consequences created for poor decisions the better. True freedom is meaningless if true failure is not a possibility. A self sufficient person is not afraid to go it alone without the government being their babysitter. Obviously, none of those people are in here. Under current conditions, self sufficiency is stifled by taking from those willing to produce and giving it to those that don't. I have no problem whatsoever with charity. I give to many charities. Government taxation to provide services to others that I provide for myself is not charity, it is theft.
As I said, you work toward your goals. I'll work toward mine.
C'mon. They RIF and hire them back, RIF and hire them back... Every time.
ReplyDeleteLet's do this one more time. Please cite your source. Otherwise it's bunk and you need to add some "I think" or "I believe" in the statement.
ReplyDeleteThe joke will be on IPS.....most of the young teachers I teach with are already looking for jobs in other systems. They recognize chaos when they see it and don't like working for an arrogaqnt bully any more than the experienced teachers. Most of the Teach for America teachers who have completed their 2 year requirement are not returning either.
ReplyDeleteNobody cares! If they did there would public outcry over things like catered events such as the one going on right now at #110. If the rampant waste in this system were controlled, they could hire hundreds more teachers instead of firing them.
ReplyDeleteEugene and his lapdog, Mary Busch probably want to fire some teachers so they can hire some of their friends in administrative jobs in the Ed. Center and funnel more money through Mary's employer, the University of Indianapolis.
ReplyDelete@catered events such as the one going on right now at #110.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the event? I'm tired of working with educators who can't float an idea unless it's supported by a banquet table laden with tasty goodies. Little wonder why taxpayers look at education with such disdain. Gluttony at its finest.
Don't know what the event is. I just saw the catering van and people carrying stuff in. Doesn't matter though. No excuse whatsoever to have any kind of catering anywhere in IPS paid for with tax dollars. There's also no excuse for all expense paid trips for anyone to anywhere for any kind of "conference" when we have the technology to connect anywhere in the world with the click of a mouse. All this crap going on everywhere but there's not even enough money to keep paper in the damn copy machine.
ReplyDeleteMary Busch raised hell and pouted when it was proposed that the catered meal served before the board meetings should be discontinued. Miss Thing.....of University of Indianapolis fame ..wanted her free catered meal...free to her paid for by the taxpayers of IPS....
ReplyDeleteYesterday, our PIT luncheon was catered by Donato's (Paid via our Social Committee dues), with salads and desserts provided by non-homeroom teachers. I didn't see any media covering our event.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that Bubba White did his Northwest Balanced Calendar meeting on PIT day, when no teachers could attend.
I heard the same cuts were coming from an administrator that attended a recent meeting downtown. They were told by the brass that schools could see a lost of 5 to 6 teachers. The Cadre will be gone, so its bare bones staffing, unless you are one of the chosen schools that Dr. White supports.
ReplyDeleteThey are looking to cut anyone for any reason. There is a teacher at my school who is on FMLA leave. He is being called by downtown (3x he has mentioned so far) being told to return to work. Did not matter about his health or the fact that he was highly contagious.
ReplyDelete"Your school is a turn-around school and no teacher should be missing any days for any reason. Your being out even though being aproved FMLA is that almost of abandoment of the job." according to Kay Kelly on his answering machine that I heard last night while dropping groceries off.
He also has two other calls from other downtown administrators.
He told me he fully expects to get a poor evaluation this year and put out of his current school because of this illness. Last year his evaluation was nearly perfect. He said the doctor does not expect him to be fully ready to return until around the week before Thanksgiving.
Wonder how many calls he will have by then.
Kay Kelly, Miss Personality, is perfect for a job devoted to leaving impersonal voice mails. Isn't she past an acceptable retirement age? IPS really DOES need to get some fresh people in top-level administrative positions!
ReplyDeleteIt is a federal law violation to bother an employee who is on FMLA....someone needs to file a complaint or contact the IEA...if Ann Wilkins isn't completely in the back pocket of Eugene.
ReplyDeleteSave that voice mail! Do not delete it.
ReplyDeleteSo... Nobody has posted any sort of reliable or verifiable source on this yet? Just a lot of "I heard" and "someone said."
ReplyDeleteI guess it doesn't matter. Let's keep creating/perpetuating rumors. It's more fun that way.
About the copy paper...this is the reason our students don't learn, because of teachers like you. Copying tons of stupid worksheets, so you don't have to get out of your chair and teach is not the answer. Copy paper does not teach!!
ReplyDeleteKay Kelley has her job because she will do anything White asks her to do. She is another Willie Giles, and she is violating federal law
ReplyDeleteFrom the Department of Labor
SEC. 105. PROHIBITED ACTS.
(a) INTERFERENCE WITH RIGHTS.--
(1) EXERCISE OF RIGHTS.--It shall be unlawful for any employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under this title.
(2) DISCRIMINATION.--It shall be unlawful for any employer to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any individual for opposing any practice made unlawful by this title.
(b) INTERFERENCE WITH PROCEEDINGS OR INQUIRIES.--It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any individual because such individual--
(1) has filed any charge, or has instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding, under or related to this title;
(2) has given, or is about to give, any information in connection with any inquiry or proceeding relating to any right provided under this title; or
(3) has testified, or is about to testify, in any inquiry or proceeding relating to any right provided under this title.
http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/fmlaAmended.htm#SEC_105_PROHIBITED_ACTS
Mary Louise, do you do anything but post obnoxious negative comments about teachers....the most successful, energetic teachers need to use a copy machine. I do agree that copying tons of worksheets is not the answer but...your ignorant blanket statement is straight from the Ed. Center where there is a surplus of copy machines and tons of copy paper.
ReplyDeleteDid you receive the letter from Dr. Bennett about taking over failing schools and how your salary will be at what the State of Indiana feels like you are worth. He will not honor the Contract and if you want a job, you will have to work his hours, days, and under PERF. This mean horrible health insurance, no Teacher's Retirement Fund, no benefits, and sick days will be cut back. Bennett is doing the back stabbing work for Mitch, teachers will become nothing but a low level clerk under Mitch.
ReplyDeleteWhat reliable source do we need? This happens EVERY year! It is common place! To the copy paper, when the books we have are CRAP, we need copies from better sources. When there are supplemental activities i.e. workbooks that IPS refuses to buy, we need copies. When we a get something off the internet and need to "Mark the text" (loved by ALL IPS admin) we need to make copies- You cannot mark your computer screen. AND yes worksheets come in handy when I am sick and can't come to work because I can't talk! I do get out of my desk and teach, but I also make about 200 copies a week.
ReplyDeleteBy the way the turn around meeting was NOT on PIT day at Northwest, it was on Thursday.
FMLA is a joke in IPS, first they say have it, then they say no. It takes them over a month to approve it. When I did my FMLA, I had a week off. I took sick days and by the time I was all healed and happy I got the FMLA papers. Good thing IPS cares about their teachers.
Bennet is going to cut your salary, take away your medical insurance, lengthen your work day, add some evenings and Saturdays, remove you from Teacher Retirement and fire you for no reason especially if you are experienced and cost more........People wonder why no one wants to work for IPS!!! Bennett and Daniels are ready to begin the dismantling.....if you can, get out while you can.
ReplyDeleteThere was a meeting at Northwest on Wednesday at 7 pm, at the same time PIT was going on. The meeting Thursday was at Tech. People really need to get their facts straight. Furthermore, we are all going to be working year round next year, I think it's a done deal, the meetings are just a formality so that downtown can cover their hineys. I don't know about sick time for FMLA, but the two times I have applied I got my letter in fairly good time. They do suggest you file at least 30 days prior to going on FMLA leave (per my dr.). Unfortunately it seems like so many people have lost sight of the importantance of a good education for the students. Sad.
ReplyDeleteSchool Reform, including the take-over of schools, is a bi-partisan activity. President Obama and Arne Duncan, the US Secretary of Edcation, both support Charter Schools, strict accountability, testing, and 'grading' schools. In fact, Obama won the 2008 election with one of his campaign promises to expand the numbers of Charter Schools. So, we teachers can blame BOTH Democrats and Republicans for our demonization. It's a national trend, not something special to Indiana.
ReplyDeleteI don't think school reform is about demonizing teachers. I think some teachers want to have it both ways. They want to receive credit and respect for the students who are educated, but they don't want to be held accountable in any way for the ones that are not. If we recognize the best teachers, then we are accused of "bashing" the not-the-best teachers. But if we say, don't worry about quality teachers, it doesn't matter. What matters is parents. Let's save our money and go back to the simple, inexpensive classrooms of the 1950s, then we're not respecting the profession.
ReplyDeleteI have my facts straight. PIT ended at 7pm for Northwest. Then the next day there was the year round meeting at 7pm. I work for Northwest!
ReplyDeleteif you are near retirement age, you need to start your paperwork or look for another system because Tony Bennett is coming after you.
ReplyDeleteFrom IPS Home Page:
ReplyDeleteDistrict Seeks Input on Proposed Calendar
09-30-2010
IPS is considering a plan to change the school year calendar from a traditional one that features a 10-week summer break to one that creates breaks throughout the year, providing more time on task for students.
Called a "balanced" calendar, this new schedule features 9-week instructional blocks followed by three-week breaks. Summer break is reduced from 10 weeks to just five.
"Research shows this calendar will serve our urban students better than our current one," said Superintendent Eugene G. White. "By providing remediation opportunities during the school year and spending less time away from school during the summer, we expect our students' academic achievement to rise."
During the three-week breaks, students will be able to attend "intercessions" for remediation.
The public wil have a chance to discuss this proposal during five public meetings throughout October. Each meeting begins at 7 p.m. The meetings are:
■Oct. 6, Arlington Community High School, 4825 N. Arlington Ave.
■Oct. 14, Broad Ripple Magnet High School for the Arts and Humanities, 1115 Broad Ripple Ave.
■Oct. 18, Emmerich Manual High School, 2405 Madison Ave.
■Oct. 27, Arsenal Technical High School, 1500 E. Michigan St.
■Oct. 28, Northwest High School, 5525 W. 34th St.
Under this new schedule, if students participate in the intercessions, they will be in school 200 days. If they do not attend school during the breaks, they still will receive 180 days of instruction.
If approved by the School Board, this new schedule would take effect in August 2011. The Board is expected to vote on this plan on Nov. 23.
Question.....If it takes affect in August or 2011, how can staff be required to report on July 28, 2011? That's the day of the Big Gene Show at Tech, already listed in the Balanced Schedule handout at the meeting.
that's August OF 2011, not OR. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you people keep trying? There's nothing left about ips worth saving. Get off the sinking ship before you go down with it.
ReplyDeletePlease define "you people". Are you one of them or us?
ReplyDeleteBTW, every child enrolled is worth saving.
You? Just hang onto this lovely board. You'll be rescued very soon. Here's a whistle......................
"Research shows this calendar will serve our urban students better than our current one," said Superintendent Eugene G. White. "By providing remediation opportunities during the school year and spending less time away from school during the summer, we expect our students' academic achievement to rise."
ReplyDelete1) What research? Cite your sources.
2) Remediation opportunities? Define those opportunities specifically, please.
3) Who precisely will provide these remediation opportunities?
4) What remediation courses will be available? ELA and math? Or, all courses?
5) Will the providers of the remediation be compensated at their hourly rate per contract? Or, will they receive the $20 per hour rate?
6) Will the remediation days be contract days for certified employees or just add-on's?
7) Will IPS receive 'extra' funding for these remediation days? Or, will IPS use existing funding in a 'rob Peter to pay Paul' manner?
Why was the amount on my contract that I just signed the exact same as the one I signed last year? Didn't we get a raise?
ReplyDeleteTo: There was a meeting at Northwest on Wednesday at 7 pm. No, sorry, YOU are incorrect. PIT is always on a Wednesday. This past Wednesday being the 27th, which was the same day that White spoke to whoever appeared in the Tech H.S. auditorium, which is right next to the Tech H.S. cafeteria, where PIT was held. Read the website at least.
ReplyDeleteI never got to vote about the balanced calendar in regards to the techers union supporting it. And there is no evidence that changing the school year is going to increase the scores. It is just going to take away summer break for the kids and teachers. By the way I am really ticked off at the president of the union. When do we get to vote her out.
ReplyDeleteThe president of IEA should be impeached. She has totally sold out to Eugene White. I bet she already has her Ed. Center job picked out.
ReplyDelete"every child enrolled is worth saving" That's funny. We'll just let that be your little secret, K???
ReplyDeleteYup. Many of them just need to be locked up forever.
ReplyDeleteWe do not have a contract for this year. Our contract expired at the end of last school year. That is why we get paid the same amount as last year. And IEA is strangely silent about negotiations. Might be another 3 years. When do we get a president who cares about the teachers?
ReplyDeleteWe always have a contract. If a new contract is not negotiated, the old contract remains in full force until replaced by a newly agreed upon contract.
ReplyDeleteNobody else is getting raises. Why the hell should teachers?
ReplyDeleteWhere is Ann Wilkins? Does IEA really have a president? Is she allowed to speak without first clearing it with Eugene White?
ReplyDeleteI think that people should not be so hateful on here. Forgive me for getting the venues wrong. Regardless of where the meeting was, there was STILL a meeting the same night at PIT. I do read the website every day. But, if it makes you perfect people feel better putting someone down for getting a minor fact incorrect, more power to you. I have better things to spend my energy on.
ReplyDelete"Every child enrolled is worth saving" I think that is true for elementary school, but when students come back to school after having been in Jail for 2 months or when the "Child" is 21 years old and only has 20 credits, I don't believe it is possible to save them.
ReplyDelete"when students come back to school after having been in Jail for 2 months... I don't believe it is possible to save them."
ReplyDeleteWhile the odds of saving them may be against us, does that mean we shouldn't even try? If we can convince 5 kids to stay in school, graduate, and maybe even go to college, that's 5 fewer dropouts and probably 5 fewer criminals on the streets. Or, should we just lock them up for a few years? That's what we've been doing, and I don't think that's been working out very well for anyone involved.
"Only God can save a child" as an educator I can "help" them get on the right path and work towards achieving an education, however some children can only be "saved" by the grace of God!
ReplyDeleteI feel that about 90% of our students are on the "right track" on schedule to graduate and so forth. I have many students that ask me for help filling out job applications, but I tend to think that there are a few that get lost along the way and no one can do anything for them.
ReplyDeleteIf 90% of students are "on the right track", why is the IPS graduation rate less than 50%? Sell your delusions someplace else, we're all stocked up here.
ReplyDeleteI think you are the one who has an inaccurate idea of IPS student population. There are many factors that contribute to the problems in IPS, some of them "client side" (parents, families, students) and some of them "server-side" (teachers, school,curriculum, administration, regulations, etc.). I would agree that 90% of IPS students are "on the right track" meaning if placed in optimal "server side" conditions, they could excel. I think it's a myth that good students have families that spend all their free time promoting school. They don't. But when a kid gets a bad teacher or takes a difficult class or struggles with a particular policy, those families are able to advocate for their children and help them. Disadvantaged students don't have that and they fall behind. As they fall further behind their advantaged peers they begin to identify with academic failure and eventually dismiss the value of school in their lives. I think the far majority of the problems in IPS are that simple. But you can't get grants or win votes by simply saying "we need to do a better job of teaching kids."
ReplyDeleteWhile my students have multiple problems, the majority of them are eager to learn. The problem is that our leadership in IPS from Eugene to the big haired one on the school board only care about impressing the powerful community leaders. If they would work as hard to give staff the tools to get the job done, we would see improvement in achievement and attitude. Until Eugene and Mary are gone, there will be no improvment. Can't wait until the next school board election.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of what the problems are or how you rationalize them, the numbers don't lie. IPS doesn't have anywhere near a 90% graduation rate and never will. So saying that 90% of them are "on the right track" is meaningless if there are no results. Blaming poor results on a poor quality student population is just stupid since IPS (or public education in general) bears much of the responsibility for making them that way by breeding an entitlement mentality.
ReplyDeleteBreeding an entitlement mentality? If you mean entitled to welfare, I suppose you're right. Because they certainly don't feel entitled to much else. They don't feel entitled to safe classrooms, to kind teachers, to a quality education or to good jobs. I agree that IPS and public education bear much of the responsibility. But I think we need to START breeding an entitlement mentality. We need to convince these kids and their parents that they have a right to the same kind of education we give the rich kids and they are entitled to scream from the rooftops that IPS is stealing their education funding from them and using it for political and personal gain and then blaming them and their parents when they aren't educated.
ReplyDeleteBack to Gadwell and Outliers, that sense of entitlement is an indicator of success in school and in life...the kids who are raised to question authority, to feel entitled, and parents who support students interest are all harbingers of future success, how does the "uniform policy" work with that one?
ReplyDeleteTotal and absolute bullshit. NOBODY should be entitled to a free education! They should have to work there ass of to get one. That way they will either appreciate it and take advantage of it or get the hell out of the way of the ones that do.
ReplyDeleteYou're certainly entitled to your views about public education, but surely you agree that while we currently have tax-funded education, that poor people deserve access to as good of an education as rich people are receiving with that same tax funding, right? Certainly, nobody believes that rich people are entitled to tax-funded education and poor people are not.
ReplyDeleteIrrelevant. I won't involve myself in an argument over a premise that should not exist. No one should be getting tax funded education, period.
ReplyDeleteThat makes no sense. You'll involve yourself in promoting irrelevant hypothetical policies, but not in a discussion about the current possibilities under the current laws. What a great use of your time and energy.
ReplyDeleteFunding education for the poor is way down on the list of things I would ever want to cut, and I'm pretty conservative. I can see the argument for vouchers, school choice, reform, etc. But our crappy education system has contributed to our national economic crisis, and I can't imagine how bad it would be if only the wealthy had access to an education.
ReplyDeleteYou people are some of the most pathetic sheep I've ever seen. What makes you think the poor wouldn't have access to education? They find plenty of ways to get access to what is important to them. Drive through any ghetto in this city and look at the houses. You will see satellite dishes and customized cars everywhere. I am far from a rich man. My children have never been to your worthless public schools. People find ways to pay for what is important to them regardless of income level. If they don't think their kids education is important, I sure as hell don't think its something I want to help them pay for. Now you're probably gonna call me selfish. Well guess what, that's damn right. If you don't like it you can kiss my ass. I'm getting tired of watching my hard earned taxes get wasted.
ReplyDeleteOh, touchy, touchy. Hey, change of subject. Does anybody know why Joan Harrell was at school #60 yesterday?
ReplyDeleteI don't think you're selfish. I think you're stupid. You think the ghettos are bad now, try eliminating public education funding. An uneducated society would hurt even the educated people because the uneducated would drag the economy down with them. Selfish I can tolerate. To thine own self be true and all that. And I try to be patient with stupid people who are at least nice. But I have no use for mean, stupid people. And everything you're posting is mean and stupid.
ReplyDeleteIs there any developed country that doesn't have public education? I'd rather go without a military or police force.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. If security was important to people, they'd find a way to afford it themselves. Same thing with the fire department. And road repair.
ReplyDeleteLOL!
ReplyDeleteI think the issue is that, in the past, people valued education because not everyone could get one - and parents saw that an education was a way for their children to get ahead and they valued it and pushed their children to do well to enable them to have opportunities that they did not have. I was the first girl in our family to go to college and my parents always stressed the importance of education. However, once we started providing everything to students with no accountability on the part of the family, we devalued it. I remember calling parents who could not get out of bed to see that their child had taken their medicine...they didn't need to get up to see that the child had supplies, books, lunch or even breakfast because they knew the school would have everything. I do not begrudge those things but I am sad that some parents no longer seemed to value the educational opportunity enough to accept even the least responsibility for their child's success.
ReplyDeleteI heard she was at # 60 because the building is completely out of control. Parents are upset because there is no control by some of the teachers in the building. Children are running the halls. Candy and gum are ever flowing. Teachers are called "Bitches" and nothing is done. Could be more...
ReplyDeletePumpkin, walk into any IPS high school and find a junior- or senior-level class. Government, U.S. History, Physics, whatever. Look at the kids who have done everything they possibly can do in this system. And tell me they are prepared for college. Tell me they got a fair break. Tell me IPS isn't stealing from the poor and giving it to the rich. You're throwing out your racist, elitist garbage like it's fact, and it's not. The problem with IPS is that people figure out that it's a lie. Even if you do everything right in an IPS school, you're not prepared for anything except poverty.
ReplyDeleteWhat does it matter who was at #60? Nothing's going to be done about it. If the parents are upset, so what? If they don't complain to the right people, their words will fall onto deaf ears.
ReplyDeleteIt's really hilarious to watch the leader there attempt to intimidate certain people. Here's my personal message to her: You'll never be able to intimitate me because I have ZERO respect for you. Never have had. Never will have. All you're accomplishing is creating problems where there previously were none.
ReplyDeleteRacist?!! You just proved how much of a worthless dumbass you are. I haven't even HINTED at anything remotely about race. I don't give a damn if their purple or from a whole different planet, they shouldn't be entitled to anyone else's money to pay for their education. I challenge anyone to justify the department of education under the constitution. It has no right to exist. There's a fact for you to chew on.
ReplyDeleteOk you are the reason we should have better public education:
ReplyDeletetheir purple- They're purple
they sit on their ass- They sit on their asses
there ass of to get- Their asses off to get
and that doesn't even account for half of the errors. Now let me tell you imagine these people without even a first grade education. Why do you think that is ok? If you like your tax dollars, and don't want to give them to others, I suggest you change your mind. Imagine if over half the people didn't even have an eight grade education, that would mean you'd pay more for things like their healthcare, their food stamps, their clothing, etc etc. The government has programs and programs for people without money. And I don't know if you know this, but education IS MONEY!
Oh you poor lost liberal soul. You just don't get it. I'd happily live in a country where absolutely NO entitlement programs existed. If that means I fail and I die without the government to bail me out, then so be it. Don't think I didn't notice your failure to address my point regarding the constitutionality of the department of education. Your flawed logic only serves to prove my point. One entitlement program doesn't get the desired results so another must be created or have more funding. Get rid of them all. Yes, people will fail. Some may even die. Could even be me. It would get a lot worse before it got better, but when it did we would be a much better country. I know you don't agree. I don't expect my text full of errors to convince you. You work toward your goals. I'll work toward mine.
ReplyDeleteThere is more than one person arguing with you, but I for one am not a liberal. But that doesn't mean I want to become a 3rd world country either. Without an educated work force, commerce grinds to a halt. There would not be enough customers, not enough money being circulated, and the entire economy would depress. I agree that you're only proving that you didn't have enough education, public or not. Even most libertarians suggest we first eliminate entitlement programs for the wealthy, then the middle class, then the poor, so that the market could accommodate the change gradually. Less expensive education options would be created, as well as alternatives such as more on-the-job training. And charities would take over education for the poor. If you knew your history, you'd know that poor people living among wealthy people don't starve to death. They steal. Can you imagine the crime rate we would have if we just suddenly eliminated public services to the poor. Even selfish people know there is practical wisdom in charity.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm the one who called you racist because I assumed you were the same person trying to convince us that black people are intellectually inferior to white people last week. There's no way there are two of you.
I'm all for exchange of ideas and lively debate, but this is just absurd. The only way we will ever have a privatized education system is if we start with vouchers and then phase them out. So discussing what the country would be like without it is crazy. It's never going to happen. No matter how much the Internet loony thinks it should happen. Now run along and let the grown ups talk.
ReplyDelete"People find ways to pay for what is important to them regardless of income level. If they don't think their kids education is important, I sure as hell don't think its something I want to help them pay for. Now you're probably gonna call me selfish. Well guess what, that's damn right. If you don't like it you can kiss my ass. I'm getting tired of watching my hard earned taxes get wasted."
ReplyDeleteSo in your belief system the sins of the parents should be visited on the children? Children in the "ghetto" have little control over how their parents spend their money or what they value. And the parents have been sold a bill of goods that your value and esteem is established by tennis shoes, big screen tvs, cable, cell phones and all the rest of those material things...and who do you think is selling them those things?
Check your stock portfolio or mutual fund because it may be YOU.
This is why if we want to address this problem we as educators must start to work hand in hand with parents...in a gentle but persuasive manner to sell parents on the value of being educated.
I've never talked to a single parent who has said "I don't care what kind of a life my kid has."
It doesn't help to do this when we have teachers and administrators who have bought into the materialistic aspects of wealth being tied to education. It is hard to tell a parent "Your kid needs to have an educations so you can own a big black Escalade like me." when the parent knows that they can get the same thing with no education and a career in crime.
A "third world" country would be preferable as long as it was a FREE country. Government should be responsible for infrastructure, law enforcement and defense. NOTHING ELSE. Sins of the parents visited on the children? Hell yea! The more consequences created for poor decisions the better. True freedom is meaningless if true failure is not a possibility. A self sufficient person is not afraid to go it alone without the government being their babysitter. Obviously, none of those people are in here. Under current conditions, self sufficiency is stifled by taking from those willing to produce and giving it to those that don't. I have no problem whatsoever with charity. I give to many charities. Government taxation to provide services to others that I provide for myself is not charity, it is theft.
ReplyDeleteAs I said, you work toward your goals. I'll work toward mine.