But that scenario in no way justifies the elimination of counseling or teaching positions. The majority of educators are dedicated and hard-working; for the salary we get, believe me, we do the work for the love of education and many counselors do our work because we seek to challenge institutionalize racism and social inequities. The Administrators at Skyline are extremely overworked and even if they had had the training to be counselors (most administrators do NOT have this training however) they do not have the time to handle the proactive duties that a counselor does.

On a personal note, I loved my years working with the students of OUSD. When I arrived at Skyline High School, having previously worked at Havenscourt where now there are NO COUNSELORS, I thought I had found my spot. I wanted to stay at Skyline until I retired (ha

I understand we are under assault from a powerful ideological campaign to demonize public officials, but that doesnt mean I’m giving a free pass to myself or everybody else who works in this difficult situation. We can just as easily become part of the problem as part of the solution.

Forget testing, which is not their job. Reality check: Skyline was infamous for scheduling problems these past 5 years. Surely that is not only the counselors’ fault, but do they bear any responsibility?

I understand that mistakes happen, but in Oakland it seems the mistakes happen disproportionately to those students and their families who can least afford it.

Save Our Schools Rally!
California State Capitol Building
1315 10th Street, Sacramento
Saturday, July 30, 2011
11:00 AM to 3:00 PM

PARKING: Parking is widely available in this part of town. There are parking garages galore and street parking can also probably be found with the right amount of determination and positive thinking (FYI: Also, there are coffee shops, cafes, and restaurants all within short walking distance as well.)

WEATHER: It is expected to be hot the day of the event, so just be prepared. Don’t let that be a deterrent because we need people like you to brave the heat and come out any way! There are large trees in the rally area that provide excellent shade. Some ideas for optimum comfort the day of– hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, extra water if you want it, umbrellas for shade, light cotton clothing –and with that you should be rally ready!

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD! Bring you friends, kids, colleagues, family members, neighbors, etc. Make signs and show up ready to rally. These issues within our education system are ones that affect everyone and this is a cause that everyone can get involved in– whether you area parent, educator, student, or concerned citizen. We welcome all!

Obviously, the students are suffering in OUSD. Skyline students are suffering the consequences for the AP testing. I feel terrible about what happened as I am certain others do as well. Next year, the testing coordinator or administrator needs to make certain that students have proper testing rooms and materials.

No, I’VE got to say it: Have you ever heard of confirmation bias? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias#Biased_interpretation

And basically the students who took the AP exams are screwed. sorry about the carpal tunnel, and your husband’s illness from years ago, but really is that an excuse for what happened in May 2011? A million students take AP exams across the USA every year without incident, except at Skyline.

And what’s the deal with not going to classes you don’t like? this school is truly dysfunctional. Professionals do not give less than 100%. This feeds into the negative stereotype of OUSD.

I put the leniency comment of my previous post in quotes because I had no direct evidence of it. My intention was that *if* there had been a less than stellar performance by the counselors proctoring testing, it might have been a result of knowing their jobs were ending, but it certainly could not have been the cause.

In all honesty, I’ve been through a couple of layoffs in my career, and when I knew I was being let go, I did tend to slack off. I think that’s simply human nature, and many people have understandably given less that 100% when they’ve been told that their services are no longer needed.

Our family had little contact with Skyline’s counselors during my older son’s four years, mostly because he had the ASIP inclusion teachers watching out for his needs. When we needed transcripts for his college app, the counselor responded promptly, so the only experience I’ve had with a Skyline counselor was a positive one.

Again, I’m really sorry that my unclear post caused offense.

My empty office takes me down memory lane as I remember the past years. I remember when I first arrived at Skyline, my husband was ill and in ICU with cancer in his right kidney. Five new colleagues took me in and covered for me when I needed to run back and forth to hospital. Even, our current principal worked with me by letting me make up time and work. Everyone was extremely accommodating including teachers, students and parents. Everyone took time to stop by my office to see how I was doing and to make sure that my husband was okay. To this day, some parents still ask how my husband is doing which I very much appreciate. This just shows how the relationships build over the years and how close we get to our students and parents.

Later something happened that I will never forget during my first year at Skyline. As usual the lines were endless for weeks at our offices. One of our more tenured counselors told some of my students waiting in line to see me “you might have to wait a while, but your counselor will make it well worth you time”. I was extremely touched by her words and the acknowledgement of my good work. As each new year begins, I remember her kind words.

Four years later, all but one colleague moved on. My hubby improved! And, our department was assigned a new Head Counselor coming from a middle school. Each year, we began the year off with only three counselors (at the beginning of the year) and a new principal. Counselors were trying to make needed adjustments to students schedules, fill out college applications, write letters of recommendation for scholarships and colleges, submit Cal Grant forms, clear graduating seniors, work with parents and students for non-graduating seniors, SAT’s, ACT’s, COST, not to mention updating transcripts for the seniors, completing final applications to colleges, graduation, and coordinating the scholarship awards night. Oh yes, we certainly can’t forget all of the SSTs, IEP’s, 504’s while trying to work with students creating new schedules for the following year. Even though it was lots of work, it was exciting helping everyone! I enjoyed every moment and couldn’t get enough hours in the day to help everyone, but it was so gratifying knowing that I was helping so many students and parents. True, I couldn’t get to everyone, but had hoped that we could get our caseloads reduced and more counselors so that we could provide better services to more students. It was discouraging and the worst part of my job as a counselor was that I couldn’t get to everyone all of the time.

Other than the kind words of my colleagues, I don’t ever remember being honored for anything by the OUSD district or administrators. Oops! My immediate sophomore administrator did honor me for my good work, at the very beginning of this year. I do remember the students, teachers, and parents bringing me special gifts, wonderful goodies, and flowers. You can imagine my surprise when Principal Johnston told counselors that he had to cut all Skyline counselors, at the beginning of the year, due to budget cuts. Even so, I was determined to work diligently helping every student that I could. A little later, counselors were reassigned caseloads. I was working with juniors and seniors, but ended up with sophomores, which I fell in love with over time. Again, I was determined to do the best job for these students. Most of my seniors and juniors were okay, but I did have quite a few seniors that were very upset as I knew them well and they wanted me to follow through with them through-out the year. I was told that I could not work with anyone other than sophomores unless it was on my own time. So, I did work with the seniors requesting my services on my own time after hours. I was determined to make certain that they felt comfortable through-out the year and they didn’t worry about anything. It was worth the extra time that I spent to make certain that these students had what they needed for graduation.

You have no idea how much I will miss Skyline. I have no idea what to expect next year, but what ever the case, I will do my very best to service anyone that comes my way. Counseling is my life. Even though I have just three years to go, I was really hoping that these would best last three years of my working life as a counselor. Now, I’m not sure what to expect. As for Skyline, I’m hoping that the principal will be able to adjust his budget or that the district will come up with the money to afford us to continue our work at Skyline. If not, I’m sure that Skyline will be fine this first year especially as Skyline knows that everyone will be watching. However, I am afraid that some students will still fall through the crack or be treated unfairly without choice. Some students may not receive the schedules that they want. I know that this year, the students that didn’t get the changes that they asked for just didn’t attend those classes. I’m hoping that this won’t be the case this year.

As I look at my picture again, I wonder who will fill my empty office. I wonder if the person taking my office will be treated better than I was. I wonder if they will have a working telephone and telephone answering machine. I wonder if their phone calls will be intercepted and screened. I wonder if they will have the Asbestos flooring removed. I wonder if they will update the antique computer. I wonder if they will replace the old “r D. Tun Counse o” on my door that has been there since the day I took this office. I wonder if the old desk will be replaced with something more appropriate so that typing on the keyboard becomes a little better, so that the new person doesn’t develop Carpal Tunnel. I wonder if the new person moving in this office will be respected more than a counselor could ever expect to be respected. I wonder if there will be more money to make sure their needs are met than were the needs of counselors.

Mostly, I will miss my students and worry about their successes. I wonder about the looks on the faces of my students as they approach my office in August!