Letters to the Editor
May 2, 2008
Letter to the Editor: Schedule Change at Greeley
It’s not too late step back and carefully plan the change for the 2009-10 school year
Letter to the Editor: A school system is only as good as its teachers
Letter to the Editor: Schedule Change at Greeley
It’s not too late step back and carefully plan the change for the 2009-10 school year
Dear Editor,
I wrote about the Greeley Schedule change a few months ago from my perspective as both an educator and parent, but I feel it necessary to reiterate certain points. http://www.newcastlenow.org/index.php/article/index/letter_to_the_editor_proposed_greeley_schedule_change/
In my first letter I stated that the philosophical change in thinking about how we teach and prepare our students for their futures is the thinking behind the schedule change at Greeley. In my view, it is the next swing in the pendulum in what will be the aftermath of the No Child Left Behind debacle. It is a shift that needs to happen and I would be proud to say that we were one of first districts to do so. I understand why the powers that be are eager to put this new schedule in place.
What I don’t understand is what the hurry is. In my experience it seems to be the habit of educational systems to get excited about new models, concepts, philosophies, and then rush to implement them. As a professional educator I’ve been part of that excitement of implementing a new program only to see it peter out and even breed resentment because we didn’t do enough ground work.
This change needs extensive preparation
This is a change that needs extensive preparation. More research should be done and smaller scale trials should be implemented. For many teachers at Greeley, this is a philosophical shift in thinking about how they teach. They need time to prepare. More staff development is necessary, lots of it, and time for curriculum development, lots of it.
From what we have been told there have been only two staff development days this whole school year pertaining to extended blocks of time. Although the course choices were exceptional, teachers were asked to choose two workshops from a menu of seven distinct selections when really they need to learn the subject matters of all of the workshops to be properly prepared.
More importantly, the Greeley teachers need time to develop curriculum from what they have learned. Two staff development days with departmental meetings afterwards is inadequate. And in the time that remains, if implementation were to occur next fall, there are only voluntary summer courses available.
When this scheduling is implemented we want our teachers to have a repertoire of strong creative lessons to select from as well as enough of a comfort level with this new approach to create others.
I have learned that when your faculty is forced into a situation they’re not ready for, things don’t run smoothly, if they run at all. Many of our faculty are ready and eager. Many are not. As I have said before, we have a wonderfully professional staff at Horace Greeley and I have faith that they will rise to the occasion when this change takes place. But, is it fair for us to ask it of them? Is it fair to our children to subject them to the short comings that rushing this change will bring?
Change on the cheap
During a recent budget meeting it was stated by Superintendent Fleishman that this scheduling change would not affect the budget. For this scenario to be successful there is, again, in my opinion, a need for additional staff development and support. It was also stated that it wasn’t necessary to allocate extra funds for the abundance of knowledge-based and material resources needed to make this work. Extended class room time means more opportunities for extensive hands-on learning, creating, investigating and producing. The fact that the administration isn’t thinking about what resources will be needed for this type of learning is worrisome. How could there not be an increase of funds needed beyond the addition of some new technology?
The administration had not completed the groundwork needed
From the meetings attended, the conversations had, and the Op Ed articles and Letters to the Editor in this community newspaper, it is clear that the administration has not completed the ground work needed. If they had, they would have been able to answer our questions and also have the support of a large number of teachers behind them. If our teachers are not well supported in this change, how much confidence can we have in it as parents? How much of a chance does it have of succeeding?
This needs to be thought through more carefully. It’s not too late to step back, take a breath, and take smaller steps. It may mean the difference between success and failure.
Mary McInerney
_______________________________________________________________
Letter to the Editor: A school system is only as good as its teachers
Dear Editor,
I read the Board of Education’s response to the critical article published
by this newspaper. While I disagree with the way the schedule change was
handled,—from most people’s perspective it was presented as a fait accompli
and there was no consideration taken regarding the communities objections—I am concerned about another issue: tenure.
The main thrust of the School Board’s response was “how do we make a great school system even better?” What I would like the board to address is this: if that is the
primary question, then why do they grant tenure to teachers who are
obviously below the high standard that the board is trying to make even better?
Why do they continue to support the hiring of teachers with no experience and
then grant tenure three years later? (Two years in the case of teachers who had tenure in their prior district.) How is this making decisions based on our school system’s “strategic direction of teaching and learning?”
It seems to me the school board is giving teachers the opportunity to stay in our school system forever before these teachers have proven that they have the ability to achieve the board’s admirable goals.
A school system is only as good as its teachers. If ours does not place higher standards and greater scrutiny on the hiring and retaining of our teachers, the schedule, no matter what its parameters, is meaningless.
Thank you,
Stephanie Ippolito
Click here for a printable view of this article.
Click here to read more Letters to the Editor articles.Click here to read more Schools articles.
Click here to send a copy of this article via email.
We're interested in your opinion. Click here to submit a comment on this article, or any other.
