I was just noticing this holiday season how everyone shares about their children (including me!). Christmas cards and Christmas parties are all about what the kids are up to. People love their children and they are so proud of them. How much propaganda does it take to convince the American people that "people just won't feed their children." That's what you're told when you bring up the obvious, that with food share and SNAP (food stamps) poor people have access to food, so why do they have to depend on the school for breakfast and lunch?
Gee, if " People just won't feed their children- I mean you do of course but those 'others' just won't do it.", how do children ever make it to kindergarten in the first place? Wouldn't they die of starvation with no food for 5 years?
You know, in my view it gets down to this, simply put, people do feed their children. They also love their children. America is built of wonderful strong families and individuals that certainly CAN take care of themselves. So why are there people in our society that want to convince us otherwise? Do they have a SELF INTEREST here? If everyone could take care of themselves they'd be out of business! If everyone could care for themselves the centralizing of power and money would be stopped! This country might do what no country has ever done before- remain free instead of allowing the power to become more and more centralized until freedom is lost. This usually takes about 200 years- we're at 235 and we're at a tipping point.
For some people it's just easier to take kids to school and let them get breakfast and lunch there. Many people fall into that trap because they don't realize the harm they are doing to their children and this country by teaching dependency rather than independence.
Our freedom depends on this independence from government programs. It depends on children learning when they are young that their parents can care for them without the government. I taught school for 30 years in Helena, 8 of them at Bryant School- I never once had a child come in crying after the weekend because they were hungry. No child ever passed out from hunger. Not all families are completely functional all the time and that's what social services are for- but these dysfunctional families are an overwhelming minority.
It takes a lot of propaganda to convince a people that they are helpless- especially Americans whose heritage is freedom and belief in themselves. If you've traveled to socialist countries, as I have, you realize what a lot of propaganda it must take to convince a people that this system is better than the American system. Socialism, Communism, Marxism, depends on centralized big government. It strangles economies, lives and freedom. As someone said once, you have only to look at their teeth and you know the difference between their system and ours.
It's up to the American people to decide they'd rather work and teach hard work and freedom to their children than to gradually give up their constitution and let the government control their families and their lives. The people's interest is disparate- it's not cohesive like unions or other special interests. The people have to stand up against these special interests that have convinced themselves "they're doing it for the good of the people". NO- they're doing it for their own self interest and the money they are getting paid and spending comes from everyday average Joes who are trying to figure their own life out.
This Christmas season let freedom ring out. Vow to stand up for our way of life in America, for capitalism, freedom and our constitution. Turn back the propaganda that "the middle class is shrinking"-(this society has a very strong middle class- greater than any in any society at any time in history and capitalism did this for us) or, our "children are starving"(have you seen any on the street lately), or "Parents just won't feed their children."(who exactly is that and why haven't they been turned in to social services?) or, my all time favorite,"how can you look into the eyes of the homeless?"(REALLY- how many jobs has this guy lost or quit? How much alcohol or drugs has he taken? What has HE given back? Maybe he should have a hard time looking into the eyes of those of us who are disciplined, paying taxes , and working hard.)
Nothing in life is easy but this country went through massive immigration (my grandparents were part of that- sometimes they lived on soup and bread- but they bought a home, raised a family and very proudly joined the middle class), wars, depressions, and much more before the present day liberals were on the scene. We can and should continue without their programs and yes- FEED OUR OWN CHILDREN!!!
Monday, 19 December 2011
Thursday, 15 December 2011
WERE WE AT THE SAME MEETING?
Have you ever been at one of those meetings where you can't believe what you're hearing? When one person speaks and no one seems to have heard what they said? That was the school board meeting last night.
The first item on the agenda was recognition for the Capital High state football championship(GO BRUINS!). But, the team didn't show up. What?!!- they didn't show up. 3 kids were there and the coach- and these kids did not include the quarterback. I remember when my daughter's soccer team won State- they were so proud-they were all there at the board meeting to be recognized. What's going on? Then the coach said- this sounds unbelievable- that he "chest bumped" the principal! He laughed but I certainly did not get a funny picture in my mind.
Well, on we go. Then they asked for public comment on consent items-but they didn't say what these were so they passed unanimously with no comments. The boy scouts were there to see "democracy in action", some democracy! I looked through my materials and I think the consent action items may have been the 403(b) HEART amendment which had to do with benefits for employees absent because of military service and a plan termination which was eliminating all the extra benefits for our wonderful superintendent who has fortunately moved on to Boulder.Wow, it took some looking to find these, they were stapled to the back of the agenda behind minutes from 6 previous meetings. What if this had been something seriously objectionable. Too bad, moment has passed, on we go. Democracy?
The next item was the transportation bid update. The man presenting explained very carefully why we don't need seat belts on these huge busses 1) the weight of the bus 2) the shape of the bus and the seats are specifically designed for incredible safety 3) the information from ADVOCATES OF SEAT BELTS points out that they saved 2 lives (maybe) out of TWENTY SIX MILLION STUDENTS TRANSPORTED TWICE A DAY NATION WIDE. Students were safer in the bus than outside of it. He went on to explain many things. There is no Montana law but if we put in seat belts than ALL THE FEDERAL REGULATIONS kick in. In other words, EVERY CHILD UNDER 60 POUNDS WILL NEED A CAR SEAT! That is approximately every child until at least 3rd grade! He went on about the cost and that these will have to be shoulder harnesses. Our school board immediately began to discuss- and of course they just love the idea of seat belts- what liberal would ever turn away from a chance to control and regulate? Regulations are always a good thing aren't they? So- without a vote they directed this man to look for a bid WITH SEAT BELTS. He explained to them that you can't just ask for it and then restart the whole bidding process when you realize how expensive and cumbersome this is going to be. Can't you just see our bus drivers out there with a scale to make sure he's in compliance with the car seats? Of course he'll have to make sure they're all buckled in (Liability). What will the time frame be on this? Another half hour of instruction time lost because bus riders will be late? I guess breakfast at Bryant will have to be delayed until the bus riders get there. Will there be ANY TIME to teach before first recess? Well, why worry about such a pesky thing as instruction time. On we go. I wonder why we're below state average in math at every grade level?
The next item on the agenda was COMMON CORE STANDARDS. You see, everyone in the WORLD- I'm not just making this up- is going to learn the same things!! And in case your wondering-according to the presenter- this is NOT a national thing!! It's a state thing! REALLY?? How can that be if they're all going to be the same? IS THERE SOME MIND READING GOING ON HERE? Well apparently thirty six states are already on this bandwagon and of course Denise Juneau(our state superintendent) just couldn't wait to sign Montana up. Why do people vote for Democrats? Let's vote for a Republican next time and get some INDEPENDENT THINKING. So according to the curriculum director- there will be no need for teachers to be on curriculum committees anymore because the curriculum will be done for them. Just think of that, nameless bureaucrats in Washington and at the U.N. deciding what we will teach in Helena, Montana! She gave the example of Finland- if our students go there they will know everything because everyone will be teaching the same thing! But wait a minute, don't they speak Finnish in Finland? Won't they learn to read and spell and do grammar in Finnish? Will they really be interested in learning Montana History? Won't they be learning English as a second language? They don't use feet, inches, or pounds so will they be learning that anyway? Will they be learning all about our buffalo and elk on the plains or will they be learning more about their natural habitat by the sea? They could put all of this into every curriculum but we're having some real trouble teaching what we have now! Twenty five percent of our kids aren't even making it to graduation.
CORE STANDARDS, of course, will be heavy in across grade level collaboration and critical thinking. Let's talk about critical thinking first. To be flip about it- if our little kids could critically think they wouldn't believe in Santa Clause! But seriously, little children are not just miniature adults. Besides, they need to learn their letter sounds first so they can blend them into words and then maybe be able to read something so they have some information to think critically with. Otherwise, guess what?- They'll critically think what the teacher wants them to think- they'll be propagandized. The across grade level collaboration is just another way to take the control of the classroom and curriculum out of the teachers hands. He/She is responsible for kids performance on tests but has no control over the teaching. Good teachers get to use their own teaching style and creativity. Under these new programs our teachers' independence and passion is being buried!
If this was just one of those boring office meetings with the jokers we could laugh it off. But this is our kids and the future of this nation. Core Standards has effectively inserted an I.V. (to use medical terminology) into the veins of our school system and can now pump in any garbage and propaganda they want to fill our kids' heads with. It's really time for all of us to vote for board members that "get to the meeting" i.e. think and use their common sense and independent thought.
The first item on the agenda was recognition for the Capital High state football championship(GO BRUINS!). But, the team didn't show up. What?!!- they didn't show up. 3 kids were there and the coach- and these kids did not include the quarterback. I remember when my daughter's soccer team won State- they were so proud-they were all there at the board meeting to be recognized. What's going on? Then the coach said- this sounds unbelievable- that he "chest bumped" the principal! He laughed but I certainly did not get a funny picture in my mind.
Well, on we go. Then they asked for public comment on consent items-but they didn't say what these were so they passed unanimously with no comments. The boy scouts were there to see "democracy in action", some democracy! I looked through my materials and I think the consent action items may have been the 403(b) HEART amendment which had to do with benefits for employees absent because of military service and a plan termination which was eliminating all the extra benefits for our wonderful superintendent who has fortunately moved on to Boulder.Wow, it took some looking to find these, they were stapled to the back of the agenda behind minutes from 6 previous meetings. What if this had been something seriously objectionable. Too bad, moment has passed, on we go. Democracy?
The next item was the transportation bid update. The man presenting explained very carefully why we don't need seat belts on these huge busses 1) the weight of the bus 2) the shape of the bus and the seats are specifically designed for incredible safety 3) the information from ADVOCATES OF SEAT BELTS points out that they saved 2 lives (maybe) out of TWENTY SIX MILLION STUDENTS TRANSPORTED TWICE A DAY NATION WIDE. Students were safer in the bus than outside of it. He went on to explain many things. There is no Montana law but if we put in seat belts than ALL THE FEDERAL REGULATIONS kick in. In other words, EVERY CHILD UNDER 60 POUNDS WILL NEED A CAR SEAT! That is approximately every child until at least 3rd grade! He went on about the cost and that these will have to be shoulder harnesses. Our school board immediately began to discuss- and of course they just love the idea of seat belts- what liberal would ever turn away from a chance to control and regulate? Regulations are always a good thing aren't they? So- without a vote they directed this man to look for a bid WITH SEAT BELTS. He explained to them that you can't just ask for it and then restart the whole bidding process when you realize how expensive and cumbersome this is going to be. Can't you just see our bus drivers out there with a scale to make sure he's in compliance with the car seats? Of course he'll have to make sure they're all buckled in (Liability). What will the time frame be on this? Another half hour of instruction time lost because bus riders will be late? I guess breakfast at Bryant will have to be delayed until the bus riders get there. Will there be ANY TIME to teach before first recess? Well, why worry about such a pesky thing as instruction time. On we go. I wonder why we're below state average in math at every grade level?
The next item on the agenda was COMMON CORE STANDARDS. You see, everyone in the WORLD- I'm not just making this up- is going to learn the same things!! And in case your wondering-according to the presenter- this is NOT a national thing!! It's a state thing! REALLY?? How can that be if they're all going to be the same? IS THERE SOME MIND READING GOING ON HERE? Well apparently thirty six states are already on this bandwagon and of course Denise Juneau(our state superintendent) just couldn't wait to sign Montana up. Why do people vote for Democrats? Let's vote for a Republican next time and get some INDEPENDENT THINKING. So according to the curriculum director- there will be no need for teachers to be on curriculum committees anymore because the curriculum will be done for them. Just think of that, nameless bureaucrats in Washington and at the U.N. deciding what we will teach in Helena, Montana! She gave the example of Finland- if our students go there they will know everything because everyone will be teaching the same thing! But wait a minute, don't they speak Finnish in Finland? Won't they learn to read and spell and do grammar in Finnish? Will they really be interested in learning Montana History? Won't they be learning English as a second language? They don't use feet, inches, or pounds so will they be learning that anyway? Will they be learning all about our buffalo and elk on the plains or will they be learning more about their natural habitat by the sea? They could put all of this into every curriculum but we're having some real trouble teaching what we have now! Twenty five percent of our kids aren't even making it to graduation.
CORE STANDARDS, of course, will be heavy in across grade level collaboration and critical thinking. Let's talk about critical thinking first. To be flip about it- if our little kids could critically think they wouldn't believe in Santa Clause! But seriously, little children are not just miniature adults. Besides, they need to learn their letter sounds first so they can blend them into words and then maybe be able to read something so they have some information to think critically with. Otherwise, guess what?- They'll critically think what the teacher wants them to think- they'll be propagandized. The across grade level collaboration is just another way to take the control of the classroom and curriculum out of the teachers hands. He/She is responsible for kids performance on tests but has no control over the teaching. Good teachers get to use their own teaching style and creativity. Under these new programs our teachers' independence and passion is being buried!
If this was just one of those boring office meetings with the jokers we could laugh it off. But this is our kids and the future of this nation. Core Standards has effectively inserted an I.V. (to use medical terminology) into the veins of our school system and can now pump in any garbage and propaganda they want to fill our kids' heads with. It's really time for all of us to vote for board members that "get to the meeting" i.e. think and use their common sense and independent thought.
Thursday, 8 December 2011
THE GRAVY TRAIN
We were told at the last board meeting that our old superintendent is now making TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS in Boulder Colorado. I'm sure that doesn't include his retirement, vacations and health insurance either. WOW!!! That's more than most doctors, lawyers, dentists and other professionals. What makes a superintendent that valuable? After all, getting a doctorate in education is not comparable to the work that goes into science and math degrees- I know, I have two children that have achieved these. Could it be the magic they are achieving for our students- the wonderful successes they artfully create? Maybe not- when our former superintendent left we had 25% of our high school students not making it to graduation and our district had math scores that were below state average at every grade level. And just think- this is his jumping off salary- what will he get paid NEXT YEAR?!! Speaking of vacations- our present superintendent that is getting a pile of money just got back from the Dominican Republic where he was building houses for Habitat for Humanity(I guess). Did he get his salary docked or were the people of Helena paying his salary while he wasn't even here? If this position is so valuable how can he just leave for extended periods?
Well, who else is getting this money and job security in this world of annuities? Who are the pretenders to the throne? Well we already know we'll be forced to pay ONE HUNDRED THIRTY FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS (at the minimum) to start our new superintendent- and we don't know what the benefit package will be but you can count on retirement, healthcare and vacations even if they don't give him the annuity, car and cell phone. Do you think there are other people (not the actual teachers that are actually needed because they actually teach) that are on this gravy train? Maybe there are thousands of programs, grants, and teacher training groups who get money too? Who else gets it and wants more? Food people? Day care people? Mental health people? Planned Parenthood ? WOW!! THIS COULD GET EXPENSIVE!!
I was at the planning meeting Tuesday night. All the cast of characters were represented from Florence Crittendon to Archie Bray, Myrna Loy, Exploration Works,UM of Helena, the County Health Department and the Helena Education Foundation. They had about thirty special interest groups sign in under their names.What if all of these people want a part of the pie? What if every non profit is trying to get on the school district payroll? What if they actually want space in the schools and to be on the payroll? Do you think they would do this? WELL.....Youth Connections already has space in our schools (these are the non psychiatrists that do mental health screening of all our high school kids). They told us at a board meeting that their grant is running out in 2013 and they hope to be on the payroll by then!! Gee, why should all these important groups have to worry about fundraising and getting Federal grants when they can just get space in the schools and get right on the bandwagon or GRAVY TRAIN?!!
After all, PLANNED PARENTHOOD now is so involved in education they have a director of education. I guess they know where the money is! I'm just so mean- all these people just care about kids and here I am talking about money!
Well taxpayers are people too, and parents. They agreed to pay for education, not teacher job training and every imaginable non profit and social program. As with the home visiting program talked about on this blog earlier, our schools aren't addressing problems, they're looking for them- kind of like every kid getting free breakfast, lunch and snacks at Bryant, IRREGARDLESS OF THEIR PARENTS INCOME!!! There must be something seriously wrong with our teacher preparation programs in college if teachers immediately need professional training when they start working.
Do taxpayers have the right to expect their needs to be addressed too? They're trying to raise a family or save for retirement or live on a retirement income but the schools just want more money all the time. Property taxes keep going up and the schools put huge pressure on the legislature (even sue them!) to get more money- they wouldn't mind if state income taxes went up- they need the money. Do taxpayers pay Federal Income Tax? You mean those Federal grants aren't free? Well they don't actually have matching fund requirements do they? You mean we have to pay for them? Do they go away after a couple of years and leave the school district with new employees and programs to pay for out of our school budget? I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I do believe that is exactly what happens.
Maybe people should be allowed to raise their own kids and school should be about education. Maybe all these groups should get off the gravy train and go find WORK in the private sector or raise their own money instead of raping the taxpayers. I know they all just do it FOR THE CHILDREN.
Well, who else is getting this money and job security in this world of annuities? Who are the pretenders to the throne? Well we already know we'll be forced to pay ONE HUNDRED THIRTY FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS (at the minimum) to start our new superintendent- and we don't know what the benefit package will be but you can count on retirement, healthcare and vacations even if they don't give him the annuity, car and cell phone. Do you think there are other people (not the actual teachers that are actually needed because they actually teach) that are on this gravy train? Maybe there are thousands of programs, grants, and teacher training groups who get money too? Who else gets it and wants more? Food people? Day care people? Mental health people? Planned Parenthood ? WOW!! THIS COULD GET EXPENSIVE!!
I was at the planning meeting Tuesday night. All the cast of characters were represented from Florence Crittendon to Archie Bray, Myrna Loy, Exploration Works,UM of Helena, the County Health Department and the Helena Education Foundation. They had about thirty special interest groups sign in under their names.What if all of these people want a part of the pie? What if every non profit is trying to get on the school district payroll? What if they actually want space in the schools and to be on the payroll? Do you think they would do this? WELL.....Youth Connections already has space in our schools (these are the non psychiatrists that do mental health screening of all our high school kids). They told us at a board meeting that their grant is running out in 2013 and they hope to be on the payroll by then!! Gee, why should all these important groups have to worry about fundraising and getting Federal grants when they can just get space in the schools and get right on the bandwagon or GRAVY TRAIN?!!
After all, PLANNED PARENTHOOD now is so involved in education they have a director of education. I guess they know where the money is! I'm just so mean- all these people just care about kids and here I am talking about money!
Well taxpayers are people too, and parents. They agreed to pay for education, not teacher job training and every imaginable non profit and social program. As with the home visiting program talked about on this blog earlier, our schools aren't addressing problems, they're looking for them- kind of like every kid getting free breakfast, lunch and snacks at Bryant, IRREGARDLESS OF THEIR PARENTS INCOME!!! There must be something seriously wrong with our teacher preparation programs in college if teachers immediately need professional training when they start working.
Do taxpayers have the right to expect their needs to be addressed too? They're trying to raise a family or save for retirement or live on a retirement income but the schools just want more money all the time. Property taxes keep going up and the schools put huge pressure on the legislature (even sue them!) to get more money- they wouldn't mind if state income taxes went up- they need the money. Do taxpayers pay Federal Income Tax? You mean those Federal grants aren't free? Well they don't actually have matching fund requirements do they? You mean we have to pay for them? Do they go away after a couple of years and leave the school district with new employees and programs to pay for out of our school budget? I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I do believe that is exactly what happens.
Maybe people should be allowed to raise their own kids and school should be about education. Maybe all these groups should get off the gravy train and go find WORK in the private sector or raise their own money instead of raping the taxpayers. I know they all just do it FOR THE CHILDREN.
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
YEAH FOR GLENDIVE!
Another school board meeting another show.... . Glendive decided not to join the Montana Quality Education Coalition because MQEC gets all its money from the taxpayers and is suing the legislature with it. They didn't think the taxpayers should have to sue themselves- YEAH FOR GLENDIVE! Finally someone in the school establishment that cares about democracy and fairness for taxpayers!
A large part of the meeting was a discussion of what to pay the new superintendent. The school board member who talks constantly about poverty- seems to want to send us all there. He wanted us to pay our new superintendent at least ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!! Where does he think this money comes from? SEVENTY PERCENT of our property taxes go to the SCHOOLS!
Billings, a much bigger district than ours, paid a base of $160,000.00 for their new superintendent whom they just had to get rid of. I'll bet Billings paid for a firm for their big mistake too.We used to not hire firms to hire our superintendent.We looked locally and paid modestly and our schools did well- we weren't last in the state in math. The final figure they came up with after much discussion was a range of $135,000- $155,000. In my view this is WAY TOO MUCH for our little school district- especially considering that housing prices are going down everywhere and this will eventually effect tax receipts(i.e. the school district should be planning on having less MONEY). As was pointed out by one board member, and reaffirmed by the business manager, the superintendent's salary effects all the administrative salaries that surround the superintendent. One of the excuses for this huge amount of money was that our former superintendent got a $144,000.00 package. This was after 15 years of raises as another board member pointed out. So the new guy gets to START where the former superintendent left off. We could get a superintendent that we know for far less and he/she would do a great job- if we hired right.
The principal from Warren School gave a very nice presentation. He had DATA to back up his math and reading scores. They emphasize phonics and computation skills at their school. One teacher told me that he protects them from all the constant demands of the non profits that operate in our schools these days. He protects ACADEMICS. He apparently has worked in high school administration as well as elementary. Why do we have to go out of district and pay $155,000 (plus benefits) to someone we don't know when we have good people that could do the job for less right here?
Frankly the idea of going to the public for input on hiring our superintendent is a ridiculous farce. We are a representative democracy- we vote for representatives to do the hiring. This is not a board that listens to the public anyway as we all witnessed in the sex ed debate. This board is looking for a "professional" educator and by this they mean someone who is on the Federal grant bandwagon. Someone who goes to all the right professional meetings in Denver and has worked for a district where he got all the grants and programs. They don't look for a problem to solve they just look for constant change. Part of their advertisement for the new superintendent is that he will implement change. If their former superintendent really was so wonderful why is their priority after 20 years still "implementing change". Why are our math scores so low and our drop out rates so high?
Could I suggest that we get rid of the non profits and go back to teaching? One new nonprofit is Parent/teacher Home Visit non-profit organization. It comes to us from Sacramento California where they had problems with all the non english speaking families. I mentioned to a board member that we don't have that problem here, he said it helped to have home visits in poor areas. Even if this were true, the Helena School District is not just doing home visits in poor areas, they're doing them everywhere. They don't wait to see if a student is going to be an attendance problem they go there anyway.
Another new program is the academies. It was interesting to hear the Warren principal point out that part of our drop out problem is that kids are bored. I have heard this from so many parents I can't count them. So how are academies that put all grade levels together going to challenge the advanced learners? As the principal pointed out also, individualizing is just not a real possibility- and he is right. The academy experiment is going to dumb down education in our high schools and cause more kids to be bored and drop out.
So we'll have a new very expensive superintendent to keep the experiments going and keep ruining the structure of education in Helena. They talk about outcomes based education but we never see any good outcomes. Education is more than notorious for experimenting and then walking away from programs that never work. The school board trustees move on and the students and taxpayers get left with the problems. Things are going to change significantly in this country real soon, the money is running out. We're all, including school boards, going to have to be more responsible with our money- yeah for Glendive!
A large part of the meeting was a discussion of what to pay the new superintendent. The school board member who talks constantly about poverty- seems to want to send us all there. He wanted us to pay our new superintendent at least ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!! Where does he think this money comes from? SEVENTY PERCENT of our property taxes go to the SCHOOLS!
Billings, a much bigger district than ours, paid a base of $160,000.00 for their new superintendent whom they just had to get rid of. I'll bet Billings paid for a firm for their big mistake too.We used to not hire firms to hire our superintendent.We looked locally and paid modestly and our schools did well- we weren't last in the state in math. The final figure they came up with after much discussion was a range of $135,000- $155,000. In my view this is WAY TOO MUCH for our little school district- especially considering that housing prices are going down everywhere and this will eventually effect tax receipts(i.e. the school district should be planning on having less MONEY). As was pointed out by one board member, and reaffirmed by the business manager, the superintendent's salary effects all the administrative salaries that surround the superintendent. One of the excuses for this huge amount of money was that our former superintendent got a $144,000.00 package. This was after 15 years of raises as another board member pointed out. So the new guy gets to START where the former superintendent left off. We could get a superintendent that we know for far less and he/she would do a great job- if we hired right.
The principal from Warren School gave a very nice presentation. He had DATA to back up his math and reading scores. They emphasize phonics and computation skills at their school. One teacher told me that he protects them from all the constant demands of the non profits that operate in our schools these days. He protects ACADEMICS. He apparently has worked in high school administration as well as elementary. Why do we have to go out of district and pay $155,000 (plus benefits) to someone we don't know when we have good people that could do the job for less right here?
Frankly the idea of going to the public for input on hiring our superintendent is a ridiculous farce. We are a representative democracy- we vote for representatives to do the hiring. This is not a board that listens to the public anyway as we all witnessed in the sex ed debate. This board is looking for a "professional" educator and by this they mean someone who is on the Federal grant bandwagon. Someone who goes to all the right professional meetings in Denver and has worked for a district where he got all the grants and programs. They don't look for a problem to solve they just look for constant change. Part of their advertisement for the new superintendent is that he will implement change. If their former superintendent really was so wonderful why is their priority after 20 years still "implementing change". Why are our math scores so low and our drop out rates so high?
Could I suggest that we get rid of the non profits and go back to teaching? One new nonprofit is Parent/teacher Home Visit non-profit organization. It comes to us from Sacramento California where they had problems with all the non english speaking families. I mentioned to a board member that we don't have that problem here, he said it helped to have home visits in poor areas. Even if this were true, the Helena School District is not just doing home visits in poor areas, they're doing them everywhere. They don't wait to see if a student is going to be an attendance problem they go there anyway.
Another new program is the academies. It was interesting to hear the Warren principal point out that part of our drop out problem is that kids are bored. I have heard this from so many parents I can't count them. So how are academies that put all grade levels together going to challenge the advanced learners? As the principal pointed out also, individualizing is just not a real possibility- and he is right. The academy experiment is going to dumb down education in our high schools and cause more kids to be bored and drop out.
So we'll have a new very expensive superintendent to keep the experiments going and keep ruining the structure of education in Helena. They talk about outcomes based education but we never see any good outcomes. Education is more than notorious for experimenting and then walking away from programs that never work. The school board trustees move on and the students and taxpayers get left with the problems. Things are going to change significantly in this country real soon, the money is running out. We're all, including school boards, going to have to be more responsible with our money- yeah for Glendive!
Friday, 18 November 2011
WHY HAVE COMPETITION?
I was at the football game this weekend and the mission statement of the MHSA(Montana High School Association) was broadcast over the speakers. Part of their mission statement says "We believe competition is important". Why do they believe that? We used to all believe that. Competition makes a person work harder, try more, learn self discipline and hard work for a purpose. But our schools are doing away with competition. Why are they doing that? If competition builds self esteem through discipline and hard work in a person, if it builds character, why don't the schools want competition? I don't really know the answer to that (well, maybe I do, kind of) but I'll show you how they are assiduously doing away with competition in our educational system.
Let's start with testing. We used to have norm referenced tests. This meant the students were judged against a statistical norm. Students would come home with CTBS (California Test of Basic Skills) reports, or later ITBS(Iowa Test of Basic Skills) reports and you could see how your student performed against the rest of the nation. You would get a percentile rank. If your child was in the 90th percentile rank they were doing well. If they were in the 30th percentile they had some work to do. Well now that we have government tests there are no more national norms. Students are just Not Proficient, Proficient, or Advanced. These are called criterion referenced tests. In other words, either your child knows the given information or they don't, no comparing. Do you think the incentive is the same and the reporting information is as clear when you are just proficient? Do you think taxpayers have the right to know how Montana students compare to other states percentage wise? I do.
Well, that's just testing. Competition is being taken out of the classrooms in very serious ways that I believe will have disastrous consequences for our students learning. The academies are being introduced into the high schools. At Helena High this year, as I was told by a school administrator, all freshman students are in academies. This means that a group of students take their 4 core classes together. There is no more "A" English or "C" English. Students of all academic levels are put in the same class. How do you accommodate all of these different ability levels? Do you dumb down the curriculum so everyone will succeed? I'm sure the school administrators (who don't teach) would deny this vehemently. You could individualize assignments. Kind of like trying to teach A English and C English at the same time. Maybe they'll go back to reading groups like we have at the elementary schools so that they can hold appropriate literary discussions with all ability levels, read literature that is advanced for advanced students,and offer remedial help for the C English levels. When you look at the reading lists (which are on line) you see that all the students are getting the same books, so they aren't varying literary content to meet the needs of advanced students. It was suggested at a board meeting that I went to at Helena High that they would like to go to project learning(the old cooperative learning from the 80's is back). We all know the problems with project learning, the top students do the work , the slow students learn very little, and everyone gets the same grade. What about math? How are they going to fit calculous students with students who haven't mastered algebra?
So the question remains. Why are they doing this? Is it just a way to bring low achievers up? Maybe, but it sure isn't going to get them an education (maybe a grade!). Our schools, for a long time now, have been about making a new society, not about delivering the best education. The MHSA knows that competition works. If you look at world markets, you know the only reason there is a market is because of capitalism and the incentives it provides. So, competition works but the people who are running our schools now (think BIll Ayers), don't want different levels of achievement. It seems like they're aiming for the classless society in school instead of the best education for everyone.Maybe they think if we all just learn to collaborate everyone will help each other and all of societies problems will go away. Maybe they don't like the idea that when we compete we consider ourselves as achievers INDIVIDUALLY.
Is this the kind of America you want where we are all the same? Are people ever the same? Do you like the football model where students discipline themselves, put up with hardships and overcome hardships? A model where the best get to play and others have to improve or move on to something else? Or do you like the model where we try to make everyone the same and pull out the victim card when things get tough?
Perhaps if we were all weak and dependent we would need a super centralized government that met everyone's every need. Kind of like the schools wanting to provide education from the age of two through job training (the planning has begun). But has this model ever worked anywhere at any time in history? Have you looked at the debt clock on line lately? Are you aware of the Solyndra scandal where all the political bundlers got in on the green energy money coming from Washington, or some of the other scandals like insider trading by legislators (they use confidential information to help them make stock picks). Why do all our presidents become millionaires now? Does big centralized government that tries to be a "nanny state" breed corruption? Thomas Jefferson had the best advice "If people were angels we would not need government, but people are not angels, so we need a limited government".
I agree with MHSA, let competition and freedom ring!
Let's start with testing. We used to have norm referenced tests. This meant the students were judged against a statistical norm. Students would come home with CTBS (California Test of Basic Skills) reports, or later ITBS(Iowa Test of Basic Skills) reports and you could see how your student performed against the rest of the nation. You would get a percentile rank. If your child was in the 90th percentile rank they were doing well. If they were in the 30th percentile they had some work to do. Well now that we have government tests there are no more national norms. Students are just Not Proficient, Proficient, or Advanced. These are called criterion referenced tests. In other words, either your child knows the given information or they don't, no comparing. Do you think the incentive is the same and the reporting information is as clear when you are just proficient? Do you think taxpayers have the right to know how Montana students compare to other states percentage wise? I do.
Well, that's just testing. Competition is being taken out of the classrooms in very serious ways that I believe will have disastrous consequences for our students learning. The academies are being introduced into the high schools. At Helena High this year, as I was told by a school administrator, all freshman students are in academies. This means that a group of students take their 4 core classes together. There is no more "A" English or "C" English. Students of all academic levels are put in the same class. How do you accommodate all of these different ability levels? Do you dumb down the curriculum so everyone will succeed? I'm sure the school administrators (who don't teach) would deny this vehemently. You could individualize assignments. Kind of like trying to teach A English and C English at the same time. Maybe they'll go back to reading groups like we have at the elementary schools so that they can hold appropriate literary discussions with all ability levels, read literature that is advanced for advanced students,and offer remedial help for the C English levels. When you look at the reading lists (which are on line) you see that all the students are getting the same books, so they aren't varying literary content to meet the needs of advanced students. It was suggested at a board meeting that I went to at Helena High that they would like to go to project learning(the old cooperative learning from the 80's is back). We all know the problems with project learning, the top students do the work , the slow students learn very little, and everyone gets the same grade. What about math? How are they going to fit calculous students with students who haven't mastered algebra?
So the question remains. Why are they doing this? Is it just a way to bring low achievers up? Maybe, but it sure isn't going to get them an education (maybe a grade!). Our schools, for a long time now, have been about making a new society, not about delivering the best education. The MHSA knows that competition works. If you look at world markets, you know the only reason there is a market is because of capitalism and the incentives it provides. So, competition works but the people who are running our schools now (think BIll Ayers), don't want different levels of achievement. It seems like they're aiming for the classless society in school instead of the best education for everyone.Maybe they think if we all just learn to collaborate everyone will help each other and all of societies problems will go away. Maybe they don't like the idea that when we compete we consider ourselves as achievers INDIVIDUALLY.
Is this the kind of America you want where we are all the same? Are people ever the same? Do you like the football model where students discipline themselves, put up with hardships and overcome hardships? A model where the best get to play and others have to improve or move on to something else? Or do you like the model where we try to make everyone the same and pull out the victim card when things get tough?
Perhaps if we were all weak and dependent we would need a super centralized government that met everyone's every need. Kind of like the schools wanting to provide education from the age of two through job training (the planning has begun). But has this model ever worked anywhere at any time in history? Have you looked at the debt clock on line lately? Are you aware of the Solyndra scandal where all the political bundlers got in on the green energy money coming from Washington, or some of the other scandals like insider trading by legislators (they use confidential information to help them make stock picks). Why do all our presidents become millionaires now? Does big centralized government that tries to be a "nanny state" breed corruption? Thomas Jefferson had the best advice "If people were angels we would not need government, but people are not angels, so we need a limited government".
I agree with MHSA, let competition and freedom ring!
Thursday, 10 November 2011
PICKING THE PUBLIC'S POCKET
At Home Town Helena last Thursday our school district superintendent was in an interesting quandary. He was there to talk about a new plan which is going to cost the property owners of Helena a lot of money, (if he or the next superintendent can get the bond passed). He first had to explain why the number of elementary students in Helena is GOING DOWN. It's not real great to ask for support for going after more money when you actually have less students. His explanation as to why he has less students is that THE ECONOMY IS BAD in Helena and that people are having to leave town to find work. My, My, there is less money out there so we are just going to belly up to the bar and take the money we want right out of the back pockets of those poor suckers who are still able to make their house payments in Helena. Does this make sense to you? Does it feel like the people running the school district i.e. THE SCHOOL BOARD, really give a darn about the property tax payers? Did you know that business people who have businesses in Helena but live out of the school district don't even get to vote on these bonds- even though they have to pay for them? Does this sound fair to you?
See if this sounds fair to you. At the school board meeting Tuesday night there was a presentation from MQEC (Montana Quality Education Coalition). These are the folks who started a law suit against the legislature years ago to equalize funding for schools so that small school districts would have the same funding as large districts.They have sixty districts paying them dues and sent this gentleman out to get more. It came out at the meeting that there are 250 districts- so he has a ways to go. But yes, Helena is a member, of course. So, once again, the tax payers are being forced to pay to sue themselves! He lamented that they really only have enough money from the dues to pay his salary - not to fund the new lawsuit so he didn't say it surprisingly- but he expects money from the school district to pay legal expenses. I was wondering-why didn't he just ask for the money? Can they do this in a back room deal? I know they use the building reserve for all kinds of things like paying for a planning firm- can they just take money out of the budget? Maybe you're wondering what the new law suit is. Well, it's just an attachment to the old law suit as one of the board members explained to us. Here's how it goes. The legislature only gave the schools a 1% increase in their funding for the 1st year of the biennium and a 1.16% increase in the second year. According to MQEC this doesn't meet inflation needs which are specified in the annotated code (law). The law says that the legislature MUST give them more money every legislative session. Are you wondering who determines what this rate of inflation for the schools is? Well you probably guessed right- The MONTANA OFFICE OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION! Is this kind of like the fox in charge of the hen house? Can we expect the Office of Public Instruction to be an impartial judge when it comes to school funding?
I sat there at this meeting, the peon in front of the gods, and wondered what it must be like to be elected to the legislature. I thought about all these poor people getting out to vote for Republican legislators because they want a change, they want less government and less taxes. Does it seem to you that the legislators just have their hands tied? Carl Graham from Montana Policy Institute has been fighting for a long time for zero based budgeting. This would give the legislators a chance to look at real school budgets built for each year and to decide what we should fund instead of just being given a figure from last year with OPI's rate of inflation increase figured in. Let's get behind Carl . Let's make our vote really stand for something. With the "Whole Child " concept that our school district operates under our schools are the center for all social services- most of them duplicative. Our legislators are not just funding schools in the school budgets, they're funding non profits and social services. Our new bond plan is going to include all kinds of social programs, not just buildings.
So where is the public voice in all this spending? Our board chair is making phone calls, he's offering invites for the STEERING COMMITTEE and the CITIZENS' COMMITTEE which will be the public input on this new planning for the bond. In the newspaper it will look like everyone got a voice but - not so much. He's not publicizing the search (he says it has been mentioned in a newspaper article)- even a board member called foul on this - but they passed her right by like a post on the freeway. If you get on the committee you know already what the outcome will be - every program they've got going in the district, every federal grant and every nonprofit wish list. I really hope there's some one or two of you out there that will get on those committees. The board chair says to just call the district. You may not be able to make a change this time but you can stand for the property owners and families and get the word out. This board needs a balance!
See if this sounds fair to you. At the school board meeting Tuesday night there was a presentation from MQEC (Montana Quality Education Coalition). These are the folks who started a law suit against the legislature years ago to equalize funding for schools so that small school districts would have the same funding as large districts.They have sixty districts paying them dues and sent this gentleman out to get more. It came out at the meeting that there are 250 districts- so he has a ways to go. But yes, Helena is a member, of course. So, once again, the tax payers are being forced to pay to sue themselves! He lamented that they really only have enough money from the dues to pay his salary - not to fund the new lawsuit so he didn't say it surprisingly- but he expects money from the school district to pay legal expenses. I was wondering-why didn't he just ask for the money? Can they do this in a back room deal? I know they use the building reserve for all kinds of things like paying for a planning firm- can they just take money out of the budget? Maybe you're wondering what the new law suit is. Well, it's just an attachment to the old law suit as one of the board members explained to us. Here's how it goes. The legislature only gave the schools a 1% increase in their funding for the 1st year of the biennium and a 1.16% increase in the second year. According to MQEC this doesn't meet inflation needs which are specified in the annotated code (law). The law says that the legislature MUST give them more money every legislative session. Are you wondering who determines what this rate of inflation for the schools is? Well you probably guessed right- The MONTANA OFFICE OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION! Is this kind of like the fox in charge of the hen house? Can we expect the Office of Public Instruction to be an impartial judge when it comes to school funding?
I sat there at this meeting, the peon in front of the gods, and wondered what it must be like to be elected to the legislature. I thought about all these poor people getting out to vote for Republican legislators because they want a change, they want less government and less taxes. Does it seem to you that the legislators just have their hands tied? Carl Graham from Montana Policy Institute has been fighting for a long time for zero based budgeting. This would give the legislators a chance to look at real school budgets built for each year and to decide what we should fund instead of just being given a figure from last year with OPI's rate of inflation increase figured in. Let's get behind Carl . Let's make our vote really stand for something. With the "Whole Child " concept that our school district operates under our schools are the center for all social services- most of them duplicative. Our legislators are not just funding schools in the school budgets, they're funding non profits and social services. Our new bond plan is going to include all kinds of social programs, not just buildings.
So where is the public voice in all this spending? Our board chair is making phone calls, he's offering invites for the STEERING COMMITTEE and the CITIZENS' COMMITTEE which will be the public input on this new planning for the bond. In the newspaper it will look like everyone got a voice but - not so much. He's not publicizing the search (he says it has been mentioned in a newspaper article)- even a board member called foul on this - but they passed her right by like a post on the freeway. If you get on the committee you know already what the outcome will be - every program they've got going in the district, every federal grant and every nonprofit wish list. I really hope there's some one or two of you out there that will get on those committees. The board chair says to just call the district. You may not be able to make a change this time but you can stand for the property owners and families and get the word out. This board needs a balance!
Sunday, 6 November 2011
SMALL VICTORIES
Well break out the champaign we've had a victory for decency in our culture. They took down the "NO SNOOPING WHEN SOMEONE'S POOPING " and the "NO SEEING WHEN SOMEONE'S PEEING" signs. I do thank them for this from the bottom of my heart. The schools really are the future of America and I certainly don't want to live in a world where our public discourse is brought down to rude and vulgar levels. It did take letters to the school board before this happened. Letters to the principal and the superintendent alone didn't do the job.
As I mentioned the schools really are the future of America. Those of us over the age of 50 remember making American flags for Washington's birthday and stove pipe hats for Lincoln's birthday. In fact, we had these days off school. We learned to love our country and to love our American heros and what they stood for. What did they stand for? Integrity, respect, hard work, tenacity, personal discipline, fairness, and righteousness were some of the character traits they stood for. They dressed with dignity and they acted with dignity. No one hated America in those days. We recognized America as a place where the problems we had were solved. We fought and died for freedom in the Revolutionary War, and justice for the oppressed in the Civil War and World War II. What are children being taught in school today? They are being taught special interests for the purposes of those with special interests.
I watched the movie "PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS" last night. In this movie Will Smith had a young son and no money. He was trying to make it in the world as a stock broker. He was pursuing his happiness, his American dream. At one point he was so poor that he had to go with his son to a shelter. Why? Because the last $500.00 he had in the world was taken out of his account by the government to pay back taxes. My favorite part of the movie was how he never gave up, how he believed that he could make his own opportunity and he did. I'm guessing the liberals favorite part of this movie would be the long line at the shelter. What they see is that we need more shelters, what I see is that we need to build more characters like Will Smith.
The Helena School District superintendent presented the new plan for the new BOND at Hometown Helena Thursday morning. His plan includes early childhood education to work training. It includes "Community involvement" and healthy lifestyles. He's planning to the year 2074! They will feed children, daycare children and provide mental health assessment. I can see that this BOND, or school borrowing, will not be only for buildings as it has been in the past. We will now be borrowing to support nonprofits in the school district. They are already saying "Youth Connections of the Helena Public Schools". Youth Connections is already housed at the public schools and has a school district email. As I have mentioned on this blog before, Intermountain and Head Start are also housed in our schools. The Myrna Loy uses our schools as a fundraiser every year through the arts program, Big Brother's and Big Sister's takes kids out of class at both the high school and the elementary schools, Planned Parenthood has clubs at both our high schools and is so heavily into education now that they have an education administrator. Food Share now shows up on Fridays and sends home food for the weekend at at least 2 elementary schools and they are of course planning more ( I thought we were giving free food to all income levels at Bryant so they wouldn't feel singled out and embarrassed (which they never were), so isn't it embarrassing to go down to the office and get a sack to lug home?). The schools now of course do food drives as well, Exploration Works has the kids farming and Youth Connections has appointed themselves mental health experts ( they screened all 9-12th graders this year for "mental health"). This is just a list of a few of the participants, I'm sure I must be missing many, but the point is , WHAT ARE WE TEACHING OUR CHILDREN?
Well, if I was in those schools I would be learning that absolutely no one can make it on their own. I would be learning that I couldn't even make it through the day without my water bottle by my side and snacks. I would be learning that the government provides food and all other needs and that the government determines what correct attitudes and values are. I might think if I didn't get on board that I would be singled out by Youth Connections as being mentally or emotionally deficient. Youth Connections is sponsoring a "World Renowned" author for a presentation at Helena Middle School ( Which I'm pretty sure kids throughout the district will be taken out of class to attend) on the Bully, the Bullied and the BYSTANDER. Get it- you can't just ignore this you have to be on their wave length or you're the problem. Remember, the bully program was lobbied for at the legislature by Gay Pride, Human Rights Network, and the ACLU among others. This isn't just about bullying.
So freedom today is a politically correct freedom. It is also a freedom without responsibility. What are we doing to our Will Smith's (Chris Gardner in the movie) of tomorrow? Will they have the examples and heros that teach them to survive? If they grow up thinking they can pull the victim card and the government will provide they just ought to talk to a few of the homeless today- anywhere. Life doesn't work that way.There's not enough money in the world to make a person successful who doesn't understand that he has to provide for himself and find his own happiness.
I'm really happy that they took the signs down at Hawthorne School, it's a step in the right direction away from vulgarity, but we have a long way to go in teaching our children the values of personal fortitude that will give them a successful tomorrow. Families teach these things in spite of the schools, but those students that don't get it from the family may end up in a world of hurt as they try to climb the ladder of success, especially if they're poor like Chris Gardner. These kids have spent a great deal of their school time not learning to read too.
As I mentioned the schools really are the future of America. Those of us over the age of 50 remember making American flags for Washington's birthday and stove pipe hats for Lincoln's birthday. In fact, we had these days off school. We learned to love our country and to love our American heros and what they stood for. What did they stand for? Integrity, respect, hard work, tenacity, personal discipline, fairness, and righteousness were some of the character traits they stood for. They dressed with dignity and they acted with dignity. No one hated America in those days. We recognized America as a place where the problems we had were solved. We fought and died for freedom in the Revolutionary War, and justice for the oppressed in the Civil War and World War II. What are children being taught in school today? They are being taught special interests for the purposes of those with special interests.
I watched the movie "PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS" last night. In this movie Will Smith had a young son and no money. He was trying to make it in the world as a stock broker. He was pursuing his happiness, his American dream. At one point he was so poor that he had to go with his son to a shelter. Why? Because the last $500.00 he had in the world was taken out of his account by the government to pay back taxes. My favorite part of the movie was how he never gave up, how he believed that he could make his own opportunity and he did. I'm guessing the liberals favorite part of this movie would be the long line at the shelter. What they see is that we need more shelters, what I see is that we need to build more characters like Will Smith.
The Helena School District superintendent presented the new plan for the new BOND at Hometown Helena Thursday morning. His plan includes early childhood education to work training. It includes "Community involvement" and healthy lifestyles. He's planning to the year 2074! They will feed children, daycare children and provide mental health assessment. I can see that this BOND, or school borrowing, will not be only for buildings as it has been in the past. We will now be borrowing to support nonprofits in the school district. They are already saying "Youth Connections of the Helena Public Schools". Youth Connections is already housed at the public schools and has a school district email. As I have mentioned on this blog before, Intermountain and Head Start are also housed in our schools. The Myrna Loy uses our schools as a fundraiser every year through the arts program, Big Brother's and Big Sister's takes kids out of class at both the high school and the elementary schools, Planned Parenthood has clubs at both our high schools and is so heavily into education now that they have an education administrator. Food Share now shows up on Fridays and sends home food for the weekend at at least 2 elementary schools and they are of course planning more ( I thought we were giving free food to all income levels at Bryant so they wouldn't feel singled out and embarrassed (which they never were), so isn't it embarrassing to go down to the office and get a sack to lug home?). The schools now of course do food drives as well, Exploration Works has the kids farming and Youth Connections has appointed themselves mental health experts ( they screened all 9-12th graders this year for "mental health"). This is just a list of a few of the participants, I'm sure I must be missing many, but the point is , WHAT ARE WE TEACHING OUR CHILDREN?
Well, if I was in those schools I would be learning that absolutely no one can make it on their own. I would be learning that I couldn't even make it through the day without my water bottle by my side and snacks. I would be learning that the government provides food and all other needs and that the government determines what correct attitudes and values are. I might think if I didn't get on board that I would be singled out by Youth Connections as being mentally or emotionally deficient. Youth Connections is sponsoring a "World Renowned" author for a presentation at Helena Middle School ( Which I'm pretty sure kids throughout the district will be taken out of class to attend) on the Bully, the Bullied and the BYSTANDER. Get it- you can't just ignore this you have to be on their wave length or you're the problem. Remember, the bully program was lobbied for at the legislature by Gay Pride, Human Rights Network, and the ACLU among others. This isn't just about bullying.
So freedom today is a politically correct freedom. It is also a freedom without responsibility. What are we doing to our Will Smith's (Chris Gardner in the movie) of tomorrow? Will they have the examples and heros that teach them to survive? If they grow up thinking they can pull the victim card and the government will provide they just ought to talk to a few of the homeless today- anywhere. Life doesn't work that way.There's not enough money in the world to make a person successful who doesn't understand that he has to provide for himself and find his own happiness.
I'm really happy that they took the signs down at Hawthorne School, it's a step in the right direction away from vulgarity, but we have a long way to go in teaching our children the values of personal fortitude that will give them a successful tomorrow. Families teach these things in spite of the schools, but those students that don't get it from the family may end up in a world of hurt as they try to climb the ladder of success, especially if they're poor like Chris Gardner. These kids have spent a great deal of their school time not learning to read too.
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