More on the CCSD speech debacle: NPRI

 
Education Researcher Karen Gray inks an article over at the Nevada Policy Research Institute that provides additional insights into the proposed policy changes regarding public comments at CCSD Board of Trustee meetings. And the proposal, as written, raises concerns.

Remember, the trustees are elected by us, the people. If they can't handle criticisms (especially when it comes to our children), then they shouldn't run for political office.

Gray:

In a 180-degree turnaround, CCSD trustees are now considering prohibiting certain public speech and removing trustees' ability to respond to many public speakers.
Current board policy is that "trustees may choose to respond" to members of the public, whether the issues raised by members of the public are on the current agenda or not.

However, the "policy change" that the board is currently contemplating says, "trustees may choose to respond to you if your comments are addressed to an item on that meeting's agenda." (Emphasis added.)

Under this proposed new regime, therefore, if an individual raises an issue supposedly not on the board's agenda for that meeting, trustees will just stare at him and remain mute, no matter how important the issue. Official "policy" would even prohibit trustees from responding to comments or questions about policy — should such issues, however narrowly defined, not happen to be on the board's agenda for that meeting.
Earlier CCSD school boards gallantly pioneered the way for Nevada's tradition of open and reciprocal communication between the elected and the electors. Recent Clark County school boards, however, have affected a self-imposed code of silence that keeps the public at more than arms' length. 

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CCSW will continue to follow this situation.

E.C. :)

Nevada Education Notes added to Clark County School Watch

Karen Gray, an education research with the Nevada Policy Research Institute, writes in to tell us about a new newsgroup titled the Parents Sounding Board. It's found at the Nevada Education Notes blog.

It's been added to our lengthy group of blogs here at CCSW and the Vegas Valley View.

Here's what Gray says about the newsgroup:

For more than 19 years, I was a parent in the CCSD. I had my ups and downs with teachers, administrators, even board trustees. I volunteered in my children’s classrooms, sat on the learning improvement teams and parent advisory committees for their schools. I even participated in school board trustee committees and policy groups. I know I would have welcomed a sounding board like the one started at Nevada Education Notes.

As a parent of children with special needs, I know the pains and hardships of the IEP process. Later, I became a special education advocate assisting other parents through the process. I eventually went on to obtain a paralegal degree to assist attorneys in special education litigation. I know how helpful hearing about others experiences can be.

As I expand my research at NPRI, I want to address the topics that parents and teachers find informative and interesting. And, the Parents’ Sounding Board will provide that insight and give parents and teachers a place to be heard. 

Good luck on this.

E.C. :)

National education standards unmet...time to try something else?

It's an all too familiar story, folks.

National standards for public education are not being met. Meanwhile, the rest of the civilized world is passing us by in math and science. Yawn!

How many of these headlines must we endure before something of concrete substance takes place?

Take today's article in the New York Times:

A new federal study shows that nearly a third of the states lowered their academic proficiency standards in recent years, a step that helps schools stay ahead of sanctions under the No Child Left Behind law. But lowering standards also confuses parents about how children’s achievement compares with those in other states and countries.

The study, released Thursday, was the first by the federal Department of Education’s research arm to use a statistical comparison between federal and state tests to analyze whether states had changed their testing standards.


It found that 15 states lowered their proficiency standards in fourth- or eighth-grade reading or math from 2005 to 2007. Three states, Maine, Oklahoma and Wyoming, lowered standards in both subjects at both grade levels, the study said.

One asks the proverbial question...okay, now what? Maybe the answer lies in viable alternatives. Online education.


Folks, this is home schooling on steroids.

Recently, a family in the Silverado Ranch area gave me unique access to a demonstration of their children's online curriculum. They participate in the "k12" program (on the web at http://www.k12.com). Aligned to state standards, their children participate in a daily core curriculum of subjects, all completely online. k12 even sends parents the computers for their children to use. Students participate at their own pace. Promotion to the next level doesn't occur until complete mastery of the subject takes place. And results, this family told me, are quite noticeable.


An op-ed in the R-J last month touts the benefits of online education. Written by Gary Waters, the executive director of the Beacon Academy of Nevada, students of all levels can be served (and helped) by this method, he said.


Waters:

Online schooling, once thought of as new-wave and experimental, is now an accredited and widely accepted education option for students across the nation. Contrary to the old conventional wisdom, online schools are now recognized as offering challenging classes, advanced academic opportunities and dynamic social interactions -- both in and out of the classroom -- for a rapidly growing number of students.

A recent Department of Education study assessing the academic track record of students in online education sheds some light on the issue. Students completing some or all of their courses online performed better academically than peers in a traditional classroom. These students scored, on average, in the 59th percentile while the average brick-and-mortar student scored in the 50th percentile.


The study cited the ability of the online classroom to individually tailor education to meet each student's needs. Students have the flexibility to learn at their own pace, taking more time on subjects they find more difficult, or advancing rapidly to more challenging material. May educational leaders throughout the United States predict that by the year 2015, 50 percent of all instruction in public education will be offered online -- and some courses and educational content will be exclusively offered over the Web.


Also contrary to popular perceptions, a recent study from The Center for Research in Education Policy at the University of Memphis found that these social implications are far from negative. In fact, the study found that students enrolled in full-time online public schools demonstrated social skills that were superior to or substantially similar to those of students enrolled in traditional public schools. The study found that students were highly engaged in social activities, both inside and outside the classroom. Consequently, fears about the lack of socialization and social skill building in students who access online instruction appears increasingly unfounded. 

Because we have been unsuccessful in emulating what other countries do (and I'm going out on a limb to say this--especially since I'm a former public school teacher), maybe it is time to look at what is working.


E.C. :) 

V-3 Introduces (and incorporates) Clark County School Watch

The Vegas Valley View is now incorporating Clark County School Watch. What does this mean to you? Absolutely nothing.

While we've discussed some side topics, clearly this blog has taken a strong political/educational focus, spotlighting the challenges surrounding Clark County Schools. And word about this blog is starting to spread across the Valley.

Instead of completely renaming and rebranding V-3 as Clark County School Watch, it'll simply be incorporated into V-3. Some new links will be added and existing links will be moved over to a new sister blog that will be unveiled in the next few days.

It is hope that you will continue to enjoy and participate and comment.

E.C. :)

Protests abound over production of The Laramie Project

A Green Valley High School student stage production of The Laramie Project, which tells the story of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming, is not only raising eyebrows among some in the community, it has also prompted a lawsuit.

The Las Vegas Weekly first told the story back in its October 7 edition.

LV Weekly:

“The Laramie Project was originally the advanced-study class project,” says Jennifer Hemme, performing arts teacher at Green Valley. “And then the epilogue thing kind of came along, and it was kind of a natural fit.”

Natural, maybe, but not without risk. Because it tends to cause controversy, the play is avoided by many schools. “I think it’s an important story to tell,” Hemme responds. “It’s not pro-homosexuality or anti-homosexuality; it’s anti-hate.”

But now comes word (via CBS-8 KLAS) that a group of parents filed suite seeking to halt the production of The Laramie Project and Rent, citing adult themes.

CBS-8:

"I don't think it's age appropriate for her," said parent Mel Grimes.

A group of concerned parents objects to the mature content found in Rent and the Laramie Project. Though both have been adapted for a younger audience, the plays involve issues like AIDS, homosexuality and drug abuse. 

"It's taking the right of the parents of how to raise their children by exposing them to things that we may not want our children to have exposure to at this time or on this venue in a glamorized place on the stage," said parent Rick Magness.

The group, including Green Valley dad and attorney Cory Hilton, has asked school principal Jeff Horn to cease and desist both productions. In his response, Horn assured Hilton no student may perform without written parental permission and none will be required to watch the plays for academic credit. 

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E.C. :)

Redistricting takes center stage in Henderson

A potential brouhaha may be brewing over a proposed redistricting effort in Henderson. The Las Vegas Sun reports a handful of schools in the southern Valley may redistrict students next Fall due to growth, and that has some Henderson parents fuming at CCSD.

Apparently, this is a regular activity. The problem is when school districts do this, schools and neighborhoods lose the continuity.

In my opinion, there has to be a better solution.

LV Sun:

Parents in a couple of Henderson neighborhoods are bracing for a fight over proposals to rezone their children to different schools next fall.

The Clark County School District’s Attendance Zone Advisory Committee took a first look Tuesday at proposals to adjust attendance zones for the next school year.

The proposals included changes to three south Henderson high schools, two middle schools and up to six elementary schools. The elementary school changes are to accommodate a new school in Anthem Highlands.

Also on the agenda are changes to accommodate three other elementary schools due to open next fall — two north of the 215 Beltway and one in Southern Highlands.

What drew the attention of parents at the initial meeting, however, were proposals to move middle school students in the Champion Village neighborhood from Bob Miller to Lyle Burkholder Middle School and to move children in the Pebble Creek neighborhood from Vanderbilt to Cox Elementary.

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E.C. :)

Stepping up with STEP UP

The Las Vegas Sun has been reporting on efforts by some to create a charter school where students earn future college credit towards a teaching degree. But in today's edition, reporter Emily Richmond says a CCSD magnet program already exists at the Northwest Career and Technical Academy.

Reportedly, John Jasonek, executive director of the Clark County Education Association, unveiled a proposal which according to the Sun, "is an outgrowth of a successful initiative started by the School District and the teachers union’s Community Foundation in 2004. STEP UP (Student to Teacher Enlistment Project Undergraduate Program) covers the cost of the dual-credit classes and offers students scholarships to local colleges in exchange for agreeing to work in district schools for four years."

It's good that we're introducing this program to young students. My take on this is simple...students in teacher academies today need to understand the obstacles they will endure going into the classroom. A lot of teacher training comes from research professors who likely have not stepped foot in a public school classroom in years. They may not be aware of the challenges and pitfalls that silently await our neophyte teachers. So in these programs...if that theory can trickle down somehow to the suspecting (or unsuspecting) student teacher, maybe they will have a better sense of what to really expect.

E.C. :)

This really smells of corruption

Today's R-J reports CCSD school board member Linda Young (D-3) coming under fire for e-mails lobbying school brass on the potential hiring for former State Assemblyman Wendell Williams as a substitute teacher at the school that bears his name.

It bears the question...is this the role school board members should be taking in the course of "official elected duties?"

R-J:

A community activist is criticizing School Board member Linda Young for lobbying the Clark County School District on behalf of a former state lawmaker who had applied to be a substitute teacher at the campus that bears his name, Wendell P. Williams Elementary School.

"There's a lot of stuff behind him, a lot of baggage," Marzette Lewis said of Williams. "I don't want him around nobody's babies."

Lewis organized WAAK-UP, a West Las Vegas community action group
Williams, who lost his Assembly re-election bid in 2004 after a series of scandals eroded his support, once received the district's Crystal Apple Award in appreciation for his contributions to education.

The veteran lawmaker's fall from grace was fueled by evidence from his one-time employer, the city of Las Vegas, that he was getting paid for work he did not do when he was serving in Carson City. At the time, he also had failed to reimburse the city for $1,844 in personal cell phone calls.

That's not the kind of role model students should have, Lewis said.

Young on Wednesday denied she was using her influence to get Williams a teaching job, saying "I don't have that kind of authority." But she criticized school district staff for not responding to Williams' inquiries about his job application, saying it was a missed opportunity to get a male role model into a school where many students need one.

I don't know about you, but there appears to be a lot more here than meets the eye.

E.C. :)

Ill-Prepared College Freshmen Prompt New UNLV Study

The area's college freshmen are spending more and more time in remedial classes, prompting a new research project by UNLV research staff.

This past Sunday's Las Vegas Sun reports that last year, "more than a third of the Nevada high school graduates who enrolled at the state’s universities and colleges required remedial classes in English and mathematics, at a cost of over $2 million."

UNLV staff refuse to blame teachers, but rather the system needs to be more scrutinized. One answer seems to be "better tests." Well, in our asinine test-driven curriculum, where we spend more time teaching our kids how to take a three-hour exam than teaching them how to read and write and spell and balance a checkbook and how to find Florida on a map, that's the weak way out of the situation.

Sun:

[Neal] Smatresk, who served as UNLV’s executive vice president and provost before being appointed president in August, said the ultimate purpose of his initiative is to reduce the need for incoming UNLV freshmen to take remedial classes.

“It’s not about blaming teachers, it’s about revealing the problems we have and then honestly developing strategies to resolve them,” Smatresk said. “We would like to call it an attempt to help the teachers.”

When I recently blogged about public education in North Carolina, I covered this very issue. See this post I wrote back on November 27, 2007 over at Guilford School Watch. Also see this one from March of 2007.

It is startling, folks. It is about time someone wake up and smell the coffee because it is a travesty of justice that our children are ill-prepared and ill-equipped to handle college-level work.

E.C. :)

No School on Fridays for Hawaii

Just when you thought you've seen it all, now comes word that money woes are so bad in Hawaii, they are shutting schools down on Fridays.

Yes, that's right...three-day weekends for students, every week.

Read this nonsense from the AP:

HONOLULU — At a time when President Barack Obama is pushing for more time in the classroom, his home state has created the nation's shortest school year under a new union contract that closes schools on most Fridays for the remainder of the academic calendar.

The deal whacks 17 days from the school year for budget-cutting reasons and has education advocates incensed that Hawaii is drastically cutting the academic calendar at a time when it already ranks near the bottom in national educational achievement.

While many school districts have laid off or furloughed teachers, reduced pay and planning days and otherwise cut costs, Hawaii's 171,000 public schools students now find themselves with only 163 instructional days, compared with 180 in most districts in the U.S.

What have we come to?

E.C. :)

CCSD lowers standards

Your state board of education today lowered standards and allowed school districts to dummy-down the curriculum.

Okay...translation:

R-J:

With no objections and no discussion today, the Nevada State Board of Education approved a proposal to allow the state's school districts to change standards for high school grade advancement in the interest of boosting passage of the state's proficiency exam and the state's high school graduation rate.

The new rule, if adopted by the Clark County School District, would allow students who have attended high school for three years to be considered seniors whether or not they have successfully completed the required number of units.

This would allow these students to take the proficiency exam as seniors -- which means they would have four chances to pass the test instead of just one during that fourth year.

The high school graduation rate of Nevada ranks 50th in the nation.

50th in the nation is crazy. Someone is clearly dropping the ball up in Carson City. And with no objections nor discussion from Board members, it seems as though they've taken an "I don't care anymore" attitude.

Has it really come to this...have we stopped caring?

E.C. :)

Proper Communication is Everything

  I've been involved with some high-spirited, rich dialogue over the last day with a young lady from my former domicile of Greensboro, NC. And it all started with a dose of slang in her Facebook status:

Am I the only one that still says, "I am fena...-anything" as in "I'm fena send an email. I'm fena go to the store...I'm fena whatever...SO UNPROFESSIONAL!

Now, I'm not calling her out, and she actually was kidding and being sarcastic. But as a purveyor of communication, I've been seeing the slang term "fena" (translated to 'fixing to...') used all around Facebook, even among (gasp) some of my former students, since I used to teach high school once upon a time.

My response:

I cringe, because I taught grammar in GCS and Randolph County. Many of my former students are on here on FB, and I cringe even more when I see them using bad grammar (you know who you are, I'm WATCHING you)!
Fena wanna gotcha gonna ain't gonna gitcha anywhere in the business world, trust and believe!

Her response back:

Unless you are a business owner, and got swag! I am kidding. Applying the fundamentals are important as we do not wish to sound ignorant or set a bad example, however we must remember we had a President who could barely read, a poor command of the English language, and a Vice President who could not spell or differentiate between TV moms and real life so to say it won't get you any where is a stretch.

My response back:

This may be true to a certain extent, with all due respect, but I worked extremely hard to to teach grammar, to teach my kids how to write properly, how to speak properly, how to function outside of high school. I was pressured into teaching my kids how to take a 3 hour exam, but taking time to teach the fundamentals on why they needed to write and... Read More speak properly was never encouraged.

I spent time in Washington and Chicago and now in Las Vegas...and I'll be honest, you'll be laughed right out of the employment office or business function saying "gotta-wanna-gitcha-getta-holla-fena, etc." So politics aside, it is a matter of setting a good example. I taught at Andrews H.S. for a year and a half, and my kids will tell you that on the first day of class, I told them that I was not from the hood, I was not from the South, and I'm going to teach you how to speak properly, how to writer properly and how to function in society. And we spent a class session (or two) discussing those very words---words I refused to hear in my classroom.

It was a struggle, it may not have been in the so-called state standard course of study, but I was determined to have my kids be better.

Her response:

Well Mr. Huey, I completely understand your point there. English and a command of the English Language is exceptionally important. I even wanted to be an English Teacher, but that was before I realize there was a difference between English and Literature, so I actually loved and wanted to teach a love of the written word.

The suggestion that "...you'll be laughed right out of the employment office or business function" because of an inability to articulate using words like, "gotta-wanna-gitcha-getta-
holl-fena, etc" flies in the face of Bojangle's very successful national, "gotta wanna need have a Bojangle's" campaign. Somebody raked in big bucks for years behind that one. Whoever came up with that one had to have been told to use proper English at all times.

Which brings me to my next point...being scared of someone laughing at them, is crippling and immobilizes people into inactivity. If you do nothing because you are afraid to make a mistake then you will nnever do anything again. It is the very definition of "what is successful" that must be examined, because I know some very successful peoplle, who have made it there business to butcher the English Language - millionaires....

We have to examine who poor speaking habits fail to work for. There are innumerable business owners who have no command of the rules of the English Language but are smart enough to hire people who do. So we must ask ourselves do we want to create a group of people who have a command of the ever changing rules of the English Language because they are excellent employees, or will we raise innovators, capatains of industry smart enough to seek out people to make them look smarter. I choose to be the later, and an occassional fena every now and then gives me quite the chuckle - no disrespect to your profession.

My response:

No disrespect at all...I no longer teach full-time and I'm currently not a working journalist, so no offense taken. But I still am a communications specialist and a communications analyst. And this interesting discussion has given me fodder for a blog article on this very subject, which is simply communication.

I was quite familiar with the Bojangle's ad campaign while I was in NC, and yes, some of those ads were funny. But it was cringing trying to teach grammar and my kids immediately referenced the commercial and thought "oh well, I've seen it on that Bojangle's commercial so it must be okay." Well, no son, it's not okay. It may be okay to laugh at something like that on TV, but when you're going to work in the work world and/or applying to colleges and when it is time for the interview, it won't fly.

No you're right...there may be some employers who will look beyond an individual's ability to master the English language, and that may be all well and good. But that didn't stop my passion for teaching my kids what was right and what was wrong. What was acceptable versus what was unacceptable. I wasn't trying to influence nor change their dialect. I may have even been the first person to ever tell them that "gonna" was not proper English and my kids knew that if I saw "gonna" on their papers, I was going to crucify their grade. I told them it may have been okay to use out on the schoolyard, but in Mr. Huey's room, "ain't" ain't gonna fly!

I had to go there, I had to take it to their level so that they could understand. Many of them got it, many didn't. But my thought was simply: if I could touch just one child, then my work would have been done.

So when we discuss the subject of communication as a whole, one needs to put it in context with the whole situation.

She referenced an ad campaign by Bojangles, a chain of fried chicken restaurants found mostly in the south. Here's an example:



Let me hear your thoughts on this. Because to me, proper communication is truly everything.

E.C. :)

Addressing the culture of violence requires more parenting/police, not more programs

I watched this interview while on the stationary bike at the gym the other evening...I nearly fell off the bike!

Problem number one...many of the politicians have been in office for years, and have done absolutely nothing.

Problem number two...quite quit deflecting blame. More police yes. More programs? I'm not so sure. How about better parenting...parents taking responsibility for children.

Again, if we're ever going to seriously address the culture of violence in our society, it starts with you and I.

Chicago can NOW focus on addressing its culture of violence, as is (hopefully) the rest of us

Chicago losing the 2016 Olympic bid in favor of Rio is certainly NOT the end of the world. It may be to its mayor, but it may be a blessing in disguise.

Maybe, its mayor can now focus on stopping the corruption at Chicago's City Hall, stopping the runaway taxing-and-spending, or better yet...here's a novel concept...stopping that runway violence that is plaguing that city, my hometown.

Sure, I think the Olympics would have been a good thing for the city. But I know for my former neighbors, being able to walk down the street to the bus stop or train station without looking behind your shoulder is more important.

Mayor Richard Daley has work to do. Let's hope this is a wake-up call for him to get busy and address the out-of-control culture of violence. And let this be an opportunity for all of us to address the culture of violence in our society and root it out of our persona.

Wrap your hands around your children this weekend and tell a child you love him/her.

Happy Friday.

E.C. :)

Why blog about CCSD?

I was asked during the week if I plan to turn this into an exclusive Clark County School District advocacy blog, similar to my previous "Guilford School Watch" blog while living in North Carolina?

The answer I gave was specific.

While I want to incorporate some other things in Vegas Valley View (such as social marketing and media, important business items around town, etc.), as a former North Carolina public school teacher, a one-time North Carolina school board candidate and advocate, public education is important to me.

Currently, I am not a stakeholder in CCSD. I'm not affiliated with CCSD in any way, shape or form  whatsoever. However, I've become increasingly concerned lately when I hear that CCSD needs a lot of fixing. I've been hearing stories about our children worshiping the crazy money made here in the Valley by parking lot and valet attendants, bartenders and blackjack dealers, dancers and entertainers. And yes, our bread-and-butter industries keep this Valley going.

But our children still need to learn how to read and write, use proper English and know a little about current events in the world. And if I can do my little part, or throw my little $.05 in to help, then so be it.

So there.

E.C. :)