Doug, what are you talking about? I've heard lots of confusing discussion on the List as to what's happening and who's to blame, but I sure don't remember any suggestions that the school board wants to re-segregate our schools.
My understanding of the discussion is that the layoffs in the district will require much reshuffling of teachers, as senior teachers bump lesser-tenured teachers into different schools and disciplines, which will cause many more changes than the initial 600 layoffs. And it is my understanding that this is mostly due to union rules, so I don't understand why people blame the school board for that.
Liz:
I ditto what Mark Anderson said. I see this as a big union issue and is of great concern to our family. My daughter, for example, goes to the magnet school Seward Montessori. Teachers need specific certified training (offered at St. Catherine's) to teach in this method. The students are in mixed grade levels and go at their own, however very guided, pace. Her teacher is phenominal and has worked wonders for my gifted, but "spirited" and socially challenging child. She will be going into her third year with this teacher and many parents are very concerned that we will loose her, and a number of other significant teachers who have become anchors for these three-year classrooms. This teacher is tenured.
So, what happens when she is laid off?? The school district moves another more tenured and uncertified teacher into her classroom, who knows nothing about Montessori. This ends up being totally disruptive to these students, where they are forced to be taught in a more systematic traditional way than expected. It ends up being a loose/loose situation for everyone. The teacher did not choose to be put in this position, the school only wants trained Montessori teachers, and the children suffer. This past school year they were finally able to get rid of a teacher in the middle of the year because of the disasterous outcome. The reason I chose this magnet school was because I knew my daughter would not do well in a traditional setting, and has thrived in this environment. Given these situations, why should our students be the ones to suffer most? The schools exist for the purpose of educating our children to the best of their ability - don't they???
Meanwhile, Seward Montessori is working with St. Catherine's University to make this a degree and not just a certification so that these teachers are recognized with very specific skills, but this process takes some time. We have started a letter writing campaign from parents at our school, also asking that the teachers' union and school board change their policies before this disruption happens next fall. I'm sure Montessori is not alone and that there are other programs having different needs that don't fit the norm, when teachers are placed in schools that are both a bad fit for them and the students. And they wonder why so many parents give up and take their kids out of the public school system. I hope the powers that be are reading this, and are thinking very hard about finding ways to work with issues that DIRECTLY effect the numerous STUDENTS in the district - and work very hard avoid failures and even harder to keep the successes that we now have in the schools. I personally hope, as does my daughter, that this school's (and this classroom's) success is not compromized...
Liz Greenbaum holding my breath in Longfellow
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