Once again we have had to set up a new SAUSD corruption thread as the last one started to run slow with all the comments on it.
Our schools are in crisis today – not just here in Santa Ana but all over the state. The only thing we know for sure is that we are going to take more budget hits.
I am amazed that the SAUSD hired back all their laid off administrators. How crazy is that? Class sizes are growing, good teachers are laid off, and the union, as usual, is asleep at the wheel.
We will continue to reason through all this here at the Orange Juice blog! We can but hope for the best…
kenlay,
Overpopulation?? uhhh have you noticed that each school has about 3 to 4 classrooms that are empty?? There’s room…and the district can handle it.
Underfunding??? The average teacher makes $60,000+…when you say underfunding what do you mean? when you look at the district financials you’ll notice that most of it goes to salaries. Maybe we should deduct salaries and move it towards students.
To JJ…
We serve illegal parents. Its obvious! The children are LEGAL but the majority of parents are ILLEGAL and we serve their children. I’ve lived in this city my whole life and its a fact that this city has MANY illegals. I went to Santa Ana College, SA Valley, Carr, and Diamond. I know this area and the people like the back of my hand and its a fact that most of the parents here are illegal except for probably the children. I knew 20 or 30 people at SA college who were illegal but still getting government grants (EOPS) to go to school.
I never said that I was against illegal immigration. I’m just stating the obvious. I have many friends who live in Santa Ana who are illegal.
“But California and the OC in particular are so damn xenophobic about teaching bilingualism, multilingualism or worse immersion, that of course these kids fail as do their teachers.”
I agree with you. That’s why we’re as low as we are. Its a black hole. Will things change? I don’t know. People are so hateful these past few years it seems all they care about is judging and beating on the poor because they can’t afford to go on their lavish vacations as often anymore.
Don’t forget the district spent $12.5 million on solar panels for Saddleback High School. Suppose they save an average of $250,000 per year (I’m being very generous) on that project for that school (they said the solar panels make up 70% of what the school uses). It will take 50 years before they actually start earning their money back. That’s assuming solar panels/wiring NEVER need maintenance or replacement parts that would add to the cost over time.
Thanks SAUSD for spending our money wisely and not waiting until they became cheaper.
I really can’t understand why everyone refers to the SAUSD population as diverse. It is not. Being culturally diverse means having a variety of cultures. We really don’t, since the vast majority of our students are Hispanic, excuse me, American Indian. It may just be semantics, but shouldn’t we, as educators, use the correct vocabulary and stop using the word diverse, and stop calling sweatshirts sweaters?
SAUSD Teacher,
Wrong. You assume all Latinos are from the same country. They are not. Moreover, Mexico, like the U.S., has different states. And different peoples, including natives who have their own languages and cultures.
Moreover, SAUSD has a lot of Viet students now too.
So yes, SAUSD’s students ARE culturally diverse.
Thanks for pointing that out, Art. I guess it is just that most of us gringos look at a classroom full of darker skinned, dark hair, dark eyes students and immediately think they are not culturally diverse. Most of our schools are ill-equipped to recognize the differences between Latino cultures. I guess the fact that they are more similar to each other causes us to lump them all together. Too bad for us.
tmare,
You would be amazed at how different foods are as you range through Latin America. The tamales we know here are wrapped in banana leaves as you go south. The pinto beans we eat here become black beans as you get into Central and South America. And the Mexican rice I love to cook becomes white rice as you get into the coastal regions of Latin America.
Never mind everything else, the food diversity alone is astounding!
Wow…I guess you can get pretty specific when you talk about culturally diverse. You could say some people are from South Santa Ana and others are from West Santa Ana. I guess that would make it even more diverse…
trex,
I find your words most troubling. You teach our children? No bueno.
I went to Lutheran HS, Los Angeles back in the 60’s. LHS belonged to the German Lutheran church, and there was more blond heads than dark, but within the school was a broad diversity of youth cultures: there were the greasers (ducktailed car-club guys), the jocks with their letter jackets, the chess club dweebs, the band boys, the cheer leader socia’s etc. When I first showed up to teach at Santa Ana High in ’87 I expected to see a barrio-gang-poverty culture like in the movies, but what I discovered was just a typical American high school, Lutheran High School without the blond heads: there’s the jocks, the band boys, the greasers now replaced with “slick 50’s” and “goths”. However, what much of the public sees is a mythical stereotype created by media and politics apparently to crank up public fear and emotion, a tactic long used to gain political power. It’s disturbing.
With regard to diversity, apparently it depends on your point of view. If one were in a Baskin and Robins one might think that there is a large diversity of choices, 31 flavors. However, if you were outside the store, you might conclude that they only serve ice cream and thus, minimal diversity. Or take a family from anywhere. One member might like opera, another contemporary music, one works with their hands, another prefers not. Still, they all live in the same country, same state, same city, speak the same language and thus no diversity.
That being said, I will take a position and agree with the SAUSD Teacher and Trex. Citizens from the US regardless of the state they were born in are still US citizens. People born in Mexico regardless of the states/regions are unique in their own rite and they are still culturally similar. The majority 99% +- speak or their parents speak Spanish as a first language, not Danish, Russian, or Chinese. Making tamales with different ingredients doesn’t change the fact that they are still tamales and not fermented cabbage buried for a week. But food diversity isn’t really the issue. Neither is cultural diversity.
I find it most troubling when, Art Pedroza, who put together this fabulous discussion board, devoted more time to it than I could imagine, criticizes a teacher for a difference of opinion which is the whole idea of the board to begin with. Art, what gives?
In the final analysis, the student needs to learn English to read it, read it to understand it, and understand it well enough to write it, all by 1st grade. The 2nd grade teacher must expand a whole new set of skills hopefully to students that have that foundation. So EL or not, culturally diverse or not, there is a lot to learn and SAUSD is not doing the job and it is not for the lack of money. The union is making excuses, and the district is just clueless as how to address the problem. Maybe if they pulled out your students for 30 minutes a day that will solve everything. But if it doesn’t, you are still responsible for their achievement.
BTW, how is this year contract going?
outsider,
I am not allowed to hold my own opinion? Really?
I am a teacher too, at Cerritos College. And a member of our union.
BTW, many Mexicans don’t speak Spanish. They speak native tongues. There are regions in Mexico where the residents cannot read or write.
The problem isn’t the students but rather a lame Superintendent. Russo should not have been hired, period. She had zero experience turning around troubled districts. She is overpaid and not terribly creative.
I do agree that English immersion is optimal. That was my own experience. However, the parents are a big part of this equation. My mom took me to the library practically every day. And she helped me with homework. It made a real difference.
But of course. It just caught me by surprise as an unArt like response.
The only reason the natives can speak their native tongue is that they didn’t allow themselves to be assimilated. Not educated by our definition, they could probably teach us a thing a two about sustainable living, medicine through native plants, and natures rhythm.
As you remember Jane was hired in December, an odd time to hire anyone, with no sense of urgency as she was the acting Superintendent anyways. Me thinks that the process was a farce and she was a done deal from the start. The other applicants never had a chance. There are 31 more persistently low achieving schools for the next tier and the board renewed her for 3 more years and that was unnecessary as well. What is it with this board?
The big money being wasted is the cost for unnecessary admin. personnel with unneeded departments. Then the endless programs, seminars, testing and what not that wastes valuable teaching time. I wonder what Al Mijares is doing these days?
Outsider –
You’re right, the search for the current superintendent was a farce.
Since when is it ethcical to have a member of the search committee also submit a letter of recommendation for the current super without full disclosure?
It’s no secret that school board member Noji personally recruited Jane Russo for the position after Russo had been released from the district by the previous superintendent.
It’s terribly suscpicious that the current super does not have her doctrate in education yet she pulls in about $250k yearly with all the bells & whistles. Shades of Bell??
And since the school population and its parents are primarily Spanish speaking it would have been prudent to retain a Super that speaks Spanish. The board did not think this
was important. Que lastima.
outsider,
I agree with almost all you say except for your last comment, “But if it doesn’t, you are still responsible for their achievement.”
Would doctors be responsible for obesity? Would a dentist be responsible for a cavity??
In my perspective I would say the success of a child depends on the teacher AND parent working collaboratively. You can’t throw your kids into any school and just expect success unless you (the parent) are involved. That’s why I think many private schools are successful. Parents are more involved so they thus get better results.
If you take your son or daughter and throw him at a doctor and say “my boy is 4 feet tall and he weighs 170 lbs, your not doing your job to make him healthy” would that make sense? Let’s say the doctor teaches you and your son/daughter how to eat healthy and exercise but then you go home and you son continues to eat sweets and fatty foods and play video games, is that the fault of the doctor??
Trex,
Not really the best analogy. The parent should work with their child and the student should do their homework. Unfortunately, this just doesn’t happen in Santa Ana. No matter what you (collectively) do, for the most part homework doesn’t get done. Out of your control.
That being the sad reality, and unlike a doctor or dentist, the teacher has the student for 6 hours a day for 180 days. In that time the teacher can and should be responsible for teaching that child starting in kinder. Every teacher must teach the skills for that grade level as it is unlikely any teacher can make up 2 and then 3 grade levels. What makes the job more difficult as the administration, in all their wisdom, thought it would be beneficial for the student to have less time every Wednesday. Then have your waste time testing, worthless strategies, pullouts for whatever reason, Gigi, Glad, and take your money for TOSA and other staff, when it could be used for tutoring your most neediest kids, aids, software, hardware and ?
As your namesake, you have to make like a Trex and roar to keep your school site money and timewasting edicts. They took most (95%) of the school site money last year, will take it this year, and will take it next year. In the final analysis, this is public education and there is nothing easy about it, nothing; and the principal and district will remind you often.
Outsider,
It is a good analogy because next we’re going to be blamed for obesity in students.
Yes we spend 6 hours roughly with our kids, but they spend 10 hours of the day not practicing their skills(we spend roughly 30 hours a week with a student they spend 50 hours doing what?). When you say homework just doesn’t get done then the kid is set up for failure. There is no secret recipe, the skills have to continue at home. If the skills don’t continue at home then there is no motivation or desire to do the work in school either. You can’t blame or put that on a teacher who has used all the resources possible to help a child succeed.
We don’t spend a FULL 180 days with our kids, we spend a little over a FULL day (30 hours) teaching our kids per week. How many weeks are in a school year, 36? So we spend between 36 and 50 actual FULL days with our kids (I can’t do math at 1am). How many hours are they at home per week?
You couple that in with all the Jiji’s, pullouts, etc. and you can knock more time off my little equation.
PARENTING is #1!
I have two students this year who qualified for GATE (Naglieri scores over 95/100 each, plus great classwork). Both students have VERY involved parent(s). One of the students only has mom at home and has only been learning English for three years but because of mom’s expectations for him to succeed and HER OWN ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN LEARNING ENGLISH he has far surpassed his peers. I’m not sure I can take much credit for these students’ successes…they came to me with parents who were ensuring that their child would succeed.
It is baffling that despite offering FREE English classes with FREE child care very few of the parents ever try to learn. Even more sad is how many parents at parent conference not only need everything translated, they admit that they don’t know how to control their own child. I’ve been told many times that they just can’t get them to do their homework and that often they can’t get them to come home at night. What? Free parenting classes go UNattended too.
And “they” want to “judge” teachers by student performance?? How ’bout judging the parents?
Same here I had a student whose mother transferred her son to my class because the teacher in the other class said he was to young and immature and should wait another year to enter kindergarten. The mother came into my room and said she really wants her son to do well. She asked if she could come in and help and if I could give him extra work to do at home. He ended up memorizing 100+ sight words, was reading 1st grade books, and started working on double digit addition before he left my class. I was astounded, but the mom was completely involved. He entered my class at the age of 4, so he had a young birthday. The only help I provided was extra homework, instructional assistance, more challenging activities in the classroom, and resources for mom.
This is what happens when parents are responsible and actually take initiative.
Isn’t there anyone from Willard who has a problem with this? Hasn’t anyone from Willard heard of the separation of church and state?
A direct quote from Willard’s principal sent out this morning regarding a staff breakfast on Monday:
“Finally, on Monday we have a non-student day to close everything down and prep for next year. Well start with breakfast in the commons provided by our kind friends at New Hope Church (who brought us the Elevation Orchestra). THey wanted to show their appreciation for our staff and all we do for the community.”
They’re just showing their appreciation…what its against the law for a church to show their appreciation?? tard
Trex,
We should tread carefully when it comes to mixing public institutions and religion. That can be a slippery slope.
“tard”?
Ain’t education grand!
I suppose a musical presentation for staff only isn’t really going to hurt anything but it’s not this one event that is troubling. I would hope that this presentation would be optional for the staff, if not, someone is going to be in big trouble. I have also heard that the current principal at that site walks around with a Bible in his hand and holds prayer meetings. I do have a problem with all of that if it is true. Another troubling church/state separation issue is the charter school Nova Academy. From all reports this is a religious school that is taking public funds.
Nova leases space at a church. I have been there and so has Jose Solorio. They appear to be a school, period. I did not observe any extreme religiousity.
As a charter they do have more freedom than other public schools at any rate.
If the principal in question is running around with a Bible in his hands, that is not good at all. The ACLU needs to look into that.
I have not seen the principal at Willard walk around with a bible. I do know there are times when prayer meetings are held before school starts. Not my cup of tea but I don’t know one way or the other if the principal attends. The vast majority of the time he isn’t at school that early. Come to think of it, the vast majority of the time he isn’t at Willard at all.
Monday’s meeting (with breakfast sponsored by a religious group) is mandatory. I don’t think it’s appropriate. There are some who are offended by a church sponsored breakfast/staff meeting.
The principal at Willard has gained quite a track record of offending staff members and substitutes.
He seems to be the political type who is looking at his own goals that reach beyond being a principal with Willard being a stepping stone or a stepped on stone.
anon,
Check with HR. This may be a violation of harassment law. You cannot force religion on employees.
And you don’t think Mr. Cole wouldn’t be informed as to the identity of the person who was checking with HR? The man may be religious, his VW does sport the sticker “Real men love Jesus” but he is also vindictive and manipulative. He hears what he wants to hear and sees what he wants to see. A true company man.
anon,
Per State Harassment rules it is illegal to punish a whistleblower. It would be really no bueno for the district.
Illegal to punish a whistleblower, well yes but what does that have to do with anything. They have an unlimited budget to pay for their attorneys and the teacher has to pay hundreds of dollars hourly and thousands before the complaint would be heard. And when would this hearing take place? Probably not sooner than a year. The district does plenty wrong, and they are untouchable. They know it, and now you know it too.
Art,
We both know state rules have never stopped the district from imposing some type of punishment on individuals with whom they are displeased. It’s even easier for a principal to extract a pound of flesh from those who hath displeased him. This particular set of circumstances may not be worth the grief. Hopefully they just pass the hash and not the halo.
anon,
Then the teacher union needs to get involved…
Seriously, one call or e-mail to Susan Mercer and the whole mandatory meeting with religious sponsorship would be put to a very quick end.
Susan Mercer did nothing about the whole mandatory meeting with religious sponsorship.
You must be a man of faith if you think names aren’t disclosed by some union employees.
Monday’s meeting is a source of irritation. However, there are larger problems with Cole’s skills as an administrator and I’m not even one of the staffers he seems intent on hassling. Between Cole and our TOSA folks walk around constantly pulling arrows out of their backs.
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2010/06/sausds-lawyers-want-us-to-believe-that-a-special-ed-student-wanted-to-be-molested/
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2010/06/who-will-run-for-the-santa-ana-school-board-in-november/
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2010/06/o-c-register-report-slams-santa-ana-schools-but-doesnt-tell-the-whole-story/
I would assume that the NEA is flexing its muscles right now at their annual event. This event is such a WASTE of money! Teachers get comp’d tremendous amounts of OUR money for hotels, food, and wine! Why don’t they spend some of this money on all those laid off teachers?
Trex have you gone before? I went two years ago and it was the longest most exhausting week of my life. Wine? I did not see one person drinking wine. By the time I flew out of Washington D.C. my legs, back and hips were so sore from long 12 hour days of sitting/participating in & through CTA/NEA business etc., in addition to very long walks to and from the convention center. Airfare, sharing my room and eating 2 meals a day was not enough compensation for what those delegates are asked to endure. Truth be told it was a good experience. I got to see what it was all about. Kudos to those that return to represent our local year after year. Trex, if you are a teacher, try participating one of these years. It’s worth the experience. Hope you’re having a good summer.
I have participated. Its a sad waste of money is the way I’ve seen it.
Trex, you aren’t a teacher; you *want* to be a teacher yet have no clue what professionals actually go through. Go back to school and become what you obviously long to be!!!!
Sweetgum,
Just read your post re: NEA Convention. You hit the nail on the head and told it like it is. Before I retired from SAUSD I attended conventions in L.A,, Detroit, and Minneapolis. They definitely were not fun and games. It was a week of end to end meetings, quick lunches, and uncomfortable general assemblies. Not fun for sure but a worthwhile and productive experience.
I also attended CTA State Council for 2 terms and heard the same old criticisms of how we lived high on the hog at those meetings. Believe me, it wasn’t fun to rush from school on Friday afternoons, jump on a plane to SFO, meet in committee on Friday night until well after 10:00 PM. Next day was nonstop meetings (except for lunch) and then 1/2 day of Sunday meetings before jumping on the flight back to SNA. Of course the time onboard the plane was spent writing up the reports so they could be published for SAEA membership.
Math Suggestions For All Grade Levels:
mandatory classes, after school, weekends, parent involvement, whenever
(prerequisite classes for all students – like in college – students could test out and receive credit for what they have mastered – it clearly would not be necessary for all students to undergo each and every prerequisite class but required for all students to demonstrate mastery in each and every prerequisite math class)
Starting from:
Basic Word Recognition Of Math Words and Basic Math Skills From The Beginning
LEVEL 1
1. Testing 1 – basic math WORD RECOGNITION AND DECODING SKILLS (add, addition, sum, difference, subtraction, regrouping, all the words typically used).
2. Testing 2- basic understanding of what the terms they could decode and a student demo of what the math words really meant.
3. Taking a prerequisite test of what words they could decode AND the related skills they could currently MASTER.
LEVEL 2
1. Instruction based on the individual student’s needs in word recognition and related math skills they were not able to master in part 3.
These 2 Levels of instruction would then be applied on a CONTINUOUS level throughout math curriculum – through all the grades regardless of a student’s age or grade level.
The ending product would be that students would have the essential prerequisite math skills BEFORE entering into math classes.
Do away with a student being such and such an age level to be in a specific class and replace with a student being such and such a math skill level to be in a specific math class. Computers would be a tool a student could utilize to enhance or increase their current math skill.
The way we think of how to educate such a diversity of students needs to come out of the dark ages.
Don’t let “the current educational system” fail generations of students to come.
Anonymous makes a good point about making Mastery of the standards the basis for promotion. I think the concept should be applied to Language Arts and other subjects too.
I’ve “lobbied” for years to promote students based on abilities and have classes that are standards/Mastery leveled, NOT leveled by the age of the student. American educational policies do truly need to “come out of the dark ages” (agricultural age). While we’re at it, let’s get back to the year-round schedule and stop the summer brain drain.
The only way we can ever have a system that only allows kids to move on based on mastery is if we collectively decide that no matter what level they are at, they are done at age 18. The only reason we do it this way is purely financial. No one would know what to do with an 18 year old that is functioning at a 4th grade level, instead we find all kinds of creative ways to help them graduate, it is truly sad.
so we stick 10 year olds in classrooms with 5 year olds? I can see how age appropriate the development that would be.
If our primary purpose is to educate, and I did say if, then we should do just that – educate.
The entire system needs to be revamped. That has to start with funding, how teachers are trained in colleges and universities, how classes are set up, and even reevaluate the sacred age of 18. We are, after all, lifetime learners.
Education no longer consists of the one room schoolhouse and our clients are far more diverse that the current system of education could have ever imagined.
I do not think it will happen until long after I retire but the reality of it is we do need to have an educated population.
Not everyone should go to college but everyone should be trained to the best of their (and our) abilities.
Education is paying for the sins of its past and rightfully so.
That was the past and now what we need to do is plan for the future.
There was an amazing quote from former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean regarding the tragedy of September 11: “This was a failure of policy, management, capability and above all, a failure of imagination”.
We must not let the future of education be a failure due to policy, management, capability or a failure of imagination.
State and federal testing is a sham. Educators need to evaluate a student’s skills where they are on day one and make sure there is significant growth each step of the way. Each student’s growth needs goals – goals of mastery of required skills that allow the individual to climb to the next level.
Students do not come to us on an equal playing field. It shouldn’t however, be our job to judge an individual’s potential or their dreams or their aspirations because at particular chronological their skills don’t fit into some norm referenced bell curve.
Report Says Spending In California Classrooms Dropped As Overall K-12 Funding Rose.
The AP (7/22, Thompson) reports that a report released Wednesday by Pepperdine University shows that “spending in California classrooms declined as a percentage of total education spending over a recent five-year period, even as total school funding increased.” Overall “K-12 spending increased…from $45.6 billion to $55.6 billion statewide” in the five-year period ending June 30, 2009. This was “before budget cuts led to nearly 16,000 teachers losing their jobs for the 2009-10 school year.” The study found that school “administrators, clerks and technical staff” received “more of the funding increase,” while less of the money went toward teachers, aides, and classroom materials. http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15570797
With the city of Bell salaries and corruption why haven’t we as SA tax payers looked into the salaries of our superintendent Jane Russo and her staff??
The current board approved the Superintendent’s near $250k annual salary and they will continue to approve this salary because they can. That’s why it’s important to unseat the Tres Amigos – Noji, Richardson & Hernandez. A board majority committed to bringing salaries inline needs to be voted in by the SAUSD voters.
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2010/07/sausd-leads-the-county-in-high-school-senior-exit-exam-failures/
Art, SAUSD also probably leads the county highest concentration of hispanics in a schools district. Santa Ana also probably has the highest concentration of poor in Orange County.
Why doesn’t the SAUSD offer their website in other languages? And why are their ESL links broken?
http://fixthesausd.com/?p=31
I have been asking SAUSD Board Members for years why there’s no translation on the District website and they never answer. Other districts have translations to several languages (e.g. Capistrano Unified: http://capousd.ca.schoolloop.com/).
I suspect “the reason” is to keep the public they serve as far away from District policy-making as possible. Here’s proof…I have also been asking SAUSD for years why there’s no way to contact Board Members through the SAUSD website. Again, they never answer. Take a look at other district websites like Capistrano and Irvine and you will see their board members have email and phone contacts available to the public. Why won’t SAUSD board members allow the public to contact them directly?
Art, if you end up a SAUSD board member, I hope you will correct these two problems right away. SAUSD needs to work with the public they serve, not hide from them.
Hey hey hurrah, SAUSD’s website now has a “Google” translation button in the lower left corner! Wow, every language from Afrikaans to Yiddish and Spanish too.
Perhaps SAUSD is seeking to better serve the public…that’s great news.
Now maybe we will see the Board members post their emails & phone numbers too.
Uh, I’m less-excited now. The translator only works on the main page! Anything else you click on that opens a new page is NOT translated. I sure hope that major flaw wasn’t on purpose. I hope SAUSD’s website manager figures out that the translator button needs to always be available on any page of the website visited…maybe talk to Capistrano Unified’s web manager since theirs works properly.
Wilson Teacher,
LOL! Very true. Their web guy is obviously lame.
Amazing that they finally offered the translator tool in the first place. I guess they must be reading my posts…
Maybe SAUSD really does read this blog.
The translator button is now at the top and follows to every page.
Let’s hope that the Board members email and phone contacts will be posted next.
Wilson Teacher,
That is great news! We are making a difference. Hopefully they will add the contact info soon.
Art, Take it easy on the SAUSD webmaster, (a former student of mine). If he were to do anything new on the website without prior approval of his supervisor, and subsequently annoys a higher up … he might soon be well be looking for a new job.
SAHS Teacher,
I hear you. That sounds about right. The bureaucracy at the SAUSD is something else. What is sad is that the Google translation widget has been around for years. The District NEVER moved to install it until I made a stink about it. This is why we need change on the School Board and change at the District.
Art if you were elected to SAUSD school board would you bring transparency to the table about administrative and staff salaries?? I wouldn’t mind knowing what everyone makes at the district office and at our schools.
Trex,
Absolutely! There are certain items that one cannot communicate as a Trustee, such as personnel matters, but I will most definitely share what I am able to, within legal limits, with my readers and the residents of the SAUSD.
Just to the SAUSD website and you will find the salaries.
Art, question if elected to the School Board would you have to give up the Blog or the discussions that relate to SAUSD?
Bud,
I don’t think so. I would just have to refrain from discussing any items that are confidential, such as personnel matters.
I would like to know how many and the job titles of those employed as district employees. I think that we all would be astounded to the number and total salary.
BTW, how is that contract coming? Perhaps the union is busy with summer vacation. Is it even discussed anymore?
Art,
As a new board member will you make it easier for us teachers to do nothing on a daily basis? Would I be able to take extended breaks?
david,
I cannot imagine that many teachers have extra time on their hands. The current breaks are compliant with labor laws and the current labor agreement.
With less classified staff support and larger classes to look forward to, our teachers figure to have even less free time during the school year…
What does this actually mean? I guess I’ll have to assume that you think this is a funny joke (?).
http://fixthesausd.com/2010/08/12/o-c-register-quizzes-sausd-school-board-candidates/
Test scores are out. Maybe now there can be some interesting discussion around here.
http://star.cde.ca.gov/star2010/SearchPanel.asp
http://fixthesausd.com/2010/08/18/sausd-2010-star-test-results-show-improvement-but-science-scores-plunge/
Art,
The CST exams in sciences are almost useless indicators of what our students have learned each year. Tracking how our students do outside the school may be a better indicator.
Here’s one of our SAHS 11th grade students doing a chemistry internship who showed up in a story on the UCI website last week … have a look …
http://uci.edu/features/2010/08/feature_summerschool_100816.php
SAHS Teacher,
I saw that story! Very inspiring. But how many kids are falling through the cracks? We have a huge dropout rate and thousands of our students have walked away without high school diplomas thanks to the exit exam.
So many lost opportunities. I don’t blame the teachers but I do think our administration lacks the ability to deal with our student population. We need a Superintendent with experience in turning around troubled districts and working with ESL populations. Russo simply doesn’t have what it takes to lead this district.
It is the elephant in the room which most everyone refuses to acknowledge, Art. Unless a student is motivated to learn, they simply won’t. 25-30% of our students do not connect education with better jobs or careers. Although Santa Ana is home, the only one they know, where they grew up, where they went to school, where their family and friends live, because of their residency status, they will only be allowed menial low-paid jobs no matter what grades, test scores, diploma’s or college degrees they may get. They know this well, because they’ve seen this happen to friends and relatives, and teacher’s motivational speeches that work so well in Irvine and Orange are simply lies when given to so many of our students. Here’s an essay by one of our Ivy League grads who bought into our educational program, and did really well, a celebrated honors student from Santa Ana, until she found it was all for nought:
https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1ROBpdf82-zDS-7CoPsMPzX2khfn8qOtgn9zUQF_nlLs&hl=en
SAHS Teacher,
I heard a great report on NPR this week about a charter school in New Orleans where the kindergarteners are told what year they will be entering college. How cool is that?
Our district has done a terrible job of reaching out to migrant parents and to ESL families. This is the crux of the problem. We have to get these folks on board. There is a ton of money out there for free ESL classes for parents! We need to move on that.
Science is something we all take for granted, but let me tell you these kids go home to moms and dads who work with chemicals every day. And everybody loves the new smart phones!
The challenge is to get folks interested. I agree that scores don’t tell the whole story. But our scores are under 50% in EVERY category and are much lower, for the most part, as compared to neighborhing districts. Where these is smoke, there is fire.
That said, I do think the feds push testing too much, as do the state ed officials. This isn’t helping.
We need to return control to the local districts and let teachers do their jobs!
There is really two separate aspects to evaluating the Santa Ana schools: 1) How good are they in motivating the unmotivated to learn? 2) How good are they in teaching the motivated? The CAHSEE and graduation rates are fair measures of the first. The STAR exams are lousy assessments of the second. Measuring performance of high schools with the STAR exams is like trying to assess the performance of a manufacturing company with a quality control assessment of its product. However, QC isn’t the objective of a company. A company may make a really high quality product, but if no one is buying that product, that company is going broke. You need to track the product after it leaves the company by record ing sales and profits. In a like manner, we need to track our students for a period after they graduate in order to evaluated the performance of our schools. A school that produces high test scores will look good on paper, but if it produces few or no students choosing to be science or engineering college majors. that school is failing to meet the needs of the country, the community and its students. This used to be difficult, but very simple now using social networking sites on the internet. Santa Ana H.S. is the only school that currently does this. Take a look at:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AjMI4m6VNWY5dGlSeFphcmVYZVBpbjQ2YkhNSDFfcVE&hl=en
This is our “Grad List”, organized by graduation year. This is a real measure of how well teach the motivated.
SAHS Teacher,
Thanks for sharing that with us! I will check it out.
I think also the district needs to do a better job of reaching out to parents and getting them involved. We need them to be on board as we strive to educate the students.
Art, I don’t think you have a full realization of how true are your last two sentences above. It’s kind of like looking at an alcoholic laying in the gutter, with a failing liver, and telling him he really should take better care of his body. If you ( or any school board candidate) really has a desire to fix this school system, you have to have a real knowledge of life and conditions in classrooms and schools, and the perspectives of everybody. Elementary teacher, high school teachers, both day and night custodians, recent graduates who can look back with some adult perspectives, what’s it like for a parent entering one of these huge and busy schools and trying to find some information about their son or daughter. School board members should be networking with all these people, all the time, inviting them to their homes for dinner and talk. None do this, and that really should be job number one.
SAHS teacher,
I could not agree more. In my case it helps to be able to talk to my daughter, who graduated from Santa Ana High just a few years ago, and my teenage sons, who will both be at Godinez next year. My seven year old will be returning to Muir next year.
Beyond that, please know that I count many teachers at the SAUSD amongst my friends. I will be leaning on all of you for more info about what is going on, since we know we can’t trust the district to tell us the truth…
And I should note that many SAUSD students read my blogs and regularly communicate with me as well. If I do win I guarantee I will be the most community-oriented Trustee on the Board – and my main job will be to listen to all of you and act on your behalf!
Are any school (elementary) starting with 25 or more in first grade? What happens if all those children show up?
class size @ Wilson:
K – 28
1 – 25
2 – 24
3 – 28
4 – 30+
5 – 30+