Survey Says!

In another example of how good ideas go bad, we submit the Wescott Jr. High Student Bullying/ Teasing Survey results.
Bullying was chosen this year as an issue to address, along with literacy, comprehensive school reform, building the new junior high school, dealing with the disruptive student and whatever else Bill and Melinda gates told us to do this year. But like many well-intentioned ideas this one has followed a well-worn path.
First, administrators tell you what is important (Bullying). Then they make you go to workshops where they pay a facilitator a bucket of money and provide you with coffee, pastry and a stipend. Then a committee of teachers is appointed to spearhead the efforts on this issue. If you're lucky, you get to be a facilitator yourself and you are paid more money. Sometimes, if the grant is really lax, you just have to fill in a sheet of paper with all kinds of imagined time you've supposedly put in on this project and you will be paid yet again, no questions asked.
So in September we were told that bullying was a top priority. Rubrics were developed, laminated and posted throughout the school. The first time you punched somebody in the head, you got a stern talking to. The second time you pushed a kid with a lisp you were told in no uncertain terms that your behavior was unacceptable and you'd better stop. Sometime after this you would be made to fill in a piece of paper where you admitted your wrongdoings and offered alternatives to your behavior next time you found yourself wanting to give a wedgie to the new kid.
Everyone was quite proud of themselves for getting on top of the bullying situation even though as the months went by the whole thing began to unravel and the vice-principal found it easier to just throw the miscreants in ISS for "the rest of the day".
But because this whole thing is funded by a grant, eventually you have to produce some scientific justification for cashing the check in the first place. That's where the survey comes in.
Now at first glance, I didn't think much about the numbers being presented but then I dug a little deeper and discovered these facts:

54% of students surveyed have NOT seen a decrease in bullying.
23% of students surveyed do not feel that the school is emotionally or physically safe.
38% of 8th Graders and 30% of 7th Graders feel that the school does NOT do a good job of reducing bullying.
65% of 8th Graders feel that bullying occurs frequently as do 53% of 7th Graders and 59% of 6th Graders.
So, as you can see by these numbers, even though we've thrown money at the problem, developed procedures, punished students and filled in the proper forms, the students still feel that bullys run the school. But hey, we tried and we've got the cheese danish to prove it.

Lend Me Your Ears

Ah, what a great week it's been. Recently, we were made aware of a certain Jay Bennish. He was a fifth-year teacher at Overland High School in Denver, Colorado and like many teachers he liked to pontificate about what he believed in front of students who had no choice but to listen. This time however, a student had tape rolling and now Mr. Bennish is polishing up his resume for an intern position with Ward Churchill.
If I had a nickel for every time I heard some impressionable 7th grader come up to me and regurgitate about how President Bush kills people and that we are in a war for oil I would have well over 25 cents by now.
And if I had a dollar for every time I've heard a teacher or ed tech say they wish someone would shoot the President, I'd be able to buy stock in Halliburton.
Look, everyone is entitled to their opinion, they just aren't entitled to force it on gullible kids who believe everything they hear.
The real funny thing is we have had a program in place here at Wescott for several weeks now to catch these weasels in the act. Students have snapped pictures of the ed tech's screensaver depicting Bush and Cheney as Beavis and Butthead, they have MP3 recorded a teacher stating that "anyone who voted for Bush is an idiot" and another teacher stating, "only murderers join the army." We don't have much yet but we're trying and we'll patiently wait for that magic statement which will show everyone exactly how mean-spirited, stupid and one-sided your average teacher is.

Release The Hounds!

From: Sharon Bernier
Sent: Mon 12/12/2005 9:19 AM
Subject: Student Absenteeism

I know we all believe that it is important for students to come to school on a regular basis. Most if not all of us who have been educators for any amount of time have been frustrated by students who are habitually truant.
The Westbrook administrators take very seriously our roles in supporting teachers’ needs to have students in attendance. We have therefore spent some time formalizing steps we will take towards that end.
Attached is a description of procedures, some which are current practice and others which are new, that we will immediately begin to implement to address truancy issues. While we know that we will not be able to solve every truancy problem, we are optimistic that we can make a difference. I am providing a copy of this document so that you will know about the efforts that we will be making to improve student achievement through improved attendance in applicable cases.

WESTBROOK SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

Student Absenteeism – Steps in the Intervention Process


Student’s name ______________________________________


Date

_______ Principal screens attendance records quarterly and flags students who have accumulated 7 or more days of unexcused absences.

_______ School meets with the family and undertakes informal efforts to remedy the problem.

_______ If the student is already in special education or on a 504 plan, the school refers a continuing problem with absenteeism to the Pupil Evaluation Team for a functional behavior assessment and a manifestation determination.

_______ When the student has reached 10 cumulative or 7 consecutive unexcused absences, the district attendance officer and superintendent are notified.

_______ The superintendent serves the parents with notice that school attendance is mandatory.

_______ If student is truant for 3 more days, the school committee and local law enforcement are notified.

_______ If the student is not in special education or on a 504 plan and the student’s absenteeism exceeds 45 school days, the school and parent meet to consider a referral to special education through the school’s Student Assistance Team process.

_______ The attendance coordinator checks to ensure that all previous steps have been followed and if so, schedules a meeting with the principal, parent, and student.

_______ If attendance does not improve, a meeting with the school committee is scheduled.

From Gnuteacher: At a recent conference it was explained again how punishment does not change behavior. I can tell you that currently, truant students are assigned to In School Suspension after they are picked up. These new policies do nothing to come to a deeper understanding of why students skip school. Without understanding the "WHY" there can be no real solution to the problem.

Yeah, I Got Your Investigation...Right Heah!

Last April, moments after being accused of a crime by the principal, I demanded an investigation into improprieties regarding the ISS room as it pertained to Special Education students.
Now here it is November 6th, and the superintendent just wrote me a letter asking me if I really wanted to pursue this "unfortunate circumstance". He also hoped that I'd stop going before the school committee with Wescott's dirty laundry.
This is the nature of public education. They claim that they can't fire bad teachers but they bust the chops of those that have the best interests of the students in mind. I was grilled by the school's attorney for over three hours last year and I hadn't even done anything! Imagine if I had violated the Constitutional rights of students instead. Wait, that's what they did. Well, at least I brought a sandwich to the inquisition so it wasn't a total loss.
Anyway, I'll be letting the superintendent know this week that hell yeah, I'm going through with this. These people have to learn that the rules apply even to them and must be followed especially when it concerns the students. Semper Fi!

I Attend a School Committee Meeting

I had some unfinished business with the Westbrook Public Schools and because of this fact, I was forced to endure two of the longest hours of my life last Wednesday. By the time the clock struck 9:00, I would have gladly paid someone to break my kneecaps with a baseball bat rather than spend one more second in that chamber of tedium. Never in my life have I witnessed so many people go into such excruciating detail regarding things only they care about. I'd thought the Portland School Committee meetings were tiresome but they are a Mardi Gras compared to the Westbrook School Committee.

But it wasn't all bad I have to admit. I learned a few salient facts:

1. The MEA will henceforth be known as the SAT starting April 1, 2006. This is good they say because now kids will have to take the test seriously if they want to go to college and for those that would rather not go to college....well, the taxpayers are footing the bill so why not get up early on a Saturday and give it your best shot. You might just get to go to M.I.T. instead of M.C.D.O.N.A.L.D.'S.

2. The bus drivers union has agreed to work part time in the cafeteria. The superintendent also feels that if they will do that then they could also wash his car on alternate Thursdays and perhaps read aloud Melville's "Billy Budd" to third graders at Congin.

3. Starting next year, three to five year old special needs students will be taken from developmental centers and brought into the public schools. It's hard to make a joke about that because it's not funny and it's such a blatant attempt to squeeze more money out of the "business" of special education.

4. Lastly, I learned never to ask the Director of Guidance, ""Wassup?" because he knows Powerpoint and isn't afraid to use it.

MEA Scores at Wescott Jr. High

Well, the numbers have been released by the state and it looks as if Wescott won't have to bus its kids to Falmouth this year. As you might not have known, Wescott Jr. High was on double secret probation for being an underperforming school for two years in a row. If we had failed for a third year, according to the No Child Left Behind law that teachers are always bitching about, then parents would have had the right to send their kids to a good school where they could learn how to pass a test. So two out of three ain't bad and we've got nowhere to go but up!


I've taken the liberty of creating some graphics to illustrate MEA test scores at Wescott for the past four years. The red dots represent the number of students passing the test each year and the blue dots represent the number of students failing.




You'll notice that most of the time there are more students failing the test. If you have any questions about the data used, you can go to http://www.maine.gov/education/mea/edmea.htm and confirm the numbers.

It's 10 pm, Do You Know Where Your Constitution Is?

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According to federal law, our schools are supposed to provide "programming" on the anniversary of the adoption of the US Constitution which took place on September 17, 1787.

Well, I waited and waited but I didn't see any cake although there was plenty of Domino's pizza in the teacher's lounge.

I'd also heard ill-defined rumors that two teachers were indeed going to "talk" about the Constitution but since one of them didn't believe the Constitution applied in schools and the other one enjoyed making students eat lunch in total silence, I didn't have much hope for any ground-breaking or trenchant analysis of our republic's founding document amongst staff and students.

So I took matters into my own hands.

I e-mailed my good friend US Senator Susan Collins and told her we had an emergency at Wescott Junior High and needed 200 copies of the Constitution STAT!

She was kind enough to send them to me FedEx.

I had a lot of fun handing them out to kids who looked at me as if I were giving them a dead puppy but when I explained to them they could actually use the damn thing, well that got their attention.

I suggested to them that the next time a teacher wanted to confiscate their cell phone and keep it until the end of the year, they should refer that teacher to Ammendments 4 and 5 and then use their cell phone to call the Maine chapter of the ACLU whose number is (207) 774-5444.

Constitutional rights rule, teachers drool!

Your Tax Dollars at Work

Each school year begins with what they call "Welcome Back Inservice Days". These are two days supposedly dedicated to meet and greets, pastries and coffee,
workshops and facilitating. But the reality is they are dedicated to teachers grumbling about how much work they have to do, administrators and facilitators apologizing for how boring and useless the workshops will be and the requisite giving of gifts to just about everyone involved.

So while I was sitting in the vast, dark auditorium at the high school watching the endless parade of teachers, educational technicians, bus drivers and cafeteria workers being given carnations, tote bags and gift certificates, I began to wonder just how much all this glad handing costs the average Westbrook taxpayer.

I called central office and was transferred to three different people who each told me they didn't know how much it all cost or where I could find the figures in the district's budget. No surprise there.

So I dug out my old slate and commenced cipherin'. Using the lowest numbers possible based on the available facts, this is what I figured...

500 attendees X $12/hr for 16 hours..$96,000
176 Carnations.......................$   176
Tote Bags............................$   750
Gift Certificates....................$   800
Barbeque.............................$ 1,500
Facilitators.........................$ 2,500
Printing costs ......................$ 1,000
Pastries and coffee at 7 schools.....$   400
                                     _______
Estimated total for the two days    $103,126

I believe that the whole thing cost a lot more than that but I can't prove it and neither can the Westbrook taxpayer. That's the problem.

Welcome Wescott Junior High School Staff, Students, Parents and Administration

Didn't think I'd be back did you?

Neither did I after being accused of a crime by the principal last year. I was also locked in the bathroom by fellow teachers, grilled by the school attorney and assistant superintendent for three hours and disregarded by administrators after requesting an investigation into illegal activities here at Wescott.

All in a year's work for an education revolutionary.

And just in case you've forgotten my point here it is again...

TINKER V. DES MOINES SCHOOL DIST., 393 U.S. 503 ARGUED NOVEMBER 12, 1968.-- DECIDED FEBRUARY 24,1969 MR. JUSTICE FORTAS DELIVERED THE OPINION OF THE COURT...

"IN OUR SYSTEM, STATE-OPERATED SCHOOLS MAY NOT BE ENCLAVES OF TOTALITARIANISM. SCHOOL OFFICIALS DO NOT POSSESS ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY OVER THEIR STUDENTS. STUDENTS IN SCHOOL AS WELL AS OUT OF SCHOOL ARE "PERSONS" UNDER OUR CONSTITUTION. THEY ARE POSSESSED OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS WHICH THE STATE MUST RESPECT, JUST AS THEY THEMSELVES MUST RESPECT THEIR OBLIGATIONS TO THE STATE. IN OUR SYSTEM, STUDENTS MAY NOT BE REGARDED AS CLOSED-CIRCUIT RECIPIENTS OF ONLY THAT WHICH THE STATE CHOOSES TO COMMUNICATE. THEY MAY NOT BE CONFINED TO THE EXPRESSION OF THOSE SENTIMENTS THAT ARE OFFICIALLY APPROVED. IN THE ABSENCE OF A SPECIFIC SHOWING OF CONSTITUTIONALLY VALID REASONS TO REGULATE THEIR SPEECH, STUDENTS ARE ENTITLED TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION OF THEIR VIEWS. AS JUDGE GEWIN, SPEAKING FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT, SAID, SCHOOL OFFICIALS CANNOT SUPPRESS "EXPRESSIONS OF FEELINGS WITH WHICH THEY DO NOT WISH TO CONTEND." BURNSIDE V. BYARS, SUPRA, AT 749.

Students United!

STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS!


A survey of students was taken in the Spring of 2005. They were asked what they would like to see changed regarding their educational experience here at Wescott. These are the results in no particular order.

1. More comfortable chairs to sit on (Another possibility is a small, thin cushion which could be individually decorated)

2. No more detentions (There is mounting evidence that they don't work as motivational tools)

3. Let us chew gum after eating (It freshens breath, prevents tooth decay and focuses the mind. Teachers even give it to students before the MEA's but at no other time is it allowed)

4. No More Homework! (The number one cause of students dropping out)

5. More field trips! (These could all be within walking distance of the school, educational and darn good exercise)

6. Let us dress like we want to (If someone wants to dress like a total idiot, who are we to stop them? Besides, have you seen how some of the teachers at Wescott dress? There should be a dress code for teachers instead)

7. Give us more free time during the day to talk to our friends (PARENTS: did you know that sometimes students are forced to eat lunch in silence)

8. Teachers shouldn't cut into the lunch line at lunch (Teachers should model polite behavior at all times if they expect politeness in return)

9. Don't make us stand outside in the rain and snow (Students are not allowed into the building until 7:10 even when the temperature is below freezing)

10. Let us listen to music on headphones sometimes (Study halls would sure be a lot quieter)

11. We want dances at night with students from other schools (Currently, dances are held on Friday afternoons and no students from other schools may attend because there was a "fight" about four years ago)