Have you heard the rumor going around the Central Office that Dr. White said that Arlington, Broad Ripple and Emma Donnan weren't worth saving? Is anyone surprised he would say one thing publicly and another thing privately?
I agree about all three, Arlington has a huge gang, yep the bang, bang boys. Then Emma Donnan is full of screaming pre-teen males and females thugs who think the prison life is living large. Broad Ripple is a complete failure, top teachers, staff, administrator, and they are allow to ship students back to their boundary school for a below "c" average or behavior after ADM. They get to pick their students and they are still failing English and math? I keep reading in the blog that they have the best teachers, staff, and Linda Davis is God, but you are a failing school, all of you at BRHS are failures with the best deal of a lifetime. I was laughing at one BRHS English teacher trying to help one student improve her reading, try sixty students who are at the 3/4 grade level? Where is the broad that wrote that their ECA scores would save BRHS. I have "people" in the DOE, and the entire staff of all three schools will be gone next year, they will hire hundreds of teachers, so get ready to retire, I will retire after this year.
I have friends in the DOE too and they say Dr. Bennett has not said that state takeover was the option ( out of 5) he was choosing. This blog is full of lies and liars which is helping to destroy IPS. I think this was the goal to begin with.
I am fearful that IPS has been on the road to destruction for years, well before Tony Bennett or this blog arrived on the scene. I don't know if Bennett has any answer for the woes of IPS, but at least, he's shined a light into the dark hidden rooms and exposed what we've known all along.
As for Arlington, if Dr. White said it isn't worth saving, then good for him. I don't often agree with White, but on this one, I believe he's on to something. The magnet school idea is a good one; however, there was not enough thought given before Broad Ripple opened. Also, a magnet school for arts does not necessarily attract students who are the most academically capable. The kids are gifted, perhaps, in the arts, but that has no correlation with high reading levels, writing ability, or mathematical prowess.
"This blog is full of lies and liars which is helping to destroy IPS. I think this was the goal to begin with."
It was created to get even with Dr. White and the downtown administration, that's all. Wait till the bosses from the turn around schools take over. Dr. White will look like Dr. Pritchett. Get ready to be micro-manged to death by imbeciles who couldn't get REAL teaching jobs telling you how to teach from the business world perspective.
Did you see the new teacher contract Bennett has put out? It says teacher work a minimum of ____ hours. We can be directed to work more hours with no mention of being compensated.
I don't know anyone who works for free. Why should we be contractually obligated to do so? No wonder the ISTA filed a suit.
Back the ISTA. If you are not a member, please join now. The ISTA and NEA will fight for us, but they cannot do it without strong local membership. Then after you join, get involved. There truly is strength in numbers.
If we're not already members of the union, don't you think there's a reason? I'll join the teacher's union right after I join the KKK or the Nazi party or some other unconscionable group that would sacrifice generations of children for personal gain. If children have to navigate the public education system without union protection, surely college-educated professionals can manage.
You're obviously paranoid. I deal with students, parents, administrators, and fellow educators, and the only people who have any issue with me at all are insecure teachers. There's no boogie man, there's no monster. I've worked in the car business and in the medical field before entering the education field. Education is the least cutthroat of the three. What little animosity I've encountered has been from a few teachers. Don't suppose the union is going to protect me from that though?
"The kids are gifted, perhaps, in the arts, but that has no correlation with high reading levels, writing ability, or mathematical prowess."
Oh, man, is that one ever wrong ;-/ Research has shown a very high correlation between mathematical ability and the visual arts. I can't say anything about performing arts because what I was looking at was the visual arts. My license is in math, and I have an extensive background in the fine arts with an MA plus another 18 hours of studio works. This discussion is very much what is the hot topic in art education at the university level. Sorry, but you've missed the target and hit the fat lady in the butt instead.
Higher level compositional work in visual arts is rooted in an intuitive grasp of number patterns such as Fibonaccie series, phi sequences, and so on. I've even addressed this topic in middle school math classes and encouraged cross disciplinary work between art class and math class. The kids were astounded, or at least some of them were. Administration wasn't thrilled, and all I got was grief for my efforts. Didn't follow the pacing guide, you know, and they weren't going to be tested on it. Damn, talk about squeezing the juice out of two classes at once.
Keep thinking that when you get called into the office and told your job is in danger from trumped up charges or just plain bad perceptions. It sounds as though you've not been in the system lomg enough to see just how venal some administrators can get. Get crossways with someone like Yvonne Rambo and she'll pursue you to the ends of Hell and back in an effort to screw you. You'll be praying for kneepads and KY jelly. The union can ameliorate some of the unjust crap and advocate for you. The stae is doing their best to bust the teacher's union so Mitch can point out that he's doing just like his Hero, Ronnie Reagan, when he busted the Air Traffic Controllers union. We're a freaking political pawn, and if you choose to ignore the warnings, it's on you. Just don't try to join up after the crap hits the fan because it's too late by then. Playing Pollyanna in this day and age doesn't cut it.
I've dealt with difficult bosses before. It's part of being a grownup, just like dealing with difficult coworkers. Good teachers make administrators look good. Why would they want to get rid of me or make up lies about me or whatever. You go ahead and hide behind your union if it makes you feel safer. I don't begrudge you that. But if you spent the energy you spend fighting the system trying to be a part of the changes, you might be surprised by how many teachers there are here on the dark side and that it's kinda nice over here.
Many of us know that a large number of teachers have political views that don’t align with union leadership in the Indiana State Teachers Association.
The union’s stubborn resistance to education reforms, as well as its staunch strict party-line support of Democratic lawmakers rubs many teachers the wrong way, and it’s starting to cause some chaffing.
ISTA membership numbers reflect a growing discontent; both the number of ISTA members and the percentage who contribute to the union’s political war chest are down significantly.
ISTA’s statewide membership declined five percent between the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years, from 52,281 to 50,032 members. The slide in membership was accompanied by a roughly 7 percent decrease in the number of teachers who contribute to IPACE, the political action committee.
Between Sept. 1, 2008 and Aug. 1, 2009, nearly all of the ISTA’s top-paid employees raked in over a quarter million dollars in annual compensation, with the exception of Schnellenberger, who was paid a measly $231,175. The union’s top paid employee for that year, Larry Davis, was paid a total of $449,140 in compensation, base salary plus benefits. How are you feeling about your teaching salary now? Feeling warm and fuzzy?
The UniServe Directors, including Sharon Casey, Marie Giese, Nancy Papas, Donald Thompson, and Terry Troxell, all earned between $307,000 and $311,000 during 2010. Wow, do you think these folks 'served' you well?
The ISTA PAC gave $791,305 for political campaigns in 2010. On the other hand, the ISTA donated only $12,900 to the NEA Fund for Children and Public Education. Great priorities, right?
Let's not forget the Conflict of Interest statement. Jennifer Clutter received salary in the amount of $197,628 from ISTA as the Chief Financial Officer. Of course, her father, Larry Davis, the ISTA Director of Financial Planning, received a salary of $291,231 which does not include his nontaxable benefits package. Feeling good yet?
Oh, vote for the GOP who just cut your salary, benefits, rights, and had so many new laws overturned by the courts? Right, I voting for the person not the party, public education made this county great, we will overcome the Daniels and Bennett mistakes.
@ we will overcome the Daniels and Bennett mistakes
You hang in there, sunshine. Tossing around a few worn-out platitudes including the ever popular civil rights 'we will/shall overcome____ (insert whatever group of the moment you don't like)' illustrates to us that you're not a Rhodes scholar or a potential member of the Debate Team.
The GOP did not cut a single salary or take away a single benefits. You're fearmongering. The GOP followed the lead of other states, as well as the Democrat president, in pushing for major changes in how we run public education. The GOP isn't forcing people out of districts and into private schools and charter schools, are they?
All of you who are in favor of vouchers and charter schools are just not thinking things through. Vouchers and charters will be the demise of free and equal educational opportunities for all. When the public schools end up with only the very most difficult and expensive to educate, those students will be denied their basic rights to education. The money simply will not be there. If you think anything other than that will happen, then you are burying your head in the sand.
I am a master teacher, and I am in favor of educational reform. What is happening now, however, is not educational reform. It is the slaughter of public education for all.
Develop true eudactional reform, and I will vote for it all the way. It should start, please, with the removal of the vast number of corrupt administrators currently draining our corporatioins dry. Teachers are not the biggest problems. Blood sucking administrators are.
In addition to tossing lazy corrupt administrators universities must raise their standards. instead of grabbing for all the tuition dollars they can get and cranking out lousy teachers.
Removing the vast number of corrupt and even-not-so-corrupt administrators who financially drain IPS is precisely one 'good thing' you will see in Charter schools. Administration is lean in Charters. IPS is fat at the top and around the middle, sort of an educational 'muffin top'.
You say traditional public education is more equitable, but very few poor kids do well in IPS. And yet many of those same kids do well in private schools or charter schools. This includes failing kids, discipline problems, and special ed kids. What's democratic about trapping them in schools that can't or won't teach them? Who does that serve?
Now that we stand to lose six schools, who is still willing to say community high schools was the way to go???? Thanks Dr. White, Dr. Johnson, Dr. Giles, Dr. Kendricks, and Dr. Bridgwaters. Your ideas killed several communites. Your PHD degrees make you educated dummies.
Oh, my God where is all of the highly paid brass at the Ed Center going to run to for a job when the DOE takes over the schools. I heard that Dr. Giles, Dr. Greenwood, and Dr. Bridgewaters are being courted by townships schools to help them with their budget problems.
"Removing the vast number of corrupt and even-not-so-corrupt administrators who financially drain IPS is precisely one 'good thing' you will see in Charter schools. Administration is lean in Charters."
If charters make parents accountable and kick out kids when parents aren't then that's fine. However, I know most charters only care about numbers and making a profit. How do you do that in this state with THIS reform? You take all kids no matter what. Kick out no one because numbers mean money. Cut worker wages (teachers) and if they can't deal with bad kids and worse parents then fire them. You have five years to make your profit and so what if they school shuts down? You made your money. Now re-invent the charter in another name and start all over for the next 5 years. Welcome to the business world model in America. I hope you charter-loving people are right for the sake of us all but this is what I see happening.
"You say traditional public education is more equitable, but very few poor kids do well in IPS. And yet many of those same kids do well in private schools or charter schools. This includes failing kids, discipline problems, and special ed kids. What's democratic about trapping them in schools that can't or won't teach them?"
Nobody is trapped in a free country. IPS has great schools where the homes are involved. IPS hasn't failed..the homes have. No one has a solution other than to hand them over to people who paid to get other people elected into office. The worst part about politics.
To the person who said join the ISTA: They will back/fight for you? WRONG. When another school corporation laid off/axed/rehired teachers as subs with NO benefits ISTA would/did not help at all. We were told they would NOT interfere with the restructure process of failing schools. That the school corps had to do what they have to do to get out of trouble with the state. Many teachers were left without jobs all year, living on unemployment, or subbing, or working as I said as subs with NO benefits and much lower pay. I and many others will never join the union again as it was a huge slap in the face when we got NO assistance. Being a union member for over twenty years, giving them lots of money did nothing for me and many others in the end. So don't expect any help because it won't come and eventually they will quit responding to your emails and act like you don't exist.
That's nonsense and you know it. Some homes make teaching kids more challenging. But teachers matter immensely as much or more than parental involvement, depending on what research you're reading. (There is no research that says teachers don't matter, only parents, or that parental involvement is a stronger predictor of success than teacher quality). Some traditional schools are as bad as IPS. But most aren't. Some charter schools are as bad as IPS. But most aren't. Some IPS teachers are competent professionals worth their weight in gold. But most aren't. If we can't get rid of the bad and keep the good, then we need to give the public the freedom to go find the good. Crappy teachers don't (and shouldn't) control public education. And for too many years, they have.
This talk about the union. Isn't it a moot point? Hasn't Daniels and the state Republicans successfully reduced the power of the teacher's union to zilch with the new laws? Aren't the teachers unions in this state and others on life support?
Be offended then. I don't know you, and I have no clue whether you are a good teacher or not. It's not teacher bashing to say that good teachers can teach difficult kids. It's not administrator bashing to say that good administrators can manage difficult schools. It's not public school bashing to say that IPS is a failing district. You're jumping in front of arrows if you're offended by that.
Ok, lets switch all of the Fishers and Carmel teachers with IPS teachers. Lets see if the students have anything to do with education? I know that the Carmel teachers will turn Arlington around in one month, just like a charter school?
Nobody said anything about turning a school around in one month. IPS has had more than 6 years. If you replaced IPS teachers with Fishers and Carmel teachers, I do think you'd see SOME sort of improvement. Likewise, if you sent all of the IPS teachers to Carmel and Fishers, I think you would see a decrease in achievement gains and an increase in behavior problems and parental complaints. Not that all suburban teachers are good and all IPS teachers are bad, but many IPS teachers wouldn't last 2 minutes in the suburbs. Those parents would eat many IPS teachers alive and the principals wouldn't keep them. Also, not a single charter school has gone 6 years without improving, so I don't know why you're badmouthing them. Only 7 schools in the state have done that bad, and 6 of them were in IPS, one in Gary. No charter schools. I'm not a huge charter school fan, but as a parent, I'd choose any charter school over any of the IPS schools being taken over by the state, wouldn't you?
@ "If you replaced IPS teachers with Fishers and Carmel teachers, I do think you'd see SOME sort of improvement." Pass the Kool-Aid, please. What you would see is a lot of resignations and jobs subbed out for the remainder of the year.
I work in a suburban district, and I agree that many IPS teachers wouldn't do well here. Suburban teachers aren't allowed to be boring. They're not allowed to show videos or films unless they are less than 10 minutes long. They're not allowed to sit during class. They're not allowed to express anger at parents or students. They're not allowed to procrastinate grading and returning assignments. There's no question that IPS students face more challenges, but there's also little question that many IPS teachers don't teach the same way teachers at good schools do. It's like they don't think it matters either way, so why bother. I left IPS because of the adults, not the children.
I think you are deluded if you think all IPS teachers so is show movies, sit down and not grade papers. I worked in a township and I worked in IPS. I'll take IPS any day over the horrid children and co-workers I had in the township. You are obviously an angry person who should be looking for alternate employment.
There are MANY MANY teachers here who care for the students and want to help them do well and do so. I have encountered a small number of people who like yourself should not be teachers but they are far outnumbered by the caring dedicated individuals.
A great IPS teacher can move to a township and continue to be a great teacher, a great township teacher moved to IPS may not be so great. It is much harder to teach and do it really well in IPS then it is in the township, where kids come with lots of background knowledge and more middle class social and emotional skills..
And to the person who said "IPS hasn't failed... the homes have. That's nonsense and you know it." It is not nonsense, the parents and community of many children in IPS have failed their children, however we cannot use this as an excuse. You might want to read Unequal Childhoods, Class, Race, and Family Life by Annette Lareau, and John U. Ogbu's Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement. Now the question is how do we (parents, teachers, community, IPS) work to remedy this situation...and the answer is not to say it is simply "nonsense."
@ "If you replaced IPS teachers with Fishers and Carmel teachers, I do think you'd see SOME sort of improvement--HILARIOUS!!
I know a teacher who left the comfort of a township district because she felt a " calling to help the poor children of IPS." She lasted half a year and will barely talk about her experience it was so awful for her.
I'm a sub, and the kids at IPS are not that different than the kids in the townships. The culture of the school is different, and there's a lot of hostility among adults in IPS, but kids are kids. If you go in there with a plan A, a plan B, and a sense of humor, you're going to do fine in whatever district. If you go in expecting kids to silently and respectfully jump at your every whim, you're going to have a lot of problems in either district. Kids in IPS tend to have more of a "forget this" type of attitude if they don't like class. The suburban kids will try to make an ass out of you in front of everyone, or they'll get their parents to call a conference with you and the principal over every little thing. Either way, you have to be on your toes, and you have to have people skills. But the kids at IPS aren't as bad as people say. Like someone above said, the problem with IPS is the adults (teachers and administrators), not the kids.
I actually think the best teachers in IPS are the ones who felt a calling. Unfortunately, that's a minority. Many are here because they can't get jobs anywhere else.
Oh good fucking grief! I was trying to read this thread and glean some meaningful information from it. Then I ran across the post that said "Public education made this country great.". I've been on this planet for a long time and I've seen a lot of things. One thing I've NEVER seen is any form of public education that was worth a shit. Just let it go people. Allow education to be part of the free marketplace as it should be. Most local governments can barely handle getting the trash picked up on time. Why in the hell would any parent with half a brain trust them with their children?
Do you think teachers in the township have to bring in TP for their kids and soap for hand washing?
I used to work a part time job in retail, and it allowed me to talk to lots of people, a township teacher told me that at her school they considered all the kids bussed in from IPS to be special needs and or emotionally disturbed.
I remember a teacher at HMS who came in with a great "calling" to work with the poor. I heard all about his calling and such for the 3 days witout students. He quit at the end of the 2nd day.
That makes no sense. Why would people with a calling do worse than elderly bigots who hate kids? Lots of people work and do business with city folks. It's not that big of a deal. The failure of IPS isn't about city kids. It's about corruption and incompetence.
Let's just take our SPED kids, our ESL kids, our kids who live in foster care or group homes, our kids who are parents, our drug users and gang bangers, and all of our other troubled/confused kids and put them all in a very large, abandonded building. Then we can call in all of the people who hate public education so much and let them blow the building up. We might as well do that every five years or so. That would rid our society of these underperforming, incompetent, system-abusing parasites on a regular basis.
I can give you a sure recipe for finding out who's a decent teacher and who's a slug teacher. Try being a special education inclusion teacher in an IPS high school for one school year. After the 1st grading period, you will be able to identify who's a proficient teacher and who's a total dud!
Proficient teachers welcome the inclusion teacher into their classrooms; whereas, dud teachers will come up with one trillion excuses why the inclusion teacher is not needed -- but, the only REAL reason is because the dud teachers are ashamed to have another certified teacher in their classrooms to witness the lack of teaching, the lack of purpose, and the lack of basic energy put forth to earn a paycheck.
Are you familiar with the old phrase "He could have talked all day and not said that."?
Well, Dr. White should have familiarized himself with that phrase when speaking so boldly and ignorantly before the bi-partisan Interim State Study on Education Issues Committee. This committee is charged with investigating the 'gone wild' salaries and retirement packages of IN public school superintendents.
Here are the verbatim words from our own Eugene White. "The president of (Indiana University) just got a 12 percent raise. The president of Ball State (University) just got a 10 percent raise,” White said. “I can stand before you and say they don't do half of what I do.”
After that, I'm not going to say another word. Here's the link to the complete news story.
There are many who worked at Donnan that have felt there were things being done from downtown to sabotage and deliberately ensure that Donnan would fail. To back up that statement, let me fill you in on a bit of Donnan's past. When Longfellow (28) and McFarland (112) were closed due to poor performance, the students were absorbed by Donnan. As I understand it, this was seen as joining these schools with a more successful school. When this occurred, Donnan almost tripled in size and was given, for the first time, an ESL program as well as a Severe/Profound program. Unfortunately, when those groups were added to the building, the teachers were not given any forewarning nor staff development to help them best serve these new populations. Regardless of the lack of education, the teachers welcomed these students and began trying to reach them as best as they were able to.
Around the time of the previous events, the then current Principal of Donnan was given the Milken Award and it was reported by Superintendent Suellen Reed that Donnan saw a 14% increase in scores, but that was not evidently good enough to be moved off of probation. In fact instead of rewarding the efforts and successes, the choice was made to remove all of the administrators (who had seen success under their leadership) and replace them with an entirely new team.
A new administrative team was put in place and a new year began. The staff at Donnan rallied around this new team and were even more determined to see success. Over the course of the next couple of school years, there were gains in scores, but not enough to please the IDOE. In 2010, the scores and efforts raised enough to see Donnan make AYP through Safe Harbor. This was a reason for celebration, or so we thought. During this time, it was determined by downtown that Donnan would become an alternative boundary school, so students that should have been sent to an alternative program were given a choice of being allowed to attend Donnan as long as the parent provided transportation. To my understanding, this was done without notifying the administrative team until well after the fact. They also were forced to receive students who were kicked out of a magnet program due to poor grades or poor behavior. Along with that, Donnan had become known as a place that had people who could help those with emotional needs, so there was an influx of students being referred to Donnan. During the first semester of the 2010-11 school year, Donnan's Principal was repeatedly told by Dr. White that Donnan was not being considered for Turnaround because of making AYP and the Principal had not been invited to any of the Turnaround meetings to even learn of the process.
Let's move to January of 2011. After being told repeatedly it would not happen, Dr. White informed the Principal that Donnan would be made into a Turnaround school for the 2011-12 school year. Very shortly after getting this information, and the Principal being given the responsibility to inform the staff, with her heart breaking,an information meeting was held to let the staff know what the Turnaround process was, and that in about two weeks, those who wished to stay at Donnan must complete an application packet and prepare for being interviewed. On top of that they were asked to choose that very day if they wanted the opportunity to interview, a voluntary transfer or an involuntary transfer.
On the second day of ISTEP testing of the Applied Skills, the teachers of Donnan who had interviewed for a position for the 2011-12 school year began receiving emails informing them that they had not been chose to remain at Donnan the following year, so they would need to seek out other schools to interview with. Within 48 hours, all teachers found out their fate for the following school year. This sent the culture of the building into a tailspin and teachers, who experience normal human emotions, had to try and do their job at the same time they were grieving their own losses. This had a profound impact on the environment of the school. Some who had been passed over seemed to loose their drive and started doubting themselves as professionals while others, try as they did, allowed their own disappointment and anger to fill the air.
So, when the 2011 ISTEP scores came back, it was not surprising to many of us that the teachers who were chosen to remain for the 2011-12 school year had scores higher than the teachers who had been given that awful news on the second day of testing. With this in mind, it should not be surprising that many staff members (former and present) feel as if Donnan has been made a scapegoat and for some unknown reason, was deemed undesirable and chosen to fail.
Ok, I taught foster children, group home children and now have one foster child, please give them a break. Many have such bad experiences with life, one was raped by his mother's boy friend, beaten, burned, and then when he told a social worker, dumped into a trash bin downtown. All he wanted was to move back home with his mother? Yes, he will be unstable until he finds a loving family that will know how to handle his detachment with adults, and trust someone again. He was able to trust me, and was given back to his mother, we lost touch with him? I have another young adult (over 18 years old)in my home who was in foster care for 16 years, but he is attending college, reduced anxieties, not cutting himself, driving his own vehicle (1999) and making the Dean's List. The only problem is he is love with one young lady, we have talked about birth control and I keep a stocked supply. He now has three families, mine, and my extended family. We celebrate three different holidays in December, and he knows that he is loved by every member of my family.
SHUT THIS website down now or shut up. You idiot teachers. SHUT UP!!!!!! You create you're own karma and I promise you if you write anymore crap on here it's bad karma for you baby.
I agree about all three, Arlington has a huge gang, yep the bang, bang boys. Then Emma Donnan is full of screaming pre-teen males and females thugs who think the prison life is living large. Broad Ripple is a complete failure, top teachers, staff, administrator, and they are allow to ship students back to their boundary school for a below "c" average or behavior after ADM. They get to pick their students and they are still failing English and math? I keep reading in the blog that they have the best teachers, staff, and Linda Davis is God, but you are a failing school, all of you at BRHS are failures with the best deal of a lifetime. I was laughing at one BRHS English teacher trying to help one student improve her reading, try sixty students who are at the 3/4 grade level? Where is the broad that wrote that their ECA scores would save BRHS. I have "people" in the DOE, and the entire staff of all three schools will be gone next year, they will hire hundreds of teachers, so get ready to retire, I will retire after this year.
ReplyDeleteI have friends in the DOE too and they say Dr. Bennett has not said that state takeover was the option ( out of 5) he was choosing. This blog is full of lies and liars which is helping to destroy IPS. I think this was the goal to begin with.
ReplyDeleteI am fearful that IPS has been on the road to destruction for years, well before Tony Bennett or this blog arrived on the scene. I don't know if Bennett has any answer for the woes of IPS, but at least, he's shined a light into the dark hidden rooms and exposed what we've known all along.
ReplyDeleteAs for Arlington, if Dr. White said it isn't worth saving, then good for him. I don't often agree with White, but on this one, I believe he's on to something. The magnet school idea is a good one; however, there was not enough thought given before Broad Ripple opened. Also, a magnet school for arts does not necessarily attract students who are the most academically capable. The kids are gifted, perhaps, in the arts, but that has no correlation with high reading levels, writing ability, or mathematical prowess.
"This blog is full of lies and liars which is helping to destroy IPS. I think this was the goal to begin with."
ReplyDeleteIt was created to get even with Dr. White and the downtown administration, that's all. Wait till the bosses from the turn around schools take over. Dr. White will look like Dr. Pritchett. Get ready to be micro-manged to death by imbeciles who couldn't get REAL teaching jobs telling you how to teach from the business world perspective.
Ya think?!
ReplyDeleteDid you see the new teacher contract Bennett has put out? It says teacher work a minimum of ____ hours. We can be directed to work more hours with no mention of being compensated.
ReplyDeleteI don't know anyone who works for free. Why should we be contractually obligated to do so? No wonder the ISTA filed a suit.
Back the ISTA. If you are not a member, please join now. The ISTA and NEA will fight for us, but they cannot do it without strong local membership.
ReplyDeleteThen after you join, get involved. There truly is strength in numbers.
If we're not already members of the union, don't you think there's a reason? I'll join the teacher's union right after I join the KKK or the Nazi party or some other unconscionable group that would sacrifice generations of children for personal gain. If children have to navigate the public education system without union protection, surely college-educated professionals can manage.
ReplyDeleteYou are obviously unhinged. The union is the only entity fighting for us. Everyone else is fighting us.
ReplyDeleteYou're obviously paranoid. I deal with students, parents, administrators, and fellow educators, and the only people who have any issue with me at all are insecure teachers. There's no boogie man, there's no monster. I've worked in the car business and in the medical field before entering the education field. Education is the least cutthroat of the three. What little animosity I've encountered has been from a few teachers. Don't suppose the union is going to protect me from that though?
ReplyDelete"The kids are gifted, perhaps, in the arts, but that has no correlation with high reading levels, writing ability, or mathematical prowess."
ReplyDeleteOh, man, is that one ever wrong ;-/ Research has shown a very high correlation between mathematical ability and the visual arts. I can't say anything about performing arts because what I was looking at was the visual arts. My license is in math, and I have an extensive background in the fine arts with an MA plus another 18 hours of studio works. This discussion is very much what is the hot topic in art education at the university level. Sorry, but you've missed the target and hit the fat lady in the butt instead.
Higher level compositional work in visual arts is rooted in an intuitive grasp of number patterns such as Fibonaccie series, phi sequences, and so on. I've even addressed this topic in middle school math classes and encouraged cross disciplinary work between art class and math class. The kids were astounded, or at least some of them were. Administration wasn't thrilled, and all I got was grief for my efforts. Didn't follow the pacing guide, you know, and they weren't going to be tested on it. Damn, talk about squeezing the juice out of two classes at once.
"You're obviously paranoid."
ReplyDeleteKeep thinking that when you get called into the office and told your job is in danger from trumped up charges or just plain bad perceptions. It sounds as though you've not been in the system lomg enough to see just how venal some administrators can get. Get crossways with someone like Yvonne Rambo and she'll pursue you to the ends of Hell and back in an effort to screw you. You'll be praying for kneepads and KY jelly. The union can ameliorate some of the unjust crap and advocate for you. The stae is doing their best to bust the teacher's union so Mitch can point out that he's doing just like his Hero, Ronnie Reagan, when he busted the Air Traffic Controllers union. We're a freaking political pawn, and if you choose to ignore the warnings, it's on you. Just don't try to join up after the crap hits the fan because it's too late by then. Playing Pollyanna in this day and age doesn't cut it.
I've dealt with difficult bosses before. It's part of being a grownup, just like dealing with difficult coworkers. Good teachers make administrators look good. Why would they want to get rid of me or make up lies about me or whatever. You go ahead and hide behind your union if it makes you feel safer. I don't begrudge you that. But if you spent the energy you spend fighting the system trying to be a part of the changes, you might be surprised by how many teachers there are here on the dark side and that it's kinda nice over here.
ReplyDeleteRe: ISTA
ReplyDeleteMany of us know that a large number of teachers have political views that don’t align with union leadership in the Indiana State Teachers Association.
The union’s stubborn resistance to education reforms, as well as its staunch strict party-line support of Democratic lawmakers rubs many teachers the wrong way, and it’s starting to cause some chaffing.
ISTA membership numbers reflect a growing discontent; both the number of ISTA members and the percentage who contribute to the union’s political war chest are down significantly.
ISTA’s statewide membership declined five percent between the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years, from 52,281 to 50,032 members. The slide in membership was accompanied by a roughly 7 percent decrease in the number of teachers who contribute to IPACE, the political action committee.
Between Sept. 1, 2008 and Aug. 1, 2009, nearly all of the ISTA’s top-paid employees raked in over a quarter million dollars in annual compensation, with the exception of Schnellenberger, who was paid a measly $231,175. The union’s top paid employee for that year, Larry Davis, was paid a total of $449,140 in compensation, base salary plus benefits. How are you feeling about your teaching salary now? Feeling warm and fuzzy?
The UniServe Directors, including Sharon Casey, Marie Giese, Nancy Papas, Donald Thompson, and Terry Troxell, all earned between $307,000 and $311,000 during 2010. Wow, do you think these folks 'served' you well?
The ISTA PAC gave $791,305 for political campaigns in 2010. On the other hand, the ISTA donated only $12,900 to the NEA Fund for Children and Public Education. Great priorities, right?
Let's not forget the Conflict of Interest statement. Jennifer Clutter received salary in the amount of $197,628 from ISTA as the Chief Financial Officer. Of course, her father, Larry Davis, the ISTA Director of Financial Planning, received a salary of $291,231 which does not include his nontaxable benefits package. Feeling good yet?
Oh, vote for the GOP who just cut your salary, benefits, rights, and had so many new laws overturned by the courts? Right, I voting for the person not the party, public education made this county great, we will overcome the Daniels and Bennett mistakes.
ReplyDeleteMy, my, but aren't we censoring out replies here?
ReplyDelete@ we will overcome the Daniels and Bennett mistakes
ReplyDeleteYou hang in there, sunshine. Tossing around a few worn-out platitudes including the ever popular civil rights 'we will/shall overcome____ (insert whatever group of the moment you don't like)' illustrates to us that you're not a Rhodes scholar or a potential member of the Debate Team.
The GOP did not cut a single salary or take away a single benefits. You're fearmongering. The GOP followed the lead of other states, as well as the Democrat president, in pushing for major changes in how we run public education. The GOP isn't forcing people out of districts and into private schools and charter schools, are they?
ReplyDeleteAll of you who are in favor of vouchers and charter schools are just not thinking things through. Vouchers and charters will be the demise of free and equal educational opportunities for all. When the public schools end up with only the very most difficult and expensive to educate, those students will be denied their basic rights to education. The money simply will not be there. If you think anything other than that will happen, then you are burying your head in the sand.
ReplyDeleteI am a master teacher, and I am in favor of educational reform. What is happening now, however, is not educational reform. It is the slaughter of public education for all.
Develop true eudactional reform, and I will vote for it all the way. It should start, please, with the removal of the vast number of corrupt administrators currently draining our corporatioins dry. Teachers are not the biggest problems. Blood sucking administrators are.
In addition to tossing lazy corrupt administrators universities must raise their standards. instead of grabbing for all the tuition dollars they can get and cranking out lousy teachers.
ReplyDeleteRemoving the vast number of corrupt and even-not-so-corrupt administrators who financially drain IPS is precisely one 'good thing' you will see in Charter schools. Administration is lean in Charters. IPS is fat at the top and around the middle, sort of an educational 'muffin top'.
ReplyDeleteYou say traditional public education is more equitable, but very few poor kids do well in IPS. And yet many of those same kids do well in private schools or charter schools. This includes failing kids, discipline problems, and special ed kids. What's democratic about trapping them in schools that can't or won't teach them? Who does that serve?
ReplyDeleteNow that we stand to lose six schools, who is still willing to say community high schools was the way to go???? Thanks Dr. White, Dr. Johnson, Dr. Giles, Dr. Kendricks, and Dr. Bridgwaters. Your ideas killed several communites. Your PHD degrees make you educated dummies.
ReplyDeleteProbably EdD
ReplyDeleteBill Cosby has an EdD.
ReplyDeleteThere's no that much impressive about an EdD. It's one of the easiest doctorates to get, if not the easiest to get.
ReplyDeleteOh, my God where is all of the highly paid brass at the Ed Center going to run to for a job when the DOE takes over the schools. I heard that Dr. Giles, Dr. Greenwood, and Dr. Bridgewaters are being courted by townships schools to help them with their budget problems.
ReplyDelete"Removing the vast number of corrupt and even-not-so-corrupt administrators who financially drain IPS is precisely one 'good thing' you will see in Charter schools. Administration is lean in Charters."
ReplyDeleteIf charters make parents accountable and kick out kids when parents aren't then that's fine.
However, I know most charters only care about numbers and making a profit. How do you do that in this state with THIS reform? You take all kids no matter what. Kick out no one because numbers mean money. Cut worker wages (teachers) and if they can't deal with bad kids and worse parents then fire them. You have five years to make your profit and so what if they school shuts down? You made your money. Now re-invent the charter in another name and start all over for the next 5 years. Welcome to the business world model in America. I hope you charter-loving people are right for the sake of us all but this is what I see happening.
"You say traditional public education is more equitable, but very few poor kids do well in IPS. And yet many of those same kids do well in private schools or charter schools. This includes failing kids, discipline problems, and special ed kids. What's democratic about trapping them in schools that can't or won't teach them?"
ReplyDeleteNobody is trapped in a free country. IPS has great schools where the homes are involved. IPS hasn't failed..the homes have. No one has a solution other than to hand them over to people who paid to get other people elected into office. The worst part about politics.
To the person who said join the ISTA: They will back/fight for you? WRONG. When another school corporation laid off/axed/rehired teachers as subs with NO benefits ISTA would/did not help at all. We were told they would NOT interfere with the restructure process of failing schools. That the school corps had to do what they have to do to get out of trouble with the state.
ReplyDeleteMany teachers were left without jobs all year, living on unemployment, or subbing, or working as I said as subs with NO benefits and much lower pay. I and many others will never join the union again as it was a huge slap in the face when we got NO assistance. Being a union member for over twenty years, giving them lots of money did nothing for me and many others in the end. So don't expect any help because it won't come and eventually they will quit responding to your emails and act like you don't exist.
IPS hasn't failed... the homes have.
ReplyDeleteThat's nonsense and you know it. Some homes make teaching kids more challenging. But teachers matter immensely as much or more than parental involvement, depending on what research you're reading. (There is no research that says teachers don't matter, only parents, or that parental involvement is a stronger predictor of success than teacher quality). Some traditional schools are as bad as IPS. But most aren't. Some charter schools are as bad as IPS. But most aren't. Some IPS teachers are competent professionals worth their weight in gold. But most aren't. If we can't get rid of the bad and keep the good, then we need to give the public the freedom to go find the good. Crappy teachers don't (and shouldn't) control public education. And for too many years, they have.
So basically, YOU and YOUR friends are the good teachers and the rest of us just suck?
ReplyDeleteI'm offended.
This talk about the union. Isn't it a moot point? Hasn't Daniels and the state Republicans successfully reduced the power of the teacher's union to zilch with the new laws? Aren't the teachers unions in this state and others on life support?
ReplyDeleteBe offended then. I don't know you, and I have no clue whether you are a good teacher or not. It's not teacher bashing to say that good teachers can teach difficult kids. It's not administrator bashing to say that good administrators can manage difficult schools. It's not public school bashing to say that IPS is a failing district. You're jumping in front of arrows if you're offended by that.
ReplyDeleteOk, lets switch all of the Fishers and Carmel teachers with IPS teachers. Lets see if the students have anything to do with education? I know that the Carmel teachers will turn Arlington around in one month, just like a charter school?
ReplyDeleteNobody said anything about turning a school around in one month. IPS has had more than 6 years. If you replaced IPS teachers with Fishers and Carmel teachers, I do think you'd see SOME sort of improvement. Likewise, if you sent all of the IPS teachers to Carmel and Fishers, I think you would see a decrease in achievement gains and an increase in behavior problems and parental complaints. Not that all suburban teachers are good and all IPS teachers are bad, but many IPS teachers wouldn't last 2 minutes in the suburbs. Those parents would eat many IPS teachers alive and the principals wouldn't keep them. Also, not a single charter school has gone 6 years without improving, so I don't know why you're badmouthing them. Only 7 schools in the state have done that bad, and 6 of them were in IPS, one in Gary. No charter schools. I'm not a huge charter school fan, but as a parent, I'd choose any charter school over any of the IPS schools being taken over by the state, wouldn't you?
ReplyDelete@ "If you replaced IPS teachers with Fishers and Carmel teachers, I do think you'd see SOME sort of improvement." Pass the Kool-Aid, please. What you would see is a lot of resignations and jobs subbed out for the remainder of the year.
ReplyDeleteI work in a suburban district, and I agree that many IPS teachers wouldn't do well here. Suburban teachers aren't allowed to be boring. They're not allowed to show videos or films unless they are less than 10 minutes long. They're not allowed to sit during class. They're not allowed to express anger at parents or students. They're not allowed to procrastinate grading and returning assignments. There's no question that IPS students face more challenges, but there's also little question that many IPS teachers don't teach the same way teachers at good schools do. It's like they don't think it matters either way, so why bother. I left IPS because of the adults, not the children.
ReplyDeleteI think you are deluded if you think all IPS teachers so is show movies, sit down and not grade papers. I worked in a township and I worked in IPS. I'll take IPS any day over the horrid children and co-workers I had in the township. You are obviously an angry person who should be looking for alternate employment.
ReplyDeleteThere are MANY MANY teachers here who care for the students and want to help them do well and do so. I have encountered a small number of people who like yourself should not be teachers but they are far outnumbered by the caring dedicated individuals.
A great IPS teacher can move to a township and continue to be a great teacher, a great township teacher moved to IPS may not be so great. It is much harder to teach and do it really well in IPS then it is in the township, where kids come with lots of background knowledge and more middle class social and emotional skills..
ReplyDeleteAnd to the person who said "IPS hasn't failed... the homes have. That's nonsense and you know it." It is not nonsense, the parents and community of many children in IPS have failed their children, however we cannot use this as an excuse. You might want to read Unequal Childhoods, Class, Race, and Family Life by Annette Lareau, and John U. Ogbu's Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement. Now the question is how do we (parents, teachers, community, IPS) work to remedy this situation...and the answer is not to say it is simply "nonsense."
@ "If you replaced IPS teachers with Fishers and Carmel teachers, I do think you'd see SOME sort of improvement--HILARIOUS!!
ReplyDeleteI know a teacher who left the comfort of a township district because she felt a " calling to help the poor children of IPS." She lasted half a year and will barely talk about her experience it was so awful for her.
I don't believe you. What's her name?
ReplyDeleteI'm a sub, and the kids at IPS are not that different than the kids in the townships. The culture of the school is different, and there's a lot of hostility among adults in IPS, but kids are kids. If you go in there with a plan A, a plan B, and a sense of humor, you're going to do fine in whatever district. If you go in expecting kids to silently and respectfully jump at your every whim, you're going to have a lot of problems in either district. Kids in IPS tend to have more of a "forget this" type of attitude if they don't like class. The suburban kids will try to make an ass out of you in front of everyone, or they'll get their parents to call a conference with you and the principal over every little thing. Either way, you have to be on your toes, and you have to have people skills. But the kids at IPS aren't as bad as people say. Like someone above said, the problem with IPS is the adults (teachers and administrators), not the kids.
ReplyDeleteI actually think the best teachers in IPS are the ones who felt a calling. Unfortunately, that's a minority. Many are here because they can't get jobs anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteOh good fucking grief! I was trying to read this thread and glean some meaningful information from it. Then I ran across the post that said "Public education made this country great.". I've been on this planet for a long time and I've seen a lot of things. One thing I've NEVER seen is any form of public education that was worth a shit. Just let it go people. Allow education to be part of the free marketplace as it should be. Most local governments can barely handle getting the trash picked up on time. Why in the hell would any parent with half a brain trust them with their children?
ReplyDeleteHave you compared township and IPS facilities? Have you ever heard of a township school that ran out of basic supplies, textbooks, etc. etc. etc?
ReplyDeletetoilet paper?
ReplyDeleteDo you think teachers in the township have to bring in TP for their kids and soap for hand washing?
I used to work a part time job in retail, and it allowed me to talk to lots of people, a township teacher told me that at her school they considered all the kids bussed in from IPS to be special needs and or emotionally disturbed.
I remember a teacher at HMS who came in with a great "calling" to work with the poor. I heard all about his calling and such for the 3 days witout students. He quit at the end of the 2nd day.
ReplyDeleteCalling...yeah must have been a wrong number!
That makes no sense. Why would people with a calling do worse than elderly bigots who hate kids? Lots of people work and do business with city folks. It's not that big of a deal. The failure of IPS isn't about city kids. It's about corruption and incompetence.
ReplyDeletePublic education in general whether its failing or not is just another form of social welfare and income redistribution.
ReplyDeleteI have a great idea!
ReplyDeleteLet's just take our SPED kids, our ESL kids, our kids who live in foster care or group homes, our kids who are parents, our drug users and gang bangers, and all of our other troubled/confused kids and put them all in a very large, abandonded building. Then we can call in all of the people who hate public education so much and let them blow the building up. We might as well do that every five years or so. That would rid our society of these underperforming, incompetent, system-abusing parasites on a regular basis.
Anyone agree? I'll be Hitler would.
OOPS. Should have said "bet" instead of "be" last post. So terribly sorry!
ReplyDeletePublic education was an integral part of the making of this great country! Is that better?
ReplyDeleteBUT. Now that our rich are super rich and our poor are super poor and our middle class is - - - Oh wait! What middle class?
Anyway, let's just get rid of the folks who are lesser than us.
I can give you a sure recipe for finding out who's a decent teacher and who's a slug teacher. Try being a special education inclusion teacher in an IPS high school for one school year. After the 1st grading period, you will be able to identify who's a proficient teacher and who's a total dud!
ReplyDeleteProficient teachers welcome the inclusion teacher into their classrooms; whereas, dud teachers will come up with one trillion excuses why the inclusion teacher is not needed -- but, the only REAL reason is because the dud teachers are ashamed to have another certified teacher in their classrooms to witness the lack of teaching, the lack of purpose, and the lack of basic energy put forth to earn a paycheck.
Are you familiar with the old phrase "He could have talked all day and not said that."?
ReplyDeleteWell, Dr. White should have familiarized himself with that phrase when speaking so boldly and ignorantly before the bi-partisan Interim State Study on Education Issues Committee. This committee is charged with investigating the 'gone wild' salaries and retirement packages of IN public school superintendents.
Here are the verbatim words from our own Eugene White. "The president of (Indiana University) just got a 12 percent raise. The president of Ball State (University) just got a 10 percent raise,” White said. “I can stand before you and say they don't do half of what I do.”
After that, I'm not going to say another word. Here's the link to the complete news story.
http://www.theindychannel.com/education/28697743/detail.html
Read the story and draw your own conclusions.
Dear Blogmaster,
ReplyDeleteThere are many who worked at Donnan that have felt there were things being done from downtown to sabotage and deliberately ensure that Donnan would fail. To back up that statement, let me fill you in on a bit of Donnan's past. When Longfellow (28) and McFarland (112) were closed due to poor performance, the students were absorbed by Donnan. As I understand it, this was seen as joining these schools with a more successful school. When this occurred, Donnan almost tripled in size and was given, for the first time, an ESL program as well as a Severe/Profound program. Unfortunately, when those groups were added to the building, the teachers were not given any forewarning nor staff development to help them best serve these new populations. Regardless of the lack of education, the teachers welcomed these students and began trying to reach them as best as they were able to.
Around the time of the previous events, the then current Principal of Donnan was given the Milken Award and it was reported by Superintendent Suellen Reed that Donnan saw a 14% increase in scores, but that was not evidently good enough to be moved off of probation. In fact instead of rewarding the efforts and successes, the choice was made to remove all of the administrators (who had seen success under their leadership) and replace them with an entirely new team.
A new administrative team was put in place and a new year began. The staff at Donnan rallied around this new team and were even more determined to see success. Over the course of the next couple of school years, there were gains in scores, but not enough to please the IDOE. In 2010, the scores and efforts raised enough to see Donnan make AYP through Safe Harbor. This was a reason for celebration, or so we thought. During this time, it was determined by downtown that Donnan would become an alternative boundary school, so students that should have been sent to an alternative program were given a choice of being allowed to attend Donnan as long as the parent provided transportation. To my understanding, this was done without notifying the administrative team until well after the fact. They also were forced to receive students who were kicked out of a magnet program due to poor grades or poor behavior. Along with that, Donnan had become known as a place that had people who could help those with emotional needs, so there was an influx of students being referred to Donnan. During the first semester of the 2010-11 school year, Donnan's Principal was repeatedly told by Dr. White that Donnan was not being considered for Turnaround because of making AYP and the Principal had not been invited to any of the Turnaround meetings to even learn of the process.
Part 2 continues below
Part 2:
ReplyDeleteLet's move to January of 2011. After being told repeatedly it would not happen, Dr. White informed the Principal that Donnan would be made into a Turnaround school for the 2011-12 school year. Very shortly after getting this information, and the Principal being given the responsibility to inform the staff, with her heart breaking,an information meeting was held to let the staff know what the Turnaround process was, and that in about two weeks, those who wished to stay at Donnan must complete an application packet and prepare for being interviewed. On top of that they were asked to choose that very day if they wanted the opportunity to interview, a voluntary transfer or an involuntary transfer.
On the second day of ISTEP testing of the Applied Skills, the teachers of Donnan who had interviewed for a position for the 2011-12 school year began receiving emails informing them that they had not been chose to remain at Donnan the following year, so they would need to seek out other schools to interview with. Within 48 hours, all teachers found out their fate for the following school year. This sent the culture of the building into a tailspin and teachers, who experience normal human emotions, had to try and do their job at the same time they were grieving their own losses. This had a profound impact on the environment of the school. Some who had been passed over seemed to loose their drive and started doubting themselves as professionals while others, try as they did, allowed their own disappointment and anger to fill the air.
So, when the 2011 ISTEP scores came back, it was not surprising to many of us that the teachers who were chosen to remain for the 2011-12 school year had scores higher than the teachers who had been given that awful news on the second day of testing. With this in mind, it should not be surprising that many staff members (former and present) feel as if Donnan has been made a scapegoat and for some unknown reason, was deemed undesirable and chosen to fail.
Sincerely,
Emma Donnan fan
Ok, I taught foster children, group home children and now have one foster child, please give them a break. Many have such bad experiences with life, one was raped by his mother's boy friend, beaten, burned, and then when he told a social worker, dumped into a trash bin downtown. All he wanted was to move back home with his mother? Yes, he will be unstable until he finds a loving family that will know how to handle his detachment with adults, and trust someone again. He was able to trust me, and was given back to his mother, we lost touch with him? I have another young adult (over 18 years old)in my home who was in foster care for 16 years, but he is attending college, reduced anxieties, not cutting himself, driving his own vehicle (1999) and making the Dean's List. The only problem is he is love with one young lady, we have talked about birth control and I keep a stocked supply. He now has three families, mine, and my extended family. We celebrate three different holidays in December, and he knows that he is loved by every member of my family.
ReplyDeleteDo people tend to forget that BRMHS is also a humanities magent?
ReplyDeleteYou're going to get fired dumb ass.
ReplyDeleteYou stupid idiot teachers. Shut up and get a life.
ReplyDeleteGo to work at a factory and find out what gratitude really means. Wake up and be thankful.
SHUT THIS website down now or shut up. You idiot teachers. SHUT UP!!!!!! You create you're own karma and I promise you if you write anymore crap on here it's bad karma for you baby.
ReplyDeletei hate dr white
ReplyDelete