I was at the school board meeting yesterday. It was a "Work Session" which they have every month. Hawthorne school was giving their school improvement report. They've been doing this for about 20 years- you'd think they would be improved by now- but what would happen to all the workshop providers, non profits and consultants if they actually accomplished school reform? They'd be out of work. Does this mean that we will be in school reform mode at the public schools indefinitely? It appears that way.
Well the school board always praises the school improvement reports- this is a way of praising themselves. They are just so cutting edge- probably just so cutting edge that the rest of us just can't understand it-or better yet- can't accept their genius (which comes to them from Federal Grants that generally get their push from somewhere else- like special interest groups and the U.N.). In any case- see if you think I'm just not forward thinking to not accept this one. In the bathrooms at Hawthorne School they are teaching respect by putting up signs that say "NO SEEING WHEN SOMEONE IS PEEING" and "NO SNOOPING WHEN SOMEONE IS POOPING". Hippies always did love vulgar language.
I couldn't believe I had to get up this morning and take the time to write the principal at Hawthorne School (c.c. ing in the Superintendent who was at the meeting) to explain to them that saying pooping and peeing to the little children was inappropriate- the kind of thing we generally hope to teach our children not to say- at least in polite company, at school, and in public. She wrote me back and thanked me for my "OPINION". I'm probably just flailing out there all alone with this OPINION, right?
They are just so "Cutting edge" that they don't know that controlling our language is one way of showing respect to one another. They don't know that we teach our children appropriate behaviors and language by modeling it for them.
The "cutting edge" planning committee was there to give their first report after being hired. They skyped a lady who spoke all of about 3 sentences. The presenter could have told us himself that Brain Spaces is a firm that specializes in planning spaces for education- but that would be just so yesterday. I guess we're all just too stupid to arrange classrooms for kids, we need a $250,000.00 firm to do this. So the school district will pick who will be on the planning committee. Don't bother applying- they only want smart people- that means people who agree with them. You only can see the future and are smart and with it if you go along with the program here. OF COURSE the business community and other powers that be will be on this committee, if they can get them. Getting the "right" people on the committee will help pass the BOND.
Before we leave the "cutting edge" here we should talk about the DIGITAL ACADEMY ( even we stupid people know this is online learning). Apparently the "Cutting edge" is collaboration all the way- or maybe it's online learning by yourself at home. As the curriculum specialist from the digital academy gave his presentation I was on the edge of my seat waiting for someone to ask the obvious question. There was a time for questions from the board but no one ever did ask that obvious question. There is just such a lack of curiosity. So I followed the gentleman out into the hall and asked him myself. I said when I taught school for 30 years there was always the concern of children not doing their own work- looking on other students papers for test answers for example. Here's the question HOW DO YOU KNOW THESE STUDENTS ARE DOING ANY OF THE WORK AT ALL- ESPECIALLY TAKING THE TESTS? I always did wonder about these online courses. Well- if the students work changes a lot for the better they call him/her up and ask questions. If they're not satisfied with the answers they make them do the work again. Tests are taken at school with a proctor (teacher aide to make sure they don't cheat)- oh so yesterday. Only one more thought and I hate to be the one to bring it up-but of course I will- why in the world would you offer classes in the Irish language? I'm Irish - but I don't speak Irish. Has anyone noticed that it's a dead language of no use at all unless you're an ancient historian and want to read original documents? I doubt our high school kids fit into this category.
Even if you vote Democrat you can't make more money. Choices are going to have to be made and that's one thing we know for sure. Will they choose teaching Irish and $250,000.00 firms over food share?
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
250,000 DOLLARS
What could you buy for $250,000 dollars? A new house? Maybe every family on your street could get a new car. What could a school district do with 250,000 dollars? They could hire 5 new teachers for a year. They could have a new textbook adoption. OR----they could hire a firm!
Well, you guessed it they are hiring a firm. What makes this firm so valuable? I don't know and I really don't think anyone at that meeting knew- really even the contractor asking for the contract. These people were architects (apparently). But they don't plan on doing any architectural plans- one of the board members asked about this and it was explained to him that if any building was going to be done they would absolutely have to hire architects to make that plan. No these architects are going to set up meetings with staff to discuss where the district is and where they want to go - pie in the sky kind of stuff.
Even some of the board members discussed the risk that they would hire this firm and nothing would come of it. The newspaper today discussed a 15 year projection for the planning but the real number bandied about by the consultants as well as the board was 50 years! Who in this world really knows what the world will be like in 50 years?!! Well, the school business manager of all people, thinks she knows what the world will be like in the future. She even knows what education will be like (REALLY??). As far as I know she's a great business manager but maybe she should just stay in her area of expertise. The business manager made a big speech recommending the hiring of the firm because the future in the world, and I guess according to her, in education, will all be collaborative. We'll need new spaces to accommodate all this collaboration. Shouldn't the school board have recognized that their business manager is not an educator and would know nothing about the future in the delivery of educational services?
Back in the 60's they thought everything was going to be collaborative too, or they hoped. Remember Rossiter School? The school in the round where they had to put up all the walls when they found out things couldn't work so open and collaborative? Ray Bjork and Broadwater had to put up partitions too after the abysmal failure of this experiment. Even their own new age education , the digital academy, is less collaborative and requires working on your own at home on a computer.
The truth is that none of us really know the future. What we do know is that this country, and states and cities across the nation are broke. We need to spend our money judiciously. What this firm is about really is getting a new bond issue, read YOUR PROPERTY TAXES ARE GOING UP! One of the firm members did mention the figure $200,000,000 but he said that was too high- they couldn't go that high with a bond. Well, how high can they go? Another presenter from the firm mentioned that other firms (Not theirs thank goodness) have had an 80% success rate in getting their bond passed. So this firm will get $26,000.00 just for getting the staff together and finding out where we are (we need to know how many soccer fans we have for example), and then $62,000 ostensibly for every phase after that. These
other phases will include getting the stake holders together (this may be you) and putting together and presenting a plan with, I guess, a price tag. In other words, they will be doing a lot of ground work and public relations work for this big bond.
I am not against bonds and I am not against good schools for kids, but in my view we already pay a great deal for our schools ( 75% of the huge property taxes you pay go to the schools). Is it O.k. to think about good old mom and dad struggling to raise a family and grandma and grandpa who are living on a fixed income just a little bit? I wonder if this board would have hired this firm if it was their own money they were spending. It's time to stop experimenting with our children's education and do common sense things in realistic ways that will really improve our schools and help our children. Let's start with the overcrowding in the valley. Apparently, the 10.8 MILLION DOLLARS we already spent over 7 years went to replace a boiler and I guess hire this firm.This bond was passed in 2007. We used to do upkeep of buildings out of the general fund and not have to go to the tax payers again. We used to hire our own superintendents without spending $15,000.00 from the tax payers to hire a firm. ARE WE ALL GOING TO BE TAXED OUT OF OUR HOUSES?
Well, you guessed it they are hiring a firm. What makes this firm so valuable? I don't know and I really don't think anyone at that meeting knew- really even the contractor asking for the contract. These people were architects (apparently). But they don't plan on doing any architectural plans- one of the board members asked about this and it was explained to him that if any building was going to be done they would absolutely have to hire architects to make that plan. No these architects are going to set up meetings with staff to discuss where the district is and where they want to go - pie in the sky kind of stuff.
Even some of the board members discussed the risk that they would hire this firm and nothing would come of it. The newspaper today discussed a 15 year projection for the planning but the real number bandied about by the consultants as well as the board was 50 years! Who in this world really knows what the world will be like in 50 years?!! Well, the school business manager of all people, thinks she knows what the world will be like in the future. She even knows what education will be like (REALLY??). As far as I know she's a great business manager but maybe she should just stay in her area of expertise. The business manager made a big speech recommending the hiring of the firm because the future in the world, and I guess according to her, in education, will all be collaborative. We'll need new spaces to accommodate all this collaboration. Shouldn't the school board have recognized that their business manager is not an educator and would know nothing about the future in the delivery of educational services?
Back in the 60's they thought everything was going to be collaborative too, or they hoped. Remember Rossiter School? The school in the round where they had to put up all the walls when they found out things couldn't work so open and collaborative? Ray Bjork and Broadwater had to put up partitions too after the abysmal failure of this experiment. Even their own new age education , the digital academy, is less collaborative and requires working on your own at home on a computer.
The truth is that none of us really know the future. What we do know is that this country, and states and cities across the nation are broke. We need to spend our money judiciously. What this firm is about really is getting a new bond issue, read YOUR PROPERTY TAXES ARE GOING UP! One of the firm members did mention the figure $200,000,000 but he said that was too high- they couldn't go that high with a bond. Well, how high can they go? Another presenter from the firm mentioned that other firms (Not theirs thank goodness) have had an 80% success rate in getting their bond passed. So this firm will get $26,000.00 just for getting the staff together and finding out where we are (we need to know how many soccer fans we have for example), and then $62,000 ostensibly for every phase after that. These
other phases will include getting the stake holders together (this may be you) and putting together and presenting a plan with, I guess, a price tag. In other words, they will be doing a lot of ground work and public relations work for this big bond.
I am not against bonds and I am not against good schools for kids, but in my view we already pay a great deal for our schools ( 75% of the huge property taxes you pay go to the schools). Is it O.k. to think about good old mom and dad struggling to raise a family and grandma and grandpa who are living on a fixed income just a little bit? I wonder if this board would have hired this firm if it was their own money they were spending. It's time to stop experimenting with our children's education and do common sense things in realistic ways that will really improve our schools and help our children. Let's start with the overcrowding in the valley. Apparently, the 10.8 MILLION DOLLARS we already spent over 7 years went to replace a boiler and I guess hire this firm.This bond was passed in 2007. We used to do upkeep of buildings out of the general fund and not have to go to the tax payers again. We used to hire our own superintendents without spending $15,000.00 from the tax payers to hire a firm. ARE WE ALL GOING TO BE TAXED OUT OF OUR HOUSES?
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
IN THE WEEDS
Do you remember a vote for a bond for buildings in the school district in 2007? If you live in the valley you may remember voting for it because you are overcrowded out there and thought the school district might build a new school or at least add some classrooms. Well, not so much. The school district, as I mentioned earlier on this blog, is hiring a planning firm. This is not an architectural firm or an engineering firm, sorry to disappoint, but a firm to help the district plan for "school improvement strategies". I would like to note that they have been working on school improvement strategies since 1992, with I would say, little or more probably no success when you look at social and achievement data.
I had the pleasure yesterday to attend one of these planning meetings. The meeting went for SIX HOURS! After 3 hours of wandering around in the weeds I left, they had nowhere to go with all this because they didn't even know what their role as a school board should be. Before getting into the specifics of all the wandering I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT that they were spending LOTS OF MONEY. We don't yet know the exact amounts but we will continue to try to find out how much of the 10.8 MILLION DOLLARS is being spent on planning. For this meeting they hired a consultant to give them advice via skype and a mediator, had a large meal prepared and brought in, and must have hired "guest teachers" (substitutes) because teachers and other paid staff were present.
Well do you think they talked about which buildings they were going to build? NO that's not it. They talked for 3 hours and as far as I could tell from the agenda, intended (after dinner), to talk for another one and a half hours about assessment. Let me see- should it be broad assessment?(assessment of the whole district) or narrow assessment (3rd grade for example), or then again it could be pinpointed at particular classrooms! On they went. The consultant likes performance assessment, inquiry based. Lets think outside the box and not worry about all those pesky facts. The scary thing is they may get away with this. According to Denise Juneau, Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction, (who has not returned my call for further inquiry),speaking at Hometown Helena, our schools are doing away with Iowa Basics achievement testing and going to a FEDERAL TEST AT EVERY GRADE LEVEL(NAEP, National Assessment of Student Progress). So what we now teach, ( even the people at the meeting acceded that the test determines what we teach), will be determined by the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. If you haven't traveled in a totalitarian state you may not realize just how scary that is.
Maybe you remember Competency Based Standards for graduation that I talked about on this blog earlier? Well they talked about students collaborative skills being assessed and social measures. Sounds subjective to me. Are we now going to try to form our children into someones version of the perfect person rather than just expect them to learn academics at school?
The terminology has reached crisis proportions, they are producing new words by the nano second. But the intent is clear, they don't understand their role as a school board, the role of teachers in the classroom, the role of schools in students lives, and what teaching is all about anyway. Finally one of the board members pointed out that when you teach Biology there are certain things like Mitosis which you just must teach.
Let me try to clarify this for the school board, first, school boards are not there to assess or teach, they are purely administrative, they make sure the trains run on time so to speak. Secondly, the teachers are there to teach. They should not be responsible to write curriculum and be researchers! Twenty five students to teach 7 subjects to in 4 hours (when you're not on constant drills of every kind i.e. fire,earthquake, national disaster, lockdown etc.) and giving your classroom over to special programs, is a monumental feat these days! If you want any results at all please let the teachers teach at least once in a while. Assessment, as pointed out even by someone at the meeting, takes away teaching time. Many firms are selling assessment- some international! So there is pressure to jump on this bandwagon. The consultant even suggested using our children as guinea pigs for firms doing research ( they'd just love it if we signed up).
Our school district is not doing well as pointed out by almost everyone at the meeting including the consultant. Our kids are losing ground in math by third grade. The one school that is doing better than others is recovering from ("unfortunate leadership disarray") as pointed out by at least one board member. In other words they're getting back up to speed. Can I ask why if our former superintendent was so wonderful he let this "disarray" go on for 18 years? Why are our math scores so low and why can't our students perform on achievement testing?
The one board member had it right ( and he's a former teacher), there are certain things that need to be taught. Give our teachers the time to teach and it will happen. Your train is going way off track when you let administrators micromanage teachers, as one said shockingly,"the school has to decide on a strategy and through collaboration the other teachers should be sure everyone is doing it". News flash for her,our teachers each have their own teaching style and will do a bang up job on the whole if you just leave them alone!
Proof of this is that our scores were better before school reform happened to us. Why do we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on textbooks if we don't trust them? They have the structure, (they actually talked about how things should be taught in a sequence (you think?!!) at this meeting), well, the textbook has the sequence. They are written by professionals that do nothing but this. Guess what? They even have the ASSESSMENT after each part that you talked about (those are called chapters). Get out of the weeds and let our teachers teach!!
I had the pleasure yesterday to attend one of these planning meetings. The meeting went for SIX HOURS! After 3 hours of wandering around in the weeds I left, they had nowhere to go with all this because they didn't even know what their role as a school board should be. Before getting into the specifics of all the wandering I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT that they were spending LOTS OF MONEY. We don't yet know the exact amounts but we will continue to try to find out how much of the 10.8 MILLION DOLLARS is being spent on planning. For this meeting they hired a consultant to give them advice via skype and a mediator, had a large meal prepared and brought in, and must have hired "guest teachers" (substitutes) because teachers and other paid staff were present.
Well do you think they talked about which buildings they were going to build? NO that's not it. They talked for 3 hours and as far as I could tell from the agenda, intended (after dinner), to talk for another one and a half hours about assessment. Let me see- should it be broad assessment?(assessment of the whole district) or narrow assessment (3rd grade for example), or then again it could be pinpointed at particular classrooms! On they went. The consultant likes performance assessment, inquiry based. Lets think outside the box and not worry about all those pesky facts. The scary thing is they may get away with this. According to Denise Juneau, Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction, (who has not returned my call for further inquiry),speaking at Hometown Helena, our schools are doing away with Iowa Basics achievement testing and going to a FEDERAL TEST AT EVERY GRADE LEVEL(NAEP, National Assessment of Student Progress). So what we now teach, ( even the people at the meeting acceded that the test determines what we teach), will be determined by the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. If you haven't traveled in a totalitarian state you may not realize just how scary that is.
Maybe you remember Competency Based Standards for graduation that I talked about on this blog earlier? Well they talked about students collaborative skills being assessed and social measures. Sounds subjective to me. Are we now going to try to form our children into someones version of the perfect person rather than just expect them to learn academics at school?
The terminology has reached crisis proportions, they are producing new words by the nano second. But the intent is clear, they don't understand their role as a school board, the role of teachers in the classroom, the role of schools in students lives, and what teaching is all about anyway. Finally one of the board members pointed out that when you teach Biology there are certain things like Mitosis which you just must teach.
Let me try to clarify this for the school board, first, school boards are not there to assess or teach, they are purely administrative, they make sure the trains run on time so to speak. Secondly, the teachers are there to teach. They should not be responsible to write curriculum and be researchers! Twenty five students to teach 7 subjects to in 4 hours (when you're not on constant drills of every kind i.e. fire,earthquake, national disaster, lockdown etc.) and giving your classroom over to special programs, is a monumental feat these days! If you want any results at all please let the teachers teach at least once in a while. Assessment, as pointed out even by someone at the meeting, takes away teaching time. Many firms are selling assessment- some international! So there is pressure to jump on this bandwagon. The consultant even suggested using our children as guinea pigs for firms doing research ( they'd just love it if we signed up).
Our school district is not doing well as pointed out by almost everyone at the meeting including the consultant. Our kids are losing ground in math by third grade. The one school that is doing better than others is recovering from ("unfortunate leadership disarray") as pointed out by at least one board member. In other words they're getting back up to speed. Can I ask why if our former superintendent was so wonderful he let this "disarray" go on for 18 years? Why are our math scores so low and why can't our students perform on achievement testing?
The one board member had it right ( and he's a former teacher), there are certain things that need to be taught. Give our teachers the time to teach and it will happen. Your train is going way off track when you let administrators micromanage teachers, as one said shockingly,"the school has to decide on a strategy and through collaboration the other teachers should be sure everyone is doing it". News flash for her,our teachers each have their own teaching style and will do a bang up job on the whole if you just leave them alone!
Proof of this is that our scores were better before school reform happened to us. Why do we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on textbooks if we don't trust them? They have the structure, (they actually talked about how things should be taught in a sequence (you think?!!) at this meeting), well, the textbook has the sequence. They are written by professionals that do nothing but this. Guess what? They even have the ASSESSMENT after each part that you talked about (those are called chapters). Get out of the weeds and let our teachers teach!!
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
THE AFTER SHOW SCHOOL BOARD MEETING SEPTEMBER 13,2011
Another board meeting, another show. Where to begin? At the beginning I guess. Did you hear today that scores on the SAT (college entrance exam) for students in the U.S. reached their lowest in math and reading ever recorded? Just think of that - after 20 years of school reform and 35 years of a national department of education our scores are the lowest ever.
At the board meeting they discussed more planning and more firms. Then Youth Connections gave their annual update - being sure to note that their grant expires in 2013 and they hope to be fully integrated into the public schools by that time. Did our public sign up for this? I think when most people vote for school funding they think they are voting to educate the children not analyze them and behaviorally engineer them.
I read all of the Youth Connections material. Did you know that Youth Connections did mental health screening (according to their literature) in 2010 fall and spring, of all 9-12 graders? Did you as a parent see this screening and sign off for it to be done? All K-1 classes get social skills programing aimed at reducing impulsive and aggressive behavior and increasing social competence ( Is their a behavior guru who knows the perfect behavior for all of us?). Four "Project Success" counselors have been hired at the middle schools and high schools to identify students who could benefit from mental health services.
Tracy Moseman , project director, went on to say that they are basically assessing teachers and parents too because everyone must feel safe. Apparently they are doing all of this in large part to prevent substance abuse ( I thought the DARE program and the RESOURCE OFFICER program did that- how many programs do they need to do the same thing that doesn't work? ) Tracy went on to say that, according to her statistics teen underage drinking is down, but maybe this is because, as reported by her, 25% of our teens are doing MARIJUANA!!
The principal from Broadwater School was there to tout her attendance initiative under MBI's (Montana Behavior Initiative's Best Practices- every state has one so if you were in New York you'd have the New York Behavior Initiative and if you were in New Jersey you'd have the New Jersey Behavior Initiative, you get the idea- the Federal Government through their grants are social engineering America). So what is she doing to increase attendance? A graph in the hall that shows tardies and attendance for every class. I taught for 30 years, 9 of those at Bryant school where some families are really struggling. Should the weight of peer pressure be put on little kids to get to school and on time? This is an adult thing and I just feel for those little guys stressing like that. So when has school been so important to these people? This year they are using FOUR DAYS of instruction(no school for kids) for all their teacher pressuring and behavior controlling workshops mandated by the Federal Government. Class time is used almost constantly for MBI programs and performance assemblies, as well as screening and then the RESOURCE OFFICER in the classroom and DARE and children whisked away for Big Sisters Big Brothers and buddy programs and community service training and contests for collecting food and then the PEAK program which takes them out 1 day a week (1/5th of their education). Aidan Myhre was praising all these programs and then lamenting that it is REALLY SO IMPORTANT that kids get to school. To school for what, BEHAVIOR TRAINING? Do you get the feeling that these folks are more interested in social engineering behaviors than academic teaching? I do.
The after show was really great though. There were actually 2 other people who spoke up besides myself ( I spoke about building reserve money being spent to hire a firm that will not just handle buildings but will handle curriculums and programs etc., and about the yelling out of names of private genitalia at CRA) these people were wonderful- smart, informed and with really important messages.
One lady spoke about the RESOURCE OFFICER program which is criminalizing children at early ages. She noted that school behaviors are apparently at times turned over to the RESOURCE OFFICER (police). With the new POWER SCHOOL program children's behavior is monitored and data is collected on every student. If your child has a fight on the playground he can have a record before he turns 7!
Another mother spoke about the PEAK program which apparently selects out kids, 90% of which are highly motivated high achievers, based on a not very scientific IQ like test in 2ND GRADE. Before you turn 9 our district has labeled you as not one of the smartest ones. Apparently at Hawthorne School last year some of the PEAK kids were going around telling other kids they were always right because they were smarter. And what do they do to teach these children when they miss a whole day of school? Apparently rafting trips and even trips to FRANCE!
You can contact Tracy Moseman director of Youth Connections at tmose@helena.k12.mt.us (a school district email) if you have any advice for her on what everyone's behavior should be and how to identify insecure parents and teachers. Personally I think this whole behavior control thing has gotten out of hand. The schools are trying to create the perfect world while our children are NOT GETTING AN EDUCATION! Reading and math are the most important things they need for self esteem and success in this world and for their futures. Trying to be all things to all children at all times (the whole child concept ) is destroying our schools. It would be like serving dinner at the barber shop- neither job would get done well.
At the board meeting they discussed more planning and more firms. Then Youth Connections gave their annual update - being sure to note that their grant expires in 2013 and they hope to be fully integrated into the public schools by that time. Did our public sign up for this? I think when most people vote for school funding they think they are voting to educate the children not analyze them and behaviorally engineer them.
I read all of the Youth Connections material. Did you know that Youth Connections did mental health screening (according to their literature) in 2010 fall and spring, of all 9-12 graders? Did you as a parent see this screening and sign off for it to be done? All K-1 classes get social skills programing aimed at reducing impulsive and aggressive behavior and increasing social competence ( Is their a behavior guru who knows the perfect behavior for all of us?). Four "Project Success" counselors have been hired at the middle schools and high schools to identify students who could benefit from mental health services.
Tracy Moseman , project director, went on to say that they are basically assessing teachers and parents too because everyone must feel safe. Apparently they are doing all of this in large part to prevent substance abuse ( I thought the DARE program and the RESOURCE OFFICER program did that- how many programs do they need to do the same thing that doesn't work? ) Tracy went on to say that, according to her statistics teen underage drinking is down, but maybe this is because, as reported by her, 25% of our teens are doing MARIJUANA!!
The principal from Broadwater School was there to tout her attendance initiative under MBI's (Montana Behavior Initiative's Best Practices- every state has one so if you were in New York you'd have the New York Behavior Initiative and if you were in New Jersey you'd have the New Jersey Behavior Initiative, you get the idea- the Federal Government through their grants are social engineering America). So what is she doing to increase attendance? A graph in the hall that shows tardies and attendance for every class. I taught for 30 years, 9 of those at Bryant school where some families are really struggling. Should the weight of peer pressure be put on little kids to get to school and on time? This is an adult thing and I just feel for those little guys stressing like that. So when has school been so important to these people? This year they are using FOUR DAYS of instruction(no school for kids) for all their teacher pressuring and behavior controlling workshops mandated by the Federal Government. Class time is used almost constantly for MBI programs and performance assemblies, as well as screening and then the RESOURCE OFFICER in the classroom and DARE and children whisked away for Big Sisters Big Brothers and buddy programs and community service training and contests for collecting food and then the PEAK program which takes them out 1 day a week (1/5th of their education). Aidan Myhre was praising all these programs and then lamenting that it is REALLY SO IMPORTANT that kids get to school. To school for what, BEHAVIOR TRAINING? Do you get the feeling that these folks are more interested in social engineering behaviors than academic teaching? I do.
The after show was really great though. There were actually 2 other people who spoke up besides myself ( I spoke about building reserve money being spent to hire a firm that will not just handle buildings but will handle curriculums and programs etc., and about the yelling out of names of private genitalia at CRA) these people were wonderful- smart, informed and with really important messages.
One lady spoke about the RESOURCE OFFICER program which is criminalizing children at early ages. She noted that school behaviors are apparently at times turned over to the RESOURCE OFFICER (police). With the new POWER SCHOOL program children's behavior is monitored and data is collected on every student. If your child has a fight on the playground he can have a record before he turns 7!
Another mother spoke about the PEAK program which apparently selects out kids, 90% of which are highly motivated high achievers, based on a not very scientific IQ like test in 2ND GRADE. Before you turn 9 our district has labeled you as not one of the smartest ones. Apparently at Hawthorne School last year some of the PEAK kids were going around telling other kids they were always right because they were smarter. And what do they do to teach these children when they miss a whole day of school? Apparently rafting trips and even trips to FRANCE!
You can contact Tracy Moseman director of Youth Connections at tmose@helena.k12.mt.us (a school district email) if you have any advice for her on what everyone's behavior should be and how to identify insecure parents and teachers. Personally I think this whole behavior control thing has gotten out of hand. The schools are trying to create the perfect world while our children are NOT GETTING AN EDUCATION! Reading and math are the most important things they need for self esteem and success in this world and for their futures. Trying to be all things to all children at all times (the whole child concept ) is destroying our schools. It would be like serving dinner at the barber shop- neither job would get done well.
Friday, 9 September 2011
A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT FOR FOOTBALL
I went to the Capital High football game tonight and I was struck by all the wonderful kids and their families. Mom's were taking their babies up to high five the bear and students were coming up to their parents for comfort if they were upset or for approval of their outfit if they just needed a little encouragement. Parents were taking pictures of their darlings everywhere. Many parents were there just to see their daughter dance at half time or to see their son sit on the bench. They cared and they were there.
Maybe a lot of these people don't know about the agenda being driven in their schools- or maybe they do. Either way it is these families that will ultimately reclaim America and stop the march to Socialism.
One can tell the social justice crowd has not completely taken over because they still are using cover. It was announced at the game that they have a new Montana Behavior Initiative grant.The grant is supposedly for "Responsibility, Respect, and Graduate". Who could argue with those values? But then- think a little deeper- why would you need a federal grant to teach the things we've always stood for? Is there possibly more to this grant? Probably. Are the people driving the grants careful to couch everything in terms these families will accept- you bet.
So we don't cheer for "Take that ball and fight" or "All the way in one play" or even " We are the Bruins the mighty mighty Bruins" We cheer for "Parents to stand up" . I sometimes wondered if these girls were paying any attention to the field at all- or were even taught about the game. Maybe I've just been watching this attempt to social engineer for so long that I'm too suspicious, but it sure seems like the cheers have been changed from good old football fighting to win, to spirit building only.
In spite of all this I just loved seeing all these healthy kids and healthy families- the very people in the end that I believe will reject revolutionary socialism and renew America to its moral and constitutional roots.
Maybe a lot of these people don't know about the agenda being driven in their schools- or maybe they do. Either way it is these families that will ultimately reclaim America and stop the march to Socialism.
One can tell the social justice crowd has not completely taken over because they still are using cover. It was announced at the game that they have a new Montana Behavior Initiative grant.The grant is supposedly for "Responsibility, Respect, and Graduate". Who could argue with those values? But then- think a little deeper- why would you need a federal grant to teach the things we've always stood for? Is there possibly more to this grant? Probably. Are the people driving the grants careful to couch everything in terms these families will accept- you bet.
So we don't cheer for "Take that ball and fight" or "All the way in one play" or even " We are the Bruins the mighty mighty Bruins" We cheer for "Parents to stand up" . I sometimes wondered if these girls were paying any attention to the field at all- or were even taught about the game. Maybe I've just been watching this attempt to social engineer for so long that I'm too suspicious, but it sure seems like the cheers have been changed from good old football fighting to win, to spirit building only.
In spite of all this I just loved seeing all these healthy kids and healthy families- the very people in the end that I believe will reject revolutionary socialism and renew America to its moral and constitutional roots.
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
SEX IN THE SCHOOLS
I just heard today from a neighbor that on the last day of school at CR Anderson middle school here in Helena, in the sixth grade, in sex education class (other wise known as health), students were asked to yell out names they knew for the male genitalia and then to yell out names they knew for female genitalia. You get the idea, cock, cunt, pussy and so on.
Why would they do this? I'm just betting that this idea came from some workshop. Can the health department really call this activity necessary for the children's health?
Unwed pregnancies are soaring as this culture of open sexuality is forced on innocent children- apparently in school! You have to ask why they feel it is necessary to take away all modesty and inhibitions that might protect young children from such encounters.
What really amazes me is that no parents are out there raising holy hell about this! Have they become desensitized to think they just have to put up with this? It's time to get our heads on straight. If you voted for Cherche Prezneau and Aiden Myhre in the last school board election you voted for people who endorse this behavior. They voted for the curriculum and didn't even ask what classes would be shortened or replaced.
Is this what the people of Helena really want? Do they really want their children in High Schools with sex clubs and middle schools where 11 year olds have to yell out cock and cunt in class? Maybe it's time for people to quit listening to propaganda and stereotyping and pay attention to what is really happening to their children in school!
Why would they do this? I'm just betting that this idea came from some workshop. Can the health department really call this activity necessary for the children's health?
Unwed pregnancies are soaring as this culture of open sexuality is forced on innocent children- apparently in school! You have to ask why they feel it is necessary to take away all modesty and inhibitions that might protect young children from such encounters.
What really amazes me is that no parents are out there raising holy hell about this! Have they become desensitized to think they just have to put up with this? It's time to get our heads on straight. If you voted for Cherche Prezneau and Aiden Myhre in the last school board election you voted for people who endorse this behavior. They voted for the curriculum and didn't even ask what classes would be shortened or replaced.
Is this what the people of Helena really want? Do they really want their children in High Schools with sex clubs and middle schools where 11 year olds have to yell out cock and cunt in class? Maybe it's time for people to quit listening to propaganda and stereotyping and pay attention to what is really happening to their children in school!
Sunday, 28 August 2011
PARENTS AND CITIZENS FOR A FREE AMERICA BEWARE
Perhaps you thought, as I once did, that the cold war was over and that Marxism had been sent to the dust bin of history as a totally failed idea. Well, not really. The Marxists are alive and well in America and are working in our schools to undermine our culture and way of life and replace capitalism with Marxism.
Personally I became shockingly aware of this after the Clinton's were elected in the early nineties and Goals 2000 was introduced into our schools by way of the "STRATEGIC PLAN". It's strategic alright. I was teaching at the time and what I saw was very frightening. I read about the gardens and the buddy programs and the community service. I saw how we weren't even allowed to say the word Christmas or sing Christmas carols. How patriotism was considered passe' at best and militaristic at worst. Everything was collectivism and social justice. I realized their goal was one world socialism but I have recently found out that at least some of the players want "International revolutionary COMMUNISM". Is there a difference?
The recent American Spectator magazine, September 2011 issue has an article on the "Ayers Gang". That would be Ayers as in Bill Ayers member of the Students For A Democratic Society(SDS) who bombed and killed people in the 1960's . After he and his wife, also a terrorist SDS member looking for violent over throw of the American Government, came out of hiding, Richard Daley, Cook County state's attorney let Ayers off with a slap on the wrist. The evidence against him was unconstitutional because of illegal wiretaps (boy they sure like that old constitution when they get in a pickle, I can tell you the communist countries I visited in the 70's did not worry about illegal wiretaps!).But Bill still likes communism best, he's an unrepentant communist revolutionary- but he has a new angle.
In 1987 Bill found a job at the University of Illinois at Chicago teaching education. According to a report in the CITY JOURNAL he dreamed of bringing the revolution from the streets to the schools. " HE MADE NO BONES ABOUT THE FACT THAT SCHOOL REFORM WAS JUST A VEHICLE FOR TEACHING THE KIDS REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNISM". Ayers was elected Vice President for Curriculum Studies at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) where he would have considerable say as to what went into teacher-training manuals for colleges and public schools.
Ayers, as you may know, has considerable association with Barack Obama going back to the late 80's when he reappeared in Chicago. In fact, in 1995 Bill Ayers and his wife\accomplice hosted a party for Barrack when he announced his candidacy for the Illinois state senate.
It's always just so much easier to put our heads in the sand and hope things get better. In my view no one who has any sense can put their head in the sand at this point . I saw this happening along time ago and I'm hoping others who do not want Capitalism in America replaced with Marxism will join with me to stop it.
Helena had a chance to replace at least a few school board members in the last election. It's time to get this done while we still have the right to speak and write about it . We still have the vote. We still can stop this train wreck that is propagandizing our children, taking away our freedoms and bankrupting this nation.
Personally I became shockingly aware of this after the Clinton's were elected in the early nineties and Goals 2000 was introduced into our schools by way of the "STRATEGIC PLAN". It's strategic alright. I was teaching at the time and what I saw was very frightening. I read about the gardens and the buddy programs and the community service. I saw how we weren't even allowed to say the word Christmas or sing Christmas carols. How patriotism was considered passe' at best and militaristic at worst. Everything was collectivism and social justice. I realized their goal was one world socialism but I have recently found out that at least some of the players want "International revolutionary COMMUNISM". Is there a difference?
The recent American Spectator magazine, September 2011 issue has an article on the "Ayers Gang". That would be Ayers as in Bill Ayers member of the Students For A Democratic Society(SDS) who bombed and killed people in the 1960's . After he and his wife, also a terrorist SDS member looking for violent over throw of the American Government, came out of hiding, Richard Daley, Cook County state's attorney let Ayers off with a slap on the wrist. The evidence against him was unconstitutional because of illegal wiretaps (boy they sure like that old constitution when they get in a pickle, I can tell you the communist countries I visited in the 70's did not worry about illegal wiretaps!).But Bill still likes communism best, he's an unrepentant communist revolutionary- but he has a new angle.
In 1987 Bill found a job at the University of Illinois at Chicago teaching education. According to a report in the CITY JOURNAL he dreamed of bringing the revolution from the streets to the schools. " HE MADE NO BONES ABOUT THE FACT THAT SCHOOL REFORM WAS JUST A VEHICLE FOR TEACHING THE KIDS REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNISM". Ayers was elected Vice President for Curriculum Studies at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) where he would have considerable say as to what went into teacher-training manuals for colleges and public schools.
Ayers, as you may know, has considerable association with Barack Obama going back to the late 80's when he reappeared in Chicago. In fact, in 1995 Bill Ayers and his wife\accomplice hosted a party for Barrack when he announced his candidacy for the Illinois state senate.
It's always just so much easier to put our heads in the sand and hope things get better. In my view no one who has any sense can put their head in the sand at this point . I saw this happening along time ago and I'm hoping others who do not want Capitalism in America replaced with Marxism will join with me to stop it.
Helena had a chance to replace at least a few school board members in the last election. It's time to get this done while we still have the right to speak and write about it . We still have the vote. We still can stop this train wreck that is propagandizing our children, taking away our freedoms and bankrupting this nation.
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