A sad day for children in North Carolina

After a brief hiatus, I'm back...

...And not a moment too soon, as it is very hard to analyze what Gov. Perdue is doing. In one breath, she unveils all of these grandiose plans for public education, while simultaneously raiding the "Lootery" fund to plug the shortfall.

While the plans are being announced, teachers are being laid off statewide. Class sizes expanded, supply budgets sliced...and now yesterday's horrifying news that teachers statewide will be required to take unpaid time off.

Clearly, she is not one to be trusted.

E.C. :)

Garrett feels heat on Northern situation

Parents are visibly upset at the recent events involving the shuffling of administrators at Northern Guilford High School in the wake of reported athletic improprieties. And they're taking it out on NGHS school board rep Darlene Garrett.

And while school brass continue to be tight-lipped about the investigation of recent alleged wrongdoings, Garrett told the News & Record she wants the Board to look at current policies on student transfers, including transfers related to athletics.

N&R:

Garrett, whose school board district includes Northern Guilford, said the investigation is looking at athletics eligibility, which includes students’ grades, residence status and attendance records. The academic portion extends beyond sports teams and will explore overall grading and student achievement at the school, she said.

Some of the comments coming into the N&R are none too pleasing:

Dear Ms. Garrett,
First of all I thought you were supposed to be our representative at Northern. If so where have you been????? Not stepping up and talking about any of our positives that is for sure.

I can't believe that Ms. Garrett said those things!!! Kids have been studying very hard in Northern, and teachers have been eager to help and they go to school earlier in countless mornings to have study sessions and make themselves available to kids afterschool. How dare Ms. Garrett made those comments!!! It's not fair to the teachers and students!!

No suprise at Mrs. Garrett's comments. Her singular focus and support of NWHS while ignoring us here at Northern is obvious. She's also made it clear that she has no respect or appreciation for our coaches.

But others are showing support for Garrett, including fellow Board colleague Garth Hebert:

Mrs. Garrett’s support for Northern Middle and High as well as for all schools is phenomenal. As an advocate for children and teachers she is THE BEST.

This one isn't over, by any means. Stay tuned.

E.C. :)

Hayes rumored to run for City Council

School Board member Deena Hayes may make a run for Greensboro City Council, this according to Ryan Shell over at Greensboro Politics. See my piece on this on my sister blog, GreensboroMetro. Hayes may be seeking the Dist. 2 seat being vacated by outgoing City Councilman Goldie Wells.

Still a rumor for now, but it bears watching. If she wins (and that's a mighty big IF), will she abandon her school board seat and focus on her city council seat exclusively? Will she juggle both seats? Both Wells' district and Hayes' school board district could arguably use some better representation.

Keeping an eye on this one...

E.C. :)

No Child Left Behind = No Child Gets Ahead

Excellent op/ed in this morning's News & Record by former teacher and local PTA president Sharon Shepard on the continued insanity of NCLB. Of particular interest is this quote:

Each year in American testing factories, modern pupils spend many weeks preparing for the End of Grade (EOG) examinations. Practice assessments are given under "testing conditions," in which children as young as 8 spend entire mornings quietly wiggling at their desks, ignoring repetitive instructions, and answering multiple-choice questions. Teachers and students are so exhausted by the anxiety and time involved that little is taught during testing weeks. EOG "pep rallies" remind one of a "groupthink" scene from George Orwell's "1984." And once the EOGs are over in May, many classrooms turn into movie theaters and day-care centers, as the teacher's work is considered done for the year. Standardized testing discourages comprehensive education.

Isn't it time this thing gets overhauled or reformed?

E.C. :)

Reported assault at Southwest High

News & Record reports an alleged sexual assault may have taken place at Southwest Guilford H.S. late last week.

School Board member Garth Hebert, whose district includes Southwest, says the school's surveillance cameras may have captured both the offender and the victim. Hebert calls the campus "a safe place."

Developing...

E.C. :)

Top brass out at Northern High

Developing story...Northern High School principal Joe Yeager and athletics director Derrell Force were put on administrative leave this week following allegations of malfeasance regarding the school's athletic program.

N&R reports no one seems to be talking on the record, and those that are deny any wrongdoing at the school.

Anyone out there close to this situation? Please report in...

E.C. :)

Skip & Co. like the budget

Seems as though some of the County Commissioners like the budget Mo Green (or Grier's lieutenants) conjured up and made public this week.

Chairman Skip Alston's response:

Melvin “Skip” Alston, chairman of the Board of Commissioners, said he supports Green’s budget. He “will be a happy camper” if the school board approves it.

Commissioner Kay Cashion posed a series of questions, along with Bruce Davis, who questioned the continued existence of SROs to the ACES program.

E.C. :)

Add Bruce Davis to the growing list of those wanting to take away SROs

Guilford County Commissioner Bruce Davis also wants to rid the middle/high schools of school resource officers in an effort to save money. Readers will recall school board members Amos Quick and Deena Hayes are already on record opposing SROs in your schools.

Today's N&R:

Commissioner Bruce Davis questioned the continued use of law enforcement officers on school campuses. Officials estimated each school resource officer, or SRO, costs about $90,000 per year, covering salary, benefits, and equipment including a police car. The state pays about $38,000 for each officer it allots but Gov. Bev Perdue’s proposed budget calls for a $4,537 reduction in that payment.

Davis suggested looking into hiring a private security firm for the job. School board Chairman Alan Duncan said his board is reviewing that item but noted that bidding the jobs out could have an adverse effect on the sheriff’s office budget, not to mention the public outcry.

“You will hear a very loud voice from your parents and community on this,” Duncan said.

“We’re not talking about cutting SROs,” Davis said. “We’re talking about replacing them with other professionals.”

I can't wait for this fight.

Oh, incidentally...an SRO was instrumental in capturing two former Grimsley High School students in a case of vandalism and burglary at the school. Via N&R.

E.C. :)

NCAE Teacher Survey

...via NCAE

Dear NC Teachers,

Several years ago, staff at the NC Department of Public Instruction asked teachers to help us determine how we could adjust policy and/or pay in a way that would benefit the profession. We are always interested in identifying and recommending changes that could improve the teaching profession and again would like your feedback.

We have partnered with graduate students in the public policy program at Duke University to prepare a new survey to help us in this effort to boost the teaching profession. Please take five minutes to complete this survey and give us your feedback. Our goal is to use the results to improve policy and pay in ways that will benefit the teaching profession for many years to come.

Thank you for your participation. Because we are doing this late in the school year, it would be helpful if you could complete the survey by April 15. Here is the link to the survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=0s_2fd5WAMzKoelBCApHPuvw_3d_3d

If you have any questions or if you need assistance, please contact my office at (919) 807-3600. Thank you again for helping us to better address the needs of teachers related to employment/pay polices.

Sincerely,

Philip Price

Chief Financial Officer

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

********************************

E.C. :)

Next year's calendar approved...and posted

Your Board of Education approved the long-awaited 2009-10 academic calendar. And GCS wants you to know that since this is a revised calendar (as a result of the firestorm that occurred following the late snowdays GCS had last month), these are the new "features" of the new calendar:

• Keeps all snow or make-up days within the June 10 deadline

• Creates more equity in terms of instructional days between the first and second semester

• Shortens winter break

• Moves more snow or make-up days to the second semester to accommodate typical weather patterns

The 2009-10 Calendars can be found here. Separate links are listed below:

2009-10 Academic Calendar: pdf

2009-10 Brooks Global Studies/Johnson Street Global Studies pdf

2009-10 GCS Middle Colleges/The Academy at Smith: pdf

2009-10 GCS Year-round: pdf

2009-10 Greensboro College Middle College: pdf

2009-10 The Early College at Guilford: pdf

2009-10 Washington Montessori Extended Year: pdf

E.C. :)

GCS opens online Employee Support Center

Ran into this while surfing this morning...Guilford County Schools has a new Employee Support Center for displaced (and soon to be displaced) employees. It can be found here.

Included are updates, links to an employee guide to benefits, job-transition resources, vital phone numbers, and other info.

E.C. :)

Bleak outlook for GCS

Last night's School Board meeting could've easily been an on-air promo for the area's private schools.

Folks, things are bad downtown at GCS, and we'd better wake up and smell reality...and it stinks. (complete coverage via N&R)

My thoughts on GCS Supt. Mo Green's half-a-billion dollar budget:

1. Massive layoffs are on the way. The number is over 100. N&R points to 108. Library assistants, technology teachers, testing coordinators, ESL teachers are on the chopping block. That number may increase when area principals complete their budgets in the coming days.

Board member Darlene Garrett:

Board member Darlene Garrett said she is worried that cutting technology teachers who help prepare eighth-grade students for a state-required computer test will result in more students failing the test. Green is proposing cutting the teaching positions from 14 to five.

“This is a hard test, a really hard test. How are we going to do it with only five (teachers)?” Garrett said. “I just don’t see how it’s going to happen.”

And let me say this...with the pending layoffs, I appreciate Board member Paul Daniels' sentiments (and Garth Hebert) that this conversation cannot be conducted in secret. We're not dealing with numbers on a piece of paper...we're dealing with lives. Family members who bring home a paycheck. Let's remember that, GCS.

2. Regional reorganization...regional superintendents were named yesterday, although I don't think now is the right time to be planning a major effort such as this. I support the reorganization effort in theory, but when you're talking about firing teachers but hiring big-salary administrators, I have a massive problem with that. Now is not the time to be doing this.

3. SROs on the chopping block...Let's be real: Board member Amos Quick has always had a problem with school resource officers in our middle and high schools and wants to explore how much money will be saved if they disappear. So it is no surprise that he may be using this pullback in the economy to attempt to pull our SROs out of the schools, an idea once described by Guilford County Sheriff B.J. Barnes as "dead on arrival."

N&R:

Board member Amos Quick suggested reviewing how much the system pays for police officers on school campuses.

“We have to, in my opinion, to look at that as a viable option,” Quick said. He praised the work of the officers but noted they are not required by law.

4. Increasing class sizes, raising prices on school lunches, tacking on new fees for ACES are all in play.

What's asinine is that this budget is based on Gov. Perdue's budget, which is currently being sliced and diced in the General Assembly. The State Senate wants to cut even more.

We'd better watch this budget process very very carefully. Trickery is in play and our kids will be the ones to get hurt.

E.C. :)

GCS BOE agenda for 4/7/09

Click here for the GCS Board meeting agenda for 4/7/09. Wonder if the subject of "secrecy" will come up? Wonder if Garth will have any updates on the budget numbers or the layoff numbers?

E.C. :)

Harrison has concerns over state senate budget

Statement of Dr. Bill Harrison, State Board of Education Chairman and
CEO (via DPI):

“I have major concerns that the Senate’s budget would invest $300
million less than the Governor’s K-12 public schools budget.
Eliminating 6,200 teachers, forcing children into larger classes, and
limiting the ability of public schools to provide needed services is the
wrong direction for North Carolina.”

• The Senate budget would eliminate 6,200 teaching positions. The
kindergarten class size average would be as high as 23 students, with
individual class size averages up to 26. At the high school level,
individual classes could have 31-34 students each.
• The Senate budget would cut $630 million, or 7 percent, from public
schools and the Department of Public Instruction.
• The cuts to school systems also would include a $60 million cut to
capital funds designed to support school buildings.
• The Senate budget would eliminate 300 of the 475 state-funded
positions at the Department of Public Instruction.
Budget cuts of this magnitude will make it difficult to adequately
administer the federal recovery funds being sent to North Carolina. The
bulk of these funds are earmarked for public schools.

**************************
E.C. :)

Dutch company recommended for bond management projects?

I'm not happy about this one either...kudos to FOX-8 for reporting this:



E.C. :)

Board member Hebert demanding answers on pending layoffs

I'm sorry, I thought the Ghost of Grier was a myth. Because apparently, his lieutenants still seem to be calling the shots with secrecy.

The secrecy must end at GCS.



E.C. :)

Confirmed: teachers on the chopping block

Northeast Guilford H.S. (shown at left) will have to cut an unknown number of staff, teachers included. And this process is being repeated at schools countywide.

News & Record reports principals are asking staff planning to quit or retire at the end of this academic year to come forward now.

N&R:

Last week, Guilford Schools Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green announced he would withhold half, or $6 million, of per-student funding from schools. Typically about 25 percent is withheld. Principals use that money for everything from supplies to field trips, but some use that money to hire additional teachers.

The withheld money, plus lowered student enrollment projections, has some principals preparing for more cuts. Northeast High School principal Anitra Walker sent an e-mail to her faculty Tuesday night asking anyone who might retire or quit to come forward now rather than later. Walker said she is hoping she can absorb some cuts through attrition. Walker did not say how many teacher cuts she will need to make.

Principals are scheduled to turn in budgets by April 10.

**************************
And that not only has you talking, it also has Board member Garth Hebert just a little steamed.

Hebert (via the Chalkboard):

Look at my older posts, we can blame it on the principals, it’s their fault that people are losing their jobs, not the administration or the School Board. Who is in charge, who is responsible, certainly not the Board or Mo. Will someone find me a spine I can use, maybe a few hundred jobs can be spared if I only had a spine. Has no one figured out yet how many employees we will lose this way? What I want to know, why are Principals being forced to cut staff without any Board input or discussion? What Board Members were informed of this policy of stealth staffing reductions? There might be a way to prevent this or do it better, alas the Board will be informed of what the Board has decided to do by staff when they feel it is too late for the Board to object.

If only 3 employees are lost at each school, 300 people will lose their jobs! When principals are told they can only use 50% of their discretionary staffing funds then they are precluded from hiring desperately needed resources. The great thing is we are suggesting ONLY 90 to the Press. By the time all other factors are considered, 400 to 500 positions may be in jeopardy. But then again I’m just a CPA dumb enough to be on this ship. Thank goodness the rest of the Board knows and trusts staff better than I do.

I believe that we could reshuffle the deck, opt to forgo weighted student allocations for 2 years and utilize Federal Title 1 grants to effectively increase funding at impacted schools and preserve already overcrowded classrooms throughout the district. Just a naïve attempt to look at the problem better. Maybe if there was teamwork we could solve this problem.

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Naivety aside, I have some problems with this...one, the discussion itself. Did you catch this from the article:

Green is expected to present his budget proposal to the school board April 7. Board members are scheduled to meet with Green behind closed doors Friday and Monday to discuss the budget.

As long as five or fewer board members attend the meeting — and the meeting is only for information — the meeting is not required to be open to the public.

Something like this affecting this many staff countywide needs to be held in open session, I think all sunshine laws apply here. Matter of fact, I think this needs to be dealt with in an emergency meeting, preferably during the day, not at 11pm at the end of a Board meeting in May. We're talking about teachers who care for your children (and mine) during the day. These are livelihoods. These aren't numbers on a piece of paper.

Next, and I'm going on a limb here...it may be time for the Superintendent to put this strategic plan on hold. Now is NOT the right time to be hiring administrators. In fact, we have WAY TOO MANY as it is. Shave off about 10 administrators, there's your cost savings. Shave off 20 more, and the savings grow even more. I've always wondered if it took these many administrators to run a school system? Or these many PR professionals to write a press release? You have a number of laid-off journalists and PR pros (ahem...ahem) who can do the job, on contract, at a fraction of the cost. GCS is not being creative at all.

Stay tuned, because this is likely to get ugly...

E.C. :)