Someone Falls Short

In the discussion of tying teacher tenure and salary to student's test scores and overall achievement something has been constantly overlooked. No matter how unpopular the concept is, teachers are NOT the only ones directly responsible for student achievement.

Boards of Education, Superintendents, Principals, Coordinators, Supervisors, Financial Planners, Parent/Teacher Organizations, Accountants and everybody else fails everytime a child does.

So get it straight America.
Everytime a parent is unresponsive when a child needs homework help
someone falls short.
Everytime a teacher is unresponsive to the needs of individual children or their parents
someone falls short.
Everytime a principal is unresponsive to the needs of a teacher
someone falls short.
Everytime a Superintendent is unresponsive to a capable & dedicated principal
someone falls short.
Everytime a Board of Education is unresponsive to the needs of a
diligent and conscientious Superintendent
someone falls short.
Everytime a State Board of Education is unresponsive to the fact that school districts ignore their reports,
someone falls short.

To The Man Who Wants Governor Christie to run for President

Dear Jim Yardley,
You are very charming and I admire you from afar.

You embody the essence of the sensitive, strong,
Square faced men like Clint Walker and John Wayne
Whom I watched on television in my youth.
I dreamed of meeting a thoroughly likeable and heroic guy like you.

"How are the children"

Then I turned my fairy tale page and realized that you were not real.

You present a very convincing argument as to why we must continue to make a painful sacrifice

And support the man you describe in President Barak Obama.

Thank you.

Your words inspired in me a dynamic resolve to do whatever I can

to keep that charismatic young leader in the same White House as Thomas Jefferson.

He is only just beginning.

The fairy tale is over.

Perhaps the resolution will allow you to maintain your delusions of grandeur.

Good luck to you.

Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for reminding me to do my best.

                                        Smell a flower

Are Young Men & Women Being Inadvertently Groomed for the E.A.G.L.E School?

Adults must take care that they do not appear hypocritical when dealing with the subject of bullying. Much of adult behavior that has been in the press & media lately may be interpreted as bullying. For instance, our President was recently bullied into showing his birth certificate.

What is it called when a "homeless person" is arrested for sending her child to school out of district? If you are homeless, you have no district. Talk about transparency.  What is it called when you push a person around who cannot or will not fight for themselves?

Teachers and working class people all over this country are being bullied. Micromanagers in corporations and smaller businesses are indulging in behavior that may be compared to bullying. It is systemic in our society, corporations and school districts.  When a competent and conscientious worker on any level is constantly stressed about whether he/she will have a job tomorrow, there is evidence of bullying. 

Teachers must be careful when doling out punishments that the punishment fits the crime or infraction. For example, how long should a student be removed from the learning environment when the infraction was “tapping on a desk”?

Children emulate the behavior around them. We must all look within and take our own advice. The Golden rule applies to everyone. We must be ever mindful that our actions are not saying, "do as we say, not as we do." Is it really such a mystery as to why our youth are beginning to rely more and more on bullying behavior in order to get their wants and points across to each other?

Our NeighborHood is Strong: We must Grow our own High Achievers!

It has been suggested that we should have as a goal to bring back those who have deserted our troubled public schools. The idea is that we will work hard on improving ourselves so they will want to return to town and committ themselves to learning in their own community with the rest of us.

We worry ourselves over the 23 new Charter Schools in NJ.

If you visit the NJ State Department of Education website you will note that we are basically encouraged to open a Charter. Why? Divide and conquer is not a new concept to us. There is one reality that may have slipped our notice. To quote from a letter to the editor in the Suburbanite, "Charter Schools are simply private schools funded by public money."  The taxpaying public pays for Charter Schools. Who governs them in NJ? In some states, it is the local board of educaiton.  Take the highest scoring students from a district and put them in a Charter School and notice higher test scores. Abra Kadabra! Where is the hidden magic? Of course the test scores will be  higher. Anyone can teach those students. Something is at work here that has nothing to do with children. Look deeply and learn. Some athletes leave the public schools, because low achieving athletes are showing them up on the football field, on the basketball court and the list goes on. Face it, many times the great athletes are not the best students. Start earlier in the life of the athlete. Make sure he/she learns to READ and WRITE IN ENGLISH. THE TESTS THAT THESE ATHLETES AND OTHERS DO POORLY ON ARE ADMINISTERED IN ENGLISH, NOT MANDARIN AND NOT SPANISH.

Use the links here. Read and stay informed on what our Governor and his cohorts are doing to public education. This did not just begin. It is a plan that has been gestating in the womb of deception for quite a while now. We do not need anymore surprises.

 (Will Charters always be free for students?)

How did we allow this to happen? When did we go back in time? Did we not pass this way before?

This is the most perfect example of how history may teach us some very valuable lessons. When my home county of Warren, North Carolina was integrated circa 1968-69, after I left, little Christian Schools sprang up all over the place. Did we just learn that these little schools now have the support of the NJ Department of Education?  I say forget about Charter Schools. We have a lot of work to do in our own backyards. Make sure our boards of educations are knowlegeable. Our attention must be turned within. 

We must concentrate our energies on the students in front of us? When we consider this, grow your own takes on a whole new meaning. Start  in nursery school. Start at home. We have few choices left. Do we want a college education to become something available to only the rich? Public schools have the hardest job, because they embrace all students. This is the RIGHT thing to do. We must turn our weaknesses into strengths and rededicate ourselves to growing our own high achieving students, teachers, principals, even boards of educations. A good artist uses whatever medium available. So let's get going my people. It is time to stomp the yard to the rhythm of some found sounds. We have all the tools we need to grow our own. All we need do is keep our hearts and our options open for change. Roll up your  sleeves NJ residents. We have only begun to realize that the battle started while we were napping.

We must stop thinking the negative about our own neighborhood schools. Somewhere down the line we lost our way. It is not too late. We still have control. Our children recognize our confusion and our apathy. We need more faith in the strength and resilience of our own characters. We must become better models. There are many positive things going on in our communities.

On Saturday, March 19, 2011 we watched a line of young ladies grades 6 and up proudly dressed in their red and white accept awards at a Delta Luncheon. They were well dressed, well spoken and well on their way to preparing themselves for a college education. We must not cease having high expectations for our children.

On my honor, I will do better. Will you make the same committment?

"It takes a village to raise and educate a child. Welcome to the village."

"The Dreamer Cometh!"

..."Tell a man he is unworthy of the ideal he has built into his life; he has still something to live for. He may yet strive! But God pity that one who has persuaded himself that his dream is false! The ideal must be true and eternal. It can never be shattered. We may forget it; we may barter away for dross that which is priceless, but whatever our weakness, the Dream is true. Let the cynic scornfully say, "The Dreamer cometh!" With the sobered confidence of youth. with all the humility of manhood we can answer in the very words of cynicism, 'We shall see what will come of his dreams.'"

Excerpt from Dwight Whitney Morrow's commencement speech at Amherst College June 26, 1895