Tri-City Herald Editorial Comments at this link:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/01/25/1800190/voters-should-approve-their-local.html
Featured Stories
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Teacher Morale at Low Ebb
Parents, you may not have noticed during your teacher conferences, school concerts, or encounters at the supermarket, but America’s teachers have about had it with the pressures of their jobs and the lack of respect they are getting from legislators, the media, corporate leaders, and even you. I manage several Facebook accounts on public education and thought you might be interested in some comments on just one thread over a span of a couple of hours. They are representative of what I am seeing every day from across the U.S. I should mention that the people who post on this site are the fighters. They are the ones not willing to let the mandated standardized tests dominate their teaching. They still see children as individuals, each with special needs, and they are trying to prepare them for the real world,…
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The Common Core State Standards Adopted In Washington State
CCS adopted July 20, 2011. Now what?
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Complaint Filed With PDC Over Apparent Violations During Kennewick School Board Election
Filed 12/9/2011
Latest Headlines
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The facts that school reformers ignore
– January 25, 2012Posted in: Articles
The following is excerpted from an article by Richard Rothstein, a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute, a non-profit organization created to broaden the discussion about economic policy to include the interests of low- and middle-income workers.
“Education “reformers” have a common playbook. First, assert without evidence that regular public schools are “failing” and that large numbers of regular (unionized) public school teachers are incompetent. Provide no documentation for this claim other than that the test score gap between minority and white children remains large. Then propose so-called reforms to address the unproven problem — charter schools to escape teacher unionization and the mechanistic use of student scores on low-quality and corrupted tests to identify teachers who should be fired.”
Read the full article here:
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Kennewick School Board Report for January 11
– January 24, 2012Posted in: Board Meeting Notes
Kennewick School Board Meeting
January 11, 2012
Section 1: What transpired
Section 2: What was not included
Section 1
Present were Dawn Adams, Heather Kintzley, Brian Brooks, Ron Mabry, Ben Messinger, all school board members. KSD staff: Dave Bond (Superintendent), Ron Williamson, Greg Francher, Vic Roberts, Chuck Lybeck, Jack Anderson, Linda Tucker
The meeting was called to order at 5:30 PM by President Dawn Adams who led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Recognition: January has been proclaimed “School Board Recognition Month.” Dave read Governor Gregoire’s proclamation and presented each school board member with a certificate and thanked them for their service.
Communication from Parents, Staff and District Residents: Kathy White (me) requested that the board reconsider their decision not to use the Washington State School Directors’ policy audit service. I met with Kathleen MacDonald, the person who does the audit and updating, during my leadership training. KSD’s policies have not been completely updated since 1993. The numbering does not conform to the model policy which makes it difficult to do changes as new laws are enacted. The board stated it was too expensive but not updating adds to the expense of time required by KSD staff to deal with outdated policy manual. What’s the old adage? “Penny smart but dollar foolish!”
READ ON »
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Charter School Debate in Tri-Cities
The Tri-City Herald recently endorsed charter school legislation in Washington then invited readers to offer their opinions. The editorial and selected responses are linked below.
The Herald editorial:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/01/17/1790103/its-time-to-take-a-look-at-charter.html
Bob Valiant:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/01/22/1795533/fast-focus-meet-the-lemmings.html
Kathy White:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/01/22/1795526/fast-focus-we-dont-need-charter.html
Greg Fancher:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/01/22/1795534/fast-focus-look-beyond-propaganda.html
William Pennell:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/01/22/1795525/fast-focus-not-the-answer.html
Daniel Bell:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/01/22/1795538/fast-focus-giving-charters-low.html
Sandra Smith:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/01/22/1795537/fast-focus-different-learning.html
Judy Golberg:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/01/22/1795536/fast-focus-no-to-charter-schools.html
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Teacher Morale at Low Ebb
Parents, you may not have noticed during your teacher conferences, school concerts, or encounters at the supermarket, but America’s teachers have about had it with the pressures of their jobs and the lack of respect they are getting from legislators, the media, corporate leaders, and even you. I manage several Facebook accounts on public education and thought you might be interested in some comments on just one thread over a span of a couple of hours. They are representative of what I am seeing every day from across the U.S. I should mention that the people who post on this site are the fighters. They are the ones not willing to let the mandated standardized tests dominate their teaching. They still see children as individuals, each with special needs, and they are trying to prepare them for the real world, not just for the next test. Read the following and tell me if this is how you want these dedicated professionals to feel.
“I feel as if everyday is a battle in my profession. I have come home with a headache (pounding) just about every day for the last three weeks. I like to fight, but some days I just want to hang it up, get a job, another job (where??), and be done with public education…I really do.”
“After 20 years, I quit public education in disgust. Finding another job has been challenging.”
“…sometimes I feel I am heading for a nervous breakdown. And I consider myself a strong person.”
“I feel so hopeless. I guess I’m not alone. I am so done with NYC DOE. It’s at the point where the only thing that gets me up in the morning is the paycheck.”
“I am in my 21st year of education and I must say that, for the first time in my life, I am very seriously considering leaving the field. Let’s put it this way, if another opportunity comes a knockin’ I will answer promptly!!”
“I am staying just to piss off Arne Duncan and Bill Gates.”
“… silently screams…”
”33 years and I love the kids, hate, hate the bureaucracy/politics and concern that I am part of inflicting unneeded stress on children. I used to feel like dancing to school, now I drag.”
“My heart goes out to you guys. I spent 41 years in the classroom and I was not getting the enjoyment the last few years for the same reasons you give. Don’t let it destroy your health and your soul. Learn how to play the game. Don’t fight it, you will lose.”
Well, the answer is up to the reader. Do you want these folks to take the advice of the retired teacher with the concluding remarks, just go with the flow, play the game, don’t fight? Or do you think they should hang in there, fighting to give your children a quality education that is more than just test prep for tests that don’t really reflect a balanced curriculum and have little relationship to living a life? If you want them to keep fighting, they need your support. Tell them so next time you see them.
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Kennewick School Board Retreat
– January 15, 2012Posted in: Board Meeting Notes, Info
Created by Kathy White
Kennewick School Board Retreat
January 7, 2012
Section 1: What transpired
Section 2: What was not included
Section 1
The meeting was scheduled to begin at 8 AM. Present were Dawn Adams, Heather Kinzley, Ron Mabry, Brian Books, Dave Bond (Superintendent), and Ron Williamson (Assistant Superintendent, Secondary Education). Ben Messinger was not present at 8:15. Dave Bond attempted to contact Ben to no avail. Ron Williamson found a contact number in the Messinger’s PowerSchool account. Ben was held up by a medical emergency in the family and urged the group to begin without him.
At 8:25, President Dawn Adams opened the meeting and led in the Pledge of Allegiance. There are ten items on the Agenda. Two of the items, “Sports Recognition” and “Graduation Attire” were chosen to taken first as they were least complex and Ben could easily be briefed when he arrived.
Dave Bond began with a discussion of the purpose of the retreat. There are two retreats, January and June. The January retreat was to (1) report on the progress of the Strategic Plan which is set in June, (2) re-evaluate the Superintendent and Cabinet and (3) discuss any new topics or requests that come from board members or staff. Dawn concurred with Dave’s description without adding any new information.
