In order to eligible for a school improvement grant from the IDOE, all Indiana schools have to prove to the IDOE the building principal has an established academic track record of success using ISTEP or End-of-Course Assessment Exams. Based on the most recent administrative changes within IPS, which building principals have a documented track record of success using state standardized testing? Please provide examples.
Monday, February 21, 2011
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Few have and we also have a failing superintendent. Shouldn't be in the formula somewhere?
ReplyDeleteWith all the cleavage showing in IPS schools, I'm reminded of a cowbarn I once visited. Mooooooooooo!
ReplyDeleteI find it disgusting, sad, and unprofessional regarding all the backstabbing teachers do to one another. If you have a concern, tell the person privately!
ReplyDeleteWhile your statement is correct that the IDOE needs proof for state school improvement grants, the recent administrative changes in IPS were for a Federal School Improvement Grant which has different standards.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the administrative moves will not help the failing schools schools in any way whatsoever. The bright side: If the state does impose a state intervention, those administrative moves will be overruled by PL 220 rules.
I agree with the post above, the recent administrative moves will do nothing for IPS, too many of these "stars" need to be hired by the townships. Well it seems like Mitch Daniels has destroyed the educational system with his changes and Bennett is right behind him. We need to vote Bennett out of office.
ReplyDeleteIPS was destroyed before Gov. Daniels ever took office or even thought about running for office. It's always convenient to 'point' at one person as the 'bad guy', but it's not that simple. Truly, it would not matter who was running the state of Indiana or who the Supt. of the DOE was...IPS would not change for the better.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I don't know how many people have to post it, but your constant obsession with mitch Daniels and Bennett is absolutely insane. Even if they are voted out of office, they are going to replaced by people proposing drastic education reform. Because that's what voters are demanding, both republican and democrat, all over the freaking country. I understand you long for the past, but it's silly to waste so much energy on longing for yesterday rather than focusing on the future.
ReplyDeleteIPS had problems before Daniels and Bennett. The fact is that they have done nothing to help schools and much to destroy public schools. They both want to privatize public schools Bennett's wife just had to resign her position with private schools as there was too much conflict of interest.
ReplyDeletegeeeeeee and how long was Bennett's wife at that position?
ReplyDeleteEveryone is promoting school choice. Democrats, including our president, and are pushing charter schools. Tell me one state superintendant or governor that isn't pushing for the same things Daniel and Bennet are.
ReplyDelete"Even if they are voted out of office, they are going to replaced by people proposing drastic education reform."
ReplyDeleteAll of this "drastic" reform though is directed solely at teachers and punishing schools. Until parents feel the heat that we all feel then nothing will change. We need to expect more from the students. Universities have entrance requirements so should schools. No parental cooperation, then something has to be done. We bend over backwards and people just take and take. Then when we need support they are gone looking for the next freebie. Mitch and his pals are just rewarding the lobbyists that paid to get him elected. All our legislators are cowards.They know it starts at home too. I've seen parents afraid of their kids and call school asking if the kid made it to school that day. Why don't they walk them to school or drive them? That's what IPS deals with.
Are you familiar with what a democracy is? Do you understand how a representative form of government differs from a dictatorship? I'm not being a smart ass. I'm genuinely confused by your viewpoint that legislators are cowards if they attempt to represent their constituents. And the only way to tell whether parents truly are to blame or if it's the schools is to expand school choice. If it's the families, nothing will change. But we won't know until we try.
ReplyDeleteThis all started with leave no child behind. Good schools were turned into poor schools when low preforming students were able to go to "better schools". And what happened? These students took the "good schools" down. And once down it is hard to get back up. What's worse is this students are sprinkled through IPS causing all kinds of problems for the child who wants to learn.
ReplyDelete@The fact is that they have done nothing to help schools and much to destroy public schools. They both want to privatize public schools Bennett's wife just had to resign her position with private schools as there was too much conflict of interest.
ReplyDelete______________________________________________
There's so much misinformation re: educational reform floating around that good people with good intentions are unable to take the time to glean the truth/the facts from partisan drivel. I prefer not to ask others who are just as clueless about the intricacies of school reform; I'd rather do my own research and read the reform proposals than rely on any Republican or any Democrat or any union or non-union member's stance. It's called 'critical thinking'.
IPS has sucked for 40 years. This has nothing to do with NCLB and only partly to do with poverty and urban parents. It's a badly run district on so many levels. NCLB has helped a tiny bit, but too many people profit from the status quo. I can't believe there are educators who are against giving some of these kids a real chance. How self-serving can you be.
ReplyDeleteWhat's funny about NCLB, is that it was a revision of a LBJ (liberal) education bill and more democrats voted for it than republicans. Now liberals act like it was a conservative bill and that conservatives invented education reform. Liberals are the ones that have promised the public for a freaking century that if we just throw enough money at education, they could educate children out of poverty. Now the they are taking back their promises, but don't want to let go of the money. Instead, they try to paint the choice schools as the money grabbers, the schools that don't need districting laws to force students to attend, nor do they need labor unions to control negotiations between the teachers and schools. It would be funny if it weren't so tragic.
ReplyDeleteYour probably right about IPS being in a 40 year slide, and it goes back to people who have motives other than the education of children...Adam's Madames, set the trend and no one ever stopped it.
ReplyDeleteLet's grow up and answer the question given! Emma Donnan Middle School made AYP for the 2010 ISTEP, so the principal of that school is more than worthy! Previous to that, there have been gains in previous years, but not as large of a gain as the IDOE demanded. How is that for a record?
ReplyDeleteIt has been a while since we had the superintendent's women fighting and rolling on the floors of the Ed. Center. Bring back the good old days. He actually was a fairly decent superintendent despite his personal quirks.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Carter has a proven track record. Next!!!!
ReplyDeleteViveca Carter is the best administrator in the system. I worked with her when she first came to IPS a few years ago. She was wonderful then and apparently has not changed. I just hope that downtown allows her to remain an effective professional. All of our lazy, self-serving principals should take lessons from Viveca. I would work for her again in a heartbeat.
ReplyDelete"I can't believe there are educators who are against giving some of these kids a real chance. How self-serving can you be."
ReplyDeleteOh please,you have the WANT to learn and WANT to be educated. There is NO job out there that relies on an 8 year old to perform in order for the job to be considered a success. especially when the kid comes from a broken home or doesn't even speak the language. This is about money for your "corporate friends" and busting unions. If ANY of these policymakers even CARED one IOTA about IPS kids they wouldn't have let court-ordered busing take away funding or the schools to fall apart. They don't care about kids either! And neither do THE parent(s) in most sad cases. Get real!!! The reforms are NOT about the kids.
NCLB has failed. Caused kids to dropout because their schools force them on a college track knowing full well they do not have to go to college to succeed.Special ed kids especially. They took vocation education out of urban schools and GAVE it to IVY Tech for the $$$$$$. Yes, NCLB has failed kids.IVY Tech reaps the benefits.
ReplyDeleteThe graduation rate in IPS has nearly doubled since NCLB. In 2002, it was 30%, now it's more than 50%. Now, perhaps it would be even higher if they'd kept the vocation education ALONG with pushing the college track. But your statement that NCLB caused kids to drop out is pure fiction.
ReplyDeleteYou say the reforms are NOT about the kids, but the only people AGAINST reforms are teachers, and only a portion of teachers. How is saying "it's the kids fault, we can't change things, just give is more money and then leave us alone" about the kids?
ReplyDelete@ "oh please" I'm sorry you have had so little success teaching children who aren't already motivated when they come in your classroom. I can imagine how frustrating that must be. Have you tried reaching out to other teachers or your principal? Please don't give up. You're wrong when you say it can't be done. It is done all the time in IPS classrooms, as well as other classrooms all over the state and all over the country. You have to believe in your own power.
ReplyDeleteThe graduation rate as well as other stats have improved due to more sophisticated ways of cooking the books. I have been involved in it. I know what is being done.
ReplyDeleteViveca Carter is the best and most ethical administrator I have worked with in IPS!!!!
ReplyDeleteMitch says education is too much money...we just don't have it. Well Mitch and Bennett drop the ISTEP and see how much money you save. Does anyone have any idea how much the ISTEP cost? Please don't tell me the Feds pay for it.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for the Career & Technical piece, too. I'm glad you brought that up. It's sad that there isn't more focus on this piece. That Career Center has dual credit for most of their programs, yet it is kept a well guarded secret. Why is that? Can Sarah Bogard change this? I thought Luberta Jenkins was their demise, but it seems it has been a downward spiral since Ken Poole was moved out of there. Too bad it is just a leftover area for students. With all of the Career/Technical curriculum being dropped from our other schools, this building should be bursting at the seams. Crazy. My good friend built that diesel program and then was moved out of there into a thankless position elsewhere. Why do they move the good ones out when they would be so much better off where they make a true and good difference?
ReplyDeleteSara Bogard only cares about the bushes and flowers. She could care less about education or the vocational programs. She just wants the furniture to match.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE OUR DEMOCRATS in the legislature!
ReplyDeleteYou go, guys and gals. Thank you for standing up for unions and AGAINST that maelstrom of Daniels and Bennett.
You have my vote......again!
If only teachers realized the bad legislation that the walkout has probably killed, they would be eternally grateful to the House Dems. This session of the legislature is a diaster and the amount of power hungry bills being introduced is crazy.
ReplyDeleteThey're breaking the law and putting their own wishes above the democracy. I'm a moderate, so i'm not particularly partisan, but this is absolutely unacceptable.
ReplyDeletePlease state the law that they are breaking. I think they are saving us from devastation.
ReplyDelete@They're breaking the law If you believe that unions are the problem rather than greedy big industry barons, you are sadly mistaken.
ReplyDeleteI'm not anti-union. I'm anti-monopoly. Monopolies are bad when corporations have them. They're bad when governments have them. We need to break up the education monopolies. And union membership should be voluntary. And if you think the democrats opposing these is about protecting you or the working man, you're the one who is sadly mistaken. There is far more money to be made in supporting government monopolies than one could even think about making in private industry.
ReplyDelete"Mitch says education is too much money...we just don't have it. Well Mitch and Bennett drop the ISTEP and see how much money you save."
ReplyDeleteMcGraw-Hill gets the contract for ISTEP. THEY need it to push their agenda that "schools are failing" and not the homes. McGraw- Hill will get the third grade reading test too. All of this 'reform' is just giving your corporate buddies a piece of that education pie- one BIG piece. Teachers only have themselves to blame. I know many that voted for Mitch and Bennett thinking nothing would happen to their jobs. How many of your students REALLY value doing well on the ISTEP this week? How many care? How does it feel that your job performance is based on how an 8 year old inner city kid comes to school?
Pay your 3 percent of TERF and help IPS save money.
ReplyDeleteTERF?
ReplyDeleteI'm not worrying about my job performance. I'm hoping that if they start holding some of the IPS teachers accountable for their attitudes and performance, we'll actually be able to make some headway in this district. I love this district, but so many people in administration and teaching staff shouldn't be here.
ReplyDeleteTERF = your retirement fund
ReplyDeleteWhy should an unemployed Marion County taxpayer be gouged even more to pay your retirement fund? Or, to help pay for your health insurance? Or, to give you a step raise? Or, to pay you more because you earned another degree? Or, to be held hostage by your union? That's exactly what the teachers' union is doing -- your union negotiates with the taxpayers for everything you earn. Didn't you realize that? Sure, you deserve to be paid, but not paid on the backs of taxpayers who might not even have a job. What part of 'the money is gone' don't union members understand?
Did you also realize that the ONLY reason Pat Bauer is in Illinois is because he is working hard for your next vote, not for you, but only for your vote. He and the other Democrats who've fled the state to avoid doing their jobs are doing more harm to educational reform and students than any IPS School Board could ever do. Democrats are supposedly 'progressives', but they're more about maintaining the 'status quo' than progressing toward a better educational system. Does that make you pleased?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/opinion/21krugman.html?_r=3&hp
ReplyDeleteI just checked my retirement fund statements. I don't know what you pay into but mine are from the TEACHER'S RETIREMENT FUND, TRF, no E anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI don't know where all your hostility comes from but take a prozac or something and chill out.
I never said anything about taxpayers of Marion county having to pay for my retirement. I have 4 funds of my own and I plan to finance my retirement on a lovely desert island.
My guess is what the union "doesn't understand" is if the money is gone, why is Dr. White's son getting a $13,000 raise, why do the people who don't affect the student's achievment getting big raises and the teachers get nothing, just bigger class sizes and more students?
ReplyDelete[[ Indiana Democrats for Education Reform ]]
ReplyDeleteLike us on Facebook.
http://www.dfer.org/2011/02/indiana_house_o.php
ReplyDelete_______________________________________________
Home » DFER's Blog
February 10, 2011
Indiana House of Representatives Pass Charter School Bill
By Larry Grau, Indiana State Director DFER
The Indiana House of Representatives passed a Charter School bill (HB 1002) to expand the authorization and development of charter schools in the state. The bill was passed out of the Republican-controlled House on a 59-37 vote. One of our IN DFER leaders, Rep. Mary Ann Sullivan (Indianapolis) was the lone Dem to vote for the bill in what proved to be a very ugly night, as this article from the Evansville Courier & Press reports.
Not coincidentally, it also was "teacher rally day" at the Statehouse, an event organized by the state's two teacher unions, which included a very loud and angry protest against several pieces of reform legislation including the Charter Schools bill. Mary Ann's vote was courageous on several levels, considering she was booed on the House floor, and angrily confronted in the hallway by protestors who had not been educated on the bill and who seemed more interested in supporting the status quo than our public school students. The "angry mob" mentality on display at the Indiana Statehouse was disturbing, at times, frightening. It's also a sign of what progressive-minded Democrats are working against, and most unfortunately it seemed to be driven by our fellow Democrats.
We need a Rally to Restore Sanity to education reform. It's time to stop worrying about who gets the credit for helping our students succeed and increase their levels of achievement. Mary Ann Sullivan (IN-Democrat) is a good person to help us begin this dialogue.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dfer.org/2011/02/do_we_need_a_ra.php
Mary Ann Sullivan is a good person!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou muar not be a real teacher. The statement very clearly says TERF. PERF is the fund for other public employees. Every teacher I know, has always known that the fund is called TERF. Please quit posing.
ReplyDeleteI'm not the above poster, but I'm an IPS teacher, and mine says TRF. I think you are confusing TRF and PERF.
ReplyDeleteThey can't even spell must. They probably aren't the real teacher. My license clearly says Indiana teacher's license and my statements say TRF for teacher's retirment fund. The other one is Public Employee's retirement fund.
ReplyDeleteAnyway. I know I'm right so I'll let it go.
@TRF for teacher's retirment fund.
ReplyDelete...and how much money does IPS or your school district contribute to your TRF?
Whatever the amount, please remember that it is taxpayers' monies that are funding that portion of your retirement. If you worked for a private company, I wouldn't care if your boss contributed 100% to your retirement fund, but since you work for the public, I do care that money is coming from my pocket to go into your retirement account!
Also, if you worked for a private company, I wouldn't care if you joined and participated in every union activity available because a private company does not take money from me unless I choose to buy its products.
Just checked my 4th quarter 2010 statement and it very clearly says TERF. However, think what you think as I do not care how uninformed you are.
ReplyDeleteLOL! Go ahead and acuse every teacher who posts here of being uninformed. That's less embarrassing than admitting you were wrong.
ReplyDeleteYou are a santorum!!!
ReplyDeleteEven better!! There's nothing more impressive when someone is proven wrong than for that person to accuse everyone else of being wrong and call them gross names.
ReplyDeleteAt some point, shouldn't they be able to hold a special election to replace the absentee congresspeople? Like they would if those same people had died? I actually oppose the same legislation they oppose, but I don't understand how they'are allowed to do this. It seems really sleazy to me, like cheating to win. It's certainly not very democratic, is it? I'm afraid this could backfire. Indiana is already a very Republican state. Won't this just make the next election go even more Republican than it was? I don't understand this at all.
ReplyDelete"Whatever the amount, please remember that it is taxpayers' monies that are funding that portion of your retirement. If you worked for a private company, I wouldn't care if your boss contributed 100% to your retirement fund, but since you work for the public, I do care that money is coming from my pocket to go into your retirement account!"
ReplyDeleteJust think about this. Those private firms are taking your tax dollars. When a business takes tax abatements (and most here in Indy do, just ask IPS about the last school funding formula) that means taxes for the rest of us goes up. That company not paying taxes has to be made up somewhere. So, you do have skin the private sector payments. Again, most companies will not come or stay in Indy without abatements. Check the files about how many companies don't pay taxes and you will be flabbergasted as I was.
Okay, I'll bite. What files? Where did you check out how many companies don't pay taxes?
ReplyDeleteSo expert what the the E stand for in TERF? Mine is just Teachers Retirement Fund.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you are so against schools, rent your living space and don't have kids so not one PENNY of your money will go to a school.
Oh and, don't forget to thank a teacher for teaching you how to get online and spew your vitriolic hatred.
Let's start with all of the private schools that don't pay property taxes. Were they in your files???
ReplyDeleteLet's start with all of the private schools that don't pay property taxes. Were they in your files???
ReplyDeleteHow about the churches that preach against Obama every Sunday and yet are tax exempt?? Where are our spineless lobbyists politicians in that area?
http://www.in.gov/trf/
ReplyDeleteArguing about something so easily checked is really pretty stupid, don't you think?
"Also, if you worked for a private company, I wouldn't care if you joined and participated in every union activity available because a private company does not take money from me unless I choose to buy its products."
ReplyDeleteThe private company probably gets a tax abatement so YOU and your friends must make up the difference. Especially in the IPS district. The NCAA Headquarters,Lilly, Irsay's first wife's estate, Circle Center Mall and on and on. All get some sort of tax exempt status. The rest of us have to pay what they do NOT pay. Peyton Manning and the cops have unions but they are "good" unions because they support the GOP. Teachers = bad union. wake up people.
Are there different crazies posting, or one crazy posting different variations of lunacy?
ReplyDeleteEducation funding no longer comes from property taxes and hasn't for years. It comes from state taxes, a combination of sales tax and income tax. Nobody in the state is excluded from paying into the public education or the teacher retirement fund.
And does someone really think schools should be taxed? And churches? Really? Why not hospitals and clinics? Why not charities?
Sometimes reading these posts is like watching Twilight Zone.
Back to current events in Indiana...Given the Statehouse activities of Democrats and Republicans and public sector unions including our own ISTA and IEA, how do we feel about Ann Wilkins' receiving a full teacher's salary paid for by us? Is she worth our money? Do we evaluate her as a teacher/union rep?
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher in IPS and previously in other districts outside of Indiana, I've always had problems with teachers and any public servants (including the fire fighters, the police, State employees, etc.) being unionized. This is just a personal feeling that others may or may not have.
ReplyDeleteI don't have the same problem with private sector employees being unionized because their employers are in the business of producing a profit, sometimes a gigantic profit. On the other hand, public sector employees (like us - teachers) are not employed by profit making companies; we are employed by the taxpayers, our neighbors, our families. We are not employed by an industry that earns $$ profits which can be shared with us. We are employed by the people who might not even have a job, at this point in time. I have a problem even talking about my teacher salary, my health insurance benefits, my sick leave, my sick leave bank, my personal days, etc. with my neighbors who just might not even have a job in today's economy. Perhaps I'm overly sensitive to others who contribute taxes to pay my salary and who might not enjoy having a job with more than decent benefits or any job at all.
No taxpayer money is used for the IEA president.
ReplyDeleteThe IEA does an intense annual evaluation of the president. I will admit if I were part of that process, Ann Wilkins would get an unsatifactory in all areas.
Amen.
ReplyDelete@No taxpayer money is used for the IEA president.
ReplyDeleteHi, I was the teacher who asked how we felt about our paying for Ann Wilkins salary from our IEA dues. Maybe it sounded like I was saying that taxpayers paid her, but that was not what I intended. We, the IEA dues paying teachers, pay for Ann Wilkins, so how do we feel she's performing for us, the folks who pay her salary? I tried to get in touch with her during the summer, and it was impossible to ever locate her at the Shadeland IEA office by phone or via email. What a waste of my money to be paying her for a great big NOTHING! She's no better than Peggy Penn, and Peggy was a slacker who did nothing but literally cry and sob.
I'm pretty sure that if IPS payroll did not automatically deduct our IEA union dues from our paychecks that most of us would 'default' damn quickly in our union membership. I can't see that IEA does doodly squat for us other than gladly accept our dues.
RE: "The IEA does an intense annual evaluation of the president."
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell does that include? An intense evaluation? C'mon, spell it out in plain terms, please.
Better yet, scan a copy of the evaluation form and post it here so all of us who pay Ann Wilkin's salary can see it. She ain't done crap! You know it, and I know it.
Joke of the Day
ReplyDeletewww.iea-in.org
Take a peek at Ann Wilkins' upper arms on the homepage of the IEA. Those arms are larger than than the average person's thighs. Somebody's been inviting that woman to way too many pitch-in's or pot-lucks.
By the way, this gathering should be interesting. Maybe the Indiana State Police can pick up a few missing Democrats who've fled the state if they drop by the Shadeland IEA Office on Saturday. A RALLY FOR Public Education will be held on Saturday, February 26, 2011 from 11:30a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at the ISTA Shadeland Office Parking Lot, 6910 N. Shadeland Avenue.
Guest speakers at this time will include State Representatives Jeb Bardon, John Barlett, Ed Delaney, Greg Porter, ISTA President Nate Schnellenberger and the ISTA Executive Committee.
Somebody please let us know if these AWOL Democrats show their faces here in Indy on Saturday!
I agree that Ann Wilkins has been a terrible, invisible president of IEA. Eugene White owns her lock, stock and barrel. We can change that in the next election.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/25/providence-school-board-v_n_828103.html
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1359351/Detroit-ordered-close-half-schools-wipe-deficit.html
ReplyDeleteHurry when is the next election?
ReplyDeleteWho is getting RIF'd????
ReplyDeletea whole lot of people....
ReplyDeletebut no administators...I would not be surprised if Eugene hired more administrators.
ReplyDeleteI really do not think it is necessary to attack someone's physical appearance. How disgustingly tacky and juvenile. You make the rest of us look bad.
ReplyDeleteI hear that the state is offering a $4500 voucher to home school. Just think how many hillbillys and religious KOOKs will keep their kids home to pocket the cash...THEN send them back to school three grade levels behind the rest. Then it's YOUR responsibility to get them ready for an ISTEP.That's what you WON'T hear on Abdul's show in the Star News.
ReplyDeleteFor the love of all that is good and holy, would you PLEASE post a freaking link when you post crap like this. Otherwise, we'll assume the reason that Abdul and the Star aren't mentioning it is because it's not freaking true!!!
ReplyDeleteStatistically, homeschooled students test two grade levels above their traditionally schooled peers. So while I'm sure IPS teachers see the worst (they only see the unsuccessful cases that return), the "hillbillys (sic) and religious kooks" are the exception, not the rule. But the proposed voucher bill would not be applicable to homeschooling. To be eligible, students need to be switching from public schools to private schools. Homeschooled students can't get them to enroll in private schools, and public students can't get them to start home-based schools.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.in.gov/apps/lsa/session/billwatch/billinfo?year=2011&session=1&request=getBill&doctype=HB&docno=1003
When is the next IEA election for president? Seems like either this year or next. Maybe Ann will not run. I am very disappointed in her.
ReplyDeleteIn IPS, most home schooled students do not follow a regimen of study. Instead, they serve as babysitters for younger sibings or help relatives do repair work to make money. Home schooling in most cases is a joke. It is a haven for children with socialization problems or ways to contribute to the family budget. Only a very few home schooled students, usually in upper middle class families, actually follow any type of study plan. Those few are successful and those are the ones that we hear about.
ReplyDeleteIf you legitimately home school your child you have to file some paper work with the state. The problem is someone needs to be home to homeschool a child, preferably someone with a brain. I've seen about seven parents in snit fits with draw their children, saying they were going to "homeschool" them, I don't think one of the parents had a high school diploma, and most could not even read above the sixth grade level.
ReplyDeleteThey were simply tired of dealing with their child's discipline issues at school. I know for a fact one of the boys who was withdrawn last year in the seventh grade now works with his dad in the hauling of yard trash business....maybe it is a business management course?
http://www.homeschoolinginindiana.com/
https://dc.doe.state.in.us/DOEOnline/HomeSchool/entry.aspx
As a principal, Li-Yen Johnson used to have a Home Schooling packet to hand to irate parents. I'd estimate four or five took her up on it, then, after two or three weeks, those parents would be back to re-enroll their child.
ReplyDeleteIt was amazing how supportive the majority of those parents became.
Again, you might have your personal experiences, but they do not match up with actual data. In real life, homeschooling is growing, even among urban families, and IPS enrollment is declining,. In real life, homeschooling is infinitely better than IPS. You would think some of you who are always blaming lack of parent involvement for failure would promote homeschooling success as proof of your argument. After all, even low-income parents without college degrees have had proven success with homeschooling their children.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, there are increasingly more choices for families beyond just accepting IPS or homeschooling.
ReplyDeleteThe IBJ reports
ReplyDelete"Bennett, however, said he and his team have been unrelenting in their outreach to teachers. Since August, he’s traveled the state to meet with them in town-hall settings—taking questions, explaining proposals and listening to complaints. He has met with 6,000 teachers and his staff has met with 21,000." I doubt Mr.Superintendent has his numbers correct on this one. There is no way they have visited and had meaningful discussion with 21,000 teachers/staff since August. That would be some feat for a staff that has other responsibilities besides public relations. Have you seen him or his staff in your building? The DOE has been around my building, but only to monitor certain programs. There was no meet and greet with doughnuts and juice or discussion at my school.
Re: Again you may hve your personal experiences. You seem obsessed about data but you offer personal opinions and call them facts. Where is the data on low income parents without college degrees having proven success with home schooling? So you see no relation to the dwindling school enrollment in IPS to current population demographics? IPS is in horrible shape but the population in the IPS district is dwindling and it is a much more affluent population moving in who have no children or 1 or 2 as opposed to the families in the past who tended to have larger families. Your self righteous attitude does not promote your home schooling agenda.
ReplyDelete"Given this reality, it’s important to have institutions that can act as counterweights to the power of big money. And unions are among the most important of these institutions.
ReplyDeleteYou don’t have to love unions, you don’t have to believe that ...their policy positions are always right, to recognize that they’re among the few influential players in our political system representing the interests of middle- and working-class Americans, as opposed to the wealthy. Indeed, if America has become more oligarchic and less democratic over the last 30 years — which it has — that’s to an important extent due to the decline of private-sector unions.
And now Mr. Walker and his backers are trying to get rid of public-sector unions, too.
There’s a bitter irony here. The fiscal crisis in Wisconsin, as in other states, was largely caused by the increasing power of America’s oligarchy. After all, it was superwealthy players, not the general public, who pushed for financial deregulation and thereby set the stage for the economic crisis of 2008-9, a crisis whose aftermath is the main reason for the current budget crunch. And now the political right is trying to exploit that very crisis, using it to remove one of the few remaining checks on oligarchic influence.
So will the attack on unions succeed? I don’t know. But anyone who cares about retaining government of the people by the people should hope that it doesn’t. " NYT
I don't have a homeschool agenda, I just like to be informed on what's going on in education. I teach at a public school, and my kids attend public school. That doesn't mean I don't know how to separate fact from fiction. I am not aware of any independent research on homeschooled families. But the National Home Education Research Institute has conducted studies and found that while homeschooling parents with more education and/or income do better than homeschooling parents with less education and/or income, every homeschooling demographic performed better than their demographic in public schools. So even homeschooled children of high school dropout parents living at the poverty level performed better than the traditionally schooled children of high school dropout parents living at the poverty level. I don't think this is as controversial as you make it out to be. It simply shows how important student-teacher relationship and differentiated education is. Homeschooling automatically has both.
ReplyDeleteMy working class IPS neighborhood is full of kids and only a small percentage go to IPS. Sure, suburban sprawl plays a part in the IPS decline. But you can't ignore the fact that thousands of families are actively opting out of IPS.
ReplyDeleteLet's go back to talking about School 60!
ReplyDeleteWhile we're at School 60...lets jaywalk over to Shortridge and talk about the princess and her ex-lover....NOW that was B.S. for sure!
ReplyDeleteLeave poor old School #60 alone. We have enough problems without this blog adding to them. We have a leader who is WAY too lenient with the students, and can't bear to punish some who have a "difficult" home life. The school improvement team practically lives there, yet nothing ever improves. Even a student said that we "need a black principal." Out of the mouths of babes. Too bad nobody will listen.
ReplyDeleteWho is the blogmaster? I'm sure his/her name is somewhere but I can't find it. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou're kidding, right? The blogmaster is anonymous. There are rumors about his/her identity. My guess is a disgruntled former IPS clerical or custodial worker or maybe the spouse of one. Definitely someone white, over 50, and without a college degree.
ReplyDeleteWhat school #60 needs is a strong leader who isn't too lenient on behavior. The way I hear it constant noisy hallways, students running and playing all the time in the hallways, and students being attacked in the rest rooms. What a shame. #60 use to be a great school with respect shown to the students and teachers. Then they changed the boundaries. It's amazing how many children are going across town instead of to their closest school.
ReplyDeleteYour School Improvement Team is always there, #60? I don't see ours ever.
ReplyDelete