Comments on: PWC Schools: We Don’t Need No Stinkin Rules!

By: Kipp Hanley

Kipp Hanley — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:40:26 +0000

Sue,

Do you live in Fairfax? I was just curious. I wanted to speak some people on this blog for my story. Please e-mail me at jhanley@insidenova.com if you are interested.

Thanks,
Kipp Hanley
News & Messenger
Reporter

By: Sue Brown

Sue Brown — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 09:14:27 +0000

Let’s break the monopoly and have vouchers for every child to run to any school that they choose. Just like the rich liberals do.

By: Sue Brown

Sue Brown — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 09:12:57 +0000

This is how FCPS got stuck with Everyday Math, a terrible math program. The administration packed the speakers list, at meeting after meeting, with teachers, principals, and administrators, telling the board how much the LOVED this silly math program. Parents who objected, which was all of them who learned of the programs, never stood a chance. Of course the board always supports staff and teachers over parents and students. Staff wants over students needs, every, single, time.

By: KFD

KFD — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 03:14:17 +0000

CONVA, Just a note of clarification for all before I move forward: Charter schools are public schools, run by the counties in which they exist, designed by a concerned person or group and allowed by the state and NCLB. Private schools are independent of public schools and are self supporting (no tax dollars) and home school…ok, I think everyone gets that one. I just wanted to make sure anyone reading this would be clear on those distinctions.
So…I agree that these options provide a jump start for changing the paradigm that exists in many districts across the country, not much different than what we see daily in PWCS. I ask you to consider however that a properly functioning public school can be the best option for most students and families.
Vouchers, which are certificates that allow you to take your approximate 15,000 a year (give or take some by district) that your taxes pay for each of your children who attend public school and apply those funds to the private school of your choice, would make districts have to wake up and participate more ideally in order to stay competitive and keep students.
The argument against vouchers is two fold- 1) many concerned parents who strenghthen and do contribute some level of accountability to the district would pull their students out and public schools, at the very basic school level, would be left with less to use to serve the students whose parents weren’t as aware and progressive:) This makes for a depreciated educational experience for the children “left behind”. 2) Many students already attend private school at their parents’ expense, and although the schools don’t receive money for those students who are not enrolled, the parents are sitll paying the same taxes. This means that not only would the schools lose the money that they were receiving for the students who decide to move schools, the state would lose additional funds in providing vouchers for all of the students who had never had the opportunity to use the educational portion of their taxes previously (because they were attending private schools at their own expense). I don’t know if there is an estimate of how many tax dollars would be spent on this allocation to currently non-public school attending students, but if anyone expresses interest I will do my best to uncover studies that may give us a figure.
Now, if we were to totally abolish public schools I don’t think we would have found the answer, but rather duplicated the problem. I had the unusual and enlightening experience of having both public and private school education during my K-12 yrs. My children have also spent time in both systems and I have taught with teachers in both environments. Although the problems in private school are different than the ones in public school, the lack of control that parents have is similar. With private schools, you have two options in the event of a conflict. You can take your child out and put the child in another private school that you like better, or you can donate enough money to the school to build a new library and gymnasium, in which case they will eagerly listen to your opinions. If you don’t have the money to influence them in this way, you will either have to move your kid to another school or sit frustrated on the sidelines while you watch wealthy parents run the system.
It’s not as contrived as it might sound, but it’s survival of the fittest, and private schools depend on donations, not tuition, to prosper and do well.
So…vouchers are a great way to make public schools stand up and take note, a way to convince them to get off the high horses and cooperate, and a fabulous way to get a child into a more regulated climate. As a long term plan, I see serious effort dedicated to the paradigm shift in public schools as the more rewarding option. We need public schools, and we need them to function well. Running to private schools is not the answer.

By: CONVA

CONVA — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:57:03 +0000

Private schools, Charter schools and Home schooling is the correct answer. Then there would be no need for administrators, and the private/charter schools would hire the qualified teachers, so no need for the “indoctrination centers” commonly called public schools.

By: Anon2009

Anon2009 — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 21:32:46 +0000

The Board hired Dr. Walts and he sets the tone for the schools. Principals want to keep their jobs so they follow the directives from the top. Teachers want to keep their jobs so they follow the directives from their Principals. The losers in this are the kids.

Our school system is not world class and no amount of stating this over and over will make it so!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:24:18 +0000

I guess I’ll be in the minority here and defend the administrator. I’m not sure to whom the email was addressed, but I assume the intended recipients are school employees - perhaps other administrators. While I believe the tone of the letter and finger pointing against the parents is unacceptable and perhaps unethical, I tend to think that her message informing other administrators of the issue and alerting them that it was subject for debate at the next board meeting is probably one of her duties.

Having said that, her letter goes well beyond informing staff of an issue which might affect the instructional programs at their schools. I’m not sure that the finger pointing at the one parent or the entire group was necessary and is certainly inadvisable from a public employee. I can’t help but wonder how much taxpayer funded time she or her staff spent gathering the statistics which were presented in the memo. All of that, from my perspective, was completely unnecessary and is indicative of what has caused this issue to become so horribly heated and personal.

I have to say that the issue has brought to light some rather severe problems facing the school system. The school system has, apparently, a number of teachers who are so fearful of recrimination and retaliation that they don’t dare speak their minds and express their concerns with administration policies. The teachers are, it seems, being treated as little more than tools used to fulfill the administration’s wishes. The school system has relegated parents to spectator status and classified them as little more than fleas annoyingly nipping at their heels. I’m not sure how one goes about fixing that, but those are the sorts of problems that will destroy a school system.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:03:37 +0000

I see your point KFD. Your arguments make sense in a world where compromise is the standard, however, can you really see much compromise going on here or anywhere that’s political for that matter in today’s day and age?

Your comment about attending the next board meeting is real though and I agree with that. We should do so, in large numbers, if possible, for what we perceive to be the right thing.

I don’t like attorneys that much either, and do think we are litigated to death in this country as is, but when something so blatant occurs, it really gets me steamed, especially when that idea of compromise is not so evident on the other side and appears to be a thumbing of the nose at the very people you are supposed to “serve”. I guess that just makes me as guilty as the other person doing the non-compromise thing, eh? Errrr…..

Thanks,

Mark

By: KFD

KFD — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:38:01 +0000

Ok, y’all, give me a minute here and just hear me out…I agree that this administrator should be made aware of her atrocious mistake, and perhaps she has a history of this behavior, which would cause me to think more serious action should be taken. But, I want everyone to recognize the bigger problem. This administrator, and the teachers who came out at her suggestion, are acting in accordance with the climate set by the superintendent and the board. I’m sure those teachers truly believed that they were looking out for the best interests of their kids. For this you can’t fault them, even though they were in the wrong and seriously misguided.
We, as parents, have to recognize that in a school system run as it should be, teaches and parents are the best teammates for a common goal. We want to work to make that a reality and so we have to be careful to put the blame where it belongs.
I, like everyone else, am outraged by these antics, and further disgusted that the board allows these things to happen. BUT…I do believe that by making some real changes at the top, where it matters, and by supporting our teachers in ways that help them to realize that we are there to assist them in serving our children, that we will strengthen the teacher/parent relationship and get it back to what it should be; teachers as instructors for kids and expert advisors to parents who, in turn, make the final decision for their children. We, as parents, need to reach out to our teachers outside of what our hot point issues are and find out ways in which we can be of help to them so that we can begin to rebuild the culture of mutual respect that PWCS has demolished.
Mark, you are not an armchair quarterback! And…it scares me to think that we need attorneys to make a difference. They have their use, but many times make situations a lot worse before they make them better. We, as parents and concerned citizens, need to do what we can to make our own voices more powerful. We need to continue to join together and appear at board meetings to let the members know how we feel, and we need to work to make more parents and voters aware of the situation so that when the time comes to make a real change, we can do it at the polls. YOU are powerful. I hope to see you next week at the board meeting! KFD

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:17:35 +0000

Crooked is as crooked does. That school employee, Linda Zborofsky, should be disciplined. You know, of course, that won’t happen. The school system is a closed universe unto itself. It sounds, though, as if some clever attorney could file a grievance against the school system, if that email is, in fact, true. I mean, if the code says this won’t happen, and then it does, then a lawsuit should be a no-brainer, to prevent further misuses.

Any good attorney’s on this board, or are we all just armchair quarterbacks here, myself included?

By: KFD

KFD — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:03:30 +0000

The board should not allow teachers/administrators/school personnel to make statements at these meetings. Teachers should never be allowed, let alone encouraged, to openly oppose parents in their pursuit of options for their children. The parent-teacher relationship is vital to the successful functioning of the school, and any actions taken to build or support an adversarial relationship between the two units is highly damaging. Teachers are school employees and are there to teacher, regardless of the curriculum, and using the curriculum that the board decides is best, based on feedback from concerned citizens, parents, research on available curricula, etc.
It is, in my view, appropriate for board members to visit schools and teachers and informally ask how the program is working, how comfortable students are, what they are learning, what the feedback from parents has been, etc. in an attempt to gather information to help build a bridge to resolution. That’s as far as it should go. Teachers should never be allowed to address the board in a public meeting like that. Counterproductive and out of place. Typical. There’s another new regulation we need to encourage Mr. Johns to consider-one that prevents teachers and other school personnel from communicating with the board in an open forum as it isn’t appropriate for school personnel, who are paid by citizen tax dollars, to involve themselves that way. I’ve suggested to him that there needs to be a formal policy in the regulations by which parents can petition the board for changes/additions to policy, a way parents can be assured that if they have an issue it will be heard in a timely and fair way.
I think I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that even though I have long avoided the issue of vouchers because I do recognize the problems that could arise from their use, and because I believe in the ideals of public education, it’s time for me to say that the use of vouchers would go along way to fix this problem of unresponsive boards and confused educators. Of course, so would new board elections, so sad that elections are so far off at this point! KFD

By: Old Soldier

Old Soldier — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:29:56 +0000

Today’s WAPO - Well-Connected Parents Take On School Boards

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/29/AR2009012904176.html?nav=rss_email%2Fcomponents

By: AWCheney

AWCheney — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:02:04 +0000

Greg, what makes you think that they weren’t doing their “jobs”…as they were instructed to do them.