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One of the great traditions of the Orange Juice Blog, since 2006, has been the ongoing “Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) Corruption Thread,” which has blown the lid off of … well, I don’t really know, not being in Santa Ana I never paid much attention to it, but I know it sure gets a lot of attention. This is YOUR place, SAUSD teachers, staff, administrators, students, to talk about whatever’s important to you!
And since the last chapter of this, the 2009 thread put up by the dearly departed “Red Vixen,” has been up for over two years and gotten 1,650 comments, I figured it was time to start up a new one. Let it be for academic year 2011-12, okay?
I got rid of the word “corruption” in the title since that’s an easy word to throw around, and means different things to different people, and you might want to discuss other things than just corruption … but if there is corruption still in the SAUSD, then this is certainly the place to talk about it!
– your new editor-in-chief, Vern Nelson. Gentlemen, gentlewomen, start your engines!
Thanks for the new thread, Vern! About time…
Anyone here knows why there is a veil of secrecy on the master schedules at all the schools in SA? Teachers start back tomorrow but no one knows their assignment. They were not informed at the end of the school year last year. And no one is allowed to talk? Sounds bad.
I was wondering the very same thing, web sites for schools without any usefull infomation. Classes start next Wendesday and …….
I guess everyone must be waiting for the new super to tell them what to do.
There is no veil of secrecy at my site. Master schedule is up and class schedules have been given to all students. Changes are being made and the administration is distributing lists to teachers to verify that kids are placed in the right classes. I’m curious about what is happening elsewhere though.
Is every school’s master schedule a mess or is it just Willard’s?
None of those issues at my site. Master schedule is up for everyone to view and kids have their schedules. The admin is being incredibly helpful by printing up class lists and asking teachers to double check proper placement.
Sorry for the double post, the original one didn’t go up immediately. Construction issues by the way, are an entirely different story.
Tmare,
you’re incredibly lucky; because I know for a fact this isn’t the case at many other schools in this district. The fact they were so cowardly as to wait until 3 pm on a Friday to even inform certain staff at one school is even more proof. I know sooo many different people out of their single subject areas. The worst, though, to be honest?, The worst is there is no explanation, or information. The decade of following blindly was almost 80 years ago and half a world away.
Yes, I know I am incredibly lucky. We have a great administration. They don’t always know what they are doing but at least they defer to us on many issues and actually follow through on our advice. Best wishes, I hope it gets better.
It won’t get better until parents get more involved.
Anon 8/21/11 @ 9:03 IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
No matter who you are and what your job, IF YOU SHOW UP AT SCHOOL, engage the staff and your students teachers, you will recieve a better education. PERIOD.
Certainly in some schools, you will have to deal with dismissive ignorant staff, you need to advocate for your kid. DO HIS TWICE and you will feel good, do it three times: you will see results. Do it FIVE TIMES and you’ll quickly be part of that crowd that everyone else bitches about because his/her kid gets all the attention.
This is AMERICA and more than race we respond to bulldozers! Bulldoze on your kids behalf. At SAUSD, it couldn’t get much worse.
Of course, the prerequisite to this is: BE POLITE AND RESPECTFUL.
I know that parents need to be the other end of the rope pulling and tightening the slake, so to speak, but I also believe that Admin needs to remember what it was to walk in the other man’s shoes to understand what the teachers are going through. I believe that they’re so thankful they’re *no* longer in that position that they don’t care and that with a district that is so far removed from the realities of the classroom today that it’s causing this *incredible* inefficiency. Because from the trenches of the classroom, all of this is diddlysquat and will do no good.
“Admin?” Me? What’d I do???
Maybe Rob and Vivian could adopt a kid and get some skin in the game for once!
Oh look, its another double dipping politician on the Santa Ana School Board. Rob Richardson, who is under scrutiny for getting a 33% raise working as the County Deputy CEO. Another sratch my back I’ll scratch yours kind of guy when it comes to political corruptness.
Tomorrow, Rob has on the agenda a big pay bonus for his boss’s (County CEO Mauk) buddy ex-La Habra City Councilman turned retired deputy CEO and recent attending Public Guardian Bill Mahoney. It states in the staff report for Tuesday’s meeting that Mahoney is a practicing attorney.
What a crock! Check out the state bar’s licensing status. Mahoney hasn’t been active since 2000. If you are not active you cannot practice law. I think someone was hired under false pretenses. Corruption at its finest. And you think Richardson is going to solve the problems facing SAUSD? He apparently is only interesting in enriching himself.
I live in Santa Ana and receive the OC Register. Every Thursday they publish a section about Tustin community news including news about its schools. Even though it’s “light news” it is a lot more than what we hear about what is going on in Santa Ana and its schools. With Santa Ana being so much larger than Tustin and it being the seat of the county, why isn’t there more press about what is really happening in our city and schools? A new school year is about to start. Administrators, teachers, and other staff members will be working hard, but too many of our students will be dropping out, if not physically, emotionally. I would love to see this blog focus on the real issues affecting Santa Ana schools. What’s really working out there? Who are the real heroes bringing about the improvements our students need? This is what we need to be writing and reading about.
Santa Ana is a huge district with a wide variety of schools. There are a lot of problems and we have a new superintendent now which from all indications, she doesn’t know very much about our district or its’ programs. It will be an interesting year. Most of the time when you read this thread, you will be reading about issues related to various schools and insider information from teachers. There are many construction issues affecting many schools right now as well as issues with bottom performing schools. You are correct in that much of what goes on in this district doesn’t make it to print. Welcome!
tmare,
visting Ireland right now and have went to visit and find out about what makes the school so incrediable. You should see the schools that run on half the money. St. Dominics, St. louises, St. Mary’s. All high schools in Belfast, N.Ireland (public). The music, language, Arts and standards are incrediable. Go on the web sites, you will be very impressed! I am bringing back lots of litrature to give to the Hispanic wonder (Mrs. Santa Ana)…American kids going through American public education are really being screwd..
“the Hispanic wonder (Mrs. Santa Ana)…American kids going through American public education are really being screwd”……… Hmmmm
You are wrong Michelle! American kids are getting proper education so that they can compete with Hispanic kids over the “green” onion field jobs.
Maybe that is the agenda of allowing billions of dollars to be wasted on a disgracful educational system? OR, is it that the system has become so incompendent because the system cares more about union dues, than the actual academic quality of the system itself?
Orange county is getting so bad as far as it’s educational performace, the Orange County Department of Education is now asking for a wavier to evade the NO Child Left Behind LaW????? THAT BAD!
My niece wanted to make a comment regarding what she has heard about the public education system in the USA:
well the first thing i would like to say is “the food is awful”, Here in Ireland we have healthy breaks: fresh fruit, milk, and whole grain foods. I understand why kids are so fat in America, The eat awful food that is given in the schools. Plus you dont wear uniforms! Girls walk around like millies, in your schools, they wear way too much makeup, Here we are not allowed to wear even lip gloss! Below is a list that may help:
Replace your fatting school dinners with healthy choices.
teachers need to be strict, but nice.
Here we expell anyone who is bulling or acting up, you give them a pass and alllow them to continue to disrupt the school?
i met an American kid that was my age and we were reading a book and they did not even know how to read grade level. i taught her how to read a book.
MQ says:
My niece is only 11 years old and has more insight and brains than most adults in the public education system in the US!
“…what she has heard about the public education system in the USA.”
Gosh, I wonder what US public school hating harpie has been bending her ear? LOL
Ireland has been dealing with school nutrition issues just like the US;
http://www.niauditoffice.gov.uk/pubs/2011/nutritional_standards/8852_-_NIAO_School_Meals_WEB.pdf
Ha ha, I like your niece! She’s right about the fattening foods kids eat in this country. You sure you want Uncle Sam and Uncle Jerry telling school kids what to eat? I won’t argue with that…
The other things she mentions are a little more complicated, but I think she’ll realize that as she grows up.
I think she will grow up to be a good rebellious socialist like me.
A Wiccan Hypothetical – Separation Of Church and State
Let’s say that seventy-five percent of the population is Wiccan and one percent of the population is Christian and you are whatever affiliation you currently are in real life.
Let’s say you are employed by Santa Ana Unified and your school decides to take up an offer to use the building Wiccans use to conduct services.
OK. That seems harmless enough and very practical in these difficult economic times.
In addition, the Wiccans offer homework help after school to the students.
OK. The program seems to be working and the students seem to enjoy the program.
Another perk to having this community support is the people from this local coven volunteer their time at your school to help teachers in the classroom.
OK. You don’t think anyone is going to be coming over on their broom.
Now let’s say that these issues are discussed in a staff meeting. The conversation starts out with an acknowledgement of separation of church and state issues. The presenters assure the staff that working with this community partner is, in no way, religion based nor is it an endorsement of one religion over any other belief.
In the same breath the leader of this local coven says, “But that doesn’t mean we won’t pray for you”.
And there you sit. You, the actual you with your current religious beliefs.
How are you feeling now?
While the percents are actually in reverse
(http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html), how comfortable do you think people whose beliefs are in the minority feel?
lets say:
71 percent of the teachers actually taught and are more like European teachers that teach and dont worry about things like people praying in their class room room because they find that separation of Church and State is second to quality education and excellence. Then even if the rest of the idiot teachers cared more about stupid liberal agendas and acting more like social workers instead of teachers, it would not really matter, because 71 percent of excellent teachers shoud be able to over come the rest of the idiots!!!!!!!!!
MQ,
If you feel Ireland’s schools are so superior, why aren’t you raising your kids there?
Furthermore, if you want your kids to pray in school or you want them taught religion, there are plenty of private parochial schools in the US.
My children are Americans and since I pay the taxes to pay for public education I expect them to be some what good, but they are not and that then takes people like myself to voice up and people like you to shut up! And I have no interest in my children learning about God and religion in school, they learn that in Mass and in my home. But, I cant stand idiots liberals like yoiu ( who by the way are the reason your schools are crap) telling people that they cant do it, just because as a liberal you HATE all things that actually may do good. And yes, education in Northern Ireland is superior because they actually have teachers more concerned about teaching than the mighty dollar! Have a nice day ya old fart:)
No MQ, YOU are part of the problem you are always bitching about immigrants not paying their way and overburdening our schools, but you do not pay enough in taxes to cover the costs of educating your kids, so other americans must pay to educate your children ($9,706 per pupil).
Instead of being grateful and a positive force, you like to piss and moan and point your finger at ‘other’ immigrants and teachers getting pensions. YOU complain about our Postal Service, the DMV and your taxes.
YOU are akin to some freeloading houseguest who complains about the food and lumpy mattress and then talks about how great things are at home. If you are so unhappy about the way things are in the US, move back to Ireland and please, don’t let the screen door hit you in the ass on your way out.
Oh and FYI;
Teachers in Ireland belong to a UNION and make good money (http://www.tui.ie/) and school lunches are subsidized for the poor.
All I can say to you Anonster, take a walk down any Santa Ana street and observe all the fat kids, thanks to idiots like yourself who just love to feed them crap; such compassion. Very few fat kids in Ireland! Teachers are not paid 70,000 pounds plus like most sub-par public educators in this state, but the can actually teach even without the high pay. And unions in Ireland are not corrupt and they don’t sabotage the eduction of Irish kids and they sure as hell don’t have any say in the class room. FYI……YOU have not a clue about anything outside your bloody door, get out of this country travel, and learn like us immigrants!
Right, Anonster really seems like a mom who fed her kids Ho-hos and Mountain Dew. In the cups again, lassie?
Take MQ advise Anonster and Nelson.
When is the last time you have seen the world outside of USA in reality and not in the CNN video?
However, if you cant see the realty here it wouldn’t matter anyway to see it elsewhere.
Vern, if you seen me, you would know, that neither mountain dew or HO HOS (what ever they are) would pass my lips. My 6 year old plays tennis, GA foot ball, hand ball and runs with his mom!
Lets just say, we love the great out door and healthy living!
What are Ho Ho’s?
What have I got sucked into again? Potatohead, I said nothing about you. I was defending Anonster whom you characterized as an “idiot” who “loves to feed [her kids] crap.” If you come back with something else stupid next, I’ll just go back to ignoring you.
“I’ll just go back to ignoring you”……. Hmmmm
Ignorant ignores!
Do me a favor Vern, Ignore me….I’m just giving the old fart more of what she puts out. I am sure she would agree, that she is big enough and well versed in the art of defending her self, as I am!
I know you know Anonster more than I do…So I suppose you know that she may need defending due to her weak and fragile state of mind. But don’t EVER try to defend me, that would be an insult to my intelligence!
No exile, liberals are like the three monkeys when someone has a difference of opinion….See no evil, hear no evil and above all insult, insult and insult!
It’s a lib thing, very weak minded people, very fragile! :0)
“No exile, liberals are like the three monkeys when someone has a difference of opinion….See no evil, hear no evil and above all insult, insult and insult! ”
You mean like this;?
“But, I cant stand idiots liberals like yoiu…”
Oh, Anon, when it comes to insults, liberals have nothing else but to insult..I on the other hand, don’t like to insult people, but sometimes even I have to deem an idiot as an idiot….I like to think that a negative might become a positive…I admit that I have been called an idiot and yes, I did deserve it and it was a positive learning experience for me!
MQ is such a dumb ass she doesn’t even realize that she’s the one who left Ireland and their “superior” schools for the US.
And by the way “idiot”, what do you think us “liberals” have been advocating for?
Uh, try European style socialism; good schools (with nutritious lunches, see Michelle Obama’s; http://www.letsmove.gov/), free university and government healthcare.
Bring it on!
YOU have European school style socialism you twit? I said, Northern Irish schools are doing well because they have implemented a more CONSERVATIVE style approach to education!
LIke I said you’re the type of idiot that is running the American Public schools, all fluff and no brains!
It’t all about union control,,,,That is why you have billions of dollars being wasted on schools that have no chance in hell of getting better because you have idiot liberals and unions choking the f^^%ing life out of actual academics. YOU Anonster are an air head, straight off the beach! YOU are the idiot that will vote to put the WORST president in history back into office because you have NO clue about anything outside your door!
And if you must know why I left, its because I was surrounded by idiot liberals who loved to hate the British, then turn around and collect their free money at the local dole office. That is now changing in the North of Ireland, the stupid liberals now know that the money is not free and that they are being taxed to death to pay for liberals on the dole! I left one place because of idiot socialists, I am not about to leave my home here for ya! NO, this time I fight and as you can see, I am good at it!
MQ, is this what you consider doing “well”?;
High rate of Northern Ireland school leavers not qualified
By Kathryn Torney
Friday, 21 May 2010
More than a fifth of Northern Ireland’s working-age population have no academic qualifications, according to a new report from business advisors PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
A PwC report, School Workforce Matters, says that while Northern Ireland significantly outperforms the rest of the UK in terms of A-Level and top-end GCSE results, a long tail of under-achievement persists.
The report, produced by researchers in PwC’s Belfast-based education team, points to 11,000 Northern Ireland children – 44% of all school leavers – who left school in 2008/09 without achieving five good GCSEs, including English and Maths.
The cumulative effect of this trend of underperformance is that almost a quarter of a million of Northern Ireland’s working-age population (222,000 people), have no academic qualifications.
Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/high-rate-of-northern-ireland-school-leavers-not-qualified-14814177.html#ixzz1XCiswkh2
More than a fifth of Northern Ireland’s working-age population have no academic qualifications’.
… and why should they bother to work at school?
Why not ‘go on the beak’ and sit on the sofa and watch daytime tv, or binge drink, or abuse drugs or loaf around? Sure the state will always come to the rescue of the ‘disadvantaged’ with the Benefits system. – It’s easy I’ve seen it done – get pregnant at 16 and get a nice new house for nothing while hard working kids like mine have to wait a lifetime and pay for it themselves!
What a farce!
Report
MQ says:
The above comment was from a reader of the article you wanted me to read. And of course you want socialism here you big bone head!
No Northern Ireland has a long way to go because it is a socialist area but with test scores increasing in schools that have taken the reins away from the idiot socialists then of course the scores will be better than England. England no longer belongs to the English, thanks to the stupid liberals! Have you been to London lately, it’s more like Turkey!!!
You can’t have it both ways, N. Ireland’s schools can’t be deemed a “success” if they’re leaving over 20% of the kids behind.
Quinn can’t keep track of whether she’s saying Irish schools suck because they’re socialist, or they’re head & tails better than US schools because US schools are socialist. As long as she can be insulting liberals and “socialists,” she makes sense to herself.
Exactly Vern, and at least we know two things for sure about N. Ireland’s schools; they don’t teach logic or spelling.
No, what I am saying Vern (Perfect example of who is in Obamas Army) The North of Ireland is doing better than England and Wales because they are adapting a more conservative approach to schooling. Unlike my schools in England and Wales Belfast schools like St. Dom’s and St. Louise is doing really good with St. Louise being one of the top schools in the country for A levels. The reason the schools very much suck in Britain is due to a high influx of immigrants and Welfare…..Hence and example of SANTA ANA!
The reason why schools have sucked in the past, especially in Catholic areas: the catholic church, welfare and war!
What is making the difference with schools in Belfast/ North of Ireland is people are becoming more aware of the importance of education, reduced dependence on welfare, low immigrant population in the North of Ireland and parent, student and teachers becoming more aware of the need for excellence in education…..Simple really, but nothing you can really grasp due to the lack of matter up stairs:0)
No school can teach ya logic if you’re not born with the brain power, unlike you, I was very much born it.
Some of the most educated people I know are some of the stupidest people I have ever met. Of course they were liberals. And of course they are the ones running public education with their numerous and completely irrelevant masters degree’s.
Again MQ, no matter how you frame it, N. Ireland is NOT adequately educating over 20% of its students.
Any school system can “educate” the kids of well-to-do, educated parents (like Irvine), but where the rubber-hits-the-road is poor, working class kids and as you have admitted, N. Ireland DOESN’T have to deal with immigrants and the cultural and language issues that they bring to a school system.
This tells us that a HOMOGENOUS N. Ireland is FAILING to educate a significant portion of their student body, and that, by ANY standard is NOT “success”!
So compared to N. Ireland, Santa Ana with its working class AND immigrants and the cultural/language issues they bring (but, hey that’s America), compares favorably to your beloved and abandoned, Belfast.
That is not to say that SAUSD doesn’t have issues, of course it does, but I have confidence that as SA’s immigrant population assimilates, that they too will begin to realize the “importance of education” (although I’m quite confident that most wouldn’t be so ILLOGICAL as to follow up such a statement with the following; “completely irrelevant masters degree’s”).
LOL, YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT.
Any school system can “educate” the kids of well-to-do, educated parents (like Irvine), but where the rubber-hits-the-road is poor, working class kids and as you have admitted, N. Ireland DOESN’T have to deal with immigrants and the cultural and language issues that they bring to a school system.
This tells us that a HOMOGENOUS N. Ireland is FAILING to educate a significant portion of their student body, and that, by ANY standard is NOT “success”!
MQ says,
Even a shitty education system has to educate children when their parents are involved. The Parents are the first teachers and parents are obligated for their child’s sake, to make sure they are educated.
Not all People you idiot are well todo (as you put it) in Irvine and a lot of them ARE immigrants. The difference is that value education.
We don’t have to deal with immigrants in the North of Ireland because they don’t want to move into an area that has political strife. Again you are completely ignorant to the world outside your door. Northern Ireland has been in a war situation for the last 35+ years, combined with Catholic Church running most schools and parents who had to deal with a civil war. And of course as always Welfare playing a role in keeping the population stupid and lazy! That is changing in North of Ireland and as long as the schools adapt a more conservative and rigorous approach to academics then the schools will improve as well as Belfast schools have done all over Northern Ireland.
“So compared to N. Ireland, Santa Ana with its working class AND immigrants and the cultural/language issues they bring (but, hey that’s America), compares favorably to your beloved and abandoned, Belfast.”
MQ says:
I have always said that Santa Ana is not full of scumbags, lazy fat people, loser parents, knocked up kids, drop outs, etc….Because they are immigrants only, but because they are immigrants on WELFARE and they come from a country that see’s education as a waste of time. Sorry, will finish conversation later, Belfast calling!
The “position paper” regarding religion as it is accepted in society and in schools is well though out. I’m sure you chose “wiccan” rather than, say “Islam” to get away from the specific negative perception of that religion in particular and rather to focus on the concept itself. Well written. Extending this, but in a more generalized way, religion, like speech patterns and other social norming, tend to be centralized to areas of the Country. What is “acceptable” in, say the mountains of W. Virginia and N. Carolina is not deemed so in Colorado or New Mexico, as an example. Like other Educational Standards, the concept of “religion” as it relates to the school system, needs to be standardized and that “standard” needs to have as its bar, the concept of the Constitution.
Does anyone know how to anonymously report a Williams Act violation in my classroom? Thankyou.
I’m wondering what the violation is and if it can be rectified without reporting it. I would actually start by contact Susan Mercer at the union office. I really don’t know anything else except that I think the Williams Act post that we have to put in our classrooms should state who to report to. Due to construction and packing up the entire classroom, I have no idea where my letter is. Good luck.
Call your UNION!!!
When did text books become a convenience and not a necessity? Quote from an Assistant Principal. Can SA sink any lower? (clue: think fundamental)
There is a Williams Act violation right there. We had to distribute all textbooks either before school started or on day one. Every kid has all of their books.
Now that the word “corruption” has been taken off of this thread, I am going to start spending a bit of time being thankful for some things at my school. I am thankful for an administration that is doing everything they can to support the teachers and help the students become successful. Everything isn’t perfect, but everyone appears to be working hard to make the school the best it can be. I hope that more and more of you will be able to say that in the months to come.
Good for you. Keep this posting and check back in, say, 3 months, to see if you still feel that way.
I hope I do, but it is SAUSD so I guess you never know 🙂
Really, an administration that is doing everything they can to support the teachers and students? They took away an hour of your instruction time every Wednesday so teachers could chat. How is that helping the students? Can’t they do that after school? And does anyone know why Thinking Maps is being pushed the way it is and who in the administration is behind this push? You do know that it is not a state approved program, right. Yet they insist it is used instead of the approved language arts program. That isn’t supporting the teacher or the students. It smacks of corruption.
Are all schools forced to use the ST Math program? It is one of the very few computer math program NOT approved for general use. The math committee recommended Houghton as the best math program and a short time later they say use this also because why if Houghton is so great? There are so many math programs that could be used but no discussion whatsoever. Why not?
I am not in an elementary school so much of what you are saying doesn’t apply to me. When I speak of administration, I am definitely not talking about district administration because we have to fight them tooth and nail. I am talking about the administration at my school site. BTW, I have been fighting for years to get ST math to no avail. Even if I was able to get it, we don’t have enough computers for more than one or two classes to participate. As far as Thinking Maps, I am just as frustrated as you are but once again, this is a district administration issue. I feel very sorry for the PE teachers as they spend countless hours participating in Thinking Maps inservices. I am thankful that my site administration is doing what they can to support us in the classroom and make our jobs easier. I hope you are aware of the pressure the district administration places on the school site principals and assistant principals. Also, the modified day Wednesdays were a state mandate due to Program Improvement status, I don’t really think anyone likes them but at least my own site administration allows teachers to collaborate and plan this time in order to improve the school.
It is always nice to hear that site administrators help the teachers do their jobs. I would like to hear more about the pressure the district administration places on the principals and AP’s, i.e. pressure to do what?
Modified Wednesdays were never a state mandate. About four years ago before the school year began, Dave Barton the union president at the time, and Jose Hernandez of the school board struck a deal. Dave didn’t think it was right for teachers to have a meeting after the school day. Without any discussion, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was born. Of the four shortened Wednesdays, two would or could be staff meetings and the other two, collaboration. Rosie Avilla specifically asked Jane if it was a state mandate and she said no. While the state might have suggested the teachers collaborate as a way to improve test scores, they wouldn’t and didn’t mandate eliminating instructional time in which to do it.
At the last school board meeting, Susan Mercer was falling over herself in adoration because she help put back 30 minutes of the hour the union took away for the persistently low achieving schools (PLAS). It wasn’t clear if it was all four Wednesday’s or just one day.
You now have 50 modified days out of the 180 teaching days. There is not a single week in the entire school year that has a full 5 days of instructional time. A new low for Santa Ana.
A word about Thinking Maps. When PE teachers have to listen about it, it is more than a district administration issue. It is not a state approved program, and as a DAIT district, they are prohibited from using it. Yet they are. With a new superintendent, it would be a good time to go to the next meeting and be heard. It is worthless and needs to be removed from every classroom in every school. Stand up and be heard. This is your time to make a difference.
What is there to gain for every teacher to use Thinking Maps in lessons most of the time, and who will gain by it? May it be easy to measure? Evidence of good admin managment? Even when they pay me to go to trainings it is much less then I thought I would be making by now. 2014 is the time up for the no child left behind laws to be met. What is the consequence of not meeting it, and what does it look like if it is not met?
I’m not completely down on Thinking Maps, I see the value, just not in every subject and not when instructional time is so limited. I do not like the modified days, I’d rather be teaching. The way it was always presented to us was that it was another way for the district to prove that they were implementing suggestions due to the PI status of the district. Thinking Maps have been mandated by the district, this much we know. Administrators at school sites have district personnel breathing down their necks constantly, I have seen it and it is very ugly. They are threatened with being fired or reassigned at every turn. They are pulled away from the school site at a moment’s notice and spend hours on end off campus. Just a few reasons I have never used that administrative credential that has been sitting on the shelf for more than a decade. I prefer to teach and appreciate administrators who make every attempt to let me do that.
What I would really like to know, is the name of the person in the district that is mandating this program, Thinking Maps. Surely there is no reason to keep this person’s name a secret. So if anyone knows the name, please post.
On a side note, the district is in total disarray. They mandate programs, cut instructional time, and do a lot of threatening. They have no plan, and promote through cronyism. Any dissention is strongly discouraged, and retaliation is always an option. No wonder moral is so low at so many schools. The three board members at the top of the page have been at their jobs way too long. I hope the new superintendent has what it takes to turn things aroung.
Just curious…..does everyone at your site have such a high opinion of the administration as you do?
Not sure but the overall attitude of the staff seems to have improved this year as a result of certain suggestions being taken by the administration. I wouldn’t even want to attempt to speak for the entire staff about anything.
I’ve used the “Thinking Maps”. My problem is in context. Not every lesson in every subject every day can be “tweaked” to use them. Like so many other programs, The Administration (also known as The Head Shed) gets on a band wagon and thinks it’s the “silver bullet” and everything and every one must fit into the same “mold”.
While the administration is a joke, it is your humor that makes me laugh.
tmare, I don’t think your site is as good as you think. I know of what I speak.
Really? Are you there? If you are, maybe you could enlighten us. I see a lot of great people trying to do the best they can for kids. Is it perfect? No, but I would challenge you to find somewhere that is perfect. I am choosing to focus on the great things that are happening and I’m sorry that so many of you cannot see the forest for the trees.
I don’t know what site anyone is at, that’s why we are anonymous. It seems to me that some people think they work at Disneyland….I wonder which characters are in charge? Being positive is one thing, being realistic is another.
I definitely know that we don’t work at Disneyland. The pay is better where I work and the job is a bit more important. No one is singing all day and wearing costumes. Some sites are better than others, as schools is SA go, I feel very fortunate. Actually, I feel fortunate to be where I am compared to just about any school in the county.
Sad, isn’t it? Someone likes things that are going on at their school site, and all some others can do is say “it’s not that good where you are, you must be crazy.”
At my site, things definitely got better for a couple of years. Now, we have almost all new admin, and it’s been the worst start in years. Teachers have been offended, the ILT has been ignored and virtually set aside, chairs of the two largest departments (math and ELA) aren’t even part of the ILT.
If you like your site, I say good for you. Enjoy that while it lasts, and do what you can to help it last longer. I’m just thankful that our union is sufficiently responsive that they have helped to straighten out issues at our site, and are continuing to do so.
And I am a bit envious of tmare, no matter what the naysayers say.
Thanks, I know, heaven forbid any of us are even slightly happy with our jobs and our administration. I wasn’t always this happy but the change compared to a few years ago is drastic at my site.
Wow, what a blog! I guess it’s okay to agree to disagree, right? For those who are happy with their jobs, have a great year! For those who aren’t, good luck this year. Let’s keep our focus on the kids, after all, isn’t that what teachers do?
Tmare, yours is a very small majority at your school site. I know of *many* there who are not happy with the current environment. And I can see where Thinking Maps don’t work well for Math.
It’s not so much that they don’t work, it’s more that we really don’t have the time for them. In my opinion, math is nothing more than a thinking map already. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel in order to teach math.
Why should Thinking Maps be taught for math at all? It is not a state approved math program, it is not a program at all. It is a stupid little organizer that has nothing to do with math or PE and yet it pushed as it is the holy grail of learning. Call it for what it is, landfill. It takes away the limited time that you have to teach math so one could correctly say when it comes to teaching, it is counterproductive.
If you think math is nothing more than a thinking map, I sure hope you don’t teach math.
A thinking map is simply a way to organize your thoughts and come up with an easier way to sort and think about information. Mathematicians have already done this for us and we help our students do that for themselves. Formulas are derived in order to organize a concept and make it simpler, that is all I mean by that comment.
What is it with the Santa Ana School district that they place principals in key schools when said principal has no classroom/teaching experience? I know of 2 different ones: at both ends of the spectrum of performing schools.
Well, it starts with placing people with no classroom/teaching experience into AP positions. Without proving ability in that position, when the principal leaves they are automatically promoted. They started out perhaps as a resource teacher or even an outreach person. They could have a very short time in the classroom showing no excellence or proficiency in their craft. In fact, the only thing they all have in common is that they are connected with the right people in the district. This has been going on for so long, can anyone post they have an AP or a principal that had a career as a teacher proving excellence in the classroom?
Principals that are in 6+ years in program improvement are still in their jobs with the district fawning over them as they reach for their thesaurus for superlatives to describe how wonderful they are. One does not need a spoon to start the gagging reflex.
It’s called political clout and/or knowing where the bodies are buried.
Public Schools in this country are not learning institution. Its a businesss and I bet they’re like most Public school teachers, not good at teaching, but good at being a member of the almighty teachers union!
Though you were not a teacher? If not, how do you know about said Teachers?
And before you Public School teachers get all raised up about my comment above, please do look at the poor over all satistics of public schools. Only bad work men blame their tools!
My goodness! After last year’s truly interesting “heat”, what’s happening here? Too afraid to speak up? The Warrior Wiccans dissolved? Didn’t I hear/read something about an administer with a wall of religious items? What about schools whose staff “voted” to nullify a hard earned contract? Are we still buying “Let’s do it for the kids” as the powerful potion for allowing more hours for less pay?
Wow, it is amazing how much goes on and most of us don’t know about it. I never heard of any schools voting against the contract. Maybe you could enlighten us. Dennis Cole was moved to another school, I haven’t heard how that is going. I am also not at a school that has asked for more hours with less pay unless you are talking about the fact that we are working harder and haven’t received a raise in years.
“Working more hours for less pay” may refer to Admin pushing/requiring staff to attend such events, as Thinking Map trainings, at a district set rate per hour of pay per required attendance. Admin requesting staff to attend meetings/events, to discuss/account for test scores, teacher notebook checks, cultural events, staff development/collaboration and such. “Working more hours for less pay” may also refer to the cuts in summer school pay, where teachers’ attempted to make up lost income for past cuts to pay. The powerful potion these days is “Data drives instruction.” I don’t hear anyone asking what we are doing for kids anymore, or even how kids are doing, except on tests.
Math problem: What does 1200 kids plus 1 DSO minus 3 administrators equal? Chaos. Isn’t it part of the administration’s job to be visible and circulate outside before and after school?
Agreed. Especially when the said administrators aren’t even on campus for the entire day. What could they possibly be doing in meetings at the DO all day that is more important than doing their jobs at their school site?
In the mean time…How do I give tests to students in my classroom that are 3 to 5 grade levels above their reading ability, and then use their failure on the test to direct instruction?
Do you mean, “Why do I waste classroom instruction time giving tests that I already know my kids won’t pass?” If this is what you mean, I completely understand. My answer is not to give the tests and find ways to group instruction based on the student’s needs and not the need for the district to have “data” that everyone already knows prior to giving these meaningless tests. I am so done with the whole idea of wasting kid’s time and making them hate school while proving just how low academically they are when we already know it. Can someone just let us teach?
No. I mean “how?”
I don’t know how you do that. I do know that if you are a good teacher, you already know your students well enough to know how they will do on these tests and you really don’t need any more “data” which is gathered by wasting the kids time taking another test. If you can find a way to make these tests useful in your situation, you are doing better than I am. I consider them a major interruption of instruction.
Thank you for your response. Perhaps writing activities regarding the students’ experience of taking these routine tests that are consistently out of their academic reach may be useful.
An interesting thought. Maybe some of their responses could be sent to the DO.
Wise Old Owl,
What do you mean the students are behind grade level? Didn’t you hear Michelle LaPatner at the board meeting all smiles on how well all the students are doing and improving? Did you see the pretty green graphs? Maybe they need more Thinking Maps, ST Math, Dibbles, or less instruction time so there could be more collaboration? Perhaps if you spent all day at a SST training learning how it will be now impossible to actually have an intervention will be of help. The administration just spent $200,000 to replace Data Director. That would be a waste of money if you didn’t feed the software data, wouldn’t it? No one does anything with the garbage in garbage out data anyways, but it is the process that counts.
Maybe there should be another test to determine why the other tests aren’t helpful?
For some reason they think that I have no other way to know anything about my students unless I give all my students the same tests everyone else is taking every 3-4 weeks. I am supposed to waste 2 extra weeks of my school year watching my kids take more tests while they aren’t learning anything. I am a teacher, not a professional test giver. I think they are stuck at the DO with nothing else to do except generate data. Maybe they could come in and help my 40 students per class actually learn something instead of finding more and more ways to waste our time in the name of “data”. I know my students, I work with them everyday, I don’t need their data to know what my students need to work on.
There are plenty of personnel to assist you. They have curriculum specialists, coaches, TOSA’s, and probably a few more under different titles. The bad news is that they are all busy thinking of ways they could further infringe on your already limited time without actually having to go into the classroom.
Really, 40 students? Perhaps your TOSA could take half your class every day for the rest of the year. I am guessing that it is easier to do administrative work, no set hours, no state standards to meet, no remediation, probably the answer would be no.
Dear Outsider,
The few TOSA’s I know are too busy subbing for both teachers and admin on campus’s to actually worry about anything else.
And Tmare, I applaud you for knowing your students’ saturation levels when it comes to tests and meaningless assessments. I wish more teachers could stand up for their kids in these situations.
I would agree that the TOSA position has become a junior administration position and it gives the DO more excuses for pulling administrators off campus. My issues are not with my school, they are with the unreasonable demands and distractions from the students that come from the District Office. They are not helping us educate kids, they are hindering us.
seriously a sad situation!
Since you all (Tmare, anonn, wise old owl) and many other teachers agree that there are too many assessments, how about letting the district and the new superintendent know about it from the teacher viewpoint. It is the only way it will change. They could make that little change. How about the next board meeting? How about any teacher who will take the time to make the district a little better and say something. If not, then it will be your present and future.
You are going on the misguided assumption that the School District is a democracy.
Democracy, hardly, self serving, getting close. If enough teachers get together and list the amount of assessments you are required to do, interventions that they push that are not even state approved, just perhaps Ms. Melendez will make one change before she moves on to another job with a hefty buy-out.
Its been 100 days, did the superintendent make any change, any change at all? Promoting Chad doesn’t count. That is one expensive HR department you have.
Then you’ll be targeted. I wish teachers could stand up and be more vocal. None of us are perfect and there are very few who want to make their lives hell by standing up to the board. Most teachers just want to work hard and go home with a sense of accomplishment.
Terry Hauser, one of the good guys at the district office, passed away on Monday, November 14, 2011 after a long and painful illness.
She worked in accounting and was one who tried to keep SAUSD honest when it came to spending the district’s money.
She also fed, cared for, and fought for the humane treatment of the feral cats who lived behind the district office.
Come rain or shine, work day or vacation day, Terry cared daily for the feral cats.
Terry’s Feral Friends Project was able to trap, spay/neuter, and return 14 feral cats within the space of 6 weeks.
All of this was done with zero dollars from SAUSD.
Terry will be missed by so many.
Terry, I’ll miss you and so will your feral friends.
She was an unsung hero. I hope someone at the District takes her place and continues her work.
Wow! I started reading back through the oldest part of this blog I could find. What an eye opener!
I could not find lots of the postings from about November 2007 through March of 2008. Can someone help and post the URL’s from these dates?
New folks and those who have been around for a while should go back and read this stuff before you make any more contract related decisions (concessions).
It looks like there are some comments from March 2008 at the following links, but I don’t see anything from about September 2007 through February 2008. You might want to contact editor Vern Nelson. He might be able to find them. They’re probably still around in the OJ’s files, just not linked to the site.
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2008/06/new-sausd-corruption-open-thread/comment-page-1/#comments
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2008/06/new-sausd-corruption-open-thread/comment-page-2/#comments
That’s about what I found. So many missing messages. Vern! where are they??
I was asked yesterday why I did not get up to speak during Terry Hauser’s ceremony in the chapel. I did not because I was unsure of myself. I was unsure because what I had to say may have hurt the family instead of helping them go through the grieving process.
For my grieving process I do need to say these things. I need to stand up for Terry. Hopefully, this will help others like Terry would help others when they were being mistreated at work.
Children are not the only ones who bully. Adults, especially adults who are in positions of power, and large institutions also bully. When bullying is done by those who hold positions of power it is especially horrendous. When bullying is used by large institutions it is a shameful act. Educational institutions have a long record of using bullying, which is to say, coercion, to manipulate their employees. Educational institutions, including SAUSD, don’t hesitate to lie, misrepresent, cheat, and harass employees to get what they want.
Bullying should never be tolerated. Children should be held accountable when they bully other children, teachers and support staff. Adults should be held accountable when they bully children or their coworkers. Educational institutions, even more so, should be held accountable when they use their power to bully their employees.
SAUSD, specifically, should be held accountable for bullying their employees, including Terry Hauser. SAUSD did so many things to Terry overtly tormenting her to the very end of her life including trying to get her to resign her position because she was not coming into work full time. Terry had tons of sick days but because she took off time to go to chemotherapy they wanted her to quit. Fortunately, her union stepped in to stop that one. Her union rep frequently stepped in to stop the district from bullying Terry. Before the union could get involved, however, Terry had to speak up and fight for her rights.
The incidents of bullying and coercion by SAUSD should never have happened in the first place but if she had not stood up for herself SAUSD would have gotten away with all of it.
The message Terry shared with so many of her coworkers was to stand up and fight for yourself and stand up and fight for others who need your help. As difficult as it may be (and probably will be) we need to be there for each other.
Whether four legged or two legged, Terry stood up and fought for those who could not stand up for themselves.
I agree with you 100% about the bullying among adults. It’s sad to watch this happening by co-workers, as well as people in charge. I’ve seen this at work on many occassions and it has resulted in good people losing their jobs and/or getting transferred. It is extremely disheartening.
Thank you for stating what many were feeling. Thank you to Terry for learning how to stick up for herself and, in the process, possibly making it safer for others who work at SAUD.
You know what I hate to see, when teachers pick on other teachers. This is happening waaay to much nowadays. Instead of joining together, I’m seeing more pointing fingers.
Does SAUSD union have a special agreement with HR?
There are many ways I think a special agreement exists between SAUSD union and HR which is really the district. In what context do you ask?
I mean in terms of backdoor dealings that target certain teachers but appease the majority with contracts that are passed year after year. I could see Susan Mercer shaking hands with HR and making sure that she stays on their side when it comes to firing of teachers. I bet if Susan does her part, then the board and everyone else will do theirs.
Why shouldn’t Susan Mercer shake hands with HR? They pay her salary, all it not half as they would have you believe. She is not a teacher yet, I bet she gets benefits as a teacher would. Seems like misrepresentation to the State as they pay her check, and for what? They bargain endlessly yet get nothing done. They don’t even let you know what the point of contention is. If you need union help, chances are you won’t get it. You are on your own unless you are a rep. They could ask for any amount of union dues from and you will have no say whatsoever about it. You can’t even opt out of the union. Truly, taxation without representation.
Years ago, they had a vote, which they counted, to ask the teachers if they wanted a union. Surprise, they never had another to ask the teachers the same question.
“SANTA ANA, CA — November 29, 2011 – The Santa Ana Board of Education has recently appointed Chad Hammitt to the position of Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Services for the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD). Prior to his appointment, Hammitt was Executive Director of Human Resources for SAUSD. In his new post, he will be responsible for various personnel related matters including union negotiations and employee relations.
Hammitt joined SAUSD in 1996 as a classroom teacher. He then served in a variety of capacities including bilingual resource teacher, assistant principal, and principal before being promoted to Executive Director of Human Resources.
In his current role, Hammitt will direct a staff of 23 and a Districtwide staff of approximately 4,500 certificated and classified employees who serve approximately 56,000 students at 61 dynamic school sites throughout the Santa Ana community.”
A new Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Services?!? Really? I cannot comprehend how this can be justified. During these past years, SAUSD has gone through a plethora of budget reduction, RIF notices, layoffs, and elimination of positions, affecting the staff and ultimately the students. During my time in SAUSD, sitting on the Budget Reduction Committee, then changed to Budget Reallocation Committee, we were always told that the majority of the budget is personnel, and during these times of budget cuts, we unfortunately need to cut personnel. That’s reasonable, but why then do we create a new position called “Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Services,” pay them a six-digit figure, when the number of personnel has declined.
I understand that Santa Ana is the largest district in Orange County, but the HR department continues to grow and expand as the numbers of employees are being reduced. For the life of me, I cannot understand that correlation. If SAUSD has money, shouldn’t it be going back to the class room, the students and the staff who are on the frontline at the school site with the students?
It is my understanding that Chad had a better offer elsewhere and he has been an invaluable resource to the district. All who have had personal contact with him have attested to his helpfulness and skills. I believe there will also be others in higher level positions who will be leaving soon and I would imagine that at least one of those positions will be absorbed into Chad’s new position. I am not basing this on anything but things that “little birds” have told me, so no, I can’t back it up. I am glad the district didn’t lose Chad but I understand your perspective.
Chad is getting a new title and a raise for most likely doing the same job he was doing before. I’m with Richard. It is in poor taste to get “raises” right now when teachers are getting cut and class sizes are increasing.
So, what is he making now with the “new title”? We all have additional responsibilities and duties and we aren’t getting any raises. I don’t know how these people sleep at night.
Asst. Superintendent could make $157,436 like Herman Mendez or $177,096 like Alexander Ayala and Juan Lopez. How many assistants does the new superintendent need? With all those assistants you wouldn’t think they need a special projects/wellness director for $126,270 like Frances Byfield makes.
Human resources is huge; Judith Barden $112,848 to coordinate all the Beginning Teachers (BTSA) who do not have their credentials. Are there any? Your grievance chair is on the payroll. Lots of luck if you have a grievance. Susan Mercer checks in with $100,000. Secretaries do well. So you Juan, Chad, Art, Judy, Marisol, Jennifer Isensee, Alicia (Curriculum specialist), and Susan Mercer all making in excess of $100,000. That is $900,000 off the top before you count the personnel that actually does Human Resource work.
I wonder how many positions are filled whose job it is to tell teachers what to do? You have AP’s, principals, director of classified, the Superintendent and all the associates and assistants. I bet you didn’t know you were so popular.
No one, including Chad, is invaluable. He does his job and is nice about it. Let’s get real. Unless he teaches, he does not affect the students on iota.
You forgot Ed Winchester, Dawn Miller and I don’t even know who else, but there are many more. Then we have many other “curriculum specialists”, as well as TOSA’s and a large group of consultants. For the most part, the curriculum specialists working at the district office are not even specialists at all, they are just people who wanted out of the classroom. Curriculum specialists are basically gloried secretaries for the many Superintendents of “this and that”. There is a huge group of people earning high salaries and they never teach or even truly interact with even one student.
Yet they will raise class sizes and give us furlough days. These people are scam artists. Don’t forget Michelle Rodriguez and the new SST person whoever she is who can’t even answer any of the questions.
What is unfortunate is that if you need money for your classroom you wouldn’t get it. Money at the school site, let me guess, goes to pay for your TOSA which is easily over $100,000. My guess is that she is on your school site council. I bet she also writes the Single Plan For Student Achievement. Perhaps Rocket Scientist and Tmare could verify if that is true for your school.
Ironically, if you had less money at your site, there wouldn’t be enough to pay for salaries but plenty for what you really need.
TOSA’s were forced on the schools. My principal asked if we could use the position to fund another teacher to lower the class sizes from the all too common 40. The answer was no. I’m not really sure what the TOSA does but I know the position is frequently used to cover supervision during breaks and lunch because principals are often at meetings at the District Office (at times ALL of them are gone).
Tmare and everyone else, What funding source is used to pay for your TOSA? Also, do you know what is so important at the DO that requires the principal and AP to be there so often and what do they discuss?