Thursday, July 12, 2012

As Expected?

Quoting The Norwalk Hour...... Superintendent Susan Marks' released her $1.4 million restoration plan Tuesday night in an e-mail to Board of Education members. The plan restores six intervention aides, three elementary teachers, three elementary school assistant principals, middle school teams, four middle school security guards, six library aides at reduced hours, the Norwalk High School shop teacher and the planetarium at half the time. Under Marks' plan each of the library aides would be allocated to two schools with reduced library services. As far as assistant principals, all elementary schools save Columbus and Wolfpit, the city's two smallest elementary schools, would split assistant principals. Jefferson, Kendall, Brookside, Marvin, Columbus and Wolfpit would each receive an intervention aide.

8 comments:

  1. Why planetarium and library aids but no literacy coaches? What do we do for kids who need extra time to learn to read. . . send them to the planetarium or to the school library which could be run by volunteers?

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  2. Actually, the literacy specialists have not made a difference in the schools. Test scores were never improved as a result of them coaching teachers or helping students in small groups.

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    1. And you know this how??

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    2. It is a well known fact in the elementary schools.....test scores, teacher input. Why don't you give me some specifics on how they have helped in the elementary schools. Can you point to concrete evidence?

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  3. As one Board member, I view the put-backs as a compromise to restore some of the most critical services that were lacking from the initial budget document. It appears that there is a return of some semblance of services for elementary schools-- although there must be more effort made to reduce class sizes. Regarding the middle schools, I argued for the restoration of the team leader program because I know that the program is successful. The restoration of the shop/transportation technology program is critical for the many students (over 100) who are enrolled in those courses; many of those students report finding a true connection with that coursework and have explained to me how it motivated them to pursue further study and a career in that field.
    But, we still come back to reducing class sizes in the elementary schools, and making sure that our youngest and most vulnerable students get every advantage possible.
    As a result, I don't think that the Board of Education's work is done as we need to find more money (and I've offered many suggestions of alternative cuts and uses of different revenue streams) that could restore some of the lost teaching positions.

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  4. Steve, what really needs to be done is a longitudinal study of the effectiveness of the different programs instituted in the schools. If we are to have a lean school system, we need to know where money has been used wisely and where money has been wasted. Parents and the school board can only guess at what works if they don't have actual studies. Principals love certain programs, not for their usefulness, but because they get to have exttra bodies in the buildiing. For example, some principals used literacy specialists as an assistants to them. Job descriptions meant very little. Teachers are held hostage when asked to fill in evaluations of programs. Principals hand out the evaluations at staff meetings and collect them at the end. Do you really think teachers will be honest when the principal will read these forms? Their names don't even have to appear; their handwriting is a giveaway re who penned in the responses. Useless programs can and need to be cut, but the board is going to have to figure out a legitimate way to evaluate these programs first.

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  5. At least we have a few positions being put back into the system. Yet again Bruce M. in an article in the hour was complaining again about classroom sizes might be going over contract because they did not bring back enough teachers.
    What every became of the teachers taking a one year freeze? that would have brought back all but a few teacher positons.
    The teachers contract comes up next year and I wonder how they will negotiate with Bruce next year.
    Will the tax payers want a tax hike to support the new contract.
    Its time for everyone to do their share. The support staff took a freeze why cant the teachers? Did they even get the change to vote on it?

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  6. No one has taken a voluntary freeze over the past few years.
    Seriously, support staff worked without a contract for some time-- took a zero to get their deal done. Administrators took a zero, but it was part of their contract negotiations.

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