Dr. Durkin thinks the biggest reason morale is low because the state has designated New Bedford a "non-performing" district.
"The best indicator of morale is for teachers and staff to feel successful." "It takes its toll over several years of being a 'Level Four' district and being touted as one of the least performing districts in the state of Massachusetts."
"The best kind of morale is people feeling at the end of the day, 'I made a difference with that child. That child is reading, that child is doing more math, that student came back to school, that student is now in my classroom being engaged.'"
21 comments:
Is today's interview with Durkin an example of the Delphi Technique? Spillane insults the intelligence with this piece in my opinion. Are we to feel we are in good hands because Durkin can calculate 40% of 20? Especially impressive is the multiplication of 2 and 4 in her head. This woman has no idea of the state of the morale at NBHS, or the reason for this state of morale. I hope there is significant attendance at the school committee meeting tomorrow by our members but I am not sure that anything we do will get through to this woman. Don't get me wrong, I'll be there and stand for what is right but this woman is not firing on all cylinders. In that regard, she is in good company in this interview.
First of all, with the one year anniversary of the tragedy in Newtown occurring today, I thought the timing and subject matter of the superintendent's article in the ST was in real poor taste. Did anyone else feel the same way?
Give it a break, if only for one day.
Secondly, the article was embarrassing and void of any information that is either credible or interesting. Spillane needs to be relegated to covering the impact of the sale of Butler's Flat to the economy of the city. Maybe the money raised could be used to purchase some "common core" textbooks. Now that information would be more relevant than what was written.
Another puff piece on Dr. Durkin in the ST. She takes no responsibility for the low morale. Instead, she blames our poor designation by the state. She could talk a dog of a meat wagon. She seems to be a frustrated mathematician. The justification of her 40% mantra is getting tiresome.
As we all know 40% 40% 40% is unattainable except Durkin. As for morale, she has no clue what is bothering the teachers in New Bedford. Then again she is too busy playing semantics games with S-T reporters...Give it a break Durkin!!!! Get a clue
She plays semantics with the SC too. 40% of one class of 20 may be 8 students...but that is only one class. Some one needs to ask what is 40% of the district. She needs to be realistic!!! Each student has their own unique problems not something to be solved with rigorous robotics.
I am a parent in NBPS- not a teacher. I'm a little confused after this piece. My understanding was that, of the underperforming students, 40% are expected to be brought up to proficient or advanced (a tall order with all the cuts we've seen since last year). If 8 students in a class of 20 are underperforming (in warning or needs improvement category), then, yes 40% of the class is underperforming. However, if the teacher is expected to bring all 8 of the students into proficient or advanced, then wouldn't that constitute an expectation of 100% of our students being proficient or advanced? While it would be a beautiful thing, it seems to me that is unprecedented, and unrealistic in even the most privileged of districts- never mind an inner city district, such as ours.
A snake oil salesman. Does this woman have the standard times in her back pocket or what? Spillane and Urbon need to get some bibs as they clearly can't stop drooling over this woman. What was this article about besides a grown man in awe of durkin the way a five year old adores their puppy.
A snake oil saleswoman. Does this lady have the standard times in her back pocket or what? Spillane and Urbon need to get themselves bibs as they can't stop drooling over this woman. I don't even know what this article is about other than a grown man fawning over this charlatan the same way a 10 year old boy looks at their favorite baseball player.
This parent makes more sense than our superintendent. And this Spillane, he isn't embarrassed by this piece?
This parent should be superintendent because she gets it. Durkin just doesn't seem to have a hold on reality! Kudos to this parent and the many other parents who can see through the sub standard times attempts to support Pia's lies by publishing her fabrications in their rag. The Star magazine needs writers for their rag-I hear one of the requirements is a person had to be a writer for the standard times!
I will no longer buy the standard times and my family and relatives have also stopped reading the times. The people and businesses that support the standard times and old Pia Durkin, I will no longer frequent. I am a parent and I know how very hard these teachers work every day!
40% 40% 40%........Spillane should be ashamed of himself for this puff piece. I'm all about setting high expectations but if she's only focused on test scores then she needs to go now. We have major problems with our buildings and no money to fix them. Maintenance has vehicles that cannot get inspection stickers. Custodial staff repeatedly has their contract violated by the 90k facilities manager. Lack of basic supplies like paper but Most importantly is the lack of discipline handed out to the students who need it and repercussions have been devastating. Our teachers cannot teach and our students who want to learn can't do so.
If Dr Durkin can achieve her 40% gain in test score achievement then she can retire as a hero but she still leaves this district with a crumbling foundation and leaky roof for the next savior (outsider of course) superintendent to deal with.
Tsk Tsk Tsk ... If you actually WANT to know why our morale is down, ASK US! Please do not make up an answer that you feel is more politically correct... Ask us, and we will be forthright , candid and truthful. We can do all of that and be respectful at the same time! Teachers... THE Great Multi-taskers!
Morale could not be worse, every educator in every school has been made to feel that he or she is not doing their job rigorously enough, administrators have been finding fault in teachers performance so they can prove that they are actively involved in their schools education process. I look at colleagues who have tired eyes, need for new medications, poor health from stress related issues, lack of sleep, loss of enthusiasm for the job they once loved! If these are not symptoms of poor morale and bad work environment then I don't know what is.
Let's be truthful.
If there were 20 kids in a class there would not be the issues that there are.
The numbers are much higher.
As far as Durkin's math problem to Spillane, wouldn't it have been much easier to multiply 20 students by 40% to get 8 students and then all you have to do is drop the zeros?!!! It is a no brainer.
I appreciated the meeting on Friday but feel we should have taken immediate action. Two days after the meeting the ST rag builds up the Superintendent once again. The clueless shall remain clueless. I have never witnessed morale this low. Just today as I walked out of my school, a teacher was overhead saying "I hate being treated like a moron." Respect for our profession has been lost and that starts at the top.
Usually I think Jack Spillane reports in a fair way...after reading his article in Sunday's paper my opinion has changed.I am going to add him to the list of "idiots" that write for the Standard Times. I thought Durkin made him look like a fool - she gave him a math lesson....oh my god! She is a nut - how does she turn a simple "fractional part of a whole number" into an equation?? I'll bet she couldn't pass the 10th grade MCAS math test!! Lock her up and throw away the key.
I agree that we should have taken immediate action. Momentum was on our side. She was forced to find fewer than 100 supporters. The press will continue to build her up. Meanwhile, she'll craft her plan to screw us as we assemble a committee.
Agree with above posts. We needed to strike while the iron was hot. The status quo will prevail and the school year will end. We should have acted immediately...vote of no confidence, picketing, whatever. The heat was on and we will all be screwed shortly for standing by and doing nothing.
You do not need to stand by and do nothing. You can express your horror and concern by calling, emailing, speaking to each one of these buffoons personally. We need to put faces on this madness. 100% of the teachers of the flagship school have been fired along with our administration! I for one am not going down without a fight. All members of the school committee, all politicians, all businesses and finally all people need to be shown who we are and what we are. WE ARE NEW BEDFORD PUBLIC SCHOOLS!
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