Thursday, December 16, 2010

How Do You Feel?

Notices are going out that a lot of us are going to lose our jobs, meanwhile Eugene is getting a bonus! How does that make you feel?

46 comments:

  1. Hey....He DID singlehandedly raise the graduation rate, so let him bask in the glorious rays of his personal achievement.

    I'm so proud to work for such an exemplary leader. We should all allocate a percentage of our paychecks to erect a giant statue of his image in from the the Ed Center.

    NOT.

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  2. It makes me wonder. How exactly did HE raise the graduation rate? How many of our students did he help get to graduation. It seems to me that the teachers who encouraged, helped, pushed the students should get the bonus. How many of our students has he actually interacted with?

    Not to mention if we are having such a budget crisis the responsible thing to do would be to refuse a bonus.

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  3. Hell, I'll settle for a raise!

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  4. So are Pike and Lawrence wimpy for having a delay, or are IPS and the other townships careless for not having one?

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  5. Pike and Lawrence care about the safety of their children. I live in Pike. On the other hand, IPS uses the excuse they are opening to give their students breakfast. The next time a compliance monitor is in the building, they need to stop in the cafeteria--most of the food goes in the trash! The students hate the breakfast and lunch. I spend lots of my own money buying peanut butter and cheese crackers to keep students from being hungry.

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  6. Sometimes I think IPS avoids delays when they should have them. But the roads weren't as bad this morning as I expected them to be. I know some of the side roads are bad, but the buses are heavier, so I think they do okay on them. I know Lawrence has lots of hilly areas that make it tough for the buses when it snows, so they're usually one of the first to have a delay. But I don't know about Pike.

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  7. I'll settle for not paying $300 a check for insurance!

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  8. If your portion of your insurance is $300 per check, I can only imagine how much of your premium the taxpayers are paying. I'm self-employed and have my own policy that I pay 100% of the premium, and I only pay about $300 a month.

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  9. The full cost for coverage for a single teacher [both teacher and IPS shares] is $600.86 a month. Full family monthly cost IS $1319.70 for the Advantage HMO plan.

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  10. So what's the teacher's portion if the teacher and IPS both pay on the premium?

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  11. I am confused--So if IPS and we share the $600, wouldn't that be $150 per check to make our $300?

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  12. Of for Pete's sake. My insurance premium is $316 a check because I job share due my health conditions.

    Sorry you chose to be self employed and have to pay for your own health care all by yourself. We all chose our path. You can't whine about having to pay for all your insurance because you CHOSE to work for yourself.

    I am not thrilled to be paying a $42 increase per pay, however since I do utilize the insurace a lot I am thankful to have it.

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  13. I wasn't whining -- just pointing out that if your portion was twice as much as my entire policy, that it must be one expensive policy. Why post things here if you're going to be angry if anyone responds?

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  14. I am not certain that it is an equal share...plus there is the ramifications of Section 125.

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  15. The cost for a family is about $14,000 a year total.

    The point I'm trying to make is that I would rather have the insurance increase covered insted of a pathetic raise that won't even cover the cost of the increase.

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  16. Come on, anyone who has worked even one year in an IPS high school knows that the graduation rate is a meaningless number. If the hard questions are asked and answered it would be obvious that many of the students receive diplomas based on waivers. Attendance records are altered. Teachers are coerced into changing grades. Students get credits from virtual school that often reflect no real learning. I'd like to see the graduation rate numbers broken down. I'm not impressed by the increase. I hope Dr. White enjoys his five grand. Too bad he didn't increase the rate by supporting teachers.

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  17. Wait. You're saying nothing has improved so White shouldn't get credit. But then you're saying teachers should get more credit, even though things are still bad. You're kind of talking yourself in circles. I'm not a huge White fan, but I do think the district has been improving, and I do think White deserves some of the credit (along with teachers, parents, students, and community partners.)

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  18. With the health insurance item, please know that we were given three major choices as teachers: ISTA Trust HMO, ISTA Trust PPO or no insurance at all. As teachers, we did not get any other choices and, like others, it bothers us how much they not only charge us, but how high the total cost is. I have an individual PPO plan and pay more than I wish, but it allows me to use both my PCP and the specialist I need and trust, so I am willing to pay the price to stay healthy.

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  19. @ "Wait" I'm not sure to which post you are responding. If it is "Come on" you are not understanding. Yes, I am saying things have not improved. I am saying the graduation rate is based on lies and misuse of the waiver. I never said teachers or anyone else deserve credit. I am saying teachers need support. By that I mean teachers should have the materials necessary to teach their classes-textbooks, science supplies, etc. The IT system needs to work properly so that teachers can actually accomplish those required tasks. Teachers need to work in an environment of mutual respect with administrators, rather than fear and loathing. I'm glad that you are seeing improvement in some places. I don't see anything but decline.

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  20. More than anything teachers need time to teach. We need to get away from these one year wonder cure all programs that are purchased from friends of Eugene. We need to get away from the constant intimidation in the schools. We need to be allowed to meet our students at the level that they are working and increase their achievement levels. Leave us alone, give us decent size classes, supplies and enforce the discipline and dress codes imposed on schools by the Ed. Center and we know what to do.

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  21. How many of you came to work this morning only finding that your parking lot was not plowed? A two hour delay would at least give them time to clear the lots for the safety of the students...

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  22. Yeah, our parking lot was awful! The snow is a pain, but I can't imagine how these schools who always have delays deal with losing all that class time. Either the first two periods are way behind or if they go to an alternate schedule, then everything's rushed and crammed. In a perfect world, I wish they would just have snow days every time it snows and then make them up in the summer so we could avoid the icy roads without losing class time. But that probably makes me a bit of a princess, doesn't it? lol

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  23. I live in Pike and work in IPS- it was horrible to get to school! HORRIBLE! I was sliding all over the place. Plus we do have an IPS bus that comes next to our neighborhood and they were going just as slow as everyone else. There was no plowing today or monday. Marking it impossible for my student who's in a wheelchair to come to school. Why do the students have to make the decision about their safety? So many don't come to school. I wouldn't either if I was a student.

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  24. Yes I think it is a coward move not to call a 2 hour delay! We are not penalized by the state for calling one so.... Why not? It could even be a 1 1/2 hour delay like some other schools choose to use. It would have made things much better than they were. After reading the article about why IPS stays open when others close, it made me mad because if you choose to become a parent part of your job as a parent is to have plans in place for when your child's school is delayed or closed. We are teachers and are here to teach your children NOT be babysitters and give your child a "warm meal" so you can go to work or do whatever you
    do. Do your job and make arrangements for times like that so we as teachers can do ours!

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  25. Wow. That's harsh. I'm a teacher in one district and live in another. I'm a good, responsible parent, but I'd lose my job if I had to take off work every time it snowed because my kids' school got cancelled or delayed. It's not a teacher's job to babysit, but if my kids are in school from 8:30 to 4:30 every weekday, I'm not going to have child care arranged for those days and times. It's not like you can send your kids to the Y just on snow days. Not to mention, as a teacher, I agree with the poster above. It would be academically disruptive to have delays every time it snows. I don't know what article you are referring to about the hot meals, but I think it's just good policy to save delays and snow days for a very last resort. Today wasn't that bad. (Which is why most of the city schools opened on time.)

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  26. That article was on WTHR.com. And I remember sometime in the past M.L. Bewley said that parents count on us for babysitting and that is why we weren't closed on said day.

    I thought we were "highly qualified" educators but turns out we are highly paid babysitters.

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  27. Don't complain about the parents who expect their children to be in school everyday. Those aren't the bad ones. You're splitting hairs with the babysitting cracks. If the law says kids have to be in school all day, then why are you bitching at parents for relying on that. You're being silly.

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  28. It's all relative. I grew up in New England. They get 4 or 5 times the snow Indiana does, and they hardly ever call off school for snow. Then you have the South where they hardly ever get snow but when they get a dusting, the whole town shuts down. Indiana gets too much snow to close schools every time it snows. Unless we're going to shut down all winter and stay open all summer, we need to be able to drive safely in the snow and expect that others can drive safely in the snow.

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  29. I don't think that the poster was complaining that students came on bad weather days but rather the demeaning statement that school was held so the teachers could provide babysitting services. It says much when the PR person for IPS puts the worth of a teacher at providing babysitting services. If we are going to be considered baby sitters then we should get baby sitting pay. Let's see....30 students all day long....cost per 1 day of baby sitting multiplied by 30 [breakfast, lunch and transportation provided.

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  30. I have a friend who is a nurse who laughs at the wording of the statement by Ms. Bewley. She said " So are you just a glorified babysitter?"

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  31. Yes, parents count on you to be open when you say you will be open. If you don't want to drive to work in the snow, please find another job. If I published a calendar for my business and then unexpectedly closed on random days during the winter, I could hardly blame my customers from looking for other ways to obtain the services I provide.

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  32. Uhhh duh! You could announce a closing on the news like some schools and businesses do. We shouldn't close down everytime it snows but why not call a delay a time or two? You people are forgetting that last Monday we were one of the only districts that not only didn't close but we went on time!!!! When most schools around us went on a delay. You comments about closing down everytime it snows are stupid. We shouldn't close every time it snows but when there are 178 school district in the viewing area of WTHR that are on a delay or closed.... Then maybe just maybe we should delay. Honestly if we did a delay last week on Monday or even Thursday how much learning would we actually miss? Not that much since some students didn't come that day cause of the snow in the first place!

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  33. My only problem with not closing are the cold little children waiting for the bus that is delayed or never shows due to the weather. It happens all the time.

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  34. I do agree with that, but I have noticed a transportation problem with IPS all year long. It just that it bothers me more when it's cold. (I have my kids wait in my running car, but not everyone can do that.) My kids' bus was late Monday but not Thursday. But it's been late probably 20 times this year, a few of those more than 15 minutes late, and Monday was the first time that the snow and the late coincided.

    Also, several schools went to school on time Monday. I know many went on a delay, but in my neighborhood mix of private, charter and township schools, only one charter school didn't go on time. I think the majority of the schools on the news were the more rural schools. On one hand I understand that, on the other it's like the poster above said, how do they manage in places where it snows more?

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  35. The attendance issue is the same as the transportation issue. It's an issue all year long, regardless of the weather.

    Personally, I think a delay on Monday would have been completely kosher, but I think NOT having a delay on Monday was fine too. A delay on Thursday would have been irresponsible in my opinion.

    Also, it actually makes sense that IPS would be one of the last districts in the region to delay or shut down. We have no rural areas. And if teachers live in more rural areas and work in IPS, they should simply call in if their local roads are impassable.

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  36. The increase in the graduation rate was smoke and mirrors. At one time IPS decided to have as their base diploma the requirements for the Indiana Core 40. This gave every IPS graduate what the state of Indiana said they needed to be accepted for college. IPS even added a year of a foreign language and pushed the number of credits required up to 42.
    But, last spring IPS decided to create a General Diploma based on state minimums. No Economics, no foreign language. And Business Math counts as a year of math. For this the Superintendent gets a $5,000 bonus??
    Children first. No, but it gets IPS of the hit list of being a drop-out factory.

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  37. Previous post - last line should read "Children first. No, But it gets IPS off of the hit list for being a drop-out factory." Sorry

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  38. Pike, Speedway, and Washington were all public schools that had delays on Monday and do NOT have rural areas. Speedway is even 5 minutes from Northwest. I work there and live 15 minutes away in Pike. I take no rural roads and don't take the highway. On monday and thursday I had to drive in 3rd gear and it took me a half an hour both times. I even see one of my students regularly filling up at my neighborhood gas station. If it was bad for me to drive, how are our students handling it? The thing I think is ridiculous is that most of our students walk to school. The city doesn't clear the sidewalks which leads to our students walking in the middle of the street in the dark, generally wearing dark clothes. This is stupid. Dr. White needs to realize that the safety of our students is more important than having school on time.

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  39. It's illogical to insinuate that if we didn't have school, everyone would stay safely in their homes. Kids would still have to be out in the snow, they'd just be going to other places rather than school. They'd be going to grandma's house, or to a neighbor's house, or to work with parents. I agree with the above that we are educators not babysitters. We are responsible for teaching the students who make it to class. Parents are in charge of the safety of their children getting to and from school, and we should trust them to do that. But schools should be open just like every other business and government service. Teachers should be expected to go to work just like every other adult in the city. I don't think schools should close except in states of emergency, when all the other public buildings are closed. I can see making certain days "excused absences" or some such, but not shutting down entirely.

    I also think schools should have to make up the delays. Indiana gets about 25 days with snowfall every year. If we assume 2/7 of those are on weekends, we get 18 school days with snow. Schools that have 2-hour delays each time, would miss 36 hours of school, the equivalent of more than a week of school.

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  40. My husband delays himself. So does my sister. Also my brother. If they can't make it on time, sometimes they take PTO. Our sick days can't count as snow days.

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  41. See that's just silly -- grown adults not being able to make it to work on time. Leave earlier. That's what the rest of the world does when it snows. We're certainly not allowed to take PTO and just come in late, lol.

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  42. Yeah, I can conjure up sympathy for students. I can conjure up sympathy for parents (including teachers) who are delayed by late buses before they can go to work. But the idea that a teacher shouldn't be expected to be at work on time because of the snow is absurd.

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  43. Can you imagine if your doctor's office closed because some people might be walking or using public transportation and might be out in the cold too long? No, you'd leave the doctor's office open, expect the staff to be there, and treat the patients who came, same as always.

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  44. But what if almost all of your patients used public transportation and public transportation was down. You'd likely close, or open late, or go home early. If the buses can't navigate, school might as well be cancelled. Maybe not in the school above where most people walk, but schools where most students ride the bus.

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  45. If you live in Pike and don't think Pike has rural areas, I suggest you take a drive and get to know Pike Township. Check out the areas west and north of Eagle Creek.

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