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Thursday, June 11, 2009
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- Chief Highknocker
- You aren't local until you have at least three generations in the cemetery.
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221 comments:
1 – 200 of 221 Newer› Newest»"Because of unreliable sources and cunning games, one may falsely believe their opinions are based on fact. Don't base your opinions on someone's idea of what is fact (that's hearsay), demand the documents of proof.
Although hearsay is not allowed in courtrooms, it is disheartening that taxpayers can no longer trust the "hearsay" from the public officials and school board members that the taxpayers elected to truthfully, accurately, and fairly represent the the people that once trusted them. This is what it has come to...demanding documents of proof. But school districts will stop at nothing and, at taxpayers' expense, are abusing legal resources to keep taxpayers from receiving document of proof that taxpayers are legally entitled to."
Thanks Chief! Good idea to continue with another thread! :)
Great...a new thread and another 'cut and paster'. Please, just say NO to C&P!
Chief-totally agree with your statement that the GLSD will not survive without major changes. Changes in personnel, changes in spending, changes in curriculum and programs...an overall reinvention of itself. As much as I despise GM (Government Motors) they've put together a slick new advertising campaign that basically states...what worked in the past is no longer acceptable. Either the GLSD evolves into a completely new entity...or it becomes extinct. Plain and simple.
It is all about cost and providing a good, solid, 'nuts and bolts' education.
Is it too late...hard to say since things are so damn screwed up and now the school is looking at a big deficit and contemplating a referendum.
I don't know if the new officers will be able to do enough to turn this thing around but if the community gets behind the effort it is possible.
The current administration is out of touch with reality and that is going to be a stumbling block to getting things changed.
Nobody wants to 'give' anything back because concessions indicate failure! Reference the idiots at Saturn who don't want to keep their jobs at a reduced level of pay...I guess having a whole lot of nothing is better than having a little of something. Wrong! Concessions indicate a willingness to work towards a common, mutually acceptable goal with the opportunity for future rewards. Giving a 'little' allows for some potentially big rewards down the road.
The school needs to make big, bold, unprecedented, sweeping changes...they need to 'slash' (yes, strong language) unnecessary spending and, here is the big kicker, if the highly compensated administration at the school really gave a darn about the students and education...they'd limit their pay to a level more in-line with their level of responsibility. I hate to bring up the Big 4 but, you can't justify almost $400,000 spent annually for an administrator, principal, curriculum coordinator and guidance counselor! Over 7% of the total school district budget for 4 people (many of whom have really helped screw things up in the first place). It's one thing paying too much for something worthwhile. However, it's quite different paying a great deal of money for a whole lot of nothing. Unfortunately, contracts are involved so unless some of these over-compensated players step to the plate it will be a losing battle for the community.
Interesting how the three main officers (President, Vice President and Treasurer) were each chosen 4-3, in favor of the new majority. Don’t let anyone tell you local elections don’t matter. The spring School Board election certainly did.
Anonymous said...
Great...a new thread and another 'cut and paster'. Please, just say NO to C&P! 12.6.09
Another thread and more insults. Please, say NO to the TP!!
Insults...or truths. The only thing insulting is that we've been bamboozled for so long that we, the taxpayers and community, should be embarrassed.
Now it is time to answer for the BS that has gone on at this school. Overpaid administrative function, a school district that is on the verge of extinction. The list goes on.
The folks who have turned GLSD into a circus sideshow should have to answer for it - plain and simple.
Insults...or truths. The only thing insulting is that we've been bamboozled for so long that we, the taxpayers and community, should be embarrassed.
Are we talking about Obama and crew or our school...same shit, different progressive liberals?
Oh, excuse me.
I thought you were blathering on about Bush, Cheney and company of felonious cretins. The same criminals who lied to make war. The same crooks who doled out millions to their bankers. The same fools who squandered true Republican and American values.
The only thing you have to be embarassed about is that you broadcast your inadequacies on the Internet.
sure, just change the subject when you don't like what someone says...
Very mature. What's next "I know you are, but what am I".
Chief - perhaps it wasn't a bad idea to require people to post with an identity. It appears that too many ignorant folks just have an axe to grind and can only muster up witty tidbits like the last person.
Blog-head:
How is it a blogger can accuse another for changing the subject, then make references to "Obama" and "progressive liberals"?
This is with staying with the subject: you consistently harangue the school without firsthand knowledge of how schools actually operate.
Tell us your practical experience about schools. Explain state and federal mandates? How do schools fulfill special educational requirements? What are past, present and future educational trends? What kinds of educational assessments are necessary?
Your MO is similar when it comes to national politics. You speak as though you are an authority. Keep in mind it is your opinion and not all bloggers agree with what you portray as "the truth."
If, by 'Blog-head' you are referring to my comments, I've never stated that my blogging was based on anything more than a personal perspective. I wasn't aware that this sight required a bibliography, citations of reference material or a curriculum vitae showing my expertise.
Give it a break and face the fact that the intent of a blog is for people to post their own personal opinions. Hopefully these are intelligent opinions, based on credible information and are presented in a manner conducive to generating additional dialogue.
Understanding state and federal mandates as they relate to schools (especially our school) is not very difficult and isn't being questioned. Providing for special needs and educational requirements wasn't questioned. Educational assessments...for a k-12 school of less than 300 students should not be very difficult. But, somehow I'm sure the GLSD will find a way to make it the biggest, bestest, most expensive and expansive report ever (keeping in line with the rest of their over-the-top thinking/spending patterns).
You don't seem to get it. As a parent in this community I have a right to voice my concerns about the ridiculous way this school is / has been run. As a taxpayer in the GLSD I have a right to be outraged at the wasteful spending and unnecessary programs that have been introduced. Programs that have not, and will not, help the schools position (financially, or otherwise).
I apologize for not being an expert in all things necessary to suit your prerequisites but I did state that these were my own, personal opinions. If they somehow hurt your feelings or caused mental anguish, too bad. We have a right to speak out about things and if you and the rest of the sheeple are offended by it...too bad! If posting links to information that allows people to see the wastefulness in our little school...too bad! If my comments hit a little too close to home...too bad!
It's time for people to stand up and be heard on things that were 'silently sanctioned' for way too long.
Right on Rodney! You rock!
Hey Rod-dog,
So, if someone doesn't agree with your assessment, then they are one of the "sheeple"?
I don't buy it for a minute.
You offer simplistic and naive solutions to local education issues: terminate administrators you don't agree with; teach just the "basics", invest a minimum in public education.
I am an opinionated taxpayer like yourself. I am for investing more into our school. What you call wasteful, I see essential. What you deem unnecessary programs, I see long-term investment in our kids' future.
Your resort to sarcasm speaks volumes of how you fail to process a problem.
Apparently, someone who works inside the three-ring circus...
Just goes to show you that there are folks out there who approve of wasteful spending with ineffective results. Let's just keep screwing up and hope that everything turns out great one day.
I, too, and for a more responsible and accountable school that goes back to the teaching basics and gives the students a solid education rather than the schizophrenic curriculum that is presently offered at the school. We have less than 300 students in GL schools. If we want the school to stay alive, we need to cut spending and maximize the quality of the education. Also, the primary grade teachers (especially) need to be evaluated and replaced if their results are not meeting the high standard of excellence that the school wishes it has, but doesn't. The definition of insanity is to continue to do the same thing and expect different results.
Go, go Rodney!!!!! The sheeple use the same insulting, whining, tactics to defend their simplistic, naive, complacent, apathetic opinions.
Check out the Ripon Commonwealth for thorough information on the School Board meeting June 18. NO mention of the meeting in OUR Green Lake Reporter. (Wonder why)
Gives the true picture why GL school is in the situation it is in. During school board discussion on ways to improve communication with the community, new Board member Meade Grim suggested that questionnaires be sent to residents to get their input and ideas. Administration and old board members said no because "results would only be negative". Wonder why. They said community has time to address issues at Board meetings. Anyone who goes knows it is very obvious that especially administration is hardly interested, and no comments allowed by Board. Supposedly they discuss and promise to "get back to you" but those of us who have brought something up, never hear back. Thanks for trying, Mr. Grim. Keep it up!
I read that article, and the statements from Wendy Schultz and J.Depisch (sp?) were very revealing. The idea that only people with negative comments would return the surveys is ludicrous. Even if that were the case, doesn't the school board want to know what it is that people are thinking and feeling?
Two posts up, the blogger said the Administration “said no” to surveys. I read that article, and saw no mention of that. Rather, it states that Ken Bates encouraged the School Board to seek public input. However, he didn’t really take a stand one way or the other on surveys in particular. It was Jodine and Wendy who were quoted as resisting the survey proposal.
I do agree that this is a telling difference between our School Board members. Some want public input on a variety of issues, while others want input only on the easy topics. The Board boasts about holding two listening sessions this year, but what were the topics? Football co-oping and health & wellness. Big deal. I’d like to know why the previous Board leadership never bothered to seek public feedback on whether to implement IB district-wide, or whether to buy Sunnyside land, or whether to spend $23K on attorney fees for a piece of ABA land that the public wasn’t exactly clamoring for. Let’s be proactive, not re-active, about feedback on important school decisions.
The article further states that the School Board’s #1 goal for 2008-09 was “creating a positive relationship with the community.” Why was there no listening session about that? It would be an ideal topic for a listening session or survey. Theoretically, even if no one showed up or responded, then the Board could say, “Don’t complain, we tried.” Let’s not forget that Meade Grim (the person asking to hold more surveys) was soundly elected this spring. He has an obvious mandate from the public. Maybe his counterparts should pay attention.
I also agree about the Board not getting back to people’s questions. At last month’s regular meeting, a parent questioned why a popular study hall aide had been shifted to a new position against her will. Not exactly earth-shattering news, but do you think we’ll hear the answer this month?
Above post hit the nail on the head. Public input is only asked for regarding easy issues, but on tough issues the games are played so that public can not include itself, the public's input is cleverlly misinterpreted, the information made public is slanted so that residents are left chasing their tails, etc. School districts giving out different answers to the same questions, depending on who's asking and why. School board members not addressing issues (until private, executive sessions out of public eye), and only replying to emails in order to explain their understanding of what they think is the taxpayer's misunderstanding. The list of games goes on and on.
In general, people know these games take place but they believe one can't fight city hall. So in order to justify not doing anything at all to stop the games, people see it as easier to kill the messenger, shut their eyes, and hope everything turns out okay. Teachers are getting rammed because of greed and complacency, which means our children's education is getting rammed. Will parents do anything about the lack of accountability? And will parents then take time out of their "busy" schedules to unite and work to get these schools back on the basic, academic track?
After reading the article in the Ripon Commonwealth, it is obvious that big cuts need to be made at GL Schools, mostly in administrative costs. Funny that Wendy Schultz worries that any feedback from surveys would be negative! Here's a clue Wendy: only the problems need to be fixed. And you of all people should know about the problems at GL Schools.
I guess some people are looking for a pat on the back as opposed to a kick in the arse! Unfortunately, for all that the the board and administration have done the last several years even a good, swift kick would not be enough.
It’s funny how nobody on the School Board batted an eyelash when the district held a survey about school breakfast this spring. But now that Meade Grim is suggesting more surveys, oh no, we can’t do that because only the negative people will respond! It’s classic double-speak by a select few Board members.
Read between the lines. Meade should be applauded for his survey proposal because he wants to focus on areas that are most worthy of public feedback. That’s why certain Board members are resisting. They know that Meade wants to ask the public more substantive questions than just “Do you support school breakfast” etc. The questions that Meade wants to ask are the questions that a few other Board members aren’t interested in listening to. Are they afraid that some of their ideas and pet projects aren’t as popular as they think?
You got that right! Very observant comment on the breakfast survey. Were these surveys substantiated by an outside source? I cannot believe that there was much support for the idea of interrupting the school day to serve breakfast that should have been served and eaten at home. I was at the meeting when the idea was presented, and you could tell that the woman presenting the information was keen on getting this program into the school, in spite of the inconvenience and extra costs (staff etc). So where are these surveys? Gee, maybe only the people with POSITIVE feedback answered them!
That school breakfast idea is ridiculous, just another way for government to shove their nose into our lives. Those types of programs are run in the big cities that are overflowing with welfare cases. More people sucking on the teat of society. And for us here in Green Lake, just another side-show under the Big Top of the Three Ring Circus!
Parents: Feed your kids their breakfast at home!
Parents should feed their kids breakfast at home. But, then again, parents are getting their kids up at the crack of dawn to eat a "breakfast" before shoving them out the door, not caring if the kid was too tired to eat the breakfast, so that parents can get to work on time and get the kid to school on time. If the kid has a cold, medicate him and drop him off in a classroom where he's too drowsy to learn or behave in class, etc.
Teachers are trained to teach a classroom of students, but when teachers are working like chickens with their heads cut off to keep up with rules, regulations, and requirements, how effective is it to teach sick children who should've been kept at home or teach kids with with twisted senses of entitlement and disrespectful attitudes???????
What the heck did that last blog mean? Are you suggesting that parents don't know what's best for their kids? Or, that they don't know how to feed them a breakfast that will 'get them through' to lunch?
Give the parents a little credit and allow them to make substantive decisions in their lives of their children.
I hope that is what you are suggesting in your blog.
There are many parents who should be allowed to, and do, make sound, responsible decisions for the welfare of the children. But if you don't think there is a growing number of irresponsible, or ignorant, or lazy parenting techniques (for whatever reasons) involving very poor choices for children, then you are not paying close enough attention. That's just the good parents with bad parenting philosophies...then there are the straight up, self absorbed, bad parents that society has unwittingly produced.
Sadly, this is all too true. All that aside, I could feed myself breakfast since I was 5 years old! There is simply no sound excuse for a child not to eat breakfast at home before school. A box of (healthy) cereal in the cupboard and some moo-juice in the fridge. Or a cup of yogurt and a piece of fruit. I can pretty much tell what type of parent you are by looking at the contents of your shopping cart. I can also tell how spoiled (or unspoiled) your children are!
More bad parents making bad decisions for their kids...Don't worry comrade, the government is positioning itself to take care of everyone. With this type of idiocy I'm sure we'll be seeing a Breakfast Czar sometime in the near future.
I think it is a very sad commentary on society in general when we judge people by what is in their grocery cart, rather than by speaking to them or getting to know them as people! Real, live, thinking human beings!
Oh really. Well the other day I saw a woman with a grocery cart full of vodka. That's all that was in her cart...so you're telling me I shouldn't judge her.
Well I did just that!
And as soon as she left the store I followed her home with my shopping cart full of lemonade!
Ah, life is good!!!
Everyone should stop being such whine-bags and enjoy the things we have...and stop cursing the things we don't.
Open your eyes to the greatness that is around you, thoroughly enjoy it and stop being a bunch of "debbie downers".
But please, don't serve vodka lemonades for breakfast....
After all - that is what bloody mary's are for!
she probably still has kids in the GL School District...thus the need for the vodka!!! :)
Green Lake school district is experiencing serious problems and has obvious problems. It has city/school politics has taken lead from bigger (more manipulative) communities such as Ripon. Federal agencie refuse to enforce federal statutes. State agencies won't even investigate what is obvious wrongs in financial management of public school districts, and local police refuse to enforce district by laws.
What? You lost me there.
thus the need for vodka
Who is this Vod Knockers you speak of????
Does anybody else notice how the Green Lake School Board's closed session items on the monthly agenda are always vaguely worded to provide for maximum confusion and secrecy? Somebody really ought to inform the Board that they are legally required to be more specific about closed session matters.
Excellent point.
You know where to reach the Board Members. Ask them!
Have a different person take notes while asking a different school board member, and compare those notes. Then have a different group of people ask different school board members, and compare the different answers from the different members and compare the different answers given by the same member depending on who asked them the question and why. This is all very interesting IF school board members bother to respond at all.
Is this some sort of riddle? If the answer is "the sphynx" then I have heard it before.
Yep. It's a riddle and it's not the sphynx. Figure it out.
Alright, how come none of you can mention this week's article in the Ripon paper? You are so quick to point out everything that you perceive as bad, put something great in the paper, it suddenly is not noticed. Green Lake beat all of the schools around in the state testing! Green Lake is shining in academics! To quote some of you, the DPI site does not lie, well guess what, the DPI site says Green Lake is performing at a fantastic level. They beat Ripon, Markesan, Berlin, and Princeton. Be sure to check out the chart that Aaron published in the paper. Green Lake was first in social studies, language art, science, and math. They were second behind Ripon (by one point) in reading. Green Lake students are achieving at high levels.
Statistics can be manipulated, and it is the TEACHERS that are doing more with less and keeping scores up. At this rate, we won't have any teachers but we'll have plenty of highly paid school administrators. Too many people believe teachers should teach with minimum pay because they should love what they do regardless of benefits. I don't see school administrators caring about education so much that they'll take cuts to their hefty salaries as a labor of love.
Have academic standards been watered down? Why does the US look like its fast on its way to being a 3rd world country regarding academics? Schools' good reputations are built on what once was, but are now running on stink.
To the last post:
The reason none of the naysayers could say anything about the great test scores is because they need a little time to twist it all around, find something negative to say about it, be quick to discount it, or find some way to give the credit to the new board members.
Just watch.... the negative crap should be flowing at any time now, from whiners across the community.
I dare anyone from the dark side, to give credit on just this one to the school's efforts in the past few years regarding good test scores, and leave it at that. My guess is it cannot be done. Let's watch and see.
I rest my case. Couldn't even get my comment on there before someone who had negative soup for supper, jumped in and suggests a new evil conspiracy that somehow the test scores couldn't possibly be real....
so they must have been manipulated.
Give me a break. You cannot just accept good news from the school.
Whaaaaahhh.... Whaaaaahhh..
Mommy..... me no like the newspaper article in the Ripon Commonwealth.
Whaaaahhh...... the school kids
do good on tests...... no fair.....
nothing here so me can whine more....
no fair....... can't complain about good test scores......
Wait..... maybe me find friends to come up with ridiculous reasoning
on why scores are accidently high er than other schools.
Mommy!!!!!!! Bad newspaper.....
bad boy.... no like mean people who say nice things about school in paper. Whaaaaahhhhh......
Oh, my God! Please........
Stop.......................
your ridiculous misuse of the..............................................You get the picure!
I believe that post was a tribute to the TEACHERS who taught the students who scored so well. Highly paid administrators treating our schools like Wall Street had nothing to do with empassioning our kids toward a love of learning. Thank you teachers! Great job students!
Leave it to the "blind leading the blind" to whine and twist the truth, to save their own skins and discredit anything they do not agree with. Waaaaa! Don't hurt our feelings! We do the best to avoid accountability that we can! Waaa!
Ask the teachers if this nation's academics aren't falling prey to ridiculous priorities, watered down standards, and money grubbing politics. Talk about manipulating data and avoiding the real issues.
This article is exactly why so many people appreciate the Ripon paper. We see articles for the good, the bad, and everything in between regarding the Green Lake school. That's the way it should be. Keep it up!
You nay sayers are always good for a laugh. First, you have spent the last year going off on how the administration has ruined the curriculum, has wrecked anything that has to do with academics in Green Lake, and drove away all of the "good" teachers. You name it the administration totally destroyed academics in Green Lake ( according to the negative posters on this site). Now, when it is shown that academics are strong in Green Lake, again the administration is way off base and it is all about the teachers. Sorry folks, you cannot have it both ways. If the administration was responsible for the "bad" academic direction of the school, then they also have to be responsible for the "great" academic dirction the school is going. Stop talking out of both sides of your mouth.
Since Green Lake has half the students per class (or less) as the other schools in the study, they should be getting good test scores. Interesting too that there are schools out there that test much better than Green Lake that have 30+ kids per class. We still need to combine small classes and can do so without lowering standards.
Also, we need to cut the administration costs in a big way. Pat yourselves on the back all you want to, but there is still a lot that needs to be changed and improved at the school.
"If the administration was responsible for the "bad" academic direction of the school, then they also have to be responsible for the "great" academic dirction the school is going. Stop talking out of both sides of your mouth."
This poster's logic is scary, and is what you call one-sided brain drain. School administrators talk out of both sides of their mouth.
Administration is being held responsible for their part in the bad direction school priorities and policies have taken...and teachers are being commended for their extra hard work and dedication (more with less) in our children's education.
Again, you make me laugh!
Don't bust a gut...baaaaa! baaaaa!
Yes, all of the schools problems are now solved because the kids scored in the range they should be scoring in. Hey, let's all celebrate and buy some land! Let's hire some lawyers just for the heck of it! Why not spend $15,000 more dollars to have a new video made? And while we're at it, let's buy a camel and an elephant for the three-ring circus.
Tee Hee!
One reason lawyers were hired is because some of the "wonderful teachers" ( and always the same few), have brought frivolous charges to the school, grievances they call them, which always seem to center around the fact that they have the delusion they are entitled to forever jobs, get to set their own schedules, justify having only a few kids in their class, go around being disrespectful to other teachers, administration, parents, all under the over protection of the teachers union. They are the same ones who will file a petty grievance as soon as someone has held them accountable for their actions. They themselves don't have to pay for these constant ongoing grievances, because the union does. So they grieve and grieve and grieve. And where does the union get the money to pay for their attorneys? From union dues all of the other teachers in our school have to pay. In the meantime, the school district has to hire an attorney to address these ongoing and petty grievances. And that comes out of operations each year. Money that could be saved, and if you check the records for the past 5 years or so, these grievance defenses for the school have cost us taxpayers a lot of money, more money than was spent on Lindenwood land acquisition or other school issues. But those same teachers are clever at twisting it around, so we don't seem to hear from the naysayers out there about this issue, as an item for saving money. Because those teachers have the naysayers wrapped around their fingers. Funny how a subject about money being wasted gets avoided or swept under the rug if it is not in keeping with the naysayer agenda.
I think it's great that the students scored well in the standardized tests. Kudos to them and the teaching staff.
Now, the administration is another story. You would hope (wish, pray, etc.) that at over $20,000 per student the scores shouldn't even compare with any other school...private, public, or one-on-one tutoring.
So, before anyone starts patting the backs of the administration let's see one heck of a lot of 'belt tightening' and get the per student expenses in line with other districts.
Hooray for the good test scores! Boo to the overpaid/underutilized non-instructing entities at the school.
Oh yes, and don't go bolstering any egos of these same administrative people by saying the academic direction of the school is due to their efforts.
"Oh yes, and don't go bolstering any egos of these same administrative people by saying the academic direction of the school is due to their efforts."
OK...I'll bite, if the administration doesn't set the academic direction of the school, then who does? Oh, let me guess, could it be the last school board? Sorry, the teachers do not set the academic direction for the school. Nay sayers, this is not an argument that you are going to win.
And for the same poster that constantly wants to throw out the $$$ per student, why don't you throw out the mill rate for your tax dollars? It is cheaper than any district around. It is the mill rate that counts, not the $$$ per student. You are getting a tax deal in Green Lake!
The Wisconsin Knowledge Concepts Exam is required to test students in reading and mathematics in grades 3- 8 and 10th grade in high school. This leaves quite a few grade levels out of the testing results, kindergarden, 1,2,9,11 and 12. As I recall, Green Lake was behind in reading scores for K-2. In many school districts across the United States, the No Child Left Behind act has pressured schools and teachers to manipulate the testing in order to meet this national criterion. According to one website:
Opponents of No Child Left Behind Act, which includes all major teachers' unions, allege that the act hasn't been effective in improving education in elementary, middle and especially high schools as evidenced by mixed results in standardized tests since NCLB's 2002 inception.
Opponents also claim that standardized testing, which is the heart of NCLB accountability, is deeply flawed and biased for many reasons, and that stricter teacher qualifications have exacerbated the nationwide teacher shortage, not provided a stronger teaching force.
[So you see, the teachers don't like or approve of these tests, in fact, they oppose them]
If you snoop around the internet a bit more, you will discover lots of fun things:
From the Harvard Kennedy School,Cambridge, MA – The pressures of high-stakes school testing may encourage teachers and administrators to doctor test results, according to a new study by researchers Brian Jacob of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Steven Levitt of the University of Chicago.
Though cases of school personnel changing test results have attracted public attention in recent years, there has been a lack of hard evidence as to the extent of cheating by school personnel.
I personally would not put too much stock in any local tests results. Nothing against the teachers in GL, though some of them should be replaced in my opinion. It's the administration I do not trust.
To the last post...BINGO!!! Thank you for sharing good information that just may open people's eyes. What's going on in our school district is not all that different than what politicians are doing with our tax money/budgets.
Teachers are not choosing to manipulate the test scores, the teachers' bosses (administrators) are pressuring them to manipulate test scores. I know of an instance where a principal asked a teacher to manipulate test scores to avoid a parents' concern over their child's learning opportunities. If the teachers tell the truth, the district gets in trouble. If the teacher doesn't tell the truth to protect the district, the child suffers. Seems to me if the teachers did come out and publicly defend themselves, the community would just turn on them anyway. What's with this attitude that the administrative "big wigs" can do no wrong or would never do this or that???
I'm not saying there is nothing good about schools. I'm saying there is much to be concerned over if you want to protect the schools we love! Say "nay" until these administrators get it right!
You have got to be kidding. The scores are good, so now the Green Lake Administrators cheated!!! You people are unbelievable!
No one said administrators cheated. Your ability to comprehend is ludicrous. Other than Obama supporters, I don't think I've ever seen a bunch of people so delusional in derailing discussion and avoiding truth.
Oh no! The people are holding highly paid administrators responsible for their actions! Administrators are highly paid, they would never do anything wrong!
Oh no! The people are giving credit to teachers and commending teachers' dedication and good work! Teachers shouldn't be compensated much for teaching our kids, they should do next to free because they love our kids!
Wake up, people.
To the person complaining about grievances...Please investigate how many grievances were filed in just the past three years or so. You would be hard pressed to find a lot of grievances before that, and with good reason. Many were based on poor decisions (made with the very knowledge that grievances would follow)by Tracy and Bates. So they have to hire lawyers out of your pocket--they didn't care. It did not cost them a dime personally. Put the blame where it belongs!
Certain people don't want the truth to come out regarding school districts' manipulation of funds, because they care more about their resumes and the city's reputation than they do our kids' education.
Whose fault is it that teachers salaries are what they are? Public education is mandated by the Federal government. I am rather sure that a senator or congressman makes more money than a teacher. This just shows you how much teaching jobs (and skills) are valued. And even more sickening that we Americans (not me!) think that a football or baseball player deserves to make millions of dollars for playing a stupid game.
I personally don't believe in public education. A voucher system would allow families to choose the schools they want their kids to attend. Competition would raise the quality of education. Private and parochial schools do a much better job of educating. And for that matter, I don't think it is fair that couples (or singles for that matter) who decide not to have children should have to pay for other families education. This type of taxation simply is not fair. If you have children, then you have made that decision and should have to pay to educate them.
If you think that public education has a lot to be desired, just wait until we have national health care. We are all doomed. This is like a bad nightmare.
Here, here to the poster above. I believe in public school systems, and I believe even those without children should pay taxes to support the public school system. These kids are our future and will run the world someday; whether you gave birth to them or not, I'd hope you'd see the reasoning in contributing to their education. I can also see the logic in school vouchers, but that would create even more opportunities for kids with money and even less opportunities for those without money. Good teachers will go where the money is. Bad teachers equal bad test scores that result in less enrollment and less government funding.
Whether your kids are brought up better, cleaner, smarter, wealthier, prettier, etc., they HAVE to learn how to understand all types in this world because we have all got to learn to get along without the ignorance and hatred. The rich keep using their money to put up "walls" to keep the riff-raff out (so to speak), but what happens when some poor kid who was treated poorly by society wins the lottery...they became an adult who just may win the lottery and move into that posh neighborhood. How would the "posh" like to be treated? How will they treat the lottery winner if they don't understand anything more than of that lottery winner other than he's the "scum" no one wanted to be around? We HAVE to get along and stop judging one another....judge the dirty politics and set these politicians straight! We, the people, created their power and false sense of superiority, we can break the cycle!
School vouchers generally help the underprivileged children. I believe that both schools and prisons need to be privatized and keep the government far away from running any of them! The last thing we need is government running our health care. Why did America come into being? Because people were sick of the government running their lives!
I agree with the blogger that suggested that only people with children should pay for their education. What is this system we have now, socialism? Maybe people would make more responsible decisions to have children if they knew that they were actually going to pay for their education and well being. Enough of the handouts.
My concern for the theory of only parents paying for education, is that we all rely on the many people who work in jobs every day that we all use. Policemen, nurses, store managers, clerks, construction workers, soldiers, etc, and on and on.
This is what makes a society rich and diverse in what it can offer to everyone. Every one of us on this blog gain value every day from people who went through public school, and made society better for all of us. I am not excited about more taxes, but I do believe we all benefit from public education, and if you need a better comparison, just look at 3rd world countries, where they are full of people who are not allowed access to school, and will never amount to much for themselves or for society.
America, with all of its' problems, still is heads above many other countries, for land of opportunity, and explains why so many millions of people from other countries are desperate to come here.
Right on, last blogger. All these people who want parents only, to pay for public education are forgetting, that they too, once received a public education at taxpayer expense. Are they willing to send a check back to Uncle Sam on behalf of their parents from years ago, to cover the extra of what their parents should have paid, to have them go to school for free and grow up to earn a living? I doubt it.
Quit whining. The public school system in our country is available to everyone so our society can be better as a whole.
Of course, that's all well and good. But that doesn't meant things would be worse with a different system. All children would still get educated. We would still have nurses, police, store clerks, etc. But if people knew that if they had 8 children that they were going to have to pay to have them educated, they might think more realistically about overpopulating the planet.
Let's say, I hate dogs, don't want a dog, never had a dog. But I am forced to pay for everyone elses dogs to go to obedience school. Why should I have to?
And as long as we are on the subject, prisoners should have to earn their keep. Prisons should be "work farms" and every inmate should have to work on a regular basis. I am not talking about anything inhumane here like the old chain gangs. It costs about $20,000 per year to house and inmate in Wisconsin. That is more than I pay for my mortgage, bills and groceries put together. Make these inmates pay for their mistakes, literally. We taxpayers should not be burdened if there is a better way to run the prison system.
"Quit whining. The public school system in our country is available to everyone so our society can be better as a whole."
I was with you right up until you posted the 'whining' comment, because you could've made your excellent point without insulting others for civilly sharing their opinions. I don't believe in only parents paying for public education, but I can certainly understand other perspectives and it certainly is good to know regarding the checks and balances regarding fair obligations. We live within communities, we work hard for them and we prosper because of them. ;)
I can't understand why more prisons aren't run like that guy (Aricopa?) runs his prison in Arizona.
Exactly!
Hey, we're getting a new jail!
I read today that GL School is selling the school's house on North Lawson Drive. Isn’t this the same house that the School Board just had to have a few years ago? Now they’re getting rid of it. Maybe the School Board should have listened to the citizens the first time around. As I recall, the public clearly voiced their opposition to buying the house at the time, but the School Board didn’t listen. Big surprise.
To the last blogger..... please define "the public'. I was at the public meeting when the vote was cast to buy the house. As I recall, about 6 or so citizens came to that meeting. Could have been a few more than that, not sure. Some were against the purchase, some were for it. The meeting had been posted. There was info in the paper about it ahead of time. If " the public" was so against it, I would think that you would have seen the room filled and strong opposition voiced by many people. That was not the case. It was a non issue, because the community or "the public" clearly, by their absence, did not show up. The money was there in fund balance to back up a mortgage, the house could always be sold in the future as is happening now, so there was little financial risk to doing so, but something to gain if the school did use the property some day. The house was rented for part of the time, and the school used it for a tech class as well to help teach home construction. The school will get their money back. The board at that time was acting on advice given by the study that was done where it was advised to pick up adjacent property when possible, to be thinking about the future. That is not a unique concept and is done in many communities to help plan for the future before things get all landlocked. So it didn't work out, and the school will sell the asset, pay off the mortgage and move on.
I also was at the meeting when the house was bought. The blogger is correct, there were about six people in attendance. No one was fired up about it, one way or the other. I also was at the meeting when it was voted to sell the house. Again, no one cared. It was no big deal.
True, true, not enough people even care. But don't forget that many people do care very, very much but don't bother voicing their opinion because in the last few years it hasn't made a difference anyway. School board members don't listen to teachers or residents. To say people who did show up didn't care one way or another isn't fair. If someone is not outwardly mad as hell, the school board think it's no big deal to them. If people are fighting mad the school board treats them as if they are lepers. Face it, school boards don't listen!!!
Your argument defies logic. To say that many people do care, but don't bother voicing their opinion, makes no sense. If that is true, then shame on those who do that, because our country is based on a democracy.
Whether it is a school board or town board, or president of the USA, our country is based on the principle that people have a vote, but to make the vote count, they must exercise it. If people care very much about an issue, they must be willing to take the time to show up to a meeting and voice their opinion, or show up on voting day. To excuse a majority by saying they don't bother, is a sad statement on that majority. Otherwise, that majority really don't care either way, or are satisfied, demonstrated by their absence on issues.
The argument did not defy logic. It explained the often illogical nature of human behavior when humans feel their participation has been abused.
Although I do agree with you that people should feel remorseful for not exercising their right to voice their opinion, because this is how democracy works...I submit that people did care enough to come out and vote for those they trusted to represent the people.
It is when the elected officials/authorities continually abuse that trust, and legal loopholes actually prevent victims from being able to hold officials accountable, that people eventually give up and realize politicians work for themselves and not the people's best interests. But people do still care...and if even if they don't, people in power should know better what their obligation is without having to be politely reminded or angrily yelled at.
Furthermore, elected officials/authorities have been reminded, but those reminders are dismissed with every excuse in the book. Some people have, without mincing words, told officials what was wrong only to meet with even more worn out excuses and smoke-n-mirrors to assassinate their character. It's happened and it's happening, but there are still some who refuse to think the highest paid, or more educated or experienced, would ever do anything so wrong; and some people who choose to take the controlling side (with the most resources because it is paid with taxpayer dollars). Wake up people.
Do you know right from wrong? I do and I don't need a crowd to "weigh in" first before I'm able to understand "do unto others as you would have them do unto you".
Sounds like a lot of 'do-do', or in this instance doodoo!
I agree with the last blogger. All this talk about, if people get discouraged, they give up. Or that people in power should know their obligation without being politely reminded or yelled at.
Our history is based on people not giving up, starting with George Washington at Valley Forge.
We do have to voice our opinion, and sometimes loudly or in force, to bring across what the public wants, whether in meetings or in voting. We are a democracy, and ultimately over time, it has proven to work and provide the avenue for change, when needed. Just witness the recent presidential election. Enough of the country wanted change, and that is what happened. You may not agree with the current administration, but they were voted in by a majority of those who voted, people who organized and effected change. If the country does not like this administration after 4 or 8 years, they will use the power of the people to move in the direction they feel strongly about. That happens here as well with local elections. People should not get discouraged and give up, they should get organized, go to meetings to talk to their elected officials, and most important, get out on voting day and exercise the right we are celebrating today,,,,
a country based on freedom.
Check the minutes from the house-purchase meeting in 2006. I dare you. If you take away the seven School Board members who all voted in favor, it would not have passed. Period. I never said the room was filled with people. I said the public in attendance didn’t support the purchase. That’s a fact. If you check the minutes, you’ll notice the proposal did not have enough votes to pass based on the public alone. But Board members all wanted it, so they railroaded it through despite those from the public who made a point to show up and vote no.
Now the Board wants to get rid of the house. Like I said, maybe the district should have listened to those in attendance the first time around. As everyone knows, it’s certainly not the first time this Board has ignored the public.
Again, two things you fail to recognize in your argument.
1. At a public meeting like that, school board members are also citizens, just like everyone else.
They too have a right to vote on an issue such as purchase of property.
So in fact, the people in the room all could vote and did vote, and the majority decided the issue. There is nothing wrong with citizens exercising their right. That is our democracy. You just don't like that it didn't go your way.
2. Only a handful of people showed up to express their point of view. That does not represent a majority of the community, just a handful of people in the room who brought their opinion. If the majority of the community felt strongly about the intent to purchase property, they would have showed up. But they didn't.
If you are going to put numbers out there, please consider the whole picture, not just the way you would have wanted it.
"At a public meeting like that, school board members are also citizens, just like everyone else.
They too have a right to vote on an issue such as purchase of property."
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. As individual, registered voters, they can vote their own mind in elections at City Hall. At public school board meeting, school board members must vote in representation of the people who elected them...not their individual little personal wants and needs.
It was never said that people should give up. It was said people are giving up because...drum roll..elected officials don't listen, elected officials are not being held accountable by the very authorities who's duties include protecting taxpayers and holding them accountable, and those who do adamantly challenge the officials are rewarded with character assassination. Vehemently and publicly question a school district; watch the administrative, dog-n-pony show rise to new heights, and watch the measures used to keep taxpayers from the truth sink to new lows.
Again, 6-8 people do not represent the sentiments of the community. The meeting was posted and the issue was posted and written about in the paper. Only a handful of people showed up to express an opinion, some for and some against. If the greater public felt strongly against the consideration of a property purchase, they would have showed up. They did not. Somehow, that fact continues to escape your argument and the only reason I can come up with that you do not want to address that is because you just did not like the way the vote went. Face it, the greater public didn't care, the school board was well aware of that and you are talking about a very small statistical minority. I think the school board did listen to the larger public. It was just an answer you didn't like.
To the blogger who stated, "Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. As individual, registered voters, they can vote their own mind in elections at City Hall. At public school board meeting, school board members must vote in representation of the people who elected them...not their individual little personal wants and needs."
What possible basis can you say that the school board did not vote in representation of the people who elected them? They represent everyone who resides in the district. That includes more than when a few people show up at a meeting to voice their opinion. That is what a board is supposed to do, take into consideration what they feel is for the good of the whole, not the individual little personal wants and needs
of just a few, to use your words.
As the last blogger said, you just can't deal with the fact a vote didn't go your way.
And for the record, you need to check the law. In fact, when there is a public meeting such as the one you describe, the school board
does not run the meeting. In fact, the group in attendance elects someone from the group to run the meeting. Everyone else in attendance becomes a member of the audience, hears the issue, and then votes. That is what happened but you don't like that, simply because the vote did not go your way. Democracy was in place for that meeting. It just didn't go your way, so it sounds like you are looking for an excuse to find something wrong within what is a legal process.
Congrats to the school for fixing up the house at 508 Clay/Lawson Dr. A nice young family with three children are leasing it with an option to buy.
Some of you posters are perfect examples of why school boards are not being held accountable for their blatantly unfair actions and ignorance, and sound like perfect examples of why there are no checks and balances anymore.
School boards do want they want because by now they've caught on that most people don't look past their noses, won't pose any serious challenges to the budget discrepancies, aren't familiar with laws protecting taxpayers, and haven't taken the time to learn laws that school district's must abide by.
Sounds like you don't like the answers being shared on this blog and are digging for any excuse to tear down others' experiences and opposition.
I thought I saw in the newspaper an article about the house being offered for sale. The selling price was less than the buying price. After paying taxes, the mortgage for several years, the cost to fix it up and the realtor's commission , there will no real profit for the school.
“At a public meeting like that, school board members are also citizens, just like everyone else. They too have a right to vote on an issue such as purchase of property.”
Thank you for proving my point. The 2006 purchase would not have passed had the School Board not voted. The majority of regular citizens who attended that meeting did not support it. Period.
“I think the School Board did listen to the larger public. It was just an answer you didn't like.”
Sorry, try again. As we’ve already established, the School Board did not listen to the majority of those in attendance. Their input should have been enough. Let’s not speculate on what the rest of the community wanted because there was no survey.
Besides, if the Board can’t listen to the citizens at a simple meeting, what makes you think the Board will listen to the rest of the population?
The responsible thing would have been for the Board to respond to the majority of citizens in attendance, not just have some home-ownership fantasy and then steamroll it through anyway. It’s a weak argument to say, “Well, Board members are electors too, so they can vote.” Technically, that’s correct, but it’s a poor excuse for not responding to public input. We saw this same nonsense when select school leaders salivated over the “free” ABA land ($23,600 and counting to the school's attorney alone).
Now then, if the Green Lake School Board really listens to the public (as that blogger claims) then please tell us:
- When will you hold that public hearing about buying Sunnyside land? It’s been delayed for eight months now.
- When, exactly, was the public hearing about whether to negotiate for and acquire expensive land in the ABA?
- When was the public hearing about whether to implement IB district-wide?
- When was the public hearing about improving School Board communication, a major School Board goal from 2008-09?
School board members are citizens that campaigned in an election and promised to vote AS SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS in the best interests of our kids' education. They can exercise their own right to vote as private citizens at the polls. Anyone excusing school board members for doing a poor job representing the people because school board members are private citizens also, are doing nothing but helping school board members blue the lines and forget just why and how they are expected to conduct themselves in the best interest of the people that elected them.
These issues regarding our kids' education aren't merely uncooked souffles or bad haircuts, and school board members must be held accountable.
"blur the lines" not blue. Sorry.
A poster speaks of treating others as one would like to be treated and another posters calls it doo-doo. Sounds like immature blog-dog stepped in his own pile again.
To the blogger who wrote:
"Sorry, try again. As we’ve already established, the School Board did not listen to the majority of those in attendance. Their input should have been enough. Let’s not speculate on what the rest of the community wanted because there was no survey.
Besides, if the Board can’t listen to the citizens at a simple meeting, what makes you think the Board will listen to the rest of the population?
The responsible thing would have been for the Board to respond to the majority of citizens in attendance, not just have some home-ownership fantasy and then steamroll it through anyway."
If your logic is followed, what would happen if one citizen showed up to express an opinion on an issue? Would a school board be responsible to your way of thinking, only if they voted the way that one citizen thought?
I doubt it. And to say that it would be speculation to wonder what others think who do not attend... well, that is what happens all the time in our country. Our elected officials have to consider what they think is the best for the whole, not just a small minority. It is not possible to know what everyone thinks, especially when most people don't show up for meetings.
So I think people in these jobs like school board members or city council members, etc, find themselves trying to do the best they believe in. They do not get it right every time, but I do believe they try to be good people and think about the future.
Perhaps those most critical will have an opportunity to be in public service at some point, and will find out it is not as easy as it looks. Very easy to sit from the sidelines, throw the darts, and be convinced they can do better. Not so easy to be in that driver's seat and consider everything on the table.
Nobody said it was easy. Did school board members think it would be easy when they ran for election? The point is: the job of elected officials is to KNOW and DO the job properly, including listening to and considering what is best for the students' education AND listening to the people (the parents, the taxpayers, the voters, etc.). That's the job...take it or leave it. If the job becomes too difficult to do properly, is it the people that should water down their expectations and accept sub standard decision making to make it "easy" on the board members????
“If your logic is followed, what would happen if one citizen showed up to express an opinion on an issue?”
You’re attempting to confuse history with a theoretical situation. Far more than one citizen attended the 2006 meeting to purchase the house. Based on the voting results, a minimum 15 citizens attended. The citizen majority was not in favor. Whoever keeps repeating “No one cared” is dead wrong.
I think I'll go and spend the mortgage money on a down payment for a new boat and the grocery money for the next 3 months on a new laptop. My spouse will be very angry and my kids will be hungry, but I was never specifically told not to spend the mortgage money on a new toy, and my kids never told me they would be hungry if I did this. If anyone complains, I'll simply explain to them that they didn't stop me, it is too difficult to do the right thing and consider everything on the table, and the sun will still rise and set. We'll see how that goes.
Yep to above poster. And we'll see how many people come out of the woodwork to use the same logic to assassinate your character that they are using to protect school board members' irresponsible leadership and defend school districts' devastating spending habits.
Attention School Board members/Administrators. We all know you’re reading this blog. We’re still waiting to find out …
- When will you hold that public hearing about buying Sunnyside land? It’s been delayed for eight months now.
- When, exactly, was the public hearing about whether to negotiate for and acquire expensive land in the ABA?
- When was the public hearing about whether to implement IB district-wide?
- When was the public hearing about improving School Board communication, a major School Board goal from 2008-09?
Clearly, certain people are trying to downplay the public resistance to the house purchase. I remember that meeting. The blogger a few posts up is correct. There were at least 15 regular citizens in attendance, not just “a handful.” I recall the public resistance was rather strong.
GL school district games aren't following in the footsteps of Ripon's school district's is it? I read the paper for GL news but I read Ripon news as well. C'mon. We don't want another Ripon on our hands.
I keep hearing people saying that Green Lake school will be closed in two years and all of the kids will have to go to Ripon or Princeton. Oshkosh School District announced in the Northwestern paper that they are having to cut over $2 million next year and will close several elementary schools. Ripon is also having to make big cuts. Where does that leave Green Lake? Here we are worried about a house purchased 5 years ago and now being sold. We may have bigger problems on our hands than this.
Can anyone out there speak to this timeline or where the budget will end up in another year?
Rumor on the street is that ejt is LEAVING the district! Gee, I wonder how much that'll cost us...but it will definitely be worth it. Ding dong the bully's dead!? We can only hope and pray!
Closing GL schools and sending students to Ripon Area School District...er...Ripon Area Sports Stadium...to learn academics??
There aren't enough Ripon teachers to maintain optimal class sizes for Ripon students, let alone GL district's students. What are we talking 40-50 kids per classroom??? Teachers have been doing a fantastic job with less and less, but even those numbers are insane. Are schools becoming nothing more than babysitting service????
I hope that Tracey is leaving the school district. Sadly, it will cost us taxpayers to have him go since we will have to buy out his contract. Whoever voted to extend his contract last time should be tarred and feathered in the town square, and then shackled.
Supposedly, the reason for Tracey's probable departure is in order to stop pending lawsuits against the school because of his behavior. Now we just need to get rid of Bates and maybe, just maybe we can save our school before it's too late.
School board meeting today at 4:00! Whatever is this one about?
I'm guessing Nancy Burns and Mr. Dillman are coming back to take things over.
Ripon and Green Lake are probably in secret negotiations to redraw the district boundary lines. How about the Green Lake Tigers?
The Kiwani's pea sale is this weekend in Green Lake. I bought peas last year and they were overgrown, grainy and not very sweet. I ended up throwing them away. I hope they find better peas this year.
Probable and secret negotiations?? Be more specific.
can't. It's top secret. Stay tuned.
Stay tuned to your conspiracy theories? No thanks, blog dog.
Surprised no one has noticed the following on the agenda for tonight's special school board meeting:
"Approval of early retirement agreement for principal."
Has the school district given reasons for principal's early retirement?? Interesting.
I was told that it's common knowledge on the street and has been so for some time. I too am surprised that more people havent' spoken about it on this blog. I'm also surprised the newspapers haven't already reported it. Sounds like from this notice that Jon Tracy will be moving on and some new structure will be in place for the administrative makeup of the school.
Here is a prediction. Save it and look at it in two years. Deb Kneser has moved on. Jon Tracy will do the same.
Would not be surprised if Ken Bates will also leave at some point. Then there will be some new administrative team in place. Some group of Green Lake representatives will be involved in hiring them. They will be happy with their decision and promote that it is a new day in Green Lake and a new direction for the school, and everything will now be better.
They will be here a while and some people with some issue will start complaining, about something they don't like. Then some more people will complain about something they don't like. Then people will be asking why these people were ever hired in the first place, and who was stupid enough to do such a thing?
Then there will be public calls to "get rid of the bums". Then there will be those for and those against. Then those employees will get frustrated and start job hunting. And they will leave. And people in Green Lake will once again be looking for their new school leaders. And it will go on and on and on. Then one day the school will close and people will be standing looking at an empty building while the kids get bussed elsewhere, shaking their heads, and saying, " gee, what happened? Why couldn't we keep a school here?"
I don't agree with you. The current school board majority has a much better sensibility than any school board we have had in years. I believe they understand that the school needs to be fiscally responsible and put the children first. The three-ring circus must stop. We need to get back to basics and become a "normal" school again. The high administrative costs must be slashed. Positions will need to end. Small-sized classes need to be combined. The school needs to be run like a business, with accountability. No more rampant spending and ridiculous ventures! I have faith in the newer members of our school board to do exactly this. Hopefully, the "other" members of the school board will be voted out soon so we can move forward without interference.
It angers me that we are buying out Tracy's contract. Not that I am unhappy to see him go, better late than never. However, his misconduct as principal should exclude him from passing go and collecting his money. Perhaps the parents and taxpayers should collectively sue him for punitive damages. Any attorney's out there interested in taking this on?
By Definition:DAMAGES, PUNITIVE - The purpose of punitive damages is to punish a defendant.
Plaintiff has the burden of proving that punitive damages should be awarded, and the amount, by a preponderance of the evidence. punitive damages may be awarded only if defendant's conduct was malicious, or in reckless disregard of plaintiff's rights.
Conduct is malicious if it is accompanied by ill will, or spite, or if it is for the purpose of injuring another.
Conduct is in reckless disregard of plaintiff's rights if, under the circumstances, it reflects complete indifference to the safety and rights of others.
Tracy definitely qualifies! What about the emotional trauma he has inflicted on students, staff, and parents?
School administrators just play merry-go-round and renegotiate better salaries with other districts before also wreaking havoc in those other districts. Not holding school administrators accountable here means other districts will never know the damage they can and have caused. When does it end???
I said it once and will say it again---Bates has been on the same page with Tracy since day one. He sat back and allowed Tracy to threaten the elementary staff at a meeting. Any elem teacher can recall that day! Tracy could be sued for various reasons. He stated to teachers at the time of Burns' buyout that she should take the district for everything she could get. Not surprised if he thinks he can do the same thing. Can you believe someone employed by the district in an administrative position saying such a thing? A lot of trouble could have been saved if people would have listened to those teachers who knew the score right from the start, people who really cared about the community and the kids!
Many people think they can't follow the details of school administrators' job duties and responsibilities, so they do not take the time to challenge school administrators an they do not see when school administrators are pulling the wool over their eyes.
They want to be able to trust the well educated, highly paid administrators, and so it is easier to blame the disappointment and turmoil on the teachers.
Teachers have got to stop being afraid and unite, and reach out to the public with what is and has been going on. Teachers have way more power than they think to involve taxpayers and turn districts around. Teachers are in the classrooms with our kids, teachers are witnesses to administrators' manipulation of the truth and intimidation using teachers' livelihood, and teachers are fully aware of union's politicial agenda at the expense of teacher protection. Teachers are fully aware that school administrators have emassed some power over school board members during contract negotiations, but teachers can not go public with the games because of confidentiality laws. Teachers are not perfect...but without teachers, there is no academics, dedication, or academics for students to learn from and apply to life choices.
Lighten up, Marsha.
Yeah, no kidding.
Marsha's my sister. My name's Jan and I agree. Teachers were so timid about going public with what they knew for fear of losing their jobs or being blacklisted. Well, many fo them have already lost their jobs, and many more may lose their jobs anyway. Might as well come forth with the truth and give the taxpayers the information they need to pressure school leadership and hold them accountable.
We as parents of children at the school, know of very good, caring teachers and a wonderful elementary counselor among others who have expressed their concerns and questionable actions on the part of administrators and former school board, and are laid off in the next budget cuts. In this economy and teaching jobs scarce, one cannot blame teachers for saying "no comment" (which says it all) when asked about the school situation.
Also parents who have come to talk to either Bates or Tracy about concerns are then they and their children are on the "being negative list". That is the main reason several good families have decided to, or are considering open enrolling our children in another school district.
I agree with the above poster. This area has some pretty darn, over the top, caring, passionate teachers. And it shows in the progress our children make when potential is realized.
I can't blame teachers for taking the "no comment" route (which does say it all), but concerned parents can not make positive changes alone. Especially when agencies set up to "watchdog" these school districts are writing parents' concerns off with accusations of imaginary vendettas or "axes to grind".
Teachers are people and they've committed to doing a difficult job but most rewarding job. Parents should be involved advocates of their children's first rate education and fair opportunities. Let's get together without personal agenda and make some positive changes!
School districts should be afraid that students will be enrolled in another district if they don't wise up. But, parents, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater and take the easier (not easy) road by leaving a school district; you may just be jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
Hold these school administrators accountable for their actions. Know your rights and excericise your rights. All children benefit from your efforts, which boosts your childrens' opportunities for a sound future.
How exactly do you hold these administrators accountable for their actions? In this case, not only should Mr. Tracy been fired for his actions, but he should have been dismissed without pay or compensation. Any future administrative contracts must have this provision to protect us taxpayers and also for accountability. Now, instead of this happening, Mr. Tracy will be handsomely rewarded for his wrong-doings. Not only that, but Mr. Bates should also be disciplined for not taking action against Mr. Tracy from the very beginning. He is just as guilty, if not more, for allowing this misconduct to continue for years. What kind of lessons are we teaching our children? That you can misbehave and not only will you not get punished, you will be rewarded. This is completely unacceptable.
Also, who is to say that litigation against the school will be avoided? Is there some agreement going on that the public should know about? I think that any families who have been emotionally damaged by the actions of Tracy should band together for a class action lawsuit against Mr. Tracy, and collect punitive damages. At least that way, he won't be able to keep the money he receives for doing a horrible job as principal.
Administrators' employment contracts play an extremely important part in protecting school districts against abuse of power, and most school districts have 8-10 page, contracted job descriptions.
This way, school boards are able to properly protect the school district, and not protect administrators at the expense of the school districts. Sadly, many school boards either don't do their homework and remain blissfully ignorant, or the lack of proper protection and obligation was intentional. Some are absolutely ineffective as school board members haven't a clue either way because they are intimidated by highly educated professionals, and are ill equipped to think for themselves in such an important position.
Give us a break.
Students harmed?
Yeah, right.
The people on this blog have done much more harm to children, students,and community, through their corrupted commentary than Mr. Tracy can possibly inspire.
The bloggers here are fat-ass responsive-types that jump to an opportunity to dissolve a perceived "enemy."
You want accountability in your local school system? Then do your homework, fat-ass!
Toting quite a wide load of bitter paranoia, are ya?? You need a good, ole fashioned cow tippin!! Moooo!!! LOLOLOLOL
I bet my fat ass has done more homework than your fathead!! Yippee!
I know you are but what am I...you and what army...my dad can beat up your dad.
Grow up. Tracy is an ass and has shown so to everyone associated with the school. And Bates should be held accountable for silently sanctioning Little 'e's actions.
To the last blogger...I'm so proud of you and how much homework you've done. Just remember, it's not the quantity of the work, but the quality!
Better yet....huge quantities of quality homework! I was making fun of the "fathead" who called us bloggers fat-asses! LOLOLOL
Perception is reality. A perceived enemy is a real enemy. In this case, the enemy is far more than perceived. Harm has been inflicted upon the students, staff and parents of Green Lake schools by Mr. Tracy. If you want to challenge that statement, you might get a whole lot more than you bargained for. Do you really want to open up that can of worms even more?
Does anyone know what happened at the school board meeting last night?
Perception is reality. May not be the truth, but it is reality. Too many people these days are not very perceptive about anything other than the excuses they dream up to avoid perceiving difficulties popping up on their rose colored, radar screens.
To the blogger who wrote "Harm has been inflicted upon the students, staff and parents of Green Lake schools by Mr. Tracy. If you want to challenge that statement, you might get a whole lot more than you bargained for."
What the hell does that mean? Is that some kind of a threat that anyone who wouldn't agree with you, is somehow in trouble or will be in trouble? Or what?
Will there be a posse? A vigilante squad?
The truth is Jon Tracy will leave the school, there are those who didn't like him, and those that did like him. But I don't think we will be needing to sign up kids, parents and staff for counseling to recover. The school will move on and so will the kids. And hopefully, less dramatic interpretations.
What did happen at the last school board meeting? Indeed, what did happen? Well, I heard there was Harley, slamming papers around, pouting and saying no at every turn. No logic to the reasons, just automatic nos. Then yelling about about an incorrect meeting posting, trying to blame someone who had nothing to do with the posting.
There was a brilliant suggestion that a new principal could do the principal job, the curriculum job and teach classes, and do it for very little money. We'll see how many applicants sign up for that one.
Then Meade decided that legal challenges to the school should not need the services of an attorney. Maybe he thinks that he had the legal expertise to take on the challenge. Doesn't he manage a paint store for a living? Yep, sounds qualified. We'll see how that ends up.
Then there was a conclusion on the severance package for Jon Tracy. Sounds like that one is resolved.
Chief, please remove that last statement, it does not belong on this blog site and is completely inappropriate.
"What did happen at the last school board meeting? Indeed, what did happen?"
What meeting were you at? Did anyone else witess the comments above? Aaron was there...is that what happened?
Chief,
Can you start a new heading named "Well, I heard there was..."
Basically, it's all hearsay until documented proof is made public or ruled on in a court of law. What's your point, other than insinuating people with compliants are nothing more than liars?
Although they are held to a higher standards by law, local newspapers print the usual spin and manipulated tidbits of information given to to them from a source they think they can trust, and don't do any real investigation of facts.
Last blogger, you sound strikingly familiar to someone I know who resents a certain local newspaper for printing facts that you don't want the public to see.
This particular newspaper does an excellent job researching the facts about our school, delivering both sides of the issues, and providing historical examples to allow a better understanding of current events. This is the same paper that prints accurate, credible news about the Green Lake School week after week, for better or worse. Yet in spite of that, certain people sit back and make vague, unsubstantiated references to “spin” because evidently they’re sore about people reading the facts.
So please tell us. Exactly how and when have the facts been misrepresented in the local newspaper? Be specific.
Get a grip on your fairytales above poster. Really, really sounding specifically ridiculous.
I speak from experience when I say that I do not (necessarily) believe anything that I read in a newspaper, magazine, TV news, etc. The object of these media is to sell papers and draw viewers. HOWEVER, thus far I have learned to trust the Ripon Commonwealth as a reliable source of local news reporting. Aaron Becker does a first rate job of covering essential stories for us locals. I cannot say the same for any reporter from our local Green Lake newspaper.
God bless you Aaron, for your honest and respectable reporting. You are a man of integrity, and are much appreciated. Your parents did an excellent job of raising you!
I agree. Aaron is the most effective fair-minded reporter in the area.
Sincerely,
Aaron--Ahem, I mean Sharon, or Darin, or whatever....
Regardless of how much one likes those "nice boys" that own Ripon's paper, IMO the Commonwealth has used manipulative word smithing and shown favoritism on many occasions and does not thoroughly investigate facts before printing.
I believe it should read 'wordsmithing'. How utterly ignorant.
Your utter arrogance is utterly childish.
Speaking of the Ripon paper, there’s a story this week about Jon Tracy’s “early retirement.” The truth is out, hot off the press. This one is definitely worth a fresh post, Chief.
Give it a rest, blogger. Aaron Becker tried to fish out the dirt, but the school board and school administrator are showing some class and thankfully taking the high road on this in public, thanking Jon Tracy for his service, and focusing on moving on. I for one am grateful for that. Maybe the Ripon Commonwealth will surprise us and also show some class and move on.
We've got a school to move forward and a fall to plan for and kids that need to be educated. Hopefully the gossip mongers on the blog, and in the newspaper can take a lesson from the school board and Mr. Bates and focus on what is now really important.
To move on properly and make healthy improvements, you do realize the truth of the past must be brought to the surface??? Otherwise, same stupid mistakes are repeated in some reactionary direction. Moving on does not mean sweeping the dust under the rug and pretending it ain't there and never was.
Maybe the school board is taking the "high road", or maybe the school board is remaining relatively quiet for legal reasons, or maybe the school board's silent motives are to keep from sticking its foot and anger residents any more than it already has. Don't be so easy.
There's nothing here. You are chasing the wind. Jon Tracy is gone from Green Lake. This will be forgotten in a few weeks or so. There's nothing to expose, no mystery to solve, nothing for Aaron Becker to investigate. An early retirement agreement was reached, and that's it. This sort of agreement happens all the time in many businesses and public entities. I agree it is time to move on and challenge our school board and administrator to focus on the good of our students as their priority. The newspaper will just have to find some other dirt somewhere else, or maybe cover a significant issue of some kind that has a real basis.
By your logic, we shouldn't care about acheological finds to help us understand historical peoples??
I can appreciate not beating a dead horse, but it ain't dead if the same mistakes continue to haunt society and our kids' education. If there was wrongs committed, they should be flushed out, public should be educated on what to expect and demand never happens again, and THEN our efforts toward improvement have a chance of making a positive difference.
You really aren't serious about this. How do you compare a study of antiquities to paying the local school principal off? Ridiculous.
Like a previous blogger suggested--time to move on. There is no Jimmy Hoffa buried in the school courtyard.
Spend your energy trying to solve world peace.
An early retirement package has been reached? He already did take what was called "early retirement" from his previous district. Yes, we need to look at the past and much more closely before hiring. Too bad the fools who hired him did not do that.
It is absolutely naïve to think there’s not more to this story. There’s a reason the district is keeping tight-lipped.
First of all, Tracy left an entire year before his contract was up. Who does that in this economy? Secondly, neither Tracy nor Bates nor the Board would comment publicly on his reason for retiring. The situation would be far less hush-hush if this were truly Tracy’s independent decision. Thirdly, it’s no secret that the Board majority has shifted in recent years due to several elections that were driven by public frustration. After all, Tracy was not beloved by everyone. Finally, Tracy was paid $40,000 on his way out. Who gets rewarded to retire early unless there was a nudge for him to leave? Maybe the Green Lake School Board should pay me 40 grand to leave my job.
Based on some of these posts, it’s clear that a vocal minority wants to sweep this under the rug and distort the issue by shouting “Let’s move on already!” Go ahead, accuse the newspapers of dredging up dirt. Certain people are actually claiming that it’s not newsworthy that a principal leaves and is paid a handsome sum to keep the door from hitting him in the rear end.
Don’t be fooled, friends. The public and the newspapers are right to ask questions about why this continues to happen over and over in Green Lake. Some people just don’t it when the negative facts are exposed.
"You really aren't serious about this. How do you compare a study of antiquities to paying the local school principal off? Ridiculous.
Spend your energy trying to solve world peace."
I was seriously trying to make a point of the importance of actually understanding history before trying to improve it or pretend we know better. Your lack of understanding and impulsive response was pretty ridiculous.
You work toward your version of peace and I'll work toward mine, thank you.
I take it you mean--let me micromanage via the blog because it feels good.
Get off it already.
Twisting people's words and attacking again. Bad blog-dog.
Grrrr. Woof-woof.
What words are there to twist?
You made a stupid anaology. It's like analyzing the minister who commits adultery with the choir director. And then fix things so that it won't happen with the next pastor.
Ridiculous.
Take yourself out, blog-dog. You're out of control and piddling on the floor again.
Piddling on you, mental miser.
Let's get back to reality here, people. The fact is that many inappropriate things occurred with Mr. Tracy, and he was never disciplined by Mr. Bates because of his completely unprofessional behavior. Bates allowed these things to continue to happen.
Now the parents of the students, the general public (who pay the taxes to pay his salary and retirement buy-out) have a right to know what the hell happened. Period. I understand that the school board is trying to be discreet about all this, and I can respect that and suppose I would want the same if I were in Tracy's shoes. But where is the accountability??? How can he just walk away with little more than a slap on his had and $40,000 ??? This just isn't right. People want answers, and they deserve them. PERIOD.
Was Tracy the school superintendent that spent 10 minutes on the radio accusing teachers of being *educational terrorists* lobbing grenades and blowing up the system with shrapnel? I was listening to WRPN about a year ago. Rotten comments. Was this GL guy or Ripon?
I agree with everything you are saying, but understand, the labor laws protect ALL the employed, even administrators. The removal of little “e” jon and the reasons for it have to be kept quite. The “Good Bye Out” of 40k is cheep compared to the legal fees this could have cost the district if little “e” forced the district to fire him. His removal was not part of any “court type action” as you know. Like you I feel there were ample reasons for the district to fire little e-man a long time ago if BATES would have been doing his job from the beginning. The next school board election will be interesting with Deppisch & Farrell up next.
The educational terrorists comment you were asking about came from the Ripon School District superintendent, not anyone from Green Lake.
Whoever gets elected next year with the two vacancies, ( and I predict Jodine will not run), will be facing declining enrollment, declining dollars, and the ridiculous demands of the teachers union for things such as a forced insurance plan that is prohibitively expensive compared to what could be purchased from other companies with same benefits.
No matter who is in there, it will be a stretch to figure out how to keep the school open and keep an old building with some big maintenance needs, in good shape.
"The educational terrorists comment you were asking about came from the Ripon School District superintendent, not anyone from Green Lake."
It was Ripon's school Superintendent Zimman that said all that? I don't think he was fired and he should've been then. GL or Ripon, this type of conduct from a school superintendent is okay with people?? I was blown away and expect WRPN to do SOMETHING to remind this man he was out of line and defend the teachers. If this is how far school administrators are being allowed to go and still receive protection, it's little wonder our schools are deteriorating.
What's wrong with calling educational terrorism "educational terrorism"?
Some teacher's unions do just that. They look out for their own selfish interests, not the kids or the school itself. It’s about time somebody called them out.
I don't listen to WRPN (boring, bad commentators). Ripon's superintendent should've been fired. Any of us would've been rightfully fired if we had said anything of the sort (slanderous) about fellow employees or showed such disdain for any specific group of people. Such prejudice demeans the company, devastates it's reputation, and means loss of revenue. This guy wasn't fired??
I hope GL schools don't close. I don't want my kid going to Ripon.
"What's wrong with calling educational terrorism "educational terrorism"?
Some teacher's unions do just that. They look out for their own selfish interests, not the kids or the school itself. It’s about time somebody called them out."
This post is idiocy at its finest.
If you want educational terrorism to stop and you think it is WEAC that is committing educational terrorism, then take it up with WEAC and stop blaming local teachers.
Ripon school superintendent, Dr. Richard Zimman. His comments on the radio didn't accuse WEAC (teachers' union) of educational terrorism. It would've fun to watch WEAC bring charges against him for slander, if he had actually had the audacity to say these things about WEAC.
About 10-15 minutes of this interview sounded like a school superintendent's temper tantrum, during difficult teacher contract negotiations when he was specifically mad at the teachers for not giving in to his (I mean, the school board's) demands. He specificaly accused teacher leadership (not WEAC, the teachers elected by teachers) of being educational terrorists. He went on to describe their behavior with war adjectives such as "lobbing grenades" into the system and bits of "shrapnel" eroding the system.
He said these things about specific teachers, and he deeply hurt all teachers. I read the Commonwealth and there were letters very angry at this man and rightfully so. I talked to my sister (lives in Ripon) and she said the school board did nothing about this man's unprofessional, slanderous, hurtful conduct. Even when teachers and parents were at board meetings expressing anger. Why????
I live in GL but my grandchildren attend Ripon. I called my son immediately to tell him of my disgust that he allowed his kids to remain in a district where the superintendent would think it was okay to do something like that and the school board would do nothing about it. He's bee thinking hard about enrolling his kids in GL school district but that isn't much of an option at this point either. GL is in trouble but I don't think it's as bad and I don't ever want it to be.
The fact is that Green Lake has far too many teachers for the low student enrollment. I love teachers and think they are one of the most important parts of our children's lives outside the home, so don't think I am anti-teacher. That being said, I feel that the small class sizes must be combined. This is essential to observe fiscal responsibility in our schools. The administration must also be condensed. With the right people in the right positions, the quality of education can in fact improve with a smaller teaching staff. There is nothing wrong with classes of 28 - 30 kids. This was standard when I was a child and the education I received back then was better than what my kids received at Green Lake. We need to get back to solid education and get rid of the fluff.
28-30 kids, you say? Have you any idea how many state mandated, regulations regarding the growing number of "differentiations" that teachers are expected to nurture and teach?? 28-30 of the disrespectful children being raised today, in addition to the demand that our children know the basics and MORE to survive and/or advance these days?? I, for one, do not want my kids in a classroom of 28-30 kids. However, if that is the way it must be in order to keep GL school district alive and improving, I can see reason in expecting that parents do their part and learn how to be supplements to what teachers in the classroom shouldn't be expected to do and couldn't do if they wanted to. Invention is the mother of necessity! :)
I agree with larger class sizes. This used to be the norm! If a teacher cannot handle 30 students per class, then they shouldn't be teaching.
28-30 kids to a classroom, in this day and age, is unacceptable because of the growing number of legally recognized and protected differentiations. For a society with most parents who spend MUCH less time with their own 2-4 kids than parents used to, people have become complacent and out of touch with the reality in our schools, and sure are quick to expect that teachers should easily nurture and teach 28-30 kids. When was the last time most parents actually spent time in a classroom volunteering/babysitting/teaching, 2-4 hours a day, 2-3 days a week?
Females generally make up a bigger percentage of teachers, and this all smells like the archaic expectations demanded from women to quietly do what is expected of them in the household (as moms and wives) because women should love what they do and do it regardless of reward. Unfair, preconcieved notions that we don't even realize are still lurking.
I've seen teachers cry because of what is happening to education and what bureaucracy has done to the "system" that teachers are working hard to do more with less. They love the kids and go on teaching for the same reason they became a teacher, to share with the kids a love of learning. Teachers should teach 28-30 kids or they shouldn't be teaching?? Give up your job and become a teacher then.
Let's see. What's the average daycare fee for one kid, $2.50 per hour? Seven hours a day, 5 days a week. Using rounded figures, that's about 4,000 a year, right? Thirty kids to a classroom...$4,000 per year x 30 kids = $120,000. What K-12 teachers in this area earns that, including their benefit package? Do we spend more to buy fast food in a year than we're willing to spend to reward good teachers? Choosing careers not for the money but to truly help people better themselves sure isn't rewarded very highly, and everyone thinks they can do the job just as well themselves without ever having even tried to do the job first. Amazing.
Come on everyone. Teaching only requires a degree, books and a long stick for smacking the little smart-arse's who aren't participating in the educational process.
Spare the rod - spoil the student!
What I get from the posts on this blog-sight are either all or nothing.
Seems as though people want classes of either 30+ per teacher or 1-0n-1 teacher/student ratios.
There is a happy medium and we need to find it or shut-down the school. Nobody can justify the class sizes we (and the present staff) currently enjoy in Green Lake. You can't spend in excess of $22,000 PER STUDENT/PER YEAR and tell me it's appropriate, and, think that the school will remain a viable option for our community.
The new school board, and the instructional staff, need to find a way to make it work, with reasonable class sizes and more conventional instruction (ie: NO Charter School; NO lake studies; YES mathematics, science, technology, trades, etc.). If parents are non-participative in their own children's education then shame on them and pity on their children. It is not the communities job to augment a parents lack of concern. We are not the keepers of every child who comes through the doors of the school.
If we can't come to grips with this then we are doomed to the school shutting down. Don't try to be all things to all people...it is not possible in even the best of times so there is no reason to think it possible in a struggling world.
Good post! :)
These charter schools don't follow the initial rules or original intent of charter schools, and seem to be school administrators' way of getting around academic requirements (good and bad) to start their own version of what schools should be based on their very own educational philosophies. This could be interpreted as positive educational reform, except there is definitely discrimination taking place as school administrators come up with their own enrollment requirements and decide what child fits the "image" of their "new" school, with taxpayers' money but without majority rule. Most parents and teachers are not in favor of this "new" idea of what charters are and how they are being run.
Don't forget charter schools were defined as separate buildings with autonomous opertaion, budget, teachers, adminstrators, supplies, space, etc. The charters in our public school buildings are, actually, school within schools posing as charters to get state funds. When state funds cease after 3 years, bounaries have already been crossed, the unfair, damagine segregation has already taken hold, and money is taken from the "regular" classrooms to support the charter school's expenses.
You can whine all you want about charter schools. The truth is, the feedback that has been given by the parents and students participating is that they like the program and are happy with the concept. Any kid can apply to be in charter school. It is not taking dollars away from traditional schools. Those same kids would have to go to school anyway. What it has done is offer another option for families in a small district like ours. With some great curriculum and opportunities for kids. Heaven forbid we offer something interesting in our school district. Heaven forbid we try to do something to attract families from other areas. Because, yes of course, Green Lake School is booming as is our community and business district and we don't need any more people here.
A previous blogger said, "Most parents and teachers are not in favor of this "new" idea of what charters are and how they are being run."
How do you know that about most parents and teachers? I've talked to many parents who do like the charter school. I'm guessing there are some for and some against. Why is it that any time there is a fresh idea or something offered that is different, we immediately here about. " well,,,, that's not the way they did it 30 years ago, if it was good enough for me back then, it's good enough for these kids today." That line of thinking would have stopped the evolution of medicine, computers, transportation, technology, and on and on. It is not 30 years ago, so please get over it. It is 2009 and many other places have thought about the future, and how can we help our kids be prepared for the world ahead, not for the world that has passed by. Green Lake has to move forward if we are to help our young people prepare for new kinds of jobs in alternative energy, medicine, and business. I understand not everyone will go into those fields, but I continue to see factory jobs shut down, so I don't think preparing kids to get work right after high school is much of a great option. Whether it is a charter school or something else that helps our young people compete, hopefully the shortsightedness that I've read on this blog will not dominate the thinking of people who want to see a future for our kids.
Offering feasible options is fine. Options more options for a small percentage of kids at the expense of a bigger percentage of kids' education is plain wrong. If a parent is so darn sure their child has extraordinary abilities, then put your money where your money is and send them to private school instead of sponging off of taxpayers' to pay for what parents want (not need) for their kids.
As soon as government funding ends, financial support for charters will come out of district's budget, and district no longer has to abide by the State mandated, open enrollment while receiving grants from DPI. This is why charters are not being operated autonomously as they should be, because the district can not afford what it wants and charters can not afford to run on it's own. Parasitic school within schools, with less than ingenuous marketing under the guise of "charters" and with vague, placating mission statements.
I've seen parents demanding the district do more for their individual child, when doing so will damage other children's basic opportunities, and when these parents have the resources (but not the time) to supplement in their child's education what the public school system simply can not afford to do and is not built to do.
The system should not be parenting our kids, and the more we expect them to because we expect to do less in that area, the more school districts will abuse their power of decision making concerning our children's welfare and education. Be careful of what you wish(ed) for.
Look up state statutes regarding charters schools. School superintendents have figured out how to circumvent the outdated guidelines - to abuse the original intent and operations of charter schools, for the district's own immediate financial benefit, but without little regard to a charter's lasting effect on a the system's educational opportunities or the district budget once funds from DPI end.
This is all very interesting. Ironically, the kids don't particularly care if they are in the charter school. I know several of them, in fact. They like it because they each get a laptop to use and get to take lots of field trips. To them, it is more "entertaining" than regular school. Time (soon I hope) to put an end to this nonsense. The school had an emphasis on lake/nature before the charter school came alone. This is largely due to Mr. Eddy, who will not be with the school forever. Green Lake can revert back to being a NORMAL school and still focus on environmental studies if it wants to. After all, do parents want a school in Green Lake, or do they want their kids to ride a bus every day to another city? This is the real question. Our schools will cease if this rampant spending is not cut considerably. The IB also needs to go, it never should have started here.
Lovely. School administrators using schools as laboratories and our children as guinea pigs. Some type of expirementation is necessary, but the highly paid, educational "scientists" don't use foresight when calculating very real damage. They go to seminars where they are trained to push through referendums and are trained on how to "soft shoe" the "hard sells". If mistakes are too big and pressure is too great, they give a sob story and skip on off to renegotiate bigger benfits packages in another unsuspecting, vulnerable school district.
The combination of State mandates and adminstrators' high salaries is sucking our school districts dry. Demands from teachers' unions aggravate the situation, but teachers are stuck and our students are the ones suffering. Heartwrenching.
To the above blogger. Though I agree with you about the government mandates sucking our districts dry, I do not see administrators taking special courses to experiment with our kids and do real damage. That sounds extreme to me. No doubt people do make mistakes and not all programs work, but certainly over time, many of the teaching principles used today in schools once started out as ideas, concepts and were tried at some experimental level. If we do not try new things, we stagnate. If we stagnate, we really end getting left behind. If you think that is not true, just take a walk around the Green Lake downtown business district. Insurance agents, real estate agents, a few stores and a couple of restaurants and a gas station. Trying new things does not seem to be very popular in this community. We can hold onto the old ways all we want, even up to the moment the sidewalks get rolled up and the last light gets turned out, and the school doors shut as we wave to the back of the school buses hauling the kids off to Ripon or Berlin.
Innovation is good, but not when it is based on manipulated statistics and one-sided agendas, that so obviously only benefit a few at the expense of many. The public only knows what they want it to know, with piece mealed, half truths, until a few catch on that something isn't right and take the immeasurable time to dig deeper. The school will take measures to protect itself against the discrepances and mismatched numbers, as it can talk no more without backing itself into a corner.
People in positions of power rely on others feeling powerless or being intimidated. If the clever rhetoric doesn't work, they'll step it up with polite attacks on the motives or intellect of anyone poses challenges to them. If that doesn't work, they'll start listing their accomplishments and whining about how difficult the job is and, with less polite jabs, how the public can't understand enough to second guess their leadership. The level of these tactics depends on what is actually to be gained or lost by an individual's position.
Politics meets marketing, to either change people's minds about what they want or placate them while convincing them of their actual needs - marketing meets psychology. In the end, they are using taxpayers' money to fund the resources needed to support their attempts to spend taxpayers' money without taxpayers' interference.
I think the issues we're facing in GL are also being experienced in Ripon schools, just on a bigger scale. I read Ripon community isn't any happier with its district and their letters make very good, eerily similar points to those we've made about our district. Wouldn't shipping our kids off to Ripon be jumping from the frying pan into the fire?
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