A Concerned Parents View of the BCSD Math Textbook Adoption Process

Report: School districts at funding cliff

School systems are experiencing a triple whammy. Federal resources are drying up at the same time that state budgets are being cut and revenues from local property taxes are shrinking due to falling housing prices and foreclosures.

Schools Debate Cursive Handwriting Instruction Nationwide

The Great Cursive Debate

The Common Core State Standards do not mention cursive writing. Will RSU 1 continue to each this skill? This is a question for the School Board.

RSU1 Public Meeting

NOTICE

The RSU #1 Board of Directors

will hold a

PUBLIC MEETING

to have a dialogue with members of the community on qualities that the board should seek in a new Superintendent. 

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

at 6:30 PM

in the Bath Middle School

Cafeteria

----------
Sent via RSU1 Infinite Campus eMail Messenger.

Is the Bangor School Committee ‘all in favor’ after 300 unanimous votes?

300 votes and all unanimous.......hmmmmmmm

NJ Superintendent Bitches about Making $175,000 a year, Gov. Christie says "Let Me Help You Pack"

4 minute video worth watching.  NJ Govenor sides with taxpayers over superintendent!

WA State local school board brushes off math concerns in meeting devoted to math concerns

This blog discusses standards-based grading, math curriculum, etc. Very timely!

Grading system unsettles Hall-Dale parents

RSU 2 again! These parents have worked soooooo hard to get their School Board to listen.

Home schooling, education jobs and Social Security: An education roundup

Interesting article and very interesting comments from readers at the bottom of the article. 

Concerns addressed to the Accreditation Committee of the NEASC

Before I share the thoughts and concerns of myself, students, parents and citizens with the Accreditation Committee of the NEASC, I must make clear that these concerns are NOT a referendum on our teachers--Morse teachers are very dedicated, talented and capable professionals who have imparted great learning in interested students; these concerns are a referendum on both our administration’s and school board’s communication and policy.   These are serious concerns shared by many parents and citizens regarding our local and state education system.  We have high and well achieving students at Morse and it is our goal to bring the rest of the student population up to the standards of these students.   We do not want to reduce the quality of our education by manipulating the curriculum and paradigms to enable students to graduate without the basics (i.e. unable to read, write or perform basic math calculations). 

I.   Communication – The School Board and Administration exhibits a pervasive disregard for the most basic communication and transparency. 

A.      Lack of administrator communication with parents/taxpayers and students

1.  Notice of event often ‘day of’ or ‘day before’ via “InfiniteCampus” email or NONE

2.  Notice of schedule change to 4X4 was June 2010 (last week of school) for Sept 2010 implementation.

3.  School Board Agendas improperly posted, not posted in advance of meeting, no longer published in newspaper, etc.

4.  Requests by parents/taxpayers to be included in agenda are ignored/denied.

5.  Student petition of 220+ students to Principal and School Board Chair regarding schedule change to 4X4 acknowledged then ignored.   Parent petition also ignored.

6.  Notice of events targeted to perceived interested parties rather than community as a whole.

7.  Minutes from School Board and SAG meetings are written by administrators and not by professional secretaries/recorders; often resulting in a self-serving PR piece and not an accurate representation of discussions and concerns expressed by dissenting participants.

                B.   Lack of administrator communication with teachers

                       1.  Mid-term exams cancelled in 2009 – teachers couldn’t answer    parent’s questions because the administration hadn’t informed them

                       2.  Teachers did not know about move to 4X4 until April 2010 -- not enough time to change syllabus, learn new teaching methodologies (no instruction provided, either), etc. to  prepare/implement such a dramatic change.

               

II.  Curriculum & Paradigms

A.   No transparency in curriculum decisions/considerations.  (Should be committee comprised of faculty members, community members and area academics like Bowdoin College faculty in addition to administrators and should not be reserved exclusively for administrators.)

B.   Administration/School Board not responsive to parent/taxpayer requests for information and input into curriculum.

C.   Published goals of School Board and Administration do not align with those of parents/taxpayers.

D.   Administration expects teachers to monitor “independent study” courses for students unable to take course due to schedule conflicts inherent in 4X4 Block but does not carry schedule space for “independent study” in student or teacher blocks.

III.  Schedule

A.    Implemented without teacher training in block methodologies

B.   Class periods exceed attention span

C.   Compressed curriculum and accelerated pace make course more difficult for students – increases stress not learning

D.   No time to refresh skills from prerequisite courses (i.e. start Algebra II in middle of book when most students’ last math class was Geometry with no refresher of Algebra I taken over a year previous)

E.    All courses not offered all periods/all semesters.  Many courses taken by same type student conflict requiring student to take lesser/greater-challenging course to make schedule work; this is resulting in students taking more “independent study” options.

F.    Too much increase in homework and still compromised curriculum

G.   Leaves students stuck in remedial courses (i.e. student receiving ‘straight As’ in remedial program seeking move to regular classes was told “not possible under this schedule, class too accelerated for remedial learner”.)

H.   Morse has continued to fail to meet AYP and the scores are increasingly worse, not better, in the 3+ years of this administration which coincide with the block schedule implementation (all formats).  It is not possible to truly assess this principal cumulatively with regard to AYP and schedule, because this schedule was foisted on Morse prior to the principal’s arrival.  He is, however, at the helm for the move to the 4X4, which has not yet been assessed at AYP.

RSU 2 won't delay standards-based grading

Standards-based grading K-12....

The Yarmouth school administration just proposed eliminating letter grades in middle school, but their board voted to keep traditional grades. Do we want to go the way of RSU 2 or Yarmouth in regard to Standards Based grading?

When a School Board meeting goes wrong.....

Un....Be.......Lievable!!!

School Board Members take note RE: book selection

According to this ruling, a school board is beholden to the voting citizenry and has absolute authority to regulate what happens in the classroom, even after the fact. School Boards have the sole and ultimate authority over every aspect of the curriculum.

RSU 12's Ralph Hilton Petitions Board To Change Funding Formula

"Alna pays roughly $9000 per student while Wiscassett, a much larger town, pays $3000, " Hilton Said. Despite having two RSU 12 school board members, Alna does not have a full vote since it's a town's population that determines representation.

How is RSU 1 set up?

Do the goals of RSU1 align with those of the contributing communities?

Some of the RSU1 goals.......

“…support and supplement the Everyday Math program…”   Why are we continuing to support a program that is Nationally rated among the worst math program available?

“…review the superintendent’s vision document and discuss next steps towards achieving…”  What about the communities’ goals for our education system?

“…expert and wise staff negotiations that address current economic needs.”  The vast majority of the staff are paid less than half the salary of the administrators, are the ‘expert and wise’ negotiations targeting the right employees?  Is the lay-off of multiple teachers in the Spring on 2010 followed by the quiet hiring of the superintendent’s daughter in the Summer of 2010 included in ‘expert and wise staff negotiations’ or is it simply nepotism?

Something to think about.

Which school board candidates will fix TERC math?

Interesting! These parents are getting involved! See their petition:

www.petitiononline.com/FERTERC/

863 signatures and counting!

Clearly, these parents feel that school board members should be informed on curriculum choices before voting!

Questions to ask your school board candidates before you vote

Election time is here. Keep in mind the importance your school board vote that this time of year.