If you've ever thought about serving on one of our local school boards, now is the time to find out what's involved and the League of Women Voters is going to make this easy for you!
You are invited to a working breakfast educational session this Sat. a.m, 8/11/07, from 8:30 to noon at Mercy Medical Center, Conference Room A, in their Three Springs location at Grandview off Highway 160. Call Pam Patton at 884-2206 for more information.
The current presidents of all three local school boards wrote a complete story with deadline dates and locations for filing nomination petitions in Sunday's Herald.(Take Your Seat: Durango Herald Aug. 5, 2007)
With 11 seats open in November in Durango, Ignacio and Bayfield, and many new arrivals in the 9-R system, we look forward to the exciting possibilities that may unfold this fall.
21 comments:
Whoever sits on the next school board in Durango will be able to make an enormous difference in our community. People are no longer in denial. The 9-R Board made a commitment last spring to meet face to face with the public on a regular basis saying they want to know what really is happening in all our schools. Should we believe them? I think so. They have asked for unfiltered information - to know what we teachers really think, how students are actually doing. Looking back at the mess that had developed at DHS and Greg Spradling's abrupt departure last Feb., makes me wonder why it took so long... one incident too many finally put enough public pressure on the superintendent to do something, to stop making believe Spradling was a keeper. If you have lived here as long as I, the PR story that fires and terrorists were causing us to lose kids made you laugh. Who believed that? Maybe finally it was seeing all the interest in the new schools forming that made this board demand the truth. If you care about our kids and their future, please consider joining this board. Dr. Barter's protection of Spradling hurt us more than most people know. Could she really have been unaware of the situation at DHS? Of course not, but keeping things under wraps served her well, for awhile. However,next year at this time, the Barter years will have ended. In November, whoever joins the new school board will surely be able to make a good difference in Durango's future.
I liked it when Dr. Barter claimed that an elementary school lost enrollment due to migrant farm workers moving out of the area. Huh? Last I checked, this wasn't an area that heavily employed migrant farm workers. Besides, the kids who left the school still live in the community and everyone, including Dr. Barter, knows it.
Just one of many untruths we've endured during the Barter years!
If 9-R had been held accountable in the same way our local ski resort is asked to explain drops in winter visitation, wouldn’t the board have asked about exit interviews? Do you think they were ever done? When my friend's son just stopped attending the high school, no one even phoned to ask why. What was up there for so long? The new principal needs lots of support given the baggage she's inheriting. Lucky for us, she looks like she has educational vision and a real teaching background. She sounds good, but with the people at the top in place until June, there’ll be heavy rewriting of history. You bet they are challenged by all the new school options... “Uh oh; families can opt out of DHS and not have to homeschool? Uh oh!”
"We better think of something now!" "How about an Academy?"
Yes. I agree. Look at how they're marketing the all new improved Excel - if only they'd cared (with the same kind of budget and support) during the years of commitment by some amazing charter parents, but then who would have gotten the credit? When you are all about making the boss look good, you can't be giving credit to super demanding parents or maverick teachers. (They're just naysayers.) I hope every student one day will be able to find classrooms that fit. But that’s not going to happen until 9-R cares more about reality than PR; ok, our CSAP scores beat inner city Denver’s. No surprise. Anything else matters? (culture, feeling like you make a difference, flexibility to experiment? Credit for innovation,extra hours taking teens to conferences?) What did it take to admit we needed changes at the top? Certainly wouldn’t have happened without public pressure. What a shame. But change will happen now and they can't stop it.
I hate to be a naysayer but I believe these School Board Education Days will only result in an extension of the status quo. Witness the story in Tuesday's Herald "School officials talk politics, public opinion." The president of the Colorado Association of School Boards said boards should be open to public feedback but there must be limits. "It's not the public's meeting...They do not have the right to participate in the dialogue around the board table. That's what you were elected to do."
This is all well and good if board members accurately represent public opinion however, they are usually unavailable for discussion and currently no forum exists where they might garner public thought. So who influences these people? The superintendent and the individuals who make up their social circle. That's why millionaires, businessmen, politicians, and token minorities make up the Key Communicators panel rather than parents from all socioeconimic strata and students.
Maybe I'm wrong, maybe we'll see more public forums and open discussion, but I doubt it. Board members like Mark Seiter will see this as instructions to eliminate public input and "micro-managing the district," as Christi Zeller, and Robin Duffy-Wirth echoed at the last League of Women Voters forum I attended
If we want our present and potential board members to be educated we should insist they educate themselves through required reading: "The Shame of the Nation" by Jonathan Kozol, "Collateral Damage" by Sharon Nichols and David Berliner, and "Why is Corporate America Bashing Our Public Schools?" by Susan Ohanian.
"Tough Choices, Tough Times" gets no mention because, in my opinion, is is a worthless document patterned after (and coincidentally authored by many of the same people who brought us) Ronald Regan's "A Nation at Risk."
"Tough Choices" suggests that the United States is not a culture but merely an economy, which is the last refuge of an exhausted philosophy of education.
It's also interesting that along with this story is another report of Mary Barter winning a "major award," with a quote from Bayfield's school board president. Bayfield?
Yes, Board Members from Bayfield supporting our Superintendent. Guess our own Board has had enough of her and only those outside the district show Mary any support at all.
Board members are not well informed and do not represent the community at the table. That is why we try as "Naysayers and critics" gather information for them and present our research at Board Meetings. They could care less. It is all about resumes. Perhaps if School Board Members were paid they could be held more accountable for the operation of a $34 million Organization. Today'
s paper was just more of the same. The comments made by Mr. DeLay send us back to the dark ages. Are you kidding me? Let's lock the public out? This is exactly what is wrong with Our system. Public Education Mr. DeLay.
Who or what is the Education Research and Development Institute, otherwise known as ERDI?
Oh, yes, it's a secret (try calling them and asking them for a list of superintendent's who have attended over the past few years, and they won't tell you) organization, who hand pick you, so that you can be wined and dined by Corporations, take your husband on a freebie and get paid $2000 bucks per visit, receive first class accommodation, just so the big Corporations can sell you their products to put in your schools with tax payer dollars.
Highly unethical in my opinion.
Did Dr Barter donate the $4,000+ a year she made from attending ERDI? Or maybe she only made $2,000 a year, because she only went once a year?
Unfortunately, because she won't tell, we will never know.
Here is the fax and email, that Mary Barter refused to answer, it was sent to her in July 2006.
Mary, some of your parents and taxpayers have contacted me indicating that you are attending three conferences during July (ERDI and AASA); their questions, consolidated below for your ease of reference:
Is this your first ERDI conference? If not, where/when were your previous ERDI conferences?
Is Mr. Barter with you at ERDI? Will he be at AASA? Is the district paying for his transportation, meals, etc.?
Are you being paid $2,000 for your attendance at ERDI and another $400 for Mr. Barter? If you have received $2,000 or any other sum from ERDI for your attendance at this conference, is this declarable income with the IRS or do you receive this in the form of cash? If you do receive any money from ERDI, do you keep it or do you give it away and if so, to whom? This applies to any previous ERDI conferences also.
Are Durango public schools paying your expenses for attending the ERDI conference?
Does your Durango contract allow you to do side consulting? [Regarding your contract, could you please email me a copy of your current contract detailing your current income, all perqs and provisions re side consulting.]
Do you consider and count your days at ERDI as Durango schools work days or vacation/personal days? What about previous ERDI conferences, if any?
How does your attendance at ERDI benefit Durango public schools?
Wouldn't it be a conflict of interest for you to be attending ERDI where Coca-Cola is a vendor and they are also vendors at DPS?
Do you consider and count your days at AASA as Durango schools work days or vacation/personal days? What about previous AASA conferences? Why do you consider it necessary to attend AASA in Washington, D.C. and how does this benefit Durango, Colorado students?
It is my sincere hope that you will answer the foregoing questions on behalf of your taxpayers without my having to file a public records request; return email is the easiest, fastest and cheapest way. Please note that I will be posting some or all of the foregoing on my website, along with your anticipated responses at the earliest opportunity if and when received. Thank you, and wishing you all the best.
Durango "naysayers" can't be the only people troubled...read link below:
"I find it troubling that money from the private sector is finding its way into superintendents' pockets," said Diane Swanson, a business professor and founding chair of the Ethics Initiative at Kansas State University. "There is something wrong with blurring that boundary with a cozy group of people who may not be operating at arm's length."
http://www.cba.k-state.edu/departments/ethics/docs/Superintendents.htm
Does anyone have a problem with ethics regarding the "national" award Dr. Barter received last month? National as in when..."a select group of superintendents who are hand picked" were the only one's invited? How can an award be national, when it's by invitation only to those superintendent's who don't mind pocketing the money they get paid to attend?
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2004/
sep/26/ndn_retreat_for_schools_
chiefs_raises_ethics_quest/
Deb Uroda got up and did a skit at the teacher breakfast this morning:
Press 1 if you want to sue 9-R
Press 2 if you want an IEP
Press 3 if you want an IEP
Press 4 if you want an IEP
How about this:
Press 1 if you want a new PIO
Press 2 if you want a new PIO
Press 3 if you want a new PIO
Press 4 if you want to hear the superintendent's resignation talk
Dr. Barter resigned. She will see the year out.
Thank you God.
Deb's skit would have been funny, if she had kept to one # button for the sick IEP joke, and not labored it home and taken the mickey out of approximately 1,000 special ed. children in our school district.
Kind of tasteless really, especially in front of 400+ teachers.
I wonder why she found it funny to talk about suing the district? She makes it sound like everyone is out there suing the district.
The sad thing is, San Juan BOCES work so hard to EDUCATE staff not to be discriminatory, and Deb Uroda's tasteless skit just flew in the face of that.
Ha ha ha. When those lunatics who have taken over the asylum on 12th Street talk at their "Cabinet" meeting, they actually talk about the naysayers and critics and say they are mental.
They should take a look in the mirror.
Could someone please remind them that they have far more important issues to talk about than being derogatory towards parents who care about education.
I was shocked to watch DHS tennis the other night. 6 courts, about 22 students, and 2 coaches.
When the ball landed, if it were a few feet to the right or left, (and in!) - the student would just stand there and let it fall. Inside of me, I remember my coach telling us we could never stand still on the court, and that we needed to run for every ball! Call me old fashioned, but all I saw were a bunch of lazy arsed students just hitting a ball and god forbid any of them would run to hit a ball. This isn't PS3 in front of the sofa you know!
It was like watching another nail enter the 9-R coffin of lethargy at DHS. Inside I was fuming! I wanted to say: "Run! Goddamit Run!", but I kept my feelings to myself.
To cap it all, around 6:10 p.m. when they sauntered off the court, the students left every ball sitting where they lay. I only saw one student pick up a handful of balls and plop them in the container, and again, I thought where is their discipline? Where is their pride? Where are the rules?
In my day, they would have wheeled out the ball throwing machine, made you hit a thousand balls, and told you not to leave until you had picked every ball up and put it in it's proper place! Trust me, you would never leave a ball on court again for someone else to pick up!
And...if you had missed attempting to hit a ball, because your lazy feet got glued to the tarmac, well...you would have to run 50 laps around the football pitch before going home to eat!
A hearing will be held tonight, August 21, 2007, from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm on the Proposed Amendments to the Rules for the Administration of the Exceptional Children's Educational Act. The hearing will be held in the 9-R board room.
But Ssssssssshhhhhhh -- it is a secret. Nobody wanted to tell anyone, so nobody knows! I think it is disgusting, that 9R didn't do any PR, and that BOCES forgot to send a letter inviting parents, teachers, and administrators.
Basically, CDE are coming to Durango tonight to allow our part of the state to comment on the Exceptional Children's Education Act...you know, they probably do this every 30 years when the IDEA changes, and we finally get a say, and they forgot to tell anyone!
What a crock.
I hate to say we are doomed in school district 9R, but tonight, at the 2 hour Hearing on the proposed Amendments to the Rules for the Administration of the Exceptional Children's Educational Act, which covers Gifted and Talented students and Special Education students et tout........nobody said a word!! Ha ha ha. Actually, my husband said something, a man said something ("keep your hands off my $800...old timer teachers know they need to spend their money in the first few weeks of school otherwise the finance director (or whomever) has spent the money elsewhere!")Huh? Then I said something, which apparently was misinterpreted by CDE!! LOL. (Keith thought I wanted state law to mandate that dyslexic students be taught by a "certain method", I never mentioned a name, I don't care what the method is, so long as it is a scientifically proven method of teaching, taught by teachers with more than a weekend workshop under their belt, i.e. by someone with about 20 years experience).
That's it?! 5 school districts under BOCES, and 9R is apparently the "largest school district in SW Colorado"....and nobody had anything to tell CDE?!! We were done in about 10 minutes. Then we all just batted the breeze with each other, which was nice, but one has to wonder why the Hearing was held here at all.
Oh well -- you know what they say, if you can't speak up, then you can't complain.
I went up to two eminent 9R administrators and said: "That's it? You don't have anything to say?! You think state law allows you to teach our children to the best possible degree?!" aaaaaaaaaaaaaggggh.
Well folks, we had a chance. Not even a Board member attended. Not even one from the BOCES Board!! Does nobody care? Same old, same old? How many times do we hear the Gifted and Talented parents moan? Or the Dyslexic parents?
My son's old school motto in Latin, used to say: "From little acorns, mighty oak trees grow" (I forget the Latin!) -- and all I can say is to watch a room filled with 20 educators, none of whom had anything to tell our state board of education.....when they know they are hampered by the Exceptional Children's Education Act (ECEA..state law) -- just blows my mind.
One person can change the law. One person can make a difference. I just wish they had spoken up.
Don't forget folks....Colorado falls at the bottom of the heap. We fluctuate between the worst state at #42 to the worst state at #49 for education. Yes. The worst. When we are #49, the only state to beat us is Mississippi. (Did I spell that right?!)
You would hope we would aspire to be in the top 10. Nobody gave a damn. It is a legally mandated bureaucratic process that is disconnected from best practice and from what we know works (and doesn't) for kids with dyslexia, etc, etc, etc.
Good night Durango. #49.
The meeting was sparsely attended because very few people knew of the meeting. Even the G/T teacher at my daughter's school knew nothing about it until it was past. Strange that the staff wasn't informed or invited... another example of "when we want your opinion we'll give it to you."
HB1244, the G/T Bill, passed the house and senate this spring and proponents close to the legislature were happy with the law. Of course, it's another underfunded mandate, but at least it's something.
As far as Colorado being 49th...I think that's in per pupil spending. A look at NAEP (The Nation's Report Card) comparative scores for 2005 (the latest available) shows Colorado's 4th graders ranked 12th in reading and 24th in math nationwide. Colorado's 8th graders were ranked 21st in reading and 27th in math.
Durango Academy only has 61 students. Why did Dr. Barter tell Excel they could not open with less than 100 students? What money is being moved from where to support the Durango Academy?
What are they doing about the drugs at Durango High School?
Debrat Uroda is so full of fear about the new high school, and I don't know why. Why is she telling people awful things; veiled with threats, and misinformation? Why is she so afraid?
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