1. The Greece school district was rife with financial “waste and abuse” during Walts’s tenure and the school system had to “acquiescence to a powerful superintendent” leading to unauthorized spending on capital improvements.

2. A barrage of parent criticism over a new elementary math program.

This should all sound familiar and was published by WaPo a year ago:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/11/AR2008021103033.html

Here we have built this palace called the Edward Kelly Leadership Center - a palace that Edward Kelly would have been appalled by in its obvious misuse of taxpayer dollars. And who ultimately pays? The little people. And I mean that literally. Our children will be stuffed like sardines in classrooms with all of the budget cuts that resulted in teacher lay-offs. In addition, they will be packed with LD/ED students with no teacher aids. And we call this a world class education? Sounds like a daycare nightmare to me.

The taxpayers fund the NSF which gives money to groups like TERC to develop MI, gives money to groups like DMI and individuals like Dr Parker to develop programs to convince parents and educators of the need for programs like MI, and gives money to groups like the people who developed the SDMT to assess student performance under programs like MI. School Districts then purchase the texts and assessments and the taxpayers, yet again, foot the bill.

So basically the taxpayers are funding the development of these fuzzy math programs, funding the marketing schemes needed to sell the programs, funding the purchase of the materials which deliver the fuzzy programs, and paying for the assessments that show how wonderful all of the fuzzy programs are and all the profits go to a handful of organizations, like Pearson.

If a reporter really wanted to do a huge story of national interest - the funding and fingers of these reform program would be a really entertaining place to start.

The web marketing on youtube for MI is coming from Pearson.

http://www.nychold.com/#who-funds-fed

From the looks of it the next front in fuzzy wars will come on the science arena. TERC has a major science initiative going down. Maybe with California, Utah, and Washington State deeming their math curriculum unacceptable they’ve decided to branch out…..

It’s a program funded through grants to TERC (Technology Education Research Center) from the National Science Foundation (NSF). NSF has yet to produce any “balanced” mathematics program — only fuzzy math programs like MI and “Everyday Math.”

NSF is most recently in the news for it’s $600B budget (+$3B more in the “stimulus package”) being spent on employee internet pornography antics in the work place: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/18070.html

Maybe if they’d focus on math they’d produce a better product? But then again, maybe they just need a little extra “stimulus.”

PWCs SOL results for all of the sub-groups the DOE provides were down except two. Pass Rates were:

2007 2008 change
ED 83 81 -2
LEP 86 83 -3
HISP 87 84 -3
ASIAN 96 95 -1
Amer Ind 94 87 -7

Male 90 89 -1
Female 91 90 -1

Black 82 84 +2
White 95 95 NC

I am embarrassed and ashamed of my colleagues. I have a background outside of education. One that stresses professionalism to a “T”. What the teachers did Wednesday night was embarrassing. If you want to stage a debate, you need to bring factual evidence in support of your position or stance. You do NOT bring posters and signs and parade up and down the aisle pretending to know more than anyone else. You don’t attack parents and their opinions. You do not tell parents to be spectators in the education system. Teachers want parents and the community to treat them like professionals…….you wonder why they don’t get that treatment? After seeing the parade of clowns Wednesday night, I think it answers that question.

As a teacher, I am embarrassed and ashamed:(

When districts are pulling feathers to account for high failure rates of children then it is time to put this issue to bed. Blaming millions of immigrant children for the failings of all children is a myth perpetuated by racists. Lets begin with the fabulous studies done in Houston and Austin using discovery methods with urban children.

Before you open your mouth next time to speak, put on your glasses, and open one of your child’s ‘exemplary’ textbooks. Then tell me what you have learned by reading it. The ‘Moore Method’ is another American racist myth responsible for the undeserving failure of more college students than I can recount, except for the DOE’s list of exemplary and promising curriculum.

The apartheid in our schools would put even Mayor Daley and Chicago to shame. Classroom life is everywhere a state in which much is to be endured, and little enjoyed.

Where do the ESOL student fit in this scenario? We have students who can’t speak English and we are teaching them a math course that is in the least, controversial. Do we dumb down the entire math class to accommodate the slowest in the class?

Part of the problem in the first place is forcing teachers to do what the math department says instead of what their experience tells them is best for the kids.