Do you agree with the following statement submitted by an educator who attended the PD Day at New Bedford High School on Tuesday or is this person overreacting?
"I was insulted by her tone and snotty attitude at the high school on Tuesday. She treats educated people like a bunch of idiots. Insulting!"
17 comments:
You mean when she said "I can't believe people are still talking"...well it was 8:30am when she started the ceremonies. So, you provided over 1,000 teachers a whopping 15 mins to walk down a hall, a ramp, a gym, and wait in line...then turn around and do the same thing...all in 15 mins. I hope the district only has an option and not obligation for her 3rd year...we can trade her for a 5th round draft pick.
Sorry fellow professional but I'm afraid the sword cuts both ways this time. I also was present at the PD at NBHS. While some of the comments made by the Supt. were unnecessary and provocative, the behavior of some of the teachers was absolutely disrespectful and unprofessional. At 8:45 a.m. the Supt. was still trying to start an 8:15 a.m. meeting. Some of the teachers who were supposed to be in an 8:15 a.m. meeting were still having coffee and refreshments outside of the auditorium and talking while the students who donated their time tried to do their thing with the flag and the anthem. You may not have noticed this if you were already inside and seated. The Headmaster of NBHS was upset and he went out and tried to quiet down some of the teachers in the hallway and usher them into the meeting. Some teachers continued to talk even after entering the auditorium and with the Supt. asking for their attention. In my opinion refreshments should have been stopped at least 10 minutes prior to when the meeting was scheduled to begin but I fault the administration for that. The Supt. felt it necessary to make a couple of her wise comments about people coming in late and the noise during the anthem but who can say that in her place they would'nt have been equally as agitated. Let's remember that when the Supt. called a meeting at a time which contradicted the contractual starting time of the school day she saw a grievance which was won by the association and rightfully so. If she does not have the right to do it she should not do it. In this case she did have the contractual right to have professional development and to expect that professional people would be in an 8:15 meeting by 8:15 and not arrive at 8:15 and beyond; not still having coffee, refreshments and conversations a half hour after the scheduled time of the meeting. In summary, if you are not one of the teachers described above you probably should feel insulted at the comments from the Supt. Unfortunately, in my opinion, comments which were deserving of a few were directed at the many. We have never done that as professional people?????
Absolutely! Talk about an ego. Should I "contact my lawyer" and try to sue? This seems to be the superior trend. Thank you everyone for not letting it go without a fight. Also isn't it against the law to lock the doors?
Unfortunatly, something has to give. I have been an educator for 30 years and I have never seen anything like this in my life. She not only disrespects teachers, students, parents, guardians, the Mayor, but the entire school committee. Granted, the school committee, particularly Ms. Pollock, whose agenda is to let students run wild is at fault. Ms. Pollock, regularly, gets involved in issues and discipline that are the Superintendent's responsibility.
One more year of this and the system will be completely destroyed!
I have been in this system and one other and cannot believe what is going on in the NBPS.
"VIVA LAS VEGAS", NO VIVA NEW BEDFORD, YOU GAMBLED AND LOST!
Then stop acting like one.
Does anyone know if we are getting paid next week?
we haven't even started yet and people are worried about getting paid...shameful!
as far as PD day goes, skip the refreshments next time, get some better organization for your sign in proceduree; better yet, save the city some money and skip the PD altogether. What a waste. My morning speaker contridicted my afternoon speaker. I have been listening to the same theories for over 20 years! How about something new?
I agree. Imagen how much the city would save by skipping the contractually negotiated PD and by not paying 1200 teachers for that day. Who wrote the above Dr. B???
I was at the PD day also. It was in my view a misunderstanding. She didn't realize that the noise was coming from the hallway. It seems any chance some people have, they jump on the superintendent. Cut her some slack for gods sake! Teachers can be as noisy as the students that they teach, sometimes even worse.
It seems the Supt. of Schools (SOS) can't violate the contract by starting early even if she offers breakfast, but teachers can be late to and disruptive in a negotiated prof. dev. day because they are still having breakfast and still talking. Then they are offended and disrespected when the SOS calls them on it. It would have been nice if the "professionals" would have monitored and navigated their own behavior and showed some respect for the SOS and the students. I may not agree with everything she says and/or does but as they say in the military you respect the uniform even if you don't respect the person in it. I'm curious. What would have been the position od the NBEA if the SOS had in place provisions to penalize those who were late to the meeting? I observed people still driving into the parking lot at 8:50 a.m. and people still walking towards the auditorium at this same time. How does this work? The SOS is perceived as being disrespectful so the behavior of the teachers is disrespectful in return. "She did it first." Can't make it to class (the meeting)on time, can't be seated and/or quiet so class, excuse me, the meeting can begin. Continue to talk as the teacher (SOS)tries to talk. For some strange reason those sound like the characteristics and behavior of the kids we work with every day.
Big W. you "observed people still driving into the parking lot at 8:50 a.m. and people still walking towards the auditorium at this same time." If what you said is true, why weren't you where you were supposed to be? Shouldn't you have been in auditorium. I don't think you can see people driving from the auditorium.
Did you forget there are no windows there?
As far as disruption, I didn't hear any but I did hear SOS be rude. Keep defending her blindly and maybe she'll give you a reward?
how about negotiating PD out of the picture altogether. Most of us hate it anyway! Its usually repetitive and most certainly a waste! I have heard no new information in years, YEARS!
It is possible that there is another category of dues paying NBEA member other than teacher. It is possible that I was assisting the NBHS Headmaster in trying to get people into the auditorium , thus was able to see people still driving in and people still walking towards the auditorium. It is also possible that I can have an opinion without looking for a reward.
Interesting article about St. John and Bonner.
http://whalingcity.info/Joomla/content/view/1081/1/
St John's letter to the Mayor
http://www.whalingcity.info/Documents/PDF/Letter-NBEA2DrBonnerOct2008.pdf
I attended the PD and was once again dismayed at the poor quality of presentations that the district continues to hire for our "so-called" benefit. The information is redundant, boring, and, at times, outright insulting to us as professionals (when speakers assume that we do not know nor understand the various cultures of the city of New Bedford, even when we have lived and worked in the city for decades). I have attended many other different types of professional development opportunities over the course of my career, but none so inane as the ones presented by NBPS. I mean, really, at the end of the presentation that I attended, the speakers stated that because it was still early they wanted our group to "share" some anecdotes or ideas with the rest of the crowd, and that if we didn't participate, we would need to stay longer. Well, as soon as Dr. Bonneau got up to save us by "sharing", the presenters packed up their belongings and walked out of the auditorium! Talk about being rude!
And as far as Dr. Bonner's comment in the NBHS auditorium...it was aimed at the people already in the auditorium (who were on time), because she believed that we were the ones talking. But even after she found out that it wasn't, she did not apologize to us, in any way, shape or form. I find this to be highly unprofessional at the beginning of a professional day for educators, and the superintendent, being our leader (and I say this loosely), should be the example and not the exception.
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