Wednesday, September 18, 2013
The S-T is calling on teachers that support Durkin and the School Committee to speak-up.
"We urge those teachers who support Durkin's and the School Committee's improvement plans to speak up at this critical time. Let the community will know that teachers share the commitment to do whatever it will take to help children succeed." - Standard Times
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"St. John didn't explain how widespread the criticism and complaints are, but the president of the New Bedford Educators Association did his membership no favors by suggesting the ranks are full of malcontents opposed to higher, tougher performance standards that both the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and common sense insist are necessary." - Standard Times
Lou was on 1420 WBSM from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon. He was interviewed by Taylor Cormier for the first half hour and took calls from the public during the second half.
Bob Unger should have turned on the radio if he wanted a full explanation.
Welcome to Pia's Russia!
Back in the USSR, leave it to the rag to tell you how lucky you are.
"If you create fearful browbeaten teachers, you are going to have fearful browbeaten students. Teacher abuse is the intentional or unintended result of almost every Education Reform initiative in the last 12 years. If you think it stops with teachers, you are sorely mistaken. We are testing the life out of a generation of public school students." Mark Naison
Yes, that's right...we are afraid of tough, new standards. It's the standards we are afraid of, not the bully? Are the kids scared to walk to school afraid of the work ahead or the potential beating as they attempt to get there?
This goes beyond supporting Durkin and SC. This is about preserving the integrity of NB educators and the educational system as a whole. Your actions, not Lou St. John's, are appallingly!
We will not support a decietful dictator who destroys districts and degrades teachers. Keep dreaming!
We've seen this movie before:
First,
"Give Bonner support she needs"
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091213/OPINION/912130349&cid=sitesearch
"School improvements need staff support"
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080820/OPINION/808200309&cid=sitesearch
"Let the new era begin"
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/OPINION/802280313&cid=sitesearch
And THEN,
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100409/OPINION/4090326&cid=sitesearch
Excuse me, Standard Times, but do you really believe we, as competent educators, are afraid of hard work, setting high standards for all learners, and working our tails off to improve our system? You obviously have no clue, only hear what you want to hear, and publish from a bias and distorted perspective. Subscriptions to the ST will decline significantly as we are all disgusted! Bring that back to your "Good Ole' Boyz".
It really is ironic. We have Servicemen and women risk life and limb for this country. They fight for freedom, justice, and preservation of our most basic rights. Are you telling us we should be doormats? This is our American education system, and it is failing everyone!
To Accomplish Great Things We Must Not Only Act but also Believe!
We believe our union president will not give up in his pursuit to create a fair and balanced teaching environment for his teachers and the students! This is a cause that must be taken seriously, and we are! We all are!
The educational path carved out by the city of New Bedford for decades has me baffled. You build schools on contaminated land, you come up with outrageous and unattainable demands, continually hurt the students with cutbacks and loss of necessary staff, you hire not based on the true needs of the district, but allow transients with horrible track records to lead. You offer them buy-outs, provide us with little or no resources, and continually blame us. Something is wrong with this picture. My hope is waning.
Apparently the days of non-biased journalism are dead, even at the local level. We will never receive a fair and unbiased story to be printed in the litter box liner called the Standard-Times. I believe that a good number of us were ready to work with Dr. Durkin, albeit with a good dose of cautious optimism. She, unfortunately, came with a definite agenda that did not include working with the faculty.
If you are a member of the NBHS faculty, you'll be treated tomorrow morning to a memo that states that "Out of the fifteen rooms visited [on Monday's "learning walks"], 93% were rated either Needs Improvement or Unsatisfactory according to the NBPS Rigor Rubric. This is data not representative of high quality teaching and learning." Any fool knows that you need the proper tools and resources to create a quality product. Until the city opens up its wallet and invests the capital required to build a better educational system and shows the leadership it needs to move it forward, then we will continue to languish. Yes, there are some of us who are not up to the quality required to move this district in the direction we want to go; but most of us are. We want to succeed and just need the administration to have a little more faith in us than they seem to.
New Bedford has always been a district that places "leaders" in positions because of who they know and not what they know! Everyone knows that but are too afraid to speak up. The problems begin there without a shadow of a doubt!!! We have many at PRAB setting procedures and making directives that are NOT based on in class experience!!! PRAB is a joke!!! You have to be IN a classroom teaching in my opinion for at least 10 years before you can really have a handle on what it takes to do the job right. Those that support Durkin and the school committee will be people that are looking to move up or those that just don't have a clue and see things out of rose colored glasses. This won't get better people that's for sure!!!!
This "Needs Improvement" and Unsatisfactory" data does not provide an accurate reflection as it was gleaned from just snippet or snapshot. The more fault Durkin finds within the district, the more she can use it to aide her own cause. "Look what I discovered" or "What horrible teachers". She should be focusing on the strengths and building off of them. Instead, she plans to use such allegations of weakness to support the underpinnings of her own personal visions: to shake our foundation, deconstruct, and reconstruct. In the process, she is creating enemies, not allies. Her approach is frightening. This is not how professional or administrative staff are supposed to behave. She has caused her own "Great Divide". She is looking out for her personal gain, not ours. She wants to emerge as the heroine who saves the district, and three years later, ride out in a "blaze of glory". Remember, Attleboro got rid of her for the same reasons. Dictators like Pia are too big for their own britches. Why do we continually attract this type of person? Please ask the Mayor and SC!
It might be just me but either everyone can follow the superintendents lead wether you agree or not or you might be a employee at will of the state soon because if she fails there will be no search committee for her replacement just a takeover that no one can stop.
So, we should just stop speaking up for ourselves and the children of New Bedford? This is better than that--so we should just button up and deal? Let's continue exposing the flaws in every single destructive decision that is being forced upon ALL of us. If the state comes---we should continue to expose whatever may be unjust or fruitless....and the community needs to do the same. You can't take over a strong community with people that know what is being done to them. NO SECRETS IN NEW BEDFORD!
Not only is PRAB a joke, but so are the district walk-throughs and the people conducting them. Are they proficient in all content areas including SPED and ESL? Absolutely not! So, how can they properly assess? They rarely ask questions and certainly did not provide feedback. Until now and all negative. Yet, they hold all the solutions. They won't tell you this, but they are sinking fast!
Why isn't the S-T outraged that Durkin has hired a School Improvement manger and is and has created two more new administrative position instead of hiring more teachers to lower the class sizes to improve learning for students? Guess top positions with high salaries are far more important to her.
Transparency? Where was that when Durkin created and hired a School Improvement manager for the high school as the position was NEVER POSTED and the Mayor and members of the School Committee approved it. They, S/C, did not do their homework and failed.
They bring in their own people with implanted microchips. "You will do as I say and support me, right or wrong, because I gave you this job". Perpetual imbalance of power.
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