The airwaves of WBSM were filled with 3 hours of conversation this afternoon about small autonomous schools.
Dave Alves was substituting for Ken Pittman. Marlene Pollock, his guest, said: "The leadership of the NBEA is opposed to small autonomous schools. Many of the teachers would welcome the opportunity to be part of innovation." Does "Marlene Pollock" speak for you?
Lou St. John called in and spoke about the foolishness of the UIA's proposals. Dave Alves asked him why many teachers have not spoken publicly about their opposition to small autonomous schools in New Bedford.
Mr. Alves is right. We ALL have to get out there and fight this dangerous proposal. The "I'm afraid of retaliation" excuse is unacceptable.
Submitted by the Watchdog
27 comments:
I am a member, and I am against this concept. Let us be clear and LOUD-the NBEA members with the UIA are being duped.
Standard Times, March 21, 2011 – Marlene Pollock: “ In addition, reports of highly qualified teachers being let go after their first year, often for questionable reasons are very troubling. At the same time some teachers that have been given unsatisfactory evaluations are kept on by allowing them to jump from school to school. Hopefully, working with the New Bedford Educators Association during contract negotiations we can change these practices as the crisis urgently calls for these to be corrected.”
Maybe she's looking for a teaching position for her son.
Just wondering, "highly qualified teachers in their first year"? Don't you need a professional license to be highly qualified? I'm just asking.
Has Marlene taken a survey of the teachers to see how many are in favor of the small autonomous schools? Just wondering how many teachers received the survey and answered it.
I'm going to make assumptions since i didn't listen to the radio yesterday.
1. Several teachers were listeniing.
2. Not one teacher called in.
Watch dog, am I right or wrong?
Attention Teachers:
Marlene Pollock and the Uia are taking over the school committee. In the last election they worked to oust Jill Ussach, they succeeded. Jack livermento, president of the Uia, is now a member of the school committee.
Nobrega and fletcher are the targets for the next election.
Since the uia already owns the mayor, if they are successful, we are all doomed.
Besides Lou, I know of only two other teachers that will call WBSM. That needs to change. The day is also coming that New Bedford's educators are going to have to engage in organized protest. Our membership is TOO passive.
I agree with Watchdog; we are too passive. I've attended rallies, during times when our rights were being actively attacked, and only a hand-full of teachers were present. Sadly, when I’ve approached many of my colleagues they always have (reasonable) excuses not to be present. We all have busy lives, but leaving the work that must be done by All in the care of just a few lacks responsibility, does not show care for the consequences of one’s own actions, and honestly, it is plain lazy. Each one of us must be actively engaged in this process, scary as it may be. I, too, am scared of retaliation, but in my view, the cost of doing nothing is riskier. It’s time we organize.
Watchdog is correct. We've allowed a small group of malcontents to drive the education agenda in New Bedford. We need to stand up for ourselves or lose all of our contractual rights.
Most teachers aren't paying attention to what's going on. John Mitchell, Marlene Pollock, Jack Lavimento, the coalition for social justice and stand for children are counting on it.
Some teachers think they can sit on the sidelines and hope for the best. All I can say is that if you keeping waiting for someone else to do what you should be doing it will be to late.
Wisconsin, Illinois, and New York are just some examples.
A union is more then a handful of people.
Marlene Pollock does not speak for me. She speaks on behalf of the Coalition for Social Justice and the UIA.
I actually can't wait for her to knock on my door again and ask me to support her. Unfortunately she has people duped. She knows EVERYTHING about education because she is a professor at BCC.
Marlene and Larry used their political clout to get their kids positions last year in NBPS... nepotism at it's finest
I love that the UIA hides behind kids to spout their cultist agenda... remember what Koresh did to the kids...
Does Marlene even read the contract that she has signed each year? We have an evaluation process and teacher's can't just "jump" from one school to another... and if they do "jump", they are evaluated at the next school automatically. Best to look at who is doing or not doing the evaluation properly. Don't blame the union for defending the contract
I wish teachers at Normandin would speak up about Bonneau. She is presiding over that school's collapse, but the staff is scared that she will target them if they say anything. Meanwhile, the educational environment there becomes more chaotic each day. What will be the tipping point?
Stand up, Normandin! It's time to stop being afraid. We need to hear your voices.
The silence of the teachers at Normandin doesn't tell us that they are weak. It tells us that Bonneau has failed them, the students and the school.
There is so much potential at Normandin! One problem is that great ideas, innovative suggestions, and experienced plans are stifled because of the fear in voicing them. It's easier to be complacent and "stay out of the way". You never know if your going to be targeted for something minor. The work environment is stressful. The problem with the leadership at Normandin is the inconsistency with action and message. The principal preaches love for all the children but struggles to be genuinely caring about faculty. If they focused more on genuine trust with faculty the environment would change completely. The principals "positive" words are deceiving and rarely match her suggested actions. You don't win hearts through words but rather with actions. It's very apparent that when there is pressure on the leadership team the targeting of faculty begins. Nitpicking, the types of situations that make you feel unappreciated. One is constantly walking on eggshells not knowing whether you will be praised or reprimanded for the smallest behaviors. Normandin could really forge ahead if leadership held each other more accountable. Is anyone monitoring their behavior? I hope they figure out that successful schools run from the bottom up and not the other way around.
Mormandin seems like it is being run like another middle school was
when Principal Cimo was in charge. The kids run the school and the teachers get treated terribly.
Normandin seems like it is being run like another middle school was
when Principal Cimo was in charge. The kids ran the school and the teachers were treated terribly.
Normandin is a nightmare which will not end until Bonneau is replaced.
I've been at Normandin a long time and it has never been this bad. Bonneau is a terrible enabler of kids who misbehave. The other kids suffer because the teachers have less time for them. Dr. Francis, talk to some of the kids at Normandin who want to learn. Ask them about discipline. Ask them who really runs the school.
Maybe we can set up an alert system to our membership when these misinformed people are on the radio. Many of our membership cant get WBSM.
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