Wednesday, November 13, 2013

STAND STRONG NBEA MEMBERS

To all members, stand strong by attending this all important meeting on December 13 at New Bedford High School. Don't be intimidated by Durkin, administrators, Mayor, or the School Committee. They all point the finger at us and NEVER address the real problems, the students' lack of interest, attendance, attitude, seeking help, etc. Not one of the elected officials, Supt., or administrators has the answers to these issues so, in my opinion, are a major part of the problem.


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

How does one change "the students' lack of interest, attendance, attitude, seeking help, etc?"

Anonymous said...

Rigor, rigor, and more rigor! They'll be utterly enthralled and begging you for more! You'll never have to worry about their lack of interest, attendance, attitude, or coming back for more after school! We now have the answer to all our concerns; I feel so much better. . . . .don't you?

Anonymous said...

How did you like the statement that Mitchell made on the radio last night that "Dr. Durkin is the best superintendent in the country"?

My questions are:

Why didn't Attleboro renew her contract?
Why would a city let an top quality superintendent go?
Why wasn't her pay in Attleboro increased to the salary that New Bedford awarded her?


Anonymous said...

Durkin was very smart in Attleboro.
- First she had a school board that were nothing more than a bunch of puppets. She even ran the school board meeting for 4 years before a new board, who ran on the fact that most were Pia Puppets, was elected.
- In Narrangansett she did what she's doing to us, but there the teachers gave the school board a public ultimatum, "Either her or us". Durkin's contract was bought out.
- Prior to that she had a situation where the principals took a vote of no confidence and she was let go.
- She learned from all of this. First thing she does is gets rid of the good principals. She replaces them with young, inexperienced, female principals who owe her their >$100K salary. She then trains them to do whatever she wants, including writing teachers up and speaking out against the school board if they try to hold her accountable.
- She then goes after the teachers using evaluation tools and the principals. She will put many of us on remedial action plans.
- In Attleboro she did all of this and had complete control for 4 years until a new school board was elected. The new board was led by a parent who ran because the middle school principals took away her child's snack and the principal did nothing about it. The new board stopped her automatic contract extension from happening, and then got rid of her. It took them 3 years to do it because she had a bunch of puppets on the school board (like our mayor) who fought every battle for her.

We can not allow ourselves to be stuck with her for the next seven years. Most of us will leave and those who stay will be in a living He!!.

We need to look at all of her past situations and do what worked. That means we all need to ban together now, take a vote of NO CONFIDENCE in her, with a statement of having no confidence in any school board member who doesn't support our stance. Then publicly tell them that the union took a vote of no confidence and that it's either her or us!

If we don't act now we will have lost before we even start!

Anonymous said...

"Stretch"...

"Rigor"...

"Collaborative"...

"High Expectations"...

"Teamwork"...

"Innovation"...

"Best Paractices"...

And worse:

"Journey to Excellence"...

These are all words Durkin used in Attleboro to make it seem like she was doing a good job. But it was all a veil pulled over their eyes.

She presented only the good things, manipulated what she could, and hid what she couldn't.

She played with numbers and gave goals to herself that were vague and easily met.

And she controlled the newspaper and did anything that the Mayor demanded.

She was a bad choice for New Bedford and if we don't act now we will all be stuck.

Anonymous said...

What kind of a mayor says shut up or leave? That's sick. We are speaking up for the STUDENTS just as much as ourselves. He disgusts me.

Anonymous said...

Another question: Did you know Durkin was in Narragansett, RI, for only 11 months?!? What is that telling you? She clashed with members of the school committee. They couldn't wait to get rid of her and had the $$$ to do so.

Anonymous said...

It is painful to listen to Mayor Mitchell on the radio with all his ahs and ums. Try counting them and you will find yourself finally giving up. He needs to take a course in Public Speaking.

How about him interrogating the person during his radio program of the teacher? He is the Mayor and no longer a ffp

Anonymous said...

to all new Bedford teachers: go to the meeting regardless of where you stand on issues...go to support your profession....gather information.

Anonymous said...

Stand strong everyone. UNITE, UNITE, UNITE!!!

Anonymous said...

I heard the mayor tell a caller on WBSM that he fully supports the superintendent if she wants to fire 50% of the teachers at NBHS. Really? He's willing to put that many taxpayers out of a job with no regard for their families? What a disgrace this gut is. Heard he's in Ireland; wonder if Durkin gave him back his $$$$$ for the trip? We all know she carries them around in her pocketbook.