Comments on: A new teacher still remembers

By: J.R.

J.R. — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 20:38:33 +0000

Sue,
I am so very glad to hear that, best wishes to you and your son. No doubt he is a marvelous young man, as in my son. I actually meant that I was sorry the admins couldn’t or wouldn’t help you.

By: Sue

Sue — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 20:30:01 +0000

Please, please, please! Don’t feel bad for my situation.

Remember those “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade” posters from the 60′s/70′s? Well, I’m savoring the sweetest and tastiest homemade “lemonade” ever. My son has far more talent and abilities than he has disabilities.

By: J.R.

J.R. — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 21:12:49 +0000

Sue,
I am not, nor have I ever been what you could call a fan of administration, and the fact that they tend to do what is easiest and less hassle for them irks me to no end. We have to deal with the absolute fact that good teachers help kids in so many ways, while bad teachers really can hurt children academically. I feel bad for your situation, and I hope for the best from here on out.

By: Sue

Sue — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:20:11 +0000

Without knowing your son’s age, or the severity of his autism, I don’t know if he’s already in the ASIP program, or if he could benefit from it. Autism Spectrum Inclusion Program – it was originally called Asperger’s Syndrome Inclusion, and is still geared more towards the “Aspies”, but includes HFA students that can benefit from mainstreaming. The name changed because of our boy, I think. We’ve had him in the program since it began when he was a 5th grader.

We’ve had truly incredible success for our son from it. He is now a freshman at CSUEB. Just a year ago, we wouldn’t have dreamed of him even applying to a four-year university, let alone getting admitted and being able to attend.

He’s already exceeded our wildest imaginings of the brightest future possible for him. It was possible because of the *great* people (inclusion teachers and staff in the program and general ed teachers in regular classrooms) working with him. His h.s. and middle school inclusion teachers are both working with a new pilot program for autism spectrum students at CSUEB, called College Link.

The counter-balance to such amazing success – that amazing middle school inclusion teacher (who really invented the middle school ASIP program, and provided the ground work for the h.s. program when it started), doesn’t work in OUSD anymore.

Long ugly story, but the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, was when that horrible, terrible, no-good teacher at Montera had a problem compying with our son’s IEP, the wonderful inclusion teacher subjected to threats of physical harm. Rather than go through the hassle and waste of time of complaining to the principal, or going higher in the district’s administration – risking retaliation beyond those threats – the inclusion teacher quit and went work in another district.

Now you know the details of *one* of the many situations that leads me to condemn the administration. They already knew the bad teacher was a problem. They didn’t care, and it was obvious to everyone involved. So a really great teacher (full credentials, as well as Severe Disability credential/certification) was lost to the district, but we still have that bad one.

By: J.R.

J.R. — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:40:41 +0000

Sue,
My son has Autism, and I know the system fails them sometimes as well, and if it weren’t for the fact that he has been blessed to have many great teachers, he wouldn’t be so well adjusted today. You see I love good teachers, and I have witnessed how much difference they can make in the life of a child. I don’t want the good ones smeared because they get associated with the poor ones who really don’t want to be there(except for the paycheck), and yes they are there. We made the mistake of letting just anyone teach, and you really need the right mindset as well as the ability,patience and compassion to teach.

By: J.R.

J.R. — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:28:12 +0000

Public,
I know about Ravitch, Linda Hammond, and I know the reality. You keep making the claim that all teachers are being blamed this is NOT true taxpayers just don’t believe that certain teachers should be in the classroom(they are part of a systemic problem). I comment on what I have actually witnessed, and experienced. Recently I was going from classroom to classroom handling IT duties(volunteer) and one of the rooms happened to be resource. I saw someone there, a state certified intervention specialist playing Solitaire on one of the PC’s, and I thought “it must be her break”, and I stopped by two hours afterward and there she was still playing a game and on and on throughout the day. These are the things that bother me, as I see waste and corruption which are really the same all up and down this system. Even when you don’t give your best you are essentially stealing from the taxpayers. Whether it be a Principal that lets things go to avoid drama, or a teacher who gives their class minimal work(busywork or whatever)or a state admin who waste the time paid for by taxpayers , it all has to STOP now! I would say taxpayers put plenty of money into the system, and a part of that money is just wasted on excessive people that we really don’t need and excessive salaries as well(Google LAUSD and the half Billion dollar school). If we were able to get rid of the waste fraud and abuse maybe we could pay our good teachers more, and that would be terrific.

By: Sue

Sue — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:09:31 +0000

Okay, I’ll accept that our family has just been unusually lucky.

Having one kid with autism, so he’s always had an IEP and his general ed teachers have usually been carefully selected and worked closely with the Spec. Ed. team to support him and meet his needs. And the younger one was identified as gifted and slotted into GATE when he was a 3rd grader.

So-called “normal” kids probably don’t get as much attention and planning as students with a severe life-long disability (and assertive parents who are *very* effective advocates), or GATE students who can consistently score at the top on all the state tests and help raise their school’s overall scores.

We’re so abnormal. Lucky for us.

By: ex-Montera Parent

ex-Montera Parent — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 06:07:36 +0000

Sue, my children have been going to Montera for the past 13 years. There have been at least six really lousy teachers at Montera in that time but they were either replaced or quit, although it often took a long time. On the other hand there are quite a few wonderful young teachers, several of whom were Project Pipeline teachers and one or two older very competent teachers. The rest are just all right. That is probably what you get in most public schools. You are lucky that you have only encountered one bad one.

By: Public School Teacher

Public School Teacher — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 04:08:49 +0000

J.R.

Most school budgets pay for administration, I think approximately 40% or more. Therein lies some of the problems. In addition, funding is directed to consultants to assist with the NCLB testing fiasco and all the remedial classes and test prep needed to pass the test. Take a break from the teacher blame game, even though it’s the new “black” this year. For a good dose of reality, I would like to suggest some authors for you to read, Diane Ravitch, Jonathan Kozol and Linda Darling-Hammond. Start there and then comment on this topic.

By: J.R.

J.R. — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 22:56:09 +0000

Sue,
It is so very easy to gamble with others peoples(taxpayers) money, I couldn’t even begin to count the ways I dislike the negative effect collective bargaining has on children and their education(the kids end up getting shafted) . I think both sides(admin & union) should be forced to go out and earn(get money instead of having it come “TO” them), and maybe they would have a greater appreciation of what taxpayers go through. The kids lose at the bargaining table because the more admins and teachers make the less the kids get. There is not a problem with funding, it’s with priorities. I am on the students side, how about you?