11 comments:

• Mike Adams posted at 8:31 am on Wed, Oct 17, 2012.

  Posts: 1050

  Patrick W. Maple: "bleeding heart liberal!" (emphasis added)

  That's funny.

  But thank you for the following truth:
  " The point is the kids don't want the parents to know what they are doing...or embarassing them. The teachers don't want them there...in the classroom at the hs level because they are too much of a distraction."

  A lot of the parents who would come to "observe" their children and/or teacher would find their child exhibiting perfect behavior. Their presence was a distraction when they took it upon themselves to become part of the "group" or they interfered with normal classroom rituals. Some were great and their presence was positive, but some I had to bar from the room, their choice being move their child to another room, or me getting a TRO against them. You've seen it, a kid isn't graduating because the teacher is giving them a "F" in a class. Looking a little closer, you see that they are "only" 40 credits short and currently failing 4 of 6 classes. They don't even qualify as a "senior", but the teacher(s) are keeping them from graduating.
  Maybe they should have checked up 3 years ago and again 2 years ago and one more time a year ago when they weren't making normal academic progress.

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• Patrick W Maple posted at 4:23 pm on Mon, Oct 15, 2012.

  Posts: 1795

  OMT...It should have been made abundantly clear that the 800 scoring level is considered to be the AVERAGE level not the goal...the goal is to perform at the 1000 level. Any school school or district not scoring at the 800 level is considered to be low performaning.

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• Patrick W Maple posted at 7:20 am on Mon, Oct 15, 2012.

  Posts: 1795

  This is laughable...me a liberal??? Hardly. The point is the kids don't want the parents to know what they are doing...or embarassing them. The teachers don't want them there...in the classroom at the hs level because they are too much of a distraction. THAT is from fourteen years of Board work and raising three kids and three grandkids.
  Wear a looser pair of shorts.
  

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• Jerry Bransom posted at 9:57 pm on Sun, Oct 14, 2012.

  Posts: 361

  What a crock Maple! I routinely go to Parent Teacher nights and sit along with the rest of the teachers wondering where the parents are. You are so out of touch with reality along with the rest of your armchair proselytizers. However, I do agree that more money needs to go into the classroom. But your solution is typical of the bleeding heart liberals that got us here in the first place. Why does a school principal need anyone more than the state to tell them how to teach children? Your solution is no solution at all. Just look at Stockton for your proof. What a disaster! I say give each school autonomy and let the district go away. I am sick of bureaucrat lovers like you telling us all what to do.

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• Patrick W Maple posted at 11:36 am on Sun, Oct 14, 2012.

  Posts: 1795

  The money will end up where it belongs...in the classrooms. Well said Mr Chaney.

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• Doug Chaney posted at 9:53 pm on Sat, Oct 13, 2012.

  Posts: 389

  Mr. Maple, it is high time those school districts and boards were merged into one district. Your town leaders should be ashamed of their double dipping and having two wasterful entities rather than one efficient one. The savings alone on administration and school board salaries, expenses and health care would be tremendous. With only one school board, the competition to be elected should be able to glean the best admininistrators from both existing boards, hopefully eliminating the deadwood and the high salaried nepotic jobs offered by both school districts.

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• Patrick W Maple posted at 4:06 pm on Sat, Oct 13, 2012.

  Posts: 1795

  Ever wonder why there is little parent participation? It is always good at the elem level but as soon as hs comes around the 20% participation turns to about 5%. The reason? Neither the student nor the teachers want them in their classrooms..and most parents come from the same educational system.

  Leadership...yep...mostly non-existent. Not only that if an administrator feels his job is threatened he gets rid of the threat.

  Unification streamlines and cuts duplicated positions...like school Boards.

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• Jerry Bransom posted at 2:59 pm on Sat, Oct 13, 2012.

  Posts: 361

  Unification will not help the 2 biggest problems (1) Parent Participation & (2) Leadership. All it will do is add an additional layer of ineptitude, increase costs and further bury problems within the system. Autonomy at each school coupled with buying power should be the norm. Large bureaucracies in the school system breed malfeasance and general stupidity. It is time to re-think the school system as it has become a retirement home for the useless. Give them each the money they deserve and let them spend it the way they want.

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• Patrick W Maple posted at 1:24 pm on Fri, Oct 12, 2012.

  Posts: 1795

  Galt Elem is feeding its students into a failing high school system bereft of leadership, vision and purpose. This has been going on for over 6 years and nothing is getting better...in fact it is getting WORSE...just check the test scores above.

  It is time to UNIFY the districts.This needs to be put on the November ballot next year. It will save money, allow for better use of facilities and will make sure that what your child learns in kindergarten will be relevant as a senior in high school. Petitions are being circulated right now to do so...find one and sign it before it is too late for YOUR children.

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• Jerry Bransom posted at 10:25 am on Fri, Oct 12, 2012.

  Posts: 361

  Talk about Cherry Picking! Just more propaganda based on out-dated requirements and unrealistic testing. When are we going to call these people out? I for one am sick of manipulated test scores. Let's ask the teachers what they think but not threaten their jobs if they don't "toe the line"! Pure BS.

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• Jose Sanborn posted at 8:57 am on Fri, Oct 12, 2012.

  Posts: 34

  I wish Lodi News Sentinel would mention the fact that Elkhorn School is a GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) school, meaning they pick the best and brightest students from the area.

  So it's not really fair to compare Elkhorn with other schools in the district who have to take all students regardless of academic performance.

  For AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) purposes I would be interested in knowing what their significant subgroups are, (eg, English Language Learners, Socio-Economically Disadvantaged, etc.). Just saying...

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