Where are the math texts in Prince William County?

MoonHowler

From Prince William County School policy:

Purchasing Textbooks: It is the policy of the Prince William County School Board that in each core curriculum area there is at least one currently adopted textbook on the appropriate level available to every student.

Textbooks and related materials shall be approved by the School Board or the Associate Superintendent for Student Learning and Accountability before being purchased. The following purchasing procedures have been established to assist in procuring textbooks and instructional materials.
A. The following is a suggested purchase allocation for purchasing textbooks after the adoption approval:
1. First year – As many copies as budgeted funds will allow, but at least   50% of student enrollment.
2. Second year – complete total purchasing requirement according to the policy of one copy per student.
3. Third through sixth years – maintain ample copies of adopted textbooks to meet policy requirements, one copy per student.

That sounds to me like there shall be 1 copy of a textbook in core academic areas for every student.  This isn’t the state, this is Prince William County’s own policy.

PWC Schools are not following their own policy in math and haven’t been for several years.  I believe this is a cheating way for the individual schools to save money.  One classroom set of books is bought and that is the name of that tune.  No homework is given in the math book and to the best of my knowledge, most of the math texts do nothing but sit there and gather dust.

Students need to learn to read across the curriculum, including math instruction.  Students also need to have a math book if they need outside help.  Try tutoring a kid without a math book.  It’s fairly difficult to do unless you have a really good grasp of SOL curriculum.   Then you can pull problems out of thin air or rely on old textbooks if you have your own private stash.

Regardless, if you ask  around you will be hard pressed to find a kid who has been assigned his or her own math textbook to take back and forth to school.  Prince William County’s half-assed approach to providing every student with a math book violates their own policy and certainly does not conform to best practice in the field of education.

It’s time for the school system to stop cheating the kids and the tax payers and to assign each student a math textbook.   Yes, it’s getting personal now.  Come on Stonewall High School–get with the program.  Come on Reagan Middle and Stonewall Middle, get with the program.

You are not acting in the best interests of children.  You are handicapping students and creating innumeracy.

Those running for positions on the school board need to address this issue.

 

ACLU blindsides PWC Schools

MoonHowler

School officials in Prince William County were blindsided on Monday with a letter from the ACLU threatening a lawsuit over Internet filters on gay and lesbian sites.  According to the Gainesville Times:

The letter, signed by Rebecca Glenberg and Joshua Block of the ACLU of Virginia, states that the school system is blocking gay support group sites in violation of students’ First Amendment rights.

The issue is filtering software that blocks access to, among other sites, the Gay Student Alliance Network, Day of Silence and It Gets Better.

“The Prince William County Public Schools do not have a legitimate pedagogical basis for censoring students’ access to these websites, which provide support and resources for LGBT students and gay-straight alliances,” states the letter.

PWC Spokesman Ken Blackstone had the following to say on the subject, in the same article:

“The ACLU is making some claims and we’re reviewing them to see if they’re accurate and to see how we can respond to that,” he said. “They bring up important points.”

Blackstone said the school system is required by federal law to use Internet filtering software to keep students and staffers from looking at inappropriate content at school.

The school software, Blue Coat Filtering, filters 32 different categories.  It doesn’t distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate.  Generally, if students or staff believe something is being filtered that is acceptable for use, there is a process by which the site can be reviewed and unlocked.  Mr. Blackstone said that no such request, to his knowledge, has been submitted for  review  of the sites for student appropriateness. 

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School Board Dissatisfied with the 4 Horsemen of the BOCS

MoonHowler
Anything to get re-elected
Anything to get re-elected

Many years ago, in Prince William County, there was a gang on either the BOCS or the appointed school board who were not-so-affectionately named the 4 horsemen. They were seen as enemies of the school system. It seems that the 4 horsemen have been reincarnated, after several decades, on our board of supervisors. I am trying to remember . Why they were named that?   Was it a nice way of speaking of the educational Apocalypse on the horizon or was it short for horse body parts? Perhaps those  readers  who have been around PWC for a while will remember.

But I digress….

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I Guess They Showed Him

MoonHowler

I guess the BOCS showed Dr. Walts. Apparently many of them think he is getting too big for his britches.

From the Washington Post:

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors postponed accepting and budgeting federal stimulus funds for school jobs Tuesday, halting Superintendent Steven L. Walts’s effort to hire 180 more teachers by next month.

“We always respect and honor the decisions of our governing bodies,” Walts said in an e-mail. “While our preference is to have the new teachers in place for this year in order to positively affect our students’ learning as soon as possible, we will postpone our plans. . . . For the thousands of students who will not have the additional teachers this year, I am extremely disappointed.”

Class size will continue to be a problem as long as the budget is tight. The BOCS, however, hit a double. They got to show Walts who is boss, or in their case, who ultimately holds the purse strings. In addition, they all got to show that they wanted to ‘cut spending,’ even though counties run by smarter leaders will get the money.

Class sizes and the organization of special ed classes will continue to keep PWC Schools from being a world class school system. Walts was hired to create the best learning environment for the children of Prince William County. It seems that he walked on other people’s turf while attempting to do what he was hired to do.

The children of PWC will be in overcrowded classes while Walts gets taught a lesson and the BOCS can crow to their constituents that they voted down spending.  And whoever gets the money that would have gone to PWC Schools is laughing all the way to the bank while they use our stimulus money to pay salaries, benefits (including VRS) for additional teachers. 

Prince Billy Bob strikes again. 

Full Story from the Washington Post

PWCS Explanation of Snow Days

MoonHowler

Talk to anyone and they will be telling you that kids in PWC will be going to school until the 4th of July.  People are questioning why there is no school on Monday.  Don’t these kids have to make up the missed time?  No. Not yet.

There were 2 built in days.  Those are gone.  There have been a total of 10 days used.  3 in December, 2 for the 6 inch snow and 5 for last week.  I count ten used.  PWC kids can miss 7 more days before the doom and gloom of July 4th according to the PWCS website:

Explanation of “Snow Days” in PWCS 

State law mandates 180 days of school but allows for school divisions to make up missed teaching days by providing students with instructional hours equivalent to the missed days to meet the minimum 990 teaching-hour requirement. In PWCS, we have additional days built into the calendar (two this year at the middle and high school level, and one at the elementary school level) but we also provide more than the minimum time of required instruction with a six-hour school day. This provides adequate time to meet the state minimum number of teaching hours if school is closed for an extended number of days. This allows for up to 15 additional days for all students after the use of the “built-in” days

It seems hard to believe but that’s the nuts and bolts of it. The kids of Prince William have dodged the bullet.

Lucas Appointed to Governor-Elect’s Education Workgroup

MoonHowler

[UPDATE: Ms. Lucas has clarified some of the questions posed in the post. See her comments below.]

On December 3, 2009, PWCS announced the resignation of Neabsco District School Board member Julie Lucas, effective December 31. Ms. Lucas was a dedicated board member who appeared to have the best interest of all PW kids on the front burner. She was accessible and was highly regarded by parents, staff, and administration.

Ms. Lucas cited care of her father as the reason for her departure and she did indicate she would be leaving Virginia to help her family. If she is leaving Virginia, how can she serve on the Governor-Elect’s Education Workgroup? Are we the public missing something here?

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School Board Gives Green Light to Teacher Incentive Performance Award

MoonHowler

 

 From the Supervisor of Community Relations Office, Prince William County Schools:

On December 16, the Prince William County School Board approved the framework for a “Teacher Incentive Performance Award” (TIPA). This would provide a potential monetary stipend for all school-based, certificated employees included in site-based budgets at schools that meet specific eligibility requirements that will be developed later. The TIPA would be implemented beginning with the 2010-11 school year, subject to the availability of funding.

Work will now begin in developing criteria that meet the requirements set forth in the soon-to-be-released “Teacher Incentive Fund” grant program, a component of the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Receiving such a grant would be essential for Prince William County Public Schools to successfully implement this initiative.

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