Wow. The superintendent and treasurer will not be getting raises this year. The board president’s quote on The Falls News Press.com- “Knowing that many in the community are losing jobs or losing hours, taking pay cuts or furloughs...”- is a culmination of what I’ve been saying for the last four years. In fact I’ve never heard anyone on the board speak of furloughs until I mentioned how difficult a week long furlough had been on my family. I’ve been saying these things for four years but funny how an election year will bring people around.
Most regular people have been facing layoffs, mandatory furloughs, losing jobs and hours for the last few years. How politically savvy of the board to notice now. Two years ago, raises were announced shortly after the election. See THIS POST for a walk down memory lane. Last year raises were approved a month before the board suddenly realized drastic cuts needed to be made. Goodbye gifted, goodbye welding, goodbye field trips, goodbye professional development. Timing is everything.
So for once I was in the majority on the issue of raises. I’m still in shock.
The uniform committee had its first meeting last week. It was an interesting couple of hours. We listed some common held beliefs regarding uniforms. For example: Uniforms level the playing field for the economically disadvantaged. This was listed as a fact. But is it? I thought we would take the approach of gathering data and using it to decide if a uniform is advantageous to the district. Kind of a- Do the pros outweigh the cons? kind of thing. I seemed to be the only person questioning whether there was any basis to these types of statements.
Another “fact” that was listed: Less hassle in the morning. I don’t have any hassle now. If a kid is causing clothing hassle in the morning, I feel it’s more of a parenting issue than a uniform one. In fact a uniform policy would actually cause me hassle in the morning. I currently do not have to iron jeans and T-shirts. In fact I am breaking out in a sweat at the thought of daily ironing.
We are getting together again the 23rd of September at 7 PM in the board offices. The public is welcome.
Lastly, there is an article I would like you to check out and give me some feedback on.
Ohio School Sports Costly Even With Student Fees
I have always said when cuts are needed we should sacrifice the athletics first. I am frequently told sports are necessary and cost very little. Hmmmm...
4 comments:
Uniforms do not level the playing field for economically disadvantaged students. They just rearrange the rules.
First off, you can tell the difference in quality between a uniform purchased at Wal-Mart and one purchased at J.C. Penney or Macys. Second, look around the Akron school system and you can easily spot the kids who have the resources to press or iron their uniforms and those who cannot.
More importantly however is that uniforms do not change an individual's acquisition of language skills learned in the home. In short, there are several other cues you can look for in determining one's socioeconomic status if those kind of things are important to you.
More importantly however is that the poor tend to rely on 'hand me downs' from within their family to keep their clothing budgets low. When you force uniforms onto them, their clothing budget almost always goes up significantly and usually beyond their financial means.
Finally, another, more sage opinion emerges from the herd!
While there is a 'used' school uniform shop currently in existence on Portage Trail in the Falls, who's to say the next mandate from the School Board management-weenies wouldn't be that their uniforms must be purchased from a specific enterprise...a-la some area parochial schools?
Um, Barb, babs? Didn't all of Mao's good lil citizens where the exact same clothes???
Kellie, the welding and woods classes at CFHS are still going strong at this time. Next year, who knows. It will be a real disservice to our students if we have to disband these classes. No where else in the school day can students learn how to use both their hands and minds to produce a product. The learning of how to solve a problem on their own is of great value to them as they go forward in their lives. Employers don't worry so much about what you know, they want to see if you can think on your feet, or if you have to ask someone else how to solve a problem that may come up during the workday. We have increased enrollment over 70% from when the two of us started teaching there. We took a program that was nearly dead and brought new life into it. I hope that all of the levies pass so that we can continue these valuable programs for our kids. I have put out this message to the board and the administrators. Lets hope for the best.
Isn't anyone concerned that the school board (and many candidates) seems to think that the gifted program would be a good thing to eliminate? They seem to subscribe to that mistaken belief that "their smart, they will be successful without us doing anything to address their needs".
Don't they realize that studies have consistently shown that if you don't address the needs of the gifted they dropout rates are higher than the general population?
If you really need to eliminate something that will not jeopardize the district's Excellent rating get rid of sports.
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