Friday, July 31, 2009
Committee of the Whole Meeting
The starting time for the Monday's Committee of the Whole Meeting has been changed. The meeting is now scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in the ADR Education Center. As I mentioned in a previous post, I encourage all concerned citizens to attend this meeting. Don't worry about wearing red, white, and blue, but please take the time to show the School Board that we want all I-SS teachers to be free to use any educational method that enables students to excel.
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I think it is now time for the citizens, parents, teachers, and other staff members to be seen and heard, not printed. For the readers of this blog, have you noticed the percentage of comments that are anonymous? I think we know the reasons. It is the fear and intimidation that we have experienced the last seven years.
ReplyDeleteNow is the time to be seen. The timing is right. This weekend I encourage you to communicate with the community via church, email, phone calls, etc. to attend the Committee of the Whole Meeting.
It is now time for the community to enter as Dr. Holliday makes his exit. Let it begin today. Please respond to this comment regarding your attitude to the above. Let the readers of this blog know what you think!
There is still fear. You still have Baldridge employees left at the Central office.
ReplyDeleteI think part of the reason that posts are anonymous is that people don't have the backbone and energy to take the criticizm that results from trying to do what is right.
ReplyDeleteMost of those who agree with what is right are good people that don't like problems and conflict. Let's face it, we all have bills, family issues, schedules with other activities, groups we belong to and many other things that sap our time. The days are too short and the weeks / months fly by. What incentive is there to take a verbal beating for trying to make change in the school system? ISS is only a part of our lives and many of us are counting the days when our kids will be out of the system.
On the other hand many of those that dissagree with what is right are mean and vindictive. They love to fight and they love to "win" regardless of right or wrong and the effect that the outcome has on others. Fortunately when they try to fight a battle without ammunition they will lose if you keep the battle going. Hatefulness and intimidation are all they really have. You can't win with that individual, but when you present the facts to the public they quickly back down and cooperate with the needed change.
I think another issue is that people don't have the know how to address the system. They are intimidated by it. The ISS system is an example of a setup designed to protect itself and it's agenda. The odds are against the average person when they try question policy or school employee conduct.
Hopefully that is about to change, but it won't happen by chance. As the above post stated, now is the time. ISS is only a part of our busy lives, but it is a major part of our children's lives.
Most importantly, our children hear us complain about what is wrong and then see us do nothing about it. We are teaching them to allow wrongdoing to continue (All it takes for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing).
Even worse, the issues we have is with the manner in which the school system treats our kids. By not addressing those issues we are telling our children that they are not a priority in our lives.
I have dedicated alot of time over the years addressing issues and have spent most of the morning on here posting thoughts. I believe that positive change has been brought about over the years from those that have been willing to fight battles to do so. However, change could come easier and in greater amounts if the teachers, parents, students and administration bring their concerns to the table in a large scale public setting.
It is all a matter of priorities.
Thank you. One must stand up for what is right ,even though you may be the only one standing.
ReplyDeleteBoy, this is interesting from another website edweek.org. I wonder who paid for all those "workshops". And just notice the arrogance of "have to laugh at myself".
ReplyDeleteChange
Of all the workshops I have attended and all the workshops I have presented on change management, the truth is it does not really matter until it matters. In other words, until you live through significant change in your career, family or personal life you may not really understand change.
A significant book that my wife gave me on Valentine's Day in 2007 was Change or Die by Alan Deutschman. Alan talks about heart by pass patients and studies that have been completed by many hospitals and research clinics. Heart by pass patients who know they must change the stress in the life, exercise more, and change eating habits do typically make change for a few months, however, after two years less than 1 out of 9 by pass patients have continued with changes in their stress, exercise or eating habits. If we cannot get heart by pass patients to change when they know that they will die if they do not, then how can we possibly expect principals or teachers to create the changes we need in public education to help their "patients" succeed in learning.
Well, change has recently come to my professional life and in a big way. Starting August 5, I will assume the role of Commissioner of Education for Kentucky. I can't help but laugh at myself a little. I can remember as a teacher thinking I should become a school administrator because surely anyone could do better. Then as principal I said that I should become a superintendent because surely anyone could do better.Then I said surely a state system could be run better and now.... In every case, I found that you really do not understand a situation and the change that is needed until it really matters. Until you are really in the position, you have no real idea of the challenges and barriers that every level of education faces. In other words don't judge someone or the job they do until you have walked in their shoes.
My future postings will probably relate the state level leadership experiences. Kentucky is in a very exciting position with regard to education reform. Kentucky led the nation in reform during the '90's and during the last legislative session a major education reform law was passed. Couple that with Race to the Top, the next few years will be very exciting in Kentucky and I look forward to sharing some of the story with readers.
Terry Holliday
Dr. Holliday,
ReplyDeleteTeachers have changed continually with the administrations that have come and gone. In 32 years I have seen lots of changes. One thing that stands out is ,there are always new ways to invent the wheel. The main thing that has not changed, human beings. Students will always need a person to stand up for them and be there, and for many it is not the parent, but some teacher.
Perhaps you haven't been in the classroom in a long time. You did not see the eyes of students who knew that they were the cause of a class not celebrating their PDSA. Many students, because of learning disabilities or language barriers, still knew whose fault it was. A PDSA does not determine the feelings that a child knows after several failures. If a child is told that we learn from our mistakes , not the data you represent ,than he or she works hard to become what he or she can be in the future. It is the sincereity of the teacher that lets you know you can be whatever you want to be. A PDSA on the wall does not encourage that ,but it does hamper and it does cause some students to consider that he or she is a failure. A PDSA should be done for each child, not the whole classroom. Each student can decide what he or she needs to work on. Then the student and teacher can work and conference together, and then set up the strategies needed. This child is comfortable with his or her mistakes knowing he or she is working on improving it. The class can celebrate each and every student when he or she improves and noone feels like a failure.
K-2 students need many celebrations ,and we will continue to have them.
Many programs come and go, and the things that really worked are kept, because it worked for student progress and learning. It was just like my father said "It has been done many times before,but it just keeps reinventing itsself."
Education is like that. It has much history.
Many ISS teachers have adapted or continued to change with the tide , or they are no longer in a classroom. Those have gone on to bigger and better things. The classroom teacher always has a vision for his or her students to be the best in all that they do. I see our teachers daily ,and they work many hours and give much of their lives to teaching. They do not appreciate being talked down to, and this happened when you empowered the IF. Those meetings were never for us . It was just to discuss an agenda that added more work to our already busy classroom schedules. No help was offered, but I tell you our teachers stayed late and gave all their time to get everything done that was requested and turned it in on time. We produced . Our students grew but not because of PDSAs but because they had teachers who still taught and cared whether their students learned.
So I wish you a great journey to Kentucky. I also hope you learn from your own mistakes.
So ,I prepare again to change with the next administration because this will be my last. I hope it is a student oriented group, because we still have so much room to grow and improve as students and teachers. If our classroom teachers really get empowered and have our own PLCs, we are going to reach to even higher heights in education, and you will still be reading about ISS. Good Luck!! Dr. Holliday. Thanks for the good times and some of the bad.
Tomorrow night at the Committee of the Whole meeting all involved in the education of the children of Iredell County have an opportunity to show how much they really care with their attendance. Carpool with friends since parking is always an issue at ADR. Search within for the strength to sit at that meeting and look every administrator and board of education member in the eye. When you look into the faces of your new students on August 25 you will know why it was important. And the board of education of Iredell County will understand the voice of the people will not be silent anymore.
ReplyDeleteThere may still be Holliday Baldrige hires at the CO. But we should no longer be intimidated. There is tremendous power in numbers and our resources are just beginning to grow. Be there at ADR. Do not lie down and allow yourself to be run over and overwhelmed.
ReplyDeleteTo Dr. Holliday,
ReplyDeleteI am beginning my 30th year as an educator . I am no longer an employee of ISS. I resigned last year due to lack of respect for you. I could no longer work for someone I could not respect. It was a hard decision for me to make, as I have devoted my life to the education of children with special needs, giving ISS over 20 years of my love, devotion, and commitment. In my classroom, children came first. You fought me on this issue, either directly or indirectly. I have reason to believe your policies were forced. That kept many educators from focusing on the children, so, I made the decision to move to a school where I could do what God ordained me to do. I also watched a lot of my associates and friends take jobs in other counties to get away from your dictatorship. You blew into town with a hidden agenda. You destroyed careers. You stressed families, disrupted lives and interfered with the workings of a small town community. What you don’t realize is, we, the citizens, students, parents, educators, and community leaders will survive. We are stronger than you. We will bounce back.
And we will attend the Committee of the Whole to show the BOE and our interim superintendent that we do CARE and we are EMPOWERED to teach the children of our county without fear of intimidation or retaliation. Every parent of a student in ISS could make a difference by showing their support and standing behind the teachers who have made a difference in the lives of their children. Teachers call parents tonight and ask them to attend tomorrow's meeting at ADR. Parents call teachers and ask them to attend with you. The DATA WILL SHOW WE CARE ABOUT OUR STUDENTS AND OUR SCHOOLS!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI also am an educator. Although I am retired from public education I am and always will be an educator. I teach my preschools at church each Sunday. I teach my granddaughter each and every day. What I teach them first and for most is that they are important and that they can learn. I encourage their love of learning by giving them the opportunity to explore and discover the world. We talk and interact with each other. These are the things that improve education, not PDSA's or Plus/Deltas, issue bins, or data charts on a wall. I retired 3 years early because I could no longer teach. The system not interested in how I taught or how much growth my students had made during the year. They were only interested in knowing that my students at a low performing school were on the same level as students in the southern end of the county. It didn't matter to anyone that my students entered school on a much lower level than their peers at other schools. They were never given the time needed to catch up with them. I resisted labeling my students as delayed by the middle of the first 9 weeks of school. I was tired of having administrators with 5 or 6 years experience in grade levels different from mine in Kindergarten come into my classroom and act like they knew much more about educating them than I did. I tired of trying to express my point of view with data to prove it, just to have it cut down. It was always your way or the highway. That is why I fight today. For my friends who are still in education. Who go home at night and cry because they see the flaws in the system but have no power to fight it. Who cry because they have to go back to work the next day and face the same barriers to learning. I will be at the COW meeting and at the board meeting. I will continue to speak out and to tell everyone that I meet that if they want change, they have to be willing to step out in faith and make change.
ReplyDeleteOur parents are the ones that our BOE listens to, not teachers. They have ignored far too many e-mails from many teachers. Several of my own phone calls have not been returned. We have had new principals who yell at their teachers and staff. This is not being a professional business employee. No one should yell at any employee ever, but it has been allowed. I hope the BOE gets out into the schools.
ReplyDeleteMost on the BOE haven't been listening to parents either. They are of the opinion that they don't represent the public or public opinion.
ReplyDeleteAs for bad treatment of teachers, documentaion is the key to everything. Document the date, time, place and any witnesses. Digital tape recorders are inexpensive and very clear to understand.
The BOE is not going to go into the schools. You are on your own.
Larry
ReplyDeleteWhere were you? We were there. See you next time.
I have two different groups at which I volunteer my time as a leader every Monday night. They are both for my kids. I'm not about to pass that up to stand silently in a BOE meeting just because I can legally do so. Ya'll think that is a show of force? Wait, you wouldn't want a show of force, that might offend someone or appear to strong of a stand.
ReplyDeleteYou have all forgotten that we have been complaining to the administration, to the school board and to the R&L for years. What has changed because of that? It is time for new tactics.
The group has no leadership, no solidarity and no teeth. Last time ya'll attended a meeting Paul got ribbed because he was the only one who wore red white and blue.
Let me know when you really want to start a battle to take back our schools and I'll be there. The stuff that is going on now isn't going to matter if there are 3 people or 300 people.
As Clint Eastwood said in Heartbreak Ridge,
"With all due respect sir, you are beginning to bore me."
Outside of John Rogers the BOE considers this group to be nothing more than an irritant. They have proven that they are going to do what they are going to do.
By the way anonymous...you were there in person but you can't sign your name? Way to take a firm stand.
very well said Larry!
ReplyDelete