Sunday, July 12, 2009
Board Meeting
This is a reminder that the next School Board meeting is this Monday, July 13th, at 6:00 p.m., in the meeting room on the second floor of the Iredell County Government Center on Center Street. Everyone is urged to attend and please remember that we said that since our mission is to work for the freedom for our teachers and children we would wear red, white, and blue since these are the colors of our flag. You can wear an armband, a shirt, a scarf, or whatever. Just show some red, white and blue.
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Newsflash - This is a community rumor. It may only be as good as the evening news these days. The word is that Holliday will resign tonight at the board meeting. The work of all these people will continue as much as before if this becomes fact. There will be at least two important questions (among others) that loom if this rumor becomes truth. Who will be the next superintendent? Remember, the central office is full of Holliday hires and Baldrige affiliated people. And, what will happen to Baldrige? No matter, the work of the good people of this community must continue and become even stronger.
ReplyDeleteAnother news flash- I AM a Holliday hire, and whatever happens with Holliday happens. I was, am, and will continue to be dedicated to the students and staff of Iredell-Statesville Schools. I am sick and tired of a group of individuals assuming that because I had the misfortune of being hired by a certain person that I, too, must subscribe to the same selfish school of thought. Enough of the ridiculous over-generalizations. Either get to know each of us personally or shut up. By the way- there actually is one or two of the so-called "Baldrige affiliated people" who are also committed to children. These individuals aren't nearly as deeply entrenched in the "Baldrige-ease" as many people believe them to be. Educate yourselves already instead of making stupid assumptions and inaccurate stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteGreetings July 13, 8:49PM - I must ask that you make the effort to be respectful on this site and stop telling people to shut up. You should understand that this type of comment reminds people (teachers and the public) how they may have been treated by the SYSTEM or an individual school, principal, teacher, etc. with their personal situation within I-S schools. I imagine freedom of speech will reign on this site and that your comment will probably not be removed (unlike the SR&L). You must understand that many see the evil side of politics being advocated for someones personal gain. I am sorry that you are sick and tired of the generalizations that are made in reaction to the blogs and comments. However, people are entitled to their opinion and say. Many of the citizens or stakeholders of this community may also be sick and tired of the overall school system being generalized for someone's ulterior motivation and goal. I do not doubt that many of the Holliday hires, including Holliday himself, have the best interest of students in mind. However, we may not always be in agreement with the method. Regarding getting to know each and everyone personally: it has been difficult to get to know each one of the new hires at central office personally when I-SS and the SR&L did not even make the effort to notify the public of the changes. It was once a common practice of the local paper to make the public aware of major central office retirements or new hires. It has also been difficult to get to know some of the new people when in the course of seven years we know of people being escorted or removed from their job site since they were deemed to be an enemy of the school system snd not "with the program". I am sorry that your self-esteem is so poor that you cannot separate yourself from the criticisms that people may have. Regarding your statement of educating and stupid assumptions: people have been educating themselves and quite frankly, we (or at least I) am of not happy with you calling the people who have an opportunity to express themselves as "stupid". I don't know how long you have worked in this system, but the people of this community have a variety of experiences to share. And it is unfortunate that some of these experiences have not been positive.
ReplyDeleteThis is addressed to the "Holliday hire" as well as faithful readers of this blog:
ReplyDeleteTeachers are among the busiest people I have ever encountered. They do not have time to come to the central office to "get to know" administrators that are new to the system. Have you made an effort to visit schools and let teachers get to know you? Have you attempted to build brideges of trust between you and school personnel? How are teachers supposed to trust ANY central office administrator when we know from past experience that anything said to anyone working as a Holliday administrator runs to him immediately to tell him what this teacher or that teacher said about him and his administration? Teachers have learned not to trust Holliday and his administrators. I know of no teachers who will take him at his word. Why? He often does not keep his word; he throws temper tantrums; he is unprofessional when dealing with individuals.
You may not be a staunch supporter of Baldrige. But teachers cannot tell the players without a score card. Until you prove that you are different from the other Holliday cronies and have shown that you can understand a point of view different from Baldrige, you will continue to be lumped with the rest of the Baldrige Bunch. I invite you to get to know the terrific teachers in this system and let them get to know you.
To the person who asked us to shut up and quit making generalizations, I think you prove the point that has been trying to be made. Working in the school system myself, I know that teachers and adminisrators have been threatened with their jobs if they don't get on the Baldridge bandwagon. It's sad that Holliday has so much control that people who don't agree with him must "play the game" in order to keep their jobs and people aren't allowed to see who they really are. America is a place where we should be free to express our views and the present adminisration does not allow that. Unfortuntately, I have seen good teachers and administrators sell themselves out to hold on to their jobs. It's too bad, because I believe these people really care about the students of ISS. We have been put in a position that if we want our jobs, we conform to Holliday. Yes, he is the boss, but we still should be allowed to respectfully disagree and make choices for our classrooms that help our kids. Who knows the students better than the person who spend 180 days with them? I know what my sudents need because I've taken the time to get to know them. Data can't tell me that!!
ReplyDeleteThis used to be a free, democratic country, but not in ISS. It is run by fear and distrust.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who says "shut up" is rude but it is their right. Creativity and differentiation are very hard to do when everyone is supposed to teach exactly the same. We are all teaching the same curriculum but some do it in a more creative way. We are not clones and that is what makes the world great.
Our students are different, and change every year. Teachers change with their students. Teachers access and know what their students can do, and expect more of their students than anyone could imagine. We do not need someone always telling us what to do. We are college graduates and more. Treat us like professionals and earn our trust. We are not too different, if we all want what is best for our students. Too much testing does not come under hands-on learning , co-operative groups or
continuous learning.
Meetings with an IF every week does not help learning but hinders it. Teachers need to be free to meet with their grade levels by themselves. We can do our own agenda. If the principal or assistant principal meets with us , we are happy. We do not need the same old stuff at every meeting over and over again. We are told as teachers not to lecture, but that is what we get the majority of the time at any meeting. It seems the rule is do as I say, but not do as I do. It is time to let go of Baldridge and keep what is good, and throw away the excess baggage that does hold back continuous improvement. Our students will always be the most important issue that teachers will have. On to higher scores without Dr. Holliday.