Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Decisions, Decisions...

Too bad you weren’t at last Thursdays’ meeting. How do I know you weren’t? No one was. The board discussed changing the meeting times, days, location, even the newspaper that the district uses for public business. Yes you heard me right. The Falls News has apparently ticked off a few members. The timing is uncanny. Last month when the Falls News was chastising me, no one breathed a word of change. Now that last weeks paper printed details of my complaint to Marc Danns office, they must suffer. When I questioned our superintendent about this new development I was surprised to hear the following: The board president said he wasn’t pleased with them because he doesn’t have time to check his Email, therefore he cannot make a timely statement and get his side of the story in the paper. Yet last month and last week there were plenty of statements from him. Another member stated she wasn’t happy with some recent editorials…??? I haven’t seen an editorial from the Falls News in years that has moved my emotions in any way shape or form. Maybe it’s a journalist thing. Either way I fail to see how thier editorials affect our districts using them for publishing purposes. From what the board was told they are the cheapest, most reliable, effective way to go. Let’s compare: The Falls News goes to every resident and business in Cuyahoga Falls- for free no less, costs way less to run public notices, solicit bids for contracts, ads, etc. But the best endorsement? The community survey clearly shows that the Falls News is where our residents get their information about our district. This is one of those issues where you just go DUH! Besides the fact that the Akron paper appears to be on its last legs. I buy it more out of pity than for information.

I buy the Cleveland Plain Dealer for news. You can’t beat the PD for in-depth information articles. Some of the statistical comparisons they have done on educational issues are worthy of a local Pulitzer and are a breath of fresh air. The regular series the run on Ohio’s Sunshine Law and public records information is another example of the forward thinking going on in Cleveland. The more you educate and inform the public, the more open your government entities must be.

Which brings us full circle back to which newspaper to use. The article in last weeks Falls News was a surprise to me. I mentioned my complaint and opinion request to the reporter while talking about GPA requirements two weeks before the article was printed. She used a public record request to gather facts and write the article. In fact the board president appears to be the only person that made a statement to her. I guess what he really meant was he doesn’t have time to check his Email, consult with other members and then make a statement to the Falls News.

One of the reasons stated as to why I was censured was because I violated the Ohio School Board Associations code of ethics. Ethics are a touchy subject with this board. I seem to have a different set of ethics than some of the other members. Mine involve keeping the taxpayers informed of how the district is spending their money in the open meeting. And since we’re busy checking ethics violations, maybe we should check and see how ethical it was of our board president to be writing letters of recommendation for his buddy that applied for, and got, a coveted position in the district. I have a feeling that using your position to secure a guy a job that your wife baby sits for isn’t very ethical. Funny how no one felt a censure necessary in that case.

I know nothing will come of my complaint. It would need to be brought to the Court of Common Pleas by any fine citizen of our community and I just don’t have the time or energy for that.

Friday, December 07, 2007

Let Them Eat Cake

I’m so confused. I can’t figure out if this board wants to parent our children or not. I’m told time and time again that it’s not our job to raise other peoples children. Yet we have now made the decision to go above and beyond state GPA standards for participation on extra curricular activities. It didn’t matter that our administrators ALL recommended against it. It didn’t matter that will affect 17 athletes and about 56 kids involved in other extra curriculars.

But let’s get to some facts:

14 of the 17 districts we compete against in the Northeast Ohio Conference have GPA requirements of 1.5 or below.

All studies by major universities, regardless of biases or reasons for the study came to the same conclusion; Participation in any extra curricular activity, regardless of GPA, made for better college students and successful citizens after graduation. And considering only about 35% of our students as well as students nationwide actually graduate from college, it’s something we really need to think about. Is it really worth alienating 73 students from activities that lead to better people in the long run?

Children involved in extra curricular activities have lower instances of teen pregnancy, drug use, criminal behaviors and is directly correlated with lower drop out rates.

My favorite fact is this: 95% of Fortune 500 company executives participated in extra curricular activities yet only 47% of the same group were National Honor Society members.

I guess I have to be the realist in this situation. I have never been one to mince words. I was questioned whether or not I believed that all children should be capable of maintaining a C average. No I don’t. I can be selfish and say to myself, yes my children are capable of maintaining a C average therefore everyones child should be! But I know that the 4 kids that lived in the meth house over on 14th street probably had difficulties maintaining a C average. I saw on a list with my own eyes a girl that I know is a vibrant productive member of society, that lost her mom a few years ago and having a hard time maintaining a D average. I also know that there are kids that will excel in areas that do not involve academics, yet still become successful, productive members of society. This policy doesn’t appear to help anyone and it seems to hinder those who might need after school activities the most. I guess since life is so good in the village they must need a reminder of what life is like for many kids over here.

Speaking of the list, I was given the list of affected students at the start of the meeting I was expected to vote on it. Once again a board majority with an agenda railroaded an idea in, despite recommendations against it from district administrators, parents, and every national statistician I could find. I also heard some complaints from teachers that were miffed that a union leader read letters in support of this issue at the meeting but other members opposing views weren’t heard. But the worst part of the meeting was at the moment I offered a counter proposal. It was so outrageous I received four phone calls about it today. I offered a counter proposal of leaving the GPA requirement at 1.5 but requiring two consecutive semesters rather than the only the prior one, and a no F’s requirement. While I was trying to state the proposal, another member giggled, laughed and pointed. I found her conduct to be rude, childish and unprofessional. I put a lot of time and research into this issue and did not appreciate the disrespectful display. I am truly perplexed by these odd behaviors lately.

In closing I just want to say that three weeks ago I was all for raising the GPA requirement. After much research I have come to the conclusion that we need to focus on the children that aren’t participating at all. These are the kids that end up being the statistics we hate to read about.