Farewell Mockingbird, Hello Federalist Papers

MoonHowler

Just when you thought nothing could be worse than No Child Left Behind (NCLB), think again.  The Common Core State Standards could be worse and a whole lot worse.  To date, Virginia is one of 5 states that has not adopted the Common Core State Standards:  Nebraska, Alaska, Minnesota, Texas and Virginia.  That’s a scary group to be grouped with but in this case, I think it might just be a good thing.

According to the Washington Post:

 

As states across the country implement broad changes in curriculum from kindergarten through high school, English teachers worry that they will have to replace the dog-eared novels they love with historical documents and nonfiction texts.

The Common Core State Standards in English, which have been adopted in 46 states and the District, call for public schools to ramp up nonfiction so that by 12th grade students will be reading mostly “informational text” instead of fictional literature. But as teachers excise poetry and classic works of fiction from their classrooms, those who designed the guidelines say it appears that educators have misunderstood them.

Proponents of the new standards, including the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, say U.S. students have suffered from a diet of easy reading and lack the ability to digest complex nonfiction, including studies, reports and primary documents. That has left too many students unprepared for the rigors of college and demands of the workplace, experts say.

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Hampden–Sydney students threaten violence after election results announced

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

Hampden-Sydney College, an all-male school in central Virginia, is investigating an election-night incident in which a group of students upset about President Obama’s reelection set off fireworks, threw bottles and then shouted racial epithets at members of a minority student organization, officials said Thursday.

Some in the group also threatened violence against the Minority Student Union members, college officials said, but there was no physical contact. Officials said about 40 students were involved, but it was unclear how many were active and how many were bystanders.

 

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Patriot High School: Studley’s dad helps him get a date

MoonHowler
Ruff Ruff Where is Fido?

 

Washingtonpost.com:

A black helicopter hovering overhead can lead those below to become worried, scared or suspicious. But when a large aircraft positioned itself over a Prince William County high school’s football field last Wednesday afternoon, students who had just been released for the day excitedly watched as a stuffed bulldog with a red-bandanna parachute emerged.

The big-eyed pup drifted to the turf, delivering a message from a junior boy to a senior girl: “Fall Fest?”

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VA unique with religious exemptions

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

Nearly 7,000 Virginia children whose families have opted to keep them out of public school for religious reasons are not required to get an education, the only children in the country who do not have to prove they are being home-schooled or otherwise educated, according to a study.

Virginia is the only state that allows families to avoid government intrusion once they are given permission to opt out of public school, according to a report from the University of Virginia’s School of Law. It’s a law that is defended for promoting religious freedom and criticized for leaving open the possibility that some children will not be educated.

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CTU vs Rahm Emanual: Chicago’s teachers on strike

MoonHowler

What’s it all about?  Emanual and union president Karen Lewis each tell a different story.  Lewis’s can be heard in the above video.

But when it comes to exactly what the strike it about, the stories of the city and the union vary dramatically. Shortly after Lewis finished saying that the union was striking over contract negotiations, teacher evaluations, lack of proper air conditioning, and broader pedagogical issues — such as class size and out-of-class services for poor kids — Emanuel addressed the press.

“This is totally unnecessary, this is avoidable, and our kids do not deserve this,” he said.
The mayor, who fashions himself an education reformer, wore no tie. While Emanuel usually doesn’t mince words, his anger appeared more internalized, more resolute. At moments, he appeared to be on the verge of tears. His hand shook visibly as he took a sip of water in between statements. “This is a strike of choice,” he said.

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PWC teachers in big trouble over SOL testing

MoonHowler

From the Washingtonpost.com:

Several Prince William County teachers, some of whom were placed on administrative leave, will have to undergo retraining after giving students inappropriate help on state-mandated exams, and students were required to retake tests, according to a school official.

County schools spokesman Phil Kavits said the teachers, who were supposed to interact minimally with students during testing in the spring, were overzealous in offering assistance

Twenty-eight students had to retake tests, Kavits said. He could not say exactly how many teachers were involved.

The testing problems were first reported Tuesday in the Washington Examiner.

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UVA to bear the cost of the Dragas-bungled ouster

MoonHowler

Governor Bob O’Donnell is giving himself another black eye. This time it is for dodging the issue at UVA.  Not only has McDonnell dodged the issue, it is he who appointed the leader of the ouster,    Rector Helen  Dragas, from a mere post on the Board of Visitors to the University Rector (chairman of the BoV).

Dragas has bungled her attempt to overthrow popular President Teresa Sullivan.  42 Department chairs have taken a stand against her behavior.  The Faculty Senate has condemned her and the Board of Visitors  in support of Sullivan.   Student and faculty protests and demonstrations have been ongoing since the announcement of Sullivan’s ouster.

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PWC Schools: How Far They Fall in a Decade

MoonHowler

 

In 2001, Time Magazine named Stonewall Jackson High School ” School of the Year.”  Everyone on this end of town crowed and preened themselves over the recognition.  How far they fall in a decade.  Today, Stonewall Jackson HS barely ranked in the Washington Post High School Challenge.  SJHS came in at a 92 rank of all area high schools in Virginia, Maryland and D.C.  Osbourn Park ranked the highest of any of the  Prince William County high schools.  It came in at 45. 

Osbourn and Manassas Park High Schools sure didn’t set the world on fire either.  However, neither of these schools has the maneuverability that county schools have.  As PW residents we should be asking why our top ranking high school comes in 45th behind other area schools.  That doesn’t sound very world class to me.  Loudoun County, Arlington, and Fairfax counties all had schools ranking much higher than Prince William County.

We have to start asking ourselves why this is.  I say it is because Prince William County always wants to go on the CHEAP.  It always wants to appear to have the lowest taxes.   Are other jurisdictions putting more money into the school system so they can attract high quality teachers and keep class sizes low?  PWC has the least competitive pay for teachers and also spends the least money per pupil than any other school system in Northern Virginia. 

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A good reason to not arm teachers….

MoonHowler

Washington Post:

ABINGDON, Va. — A Washington County teacher accused of firing a blank gun in a welding class is facing criminal charges.

Police tell media outlets that 60-year-old Manuael Ernest Dillow is charged with 12 felony counts of brandishing a weapon.

Washington County Sheriff Fred Newman says the incident occurred April 4 at the William N. Neff Center in Abingdon.

Dillow is accused of lining up a dozen students near a garage door and firing the blank gun multiple times in their direction.

No students were injured. A motive hasn’t been released.

Washington County Schools Superintendent Jim Sullivan says Dillow isn’t working now but he couldn’t comment further because it’s a personnel matter.

Dillow is an amateur and obviously an amateur who doesn’t have very good judgement.  What was he thinking?    Rare you think?  Something similar happened right here in PWC about 20 years ago.  I don’t think any charges were brought against the show off that pretended to shoot people with the track starter gun.  Unfortunately, not everyone is born with good judgement.  Let’s leave the guns out of the hands of teachers.   Plus it’s obviously just too tempting for some of them.  think of the toads some deal with.

VA Tech: 2 families awarded $4 million each

MoonHowler

Two families have each been awarded $4 million dollars for the wrongful deaths of their children during the VA Tech massacre on April 16, 2007.  The jury ruled that administration and the campus police did not send out an early enough warning of two shootings on campus. The school argued that they thought the shootingdeaths were isolated incidents.

The school has already filed an appeal. The other victims’s families settled out of court.

I am simply not sure how I feel about this jury award.  I just don’t know.  31 more people were killed within the next 3,5 hours after the first shooting.  Had students been warned and gone in to lock down, could lives have been saved?

Read more at the Richmond Times Dispatch.

PWC School Board Disses the Math Department

MoonHowler

 

School Days School Days….dear old golden rule days.  Readin’ and Ritin’ and Rithmetic…Taught to the tune of a hickory stick…

There is a nasty little rumor circulating around PWC schools.  That rumor deals with the School Board and the Math  Textbook Selection  Committee.   Rumor has it that the school board selected its own text books and disregarded the work of a committee that had spent 5 months meeting and collaborating.  When one hears rumors like this, it’s best to   turn to videos to see if the rumor is true.

On February 1, the PWC  Math Department  presented the recommendations of the math  textbook adoption  committee  to the PWC School Board.  Mrs. Knight, math supervisor for the county,  gave a  slide presentation which included committee history, methods utilized, and recommendations.  School Board members asked  questions  for clarity regarding the process and the recommendations.   Mrs. Knight answered a continual stream of questions regarding method, participants, conclusions. Her answers appeared honest and direct.

The Textbook Committee involved well over  100 teachers, principals, and parents representing all different grade levels.  There were sub committees that matched content from each  text book series to the curriculum, compared and contrasted  grade level content , evaluated vertical strands, and held on average 16 hours per person of collegial discussion  about the text books being scrutinized.  Evaluations were put in rubric form and recorded anecdotally.

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PW Teachers Hold Grade-In at Gainesville Wegmans

MoonHowler

About 60 teachers gathered at the food center at Wegmans in Gainesville for an old fashioned grade-in.  What’s that, you might ask?  Those damn union teachers!!!!  Actually, they met at Wegmans, ate lunch, and spent several hours grading papers and making lesson plans.  Their goal was to show the public some of the things that they have to do outside the regular school day.  PWC teachers have not had a step increase in 3 years. 

The public has been very supportive.  The County needs to stop poor mouthing.  First class quality education starts with teachers with good morale.  People who haven’t had a raise in 3 years generally feel under appreciated.   The housing market is coming back.  Businesses are returning..  The Board of Supervisors needed to set the tax rate high enough to support the County school system.  Trying to educate OUR children on the cheap just isn’t going to fly. 

According to insidenova.com:

Some of those shirts even had a roadwork sign emblazoned on the back that read “Educator at Work.”

PWEA and other teacher groups have been lobbying the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, the School Board and even state legislators for additional funds for the school division after learning in February there are no plans for pay step increases in the 2013 budget and perhaps not until 2016.

“The grade-in is designed so that the public can see that there is a lot more in the daily life of a professional educator than just 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. or 7 to 2,” said Jim Livingston, a PWEA board member. “There’s a lot of activity that has to go on outside of the contract day.”

David Foose, a music teacher at Sinclair Elementary School, brought a thick, black three-ring binder full of lesson plans and papers to grade.

“This is all work that’s done outside of the school day,” he said.

“We’re expected to do more and more with less pay,” said Trish Purschwitz, a second-grade teacher at Sinclair. “This is just to show the public that teaching isn’t just done at the school.”

Riley O’Casey, a civics teacher at Bull Run Middle School, said although it varies week-to-week, she works up to 12 hours a week beyond her contract hours.

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Continuing Contract safe for another year

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell’s bill to eliminate tenure-style job protections for public school teachers died Thursday at the hands of the Republican-led Senate.

After delaying a decision on the contentious bill for eight days straight, the Senate voted 23 to 17 to send it back to committee, effectively killing it for the year.

Three Republicans joined all 20 Democrats in voting to recommit the bill, which has been vigorously opposed by the Virginia Education Association.

The move was a political defeat for McDonnell, who had made overhauling teacher contracts a key part of his education agenda.

“This bill does nothing but kick teachers in the teeth,” said Sen. Philip Puckett (D-Russell), a former teacher and principal.

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School violence: The Killing Fields?

MoonHowler

I would like to talk about something that makes ME sick.   Sick and numb.  Today a third student has died as a result of that fatal shooting at Chardon High School outside of Cleveland.  Every day there is violence in schools.  Earlier in the week, an 11 year old girl died in California  as a result of fighting with another girl, over a boy.  There are probably others student deaths that weren’t sensational enough to make the news.   Are our schools becoming killing fields? 

What can be done to stop this type of senseless violence?  The 11 year old girl was a participant.  We can assume willing.  However, the 4 students who were shot yesterday were simply sitting in the cafeteria eating breakfast.  How did the shooter get access to the cafeteria?  He wasn’t even a student in that school any more.  He went to alternative school.  We can only assume that he walked right in with the rest of the students at 7:30 am.

Is there a way to make our schools safer?  From all accounts this school, like Columbine a decade ago, wasn’t in a heavy crime area.  It was just an ordinary school, like our kids go to.  It wasn’t inner city. 

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Teacher suspended for telling student “Go back to Mexico”

MoonHowler

 

Teacher Suspended for ‘Go Back to Mexico’ Comment: MyFoxDFW.com

Last week I expressed outrage over the Virginia State Legislature’s attempt to do away with continuing contract in favor of 3 year contracts.  This story is a good reason why all veteran teachers deserve due process and protection from the politics of a school system.

From the Huffington Post:

Looks like this two-time “Teacher of the Year” will not be in the running to win the esteemed honor this year because of her derogatory comment to a Hispanic student: “Go back to Mexico.”

Instead, 63-year-old Texas math teacher Shirley Bunn is fighting to keep her job.

Bunn made the comment on Sept. 30 while distributing Title 1 forms to her eighth grade students at Barnett Junior High School. Dallas-Fort Worth’s Fox 4 reports that a disruptive student requested a Spanish-language version of the form, saying, “I’m Mexican. I’m Mexican.”

According to public record, Bunn attempted to tell the student that he could retrieve forms translated into Spanish from the main office, but the student continued to repeat “I’m Mexican.”

Bunn quickly responded, “[Then] go back to Mexico.”

The school board placed Bunn on paid leave following the incident, until an Independent Hearing Examiner could review the case.

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