"We have lost our ambition, our imagination, and our willingness to do the things that built the Golden Gate Bridge" - Barack Obama (aka President Malaise)
Pitch in with the Prince William Young Republicans and help defeat Obama in 2012!
Do We Cut Teachers, Or Radical Educrats?
By Greg L | 6 February 2009 | Prince William County | 38 Comments
The Superintendent’s Budget for the Prince William County Schools includes, as expected, a number of difficult budget cuts. Since the majority of the spending for the school is on salaries, it’s not a surprise that staffing cuts comprise a significant proportion of the economies the Superintendent is trying to achieve, even though enrollment is projected to increase. It’s not clear how many of those staffing cuts will be made in the classroom, versus the bureaucracy, but with cuts this large it’s certain that classroom teachers are going to get cut. Before we do, we might want to see if there are other staff who don’t provide quite as much value who we might cut first.
I hope that as many of these staffing cuts as possible are made among those who don’t have instructional responsibilities, and the first place the school should look for cuts is in the Multi-cultural Department. These employees provide school staff with training and resources to ostensibly support initiatives to increase diversity in classroom instruction. We parents don’t get to see much of what this department does, but the department’s web page has for some time given us some idea of what they’re up to, and the “value” they supposedly provide. I shared my findings with the school board at their last meeting, and to their great credit their website has undergone an immediate and dramatic overhaul. That some rather offensive material that violated county policies has been quickly removed well answers the question of whether the school board intends to exercise oversight of the school system (it does), but it doesn’t at all mean that the Multi-cultural Department has suddenly become an asset to the taxpayers.
The now-removed “resources” section of that website promoted some things that were rather questionable, at best. There was the link promoting the personal website of education consultant Eileen Kugler of Fairfax County, a private consultant who provides diversity training. I’m sure she appreciated the free advertising, but it’s absolutely not the role of our local government to do things like this.
Then there was the link to “Rethinking Schools”, a website that smears abstinence programs as “religious fundamentalism” and features interviews with former Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders who resigned following a controversy she ignited by suggesting inappropriate content in sex education classes. This site also promotes the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in southern Mexico, an armed revolutionary movement with communist and anarchist philosophies.
Another link to “Teachers Against Prejudice”, recommends such books as “Heather has two Mommies”, and “I hate English” which they recommend as instructional material in Elementary School classrooms. While the lobby of limited English proficiency lesbians might be pleased by this promotion, it’s unlikely that Prince William County parents will share their joy.
My favorite was a link to a website that ostensibly listed various multicultural websites, but did so as a means of hawking internet pharmacies that sell the weight loss medications Phentermine and Phendimetrazine (Fen-phen) , class 3 and 4 controlled substances available only by prescription which have been determined by the Food and Drug Administration to have dangerous and potentially fatal side effects. The advertisements aren’t banner ads, they’re “hard links” within the text of the webpage, so this isn’t a case of an advertising service putting up inappropriate ads — it’s absolutely deliberate. What in the hell were these folks thinking when they had the school system website link to, and effectively endorse this site?
Finally, there was a link to the website EdChange.org, which offers diversity consulting and workshops “for Social Justice”. This “Amerikkka is evil” style cesspool of radical political philosophies is utterly outrageous, and includes:
- A lesson plan which instructs teachers to ask their students whether they have “systematically considered how they developed their gender identity”.
- A lesson plan which encourages students to believe that achieving wealth and success in life invariably deprives people in the third-world of food and shelter.
- A handout decrying charity as something that “reaffirms the power hierarchy”
- A handout that says we wrongly “demonize” socialism and fail to recognize that public education is inherently a “socialist education system.”
- A handout which claims that illegal immigration is the result of colonialism, imperialism and economic exploitation by the United States.
- A paper entitled “So You Think You’re an Anti-Racist? Shifts of Consciousness for Well-Intentioned White Folks” that claims that all persons not “of color” are inherently racist.
- Quotes from education luminaries as Gloria Steinam, Malcolm X and this from Gilbert Chesterton : “The chief object of education is not to learn things but to unlearn things.”
If only I could “unlearn” that I ever saw what some radicals within the school system were promoting with my taxpayer dollars.
I’m very pleased that the school board responded so quickly when they were alerted to what was happening on the website of the Multi-cultural Department and had the resources page taken down. Hopefully they’ll go the next step and when considering where staff cuts will be made in the next school year will eliminate this department in favor of retaining a few more instructional teachers. There’s no question teachers would provide more value to the taxpayers and the school system than “social justice” warriors that were responsible for this outrage.
Especially when those “social justice” advocates are so willing to break the rules in their effort to fill the minds of our children with radical mush like this.
PWCPS Regulation 295-2
H. Prohibited Links. Links to external Web sites are limited to those Web sites maintained by local, state, or federal government, and other Web sites whose content is directly related to the education, mission, or administrative operations of PWCS. Links are only allowed to commercial Web sites (Web sites promoting or selling goods or services) under the requirements set forth in Regulations 923-1, Commercial Advertising, and 951-2, Booster Clubs and Other Approved Parent Organizations, and for partnerships, sponsors and donors approved by the Office of Business and Community Engagement and approved initiatives of the Prince William County Public Schools Education Foundation.
I. Links to personal Web sites are prohibited. Other prohibited Web sites include but are not limited to:
- Personal Web pages and lists of personal Web pages;
- Social Web sites (such as Facebook, MySpace, blogs or chat rooms);
- Web sites that sell term papers, book reports, and the like;
- Web sites which contain material which is plainly offensive, lewd, vulgar, sexually explicit, obscene, or otherwise unsuitable for viewing by minors;
- Web sites which contain information or material which is inconsistent with the curricula or educational mission of PWCS;
- Web sites which threaten any person or class of persons, or which defame or attack the reputation of any person;
- Web sites which encourage or assist in violations of the law or of the PWCS “Code of Behavior” (such as selling term papers); or
- Web sites which contain or enable users to violate copyright or trademark laws.
We have a choice: do we retain teachers in the classroom or bureaucrats that promote their radical “social justice” ideologies within the school system on our dime? I think the teachers win, and always should.
The opinions expressed here are solely the views of the author, and not representative of the position of any organization, political party, doughnut shop, knitting guild, or waste recycling facility, but may be correctly attributed to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. If anything in the above article has offended you, please click here to receive an immediate apology.
You can follow the discussion through the Comments feed. You can also pingback or trackback from your own site.
38 Comments
Views: 1539
Loading ...
Choosing between indoctrinaires and ideologues is like choosing between community organizers and Saul Alinzky. The latter inspires the former, but is a step removed from actually warping young minds with non-scholarship programming. Two teachers for one educrat should be defensible.
One could only hope the board wakes up and cuts the entire multicultural department.
Multiculturalism- steppingstone to the take over
Mark Steyn on Multiculturalism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdEGJb5W5ks&feature=related
Multiculturalism and Islamification in Britain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnJcsQYZEGU&feature=related
Not so different from what we are starting to see here
Wow Greg….what in the world is going on in our schools?? I’m sure that very soon, all representatives of the school board will come on-line and absolutely ensure us all that the Multicultural Education department never EVER allowed such materials to be available on their website.
We have school administrators…fairly well-paid administrators at that… whose job it is to ensure not only that we have “qualified” teachers, but also that those qualified teachers “teach the right things.” …or is that the job of the teacher’s union?
it will curious to see if esol class sizes increase, since they only have 8-12 kids in each class now. but it doesn’t matter, our kids should be made to suffer for those who are here illegally.
Re: “Wow Greg….what in the world is going on in our schools?”
Our children are being taught to become good little liberals so that when they grow up they’ll be able to vote for another useless Democrat clown for President.
wake up you masses and stop voting for people who will only ruin this country . . . reminds me of the quote: the clergy of the church of liberalism is the public school system.
You can bet with the Super in there now and our ineffective school board,the correct cuts will not be made where it should be.
I agree we don’t need this Multi Culture. We are beyond needing this. All we get are the Lyals, Stoneburner? [Ed note: perhaps the writer meant Steinbach?] (not sure of his name, the Bell,Smith and many others that we don’t need. Our kids are being brain washed right before our eyes.
We need to demand an over all Audit on the Schools budget now.
We have some very good teachers and they deserve at least a small increase. If we got rid of the nonsense we could give them a large increase. At least the cost of living here.
Lets start to get this all corrected.
A few years ago I went to Garfield High School to pick up my grandson that had a fight and the “Staff” wanted someone to come in and sign for him. I was the emergency contact because both of his parents worked. When I was in school back when America was real, we had fights and then made up and went about our business, but I digress. When I went into the office, there were three relatively dietary challenged “staff” folks grazing out of their candy and chip bags with mega-cokes handy for washing it all down. None of them would indicate that I was there so I asked, (in a very loud voice), if anyone worked there. Another huge person waddled out of the back room and asked what I wanted. I informed her I didn’t want anything but I was beckoned to came and sign for my grandson. She reluctantly put down her gunny sack of chips and fetched him from some rendition cell in the basement and we left. Now there is a perfect place to cut some “beef” out of the system.
CONVA,
Maybe if your grandson was not such a bully and a hooligan we could cut down on the number of SRO’s and school security positions. I think we should just lock the little creep up so he won’t hurt any other students.
“A handout that says we wrongly “demonize” socialism and fail to recognize that public education is inherently a “socialist education system.””
Well, that’s half right. We RIGHTLY demonize socialism, and government education IS inherently a “socialist education system.”
Those who believe otherwise were probably stupid enough to vote for Barry.
Conva,
I guess with your attitude, that the only thing your grandson learned is to be more disobedient next time
Ben,
Would LOVE to know which schools have only 8-12 kids per classroom….
I haven’t seen it in PWC … more like 25+
Steve S. & Jerry Rose.
If you think the socialistic public school system hasn’t any unneccessary positions maybe you ought to visit one of the institutions. My grandson in fact cleaned two guys clocks that thought they could intimidate him. The karate school I payed for him was a wise move. At 5″2″ and 145 lbs he would be at a disadvantage without it. By the way, a teacher testified in his behalf and the two freaks were suspended for a week.
Right on with the Multicultural Department cuts. Diversity means an equal representation. Those people and their seminars promote every culture except the white one. They make us out to be the bad guys and suggest “we” need the sensitivity trainings.
…problem is, “WE” can’t do it; only those that we elect can eliminate the Multicultural thing while supporting assimilation/tolerance, and at the same time recognize that parents aren’t stupid in accepting responsibility for the education of their children.
Unbelievable! I’m glad you’re focusing some sunlight on the PWC school system. I’m doing some of the same in Loudoun. Of course we’re being told by the Superintendent that if any budget cuts are proposed that we’ll be “butchering” the school system as we know it. Well, I see plenty of fat and I like my meat lean - get to cutting!
CONVA,
Your grandson sounds like a punk because his grandfather made him that way. And I am willing to bet he got his ass beat and grandpa is just making up stories about how much of a bad ass karate kid he is. Expel the trouble maker. Two fights? Sounds like a pattern.
I gather that you are either a teacher or, more likely, an “educrat” SteveS. It doesn’t sound to me like it was two “fights”…it sounds like CONVA’s grandson was fighting two bullies, and had two teachers as witnesses to the event. You are the perfect example of what is wrong with our school system…and probably a big reason why recent generations seem to have so much trouble with reading comprehension.
AWC,
You can gather whatever you want. I gather that you would believe CONVA no matter what he says. I guess you don’t find it strange that his punk grandson was in two fights. It’s a pattern. And I am what is right with the school system. My last kid is almost out of high school and has never been in a fight and I have never been called to the school to get any of my kids out of trouble. I am involved in my kid’s lives and their schooling, that is a major part of the reason they are all successful and are or will be attending some of the best universities in the state. Trouble makers like CONVA and his family as well as negative people like you are what is wrong with the school system. I bet the only time CONVA darkens the school door is to retrieve his troubled offspring.
Oh Steve, how ridiculous…I can’t even imagine a kid who has never been in a fight…maybe Dad just doesn’t know.
I still have no idea why schools suspend/expel people for defending themselves. If nothing else, students should be encouraged to defend themselves as it’ll make them beter citizens later in life.
Agreed that schools have too much fat built into them. And, the patern of marbilization of that fat is focused too much on the top.
You assume much about both me and CONVA, SteveS. Your lack of reading comprehension aside, dealing in sweeping generalizations as you do, you obviously know nothing of me nor, I would imagine, CONVA. Although to quote the most telling passage of one of CONVA’s comments:
“By the way, a teacher testified in his behalf and the two freaks were suspended for a week.”
Obviously, his grandson was not the troublemaker, yet your lack of comprehension led you to automatically assume that. Your immediate attack on CONVA based on that misapprehension led me to challenge you, which you immediately use to make assumptions about me, of whom you obviously know nothing. I based what I said on what was written…I’ve never had a problem with reading comprehension. Those few occasions when I misread something, or went over it too quickly, I apologized. I do not apologize on this occasion.
By the way, I did make an assumption about you SteveS…that you are a cog in the wheel which everyone is complaining about right now. You never denied that so, presumably, I was correct.
AWC,
Ok so you believe CONVA without question. Fine. I don’t. And if you want me to tell you that your assumption about me was wrong I will. You are wrong, my profession is not education. My passion is my non-fighting kids so my energy goes into making my kids schools they best they can be by being a positive influence on them.
Freedom,
You can’t imagine a kid has never been in a fight? I want my kids to stay away from yours.
Given your immediately adversarial nature, and the way you so cavalierly insist that a young boy is a “bully and a hooligan” who should be locked up when it appears that HE was the one attacked by a couple of bullies, I’m very much surprised that YOU haven’t raised bullies who pick on smaller and/or younger children who can’t defend themselves as, apparently, those two who were found in the wrong. Those boys just made the mistake of going after a boy who had been trained in self-defense…and was fortunate enough to have two teachers witness the altercation. You’re really a piece of work.
Nope, I can’t imagine a kid that has never been in a fight, Steve…and yours have been in fights too. If you honestly think they haven’t been, you’ve just been oblivious to reality. Oh, and there are STILL things worth fighting for, even for us, as adults…but this issue isn’t one of ‘em.
Actually freedom, what really pissed me off out of the gate is the way Stevie here insisted upon vilifying (bully, hooligan, should be locked up, punk, trouble-maker, etc.) a boy for defending himself on a blog like this where he can remain safely anonymous. You don’t think for one minute that, if he spouted off something like this to someone’s face, that HE wouldn’t be the one picking himself up off the floor…and rightly so!
And, yeah…something like this IS worth fighting for.
Well folks I don’t get in physical fights so sorry you can’t put me on the floor. Maybe you should go see CONVA’s kid if you want to fight, he seems ready to go and he has two under his belt already.
Actually I think you’d be safe SS…I don’t think you’d have the guts to say something like that about someone’s child to their face.
Let’s revert back to adulthood, ok?
:)
No need to do that freedom, we are on BVBL.
chill pill, anyone?
But SteveS, with the exception of what you’ve said here, we’re all trying to be adults and have an adult conversation about inappropriate content linked to the PWCS web site.
Please remember that we are talking about children here, and calling a child names is never acceptable.
Back to the original topic at hand . . .
Greg, thanks for the informative post. What is most tragic is that we get the biggest turnout for the Presidential election, but relatively few people care about whom they vote for school board. School board members have a huge direct effect on your budget as well as the education (or lack othereof) that your child receives.
Where my kid goes (in Fairfax County) his teacher has not given back any tests since the beginning of the school year. We have no basis to determine whether or not the grades he is given are accurate.
By the way, if you want to read a great website about the shenanigans of the teachers unions, check out Intercepts at http://www.eiaonline.com/intercepts.
I like this multi cultural crap being taught. The astute student will quickly surmise that if the cultures being taught about and elevated to such a status as to be designated a “month” had any worth, there would not be the need to teach about them and designate a month in their honor. Only degenerate cesspool-like cultures need subsidized public relations.
Well, Ash, you must not be familiar with disinformation and brainwashing techniques…and the “astute student” nowadays is the one who toes the politically correct party line under zero tolerance regs.
I know all of these comments are a few days old, I didn’t get to read them earlier, but I have to say something (that has nothing to do with the Multicultural Department): I worked at Gar-Field HS and have known all the ladies in the front office, Guidance Department, etc. over the past few years. All of them are very friendly, professional, and helpful. They all love what they are doing and are good at it! Conva, your experience there was an exception. Please don’t think bad about my school because of this! (The new principal… that’s a whole different story.) As for the fights: Bad things happen to good kids sometimes - we weren’t there, so we don’t know and shouldn’t judge!