Friday, November 23, 2012

USC, Bethel, but not here UPDATED

A Lebo Citizens reader was kind enough to send me the following message from the Bethel Park School Board President, Donna Cook. http://www.bpsd.org/boardmessage.aspx

The take-away that I got from President Cook's message:

  • All Bethel Park Administrators voluntarily took a wage freeze for the 2011-2012 school year.
  • The  school board appreciates their constituents' attendance and participation in these meetings;  it has become increasingly difficult to sit silently while statements are being made that are simply not correct.
All BP's administrators voluntarily took a wage freeze for 2011-2012.  Upper St. Clair's top administrators took voluntary wage freezes. All of our school administrators got sizable increases. We have parents complaining about the math program. One parent's comments from Monday's meeting about our math program are spot on. Monday's presentation was illustrating a state wide comparison. Interestingly enough, the regional comparison is disappointing. Here is a page from the presentation comparing math SAT scores. We're ranked 18, while Upper St. Clair is ranked #8, North Allegheny 10, and Fox Chapel is ranked at 14. Dr. Deb Allen said that we must not rest on our laurels. I don't think we have "laurels to rest on." Our science scores are marginal.  While our super Super is blogging about Chinese proverbs and is "transfixed" while doing photo essays on the view outside of his window, our school board directors continue to spend money like there is no tomorrow.  If the Mayans are right, maybe there will be no tomorrow, but in the meantime, how about putting a cork in it, Josephine? Stop wasting our money.

The second point is for my commissioner's benefit.

Update November 23, 2012 2:45 PM Witte comment about MTLSD math program
Also available here:
Witte comment on Lebocitizens.com

53 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://baldwin-whitehall.patch.com/articles/baldwin-whitehall-officials-reject-teachers-union-s-offer

Baldwin Whitehall froze administration salaries too.

"In general, Lutz seemed irritated with the union's press release, pointing out that district administrators and service employees both recently agreed to wage freezes without "strings attached" to their agreements—unlike the teachers."

Anonymous said...

http://www.buckslocalnews.com/articles/2012/09/16/the_advance/news/doc5036fb289e151225194721.txt

Council Rock a good district in Bucks County, PA has frozen administrators salaries 3 of last 4 years.
Wonder how many other PA districts have frozen administrative salaries?

Just where is it written that school district employees must be awarded salary increases that outpace the cost-of-living index? In a recessive economy, when private sector employees face layoffs, wage reductions and increased health insurance payments our staff seem oblivious to the real world realities.
One way to "educate" them would be to freeze their salaries like Baldwin, Bethel, Council Rock and USC. That way should they think they can do better elsewhere they can as Southwest Airlines like to say: "feel free to move about the country."

Anonymous said...

Darn, I thought this wa going to be about turf!,

Anonymous said...

I don't understand all the angst over the math program. My son loves the book. He is scoring in the 98th or 99th percentile on every standardized test. Just because it's different than when we were in school doesn't make it worse.

Richard Gideon said...

Blog readers are advised to listen to the comments of Mr. William Witte concerning math in our elementary schools. Mr. Witte managed to do something we don't see or hear very often at a school board meeting; he brought a superior argument before the nine members of the Board and left them in his dust, doing it respectfully but firmly.

Mr. Witte argues for a traditional math education in the elementary grades. He is opposed to full implementation of the TERC Investigations curriculum in grades K-5. The TERC curriculum has been the subject of a lot of criticism amongst some math professionals, who feel it does not provide kids with the basic skills to progress into more advanced math subjects. He argues, correctly, that "students cannot master something if they are not taught the skill," and that the "TERC Investigations curriculum is appropriate as a small supplement to a traditional (math) curriculum."

A parents group is forming to press the District on the TERC issue. But the MLSD may not be inclined to listen to some of our concerned parents; after all, what do engineers, architects, accountants, technicians, or doctors know about math!

Anonymous said...

4:23 that's great, we're all happy that your kid is doing well in math. Sincerely hope their success continues.
The issue here though is not one kids success or failure, but the success or failure for "each and every student."

Ms. Posti wrote on her blog on June 26, 2010: "Likewise, someone recently asked me about our ranking on a College Remediation Report issued by the Department of Education last year. This report shows the number of students graduating from a district who attend a state-owned or community college and require remediation in math or English.  In a 2009 report, 37 of the 159 Mt. Lebanon students attending State schools required remedial math or English.  PDE did not provide any analysis of this data that I can find."
Now she asked some good questions in her post about the 2009 report.
With nearly 1 out of every four Lebo graduates needing remedial instruction their freshman year at a state university wouldn't you think this would be a topic that should be front and center?
Has anyone seen a follow up? Has Dr. Steinhauer ever blogged about it?
Have the number of students needing remediation gone down, up or remained constant since the '09 study?
Think anyone in the administration knows, cares?
If you manufactured cars and 1 in 4 needed some remediation you'd certainly be on top of it. Way should the business of educating our kids be any different?
Where's the follow up? No we'll devote countless hours investigating field usage and artificial turf.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know why Mr. Witte's comments won't download?

Lebo Citizens said...

I just checked and I am getting this error message.
"Too many users have viewed or downloaded this file recently."
Give me a few and I will upload it on the website. I will post the link under the update. Sorry.
Elaine

Anonymous said...

Thanks, I was able to listen to the comments.

I, too, can't understand why basic math curriculum at the elementary school level needs revamping. Math at that level doesn't change.

Mr. Witte's comment regarding being invited to sit in on a parent committee was right on. My guess is that he will be removing his kids from the district given the Board's typical behavior when a community member requests that they change direction.

Too many students need remediation upon entering college. It's time to get back to basics!

Anonymous said...

Did you happened to watch Steinhauer's response to the first woman that commented on the math curriculum on Nov. 12? Listen closely and you'll hear him say "we're the math experts." He had a smug
attitude during the whole discussion. At one point he was drumming his fingers on the table.

Anonymous said...

There are a great many questions regarding freshman needing remediation. Is it just community college and state college attendees. How about At Pitt and Penn State as well as other schools?
Is it the students problem or the school districts? Both?
But as we learn from Mr. Witte, "the math experts" don't seem to want to engage their customers.
Their biggest issues are watching and planning new athletic facilities and worrying about what the other guy (charter schools) is doing.

Lebo Citizens said...

Josephine Posti's most recent blog post (Oct. 13) was about "the other guy." If she is suffering from writer's block, the math program might be a topic that could help her overcome her condition. Or she could write about her favorite Chinese proverb, as our superintendent has been known to do.

To be fair, the President's report indicates that even though the math program was adopted in 2007, Josephine is asking for our patience and continued support as our educational professionals conduct a thorough evaluation. What year is this?
Elaine

John Ewing said...

Question: How do you complete a $6,000,000 fund raising program when we rank #18 in math and very low in science?

Answer: You get the top fundraiser in Pittsburgh to do your Study and then ask for cheaper unknown fundraisers to give you information on running the campaign.

It sounds like the Board is running the campaign the same way they run the math and science programs; they do what the Administrators tell them to do.

Oh, Mrs. Posti, you have been President for two years now and have yet to appoint a Board Curriculum Committee, or a Finance Committee to check raises in competitive districts. If we have no control over curriculum or finance please tell me exactly why we are raising money for endowments?

Jack Mulliken said...

A thorough evaluation? Let me guess, the only way to find out about this "evaluation" is to file a FOIA request.

These are kids in some of the most important learning years of their life. They're not a science project. We don't pay the school taxes we do to have our children used as part of some experiment that will leave them years behind in a subject as important as mathematics.

John Ewing said...

I want to thank Mr. Huston for being the first parent to object to the elementary math program. It seems the Superintendent is still drumming his fingers at parental views on curriculum even though we have a large number of parents concerned about the math program. How many times has a Google server been unresponsive because there were too many requests to hear a playback?

I’m really disappointed in the Superintendent’s lack of interest in the parents’ academic concerns, Since he was not the Superintendent that initiated the program he has the opportunity to sit back and take an objective look at our math and science programs to see where the problems are. Instead he takes a smug attitude, drums his fingers, and tells parents he has to study a program that was in effect before he became superintendent. Tim, do the Supervisors that implemented the math and science programs still work in the district? Why don’t you ask your staff where the problems are and eliminate them immediately?

The Superintendent’s behavior reminds me of our special education department who upon request for special services stonewall the parents on their request for special services. Finally the parents get frustrated and spend several thousand dollars of their own money to have their child tested. When they present their child’s professional test results to the Administrators for review the parents are told the District needs to do its own testing and the stonewalling continues for several more months before services are granted – just like the District needs to study a math program that is several years old.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Ewing, a question.
Do you know if PK or the school district set the original goal for raising $15 million dollars?
I know PK quite well, and to be honest the $40,000 PK study didn't impress me.
But, it may not be PK's fault, we'll never know I suspect.

Anonymous said...

H.L. Mencken On Education's
True Objectives
2-24-2


"That erroneous assumption is to the effect that the aim of public education is to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence, and so make them fit to discharge the duties of citizenship in an enlightened and independent manner. Nothing could be further from the truth.
 
"The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all, it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States, whatever the pretensions of politicians, pedagogues and other such mountebanks, and that is its aim everywhere else." --H L. Mencken

Is it possible that Mencken was right?

Anonymous said...

12 years ago when my kids were in elementary school in Lebo we were told that math facts were no longer going to be taught at school. Parents would be responsible to teach them (no more rout memorization would be taught). That math curriculum was called Integrated math but the district introduced it as “New Math.” Parents weren’t happy about that then either. When we moved later before high school we were told by the new school that my kids were two years behind in math. This put them behind in college too. We also spent Thousands of dollars on math tutors throughout the years. I complained to one tutor about the integrated math in Lebo and was told by this tutor that Lebo schools have the worst math books and that most of their business was from Mt Lebanon students that weren’t getting Integrated Math. Peter’s Township had the best curriculum I was told. That was some experiment done to students by Mt Lebanon. I won’t mention the tutor’s name because I don’t want Dr. Allen calling them to scold them about this comment. She once called a Therapist I know to rudely scold her for recommending a therapy that a student with a disability needed. Oh and this is the best part when my kids were in elementary school they were tutored by the same teachers who were teaching the Integrated Math everyday. So not only were my kids (and others) getting taught Integrated Math many parents hired those teachers to come to their home and paid them to keep teaching that Integrated Math. How many math curriculum changes have taken place in Mt. Lebanon schools over the last 20 years? There were so many curriculum supervisors that came and went it was a revolving door as I remember. George Wilson was one. The curriculum was not coordinated between the elementary schools and middle schools or between middle and high school. I remember one of the math teachers at Mellon told a group of parents that students came from the different elementary schools to Mellon at all different levels because there was not coordination between schools.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, you can't view or download this file at this time.

Trying to download Mr. Witte's comments:
Too many users have viewed or downloaded this file recently. Please try accessing the file again later. If the file you are trying to access is particularly large or is shared with many people, it may take up to 24 hours to be able to view or download the file. If you still can't access a file after 24 hours, contact your domain administrator.

Richard Gideon said...

This topic is one of the better threads that Elaine has put together - thank you, Elaine!

With respect to Ann Becker's comments to the Board on 12 November 2012 (starts at 1:42:52), Dr. Steinhauer's retort may be found at 1:48:33 where he says, "..we are the math professionals." When I played that portion of the podcast containing Mrs. Becker's presentation and Dr. Steinhauer's reply for my wife, her response was to compare it to how the Board responded to Mr. Witte: "He (Dr. Steinhauer) did that because she's a woman," she said.

Those of us who taught math at the post-secondary level can testify as to how the overall math skills of incoming students have deteriorated over the years, and it isn't just confined to students from Mt. Lebanon. This is in spite of transcripts that would lead one to believe that one is dealing with a potential Einstein. How a kid can come into a technical program with weak or non-existent basics in mathematics boggles the mind.

Our community's parents know the score; you can't succeed in math if you don't have a solid foundation in numbers and operations. This foundation requires some memorization and repetition on the part of the youngster, and I dare say many, if not most, find it "boring." But giving in to a calculator as a substitute for thinking is as bad as those miscreants in Washington refusing to admit that the country has a debt problem.

Anyone with a child in the MLSD has a right to expect his or her child to be given a thorough foundation in math concepts by the time that child leaves the 5th grade. Some kids will do better than others, and that is to be expected, but they all should be able to grasp the basics. It's all well and good to try and make math as enjoyable as possible, but if in so doing a child's ability to think and reason is jeopardized then the "enjoyment" will be short-lived. I think our parents know this, even if our Ph.D's do not.

John Ewing said...

2:35,

The first step in a funding program is a study to determine how much you can raise. PK determined we could raise $6,000,000 in our first fund raising.

The second step is to determine what projects will be funded by the campaign; this is determined, in conjunction with the leadership givers before the public part of the campaign begins.

As far as who set the the $30,000,000 or $15,000,000 goal, I think that is history and superseded by the Study results.

The really unfortunate part of this campaign is it was not started 3-4 years ago when I first suggested the campaign be launched on cost estimates. That was objected to by a now member of the Revenue Generation Committee who did not understand the costs would be upside-down if the board waited for bids. Unfortunately we are further into a slow-growth economic environment that could last several more years.

We also lost a leadership giving window that will expire on January 1, 2013 if the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy are automatically repealed. The estate tax limits and the gift tax limits, and the generation-skipping gifting window will all be automatically lowered from $5,000,000 to $1,000,000. The important point here is if the gifts are not completed by the 12,31,2012 deadline and those tax cuts expire then the Board have will missed the opportunity to compete for leadership gifts from a $5,000.000 leadership donor pool to a pool of $1,000,000 from leadership donors.

Considering it was recently announced that Requests for Information were just requested recently from unknown fund raising folks I don't see how the Board can compete for these gifts this year. I also wonder if any of the board members know this window might close.

I went to the meeting where the Study was presented and my opinion is it was done and presented very professionally. My disappointment came when I read the Superintendent's goals and the campaign was not listed as one of those goals. I really don't think most of the members have a clue how campaigns work. Ask yourself if you were a lead donor would you want to talk with the Head of the School or an inexperienced board member who is more interested in athletic upgrades than setting really important educational upgrades for our District?

John

Lebo Citizens said...

3:12 PM, try going on the second link that I have listed in the update. I uploaded the podcast onto my website. Let me know if you have problems with that too. It is a small file, so I can email it to you directly. Sorry you are having problems. It is pretty busy. Timmy and Jo, there is a message there.
Elaine

Anonymous said...

The Witte's have been good and concerned residents in Mt Lebanon for a while. I always appreciate hearing from them.

Tom Moertel said...

If the new math regime is less effective than the old, we would expect a corresponding (and persistent) drop in standardized test scores, right? Does this drop exist?

Anonymous said...

John, you're getting at the point I was trying to convey when you wrote: "ask yourself if you were a lead donor would you want to talk with the Head of the School or an inexperienced board member who is more interested in athletic upgrades than setting really important educational upgrades for our District? "

If PK was running the fund raising effort shouldn't they for $40,000+ been guiding the board member's on what messages they should be sending out? Forty Gs seems like a helluva a lot of money for what they make 30 or 40 inquiries.
I suspect PK didn't find they could raise more than $6 million not because they couldn't run a richer campaign, but because the egotistical board and administration have no idea of the image they are projecting.
If a prospective donor is truly interested in promoting academics and student achievement, but the constant drone from the district is JMAs, YSA and turfed fields are they going to give anything.
I sincerely hope that the PK people, professional as they are told the board... shut the hell up about fields and turf, act like you're interested in educating kids!

Anonymous said...

5:40, Educating the kids, my foot! If you listened to the last meeting you heard kids saying they are now attending PSEA meetings. No wonder we rank 18 in math and nowhere in science, we have a Superintendent that thinks attending union propaganda meetings is more important to education than learning science, math,- even long division.
What union agenda drives our board to allow union meetings into our curriculum? I don't remember a Board vote to send kids to union meetings. WHO THE HELL IS THE CEO OF THIS DISTRICT, THE SUPERINTENDENT OR THE UNION PRESIDENT?

John Ewing said...

5:40 if you want to discuss the study and the campaign give me a call and identify yourself.

Anonymous said...

Why? Didn't we get the full story at the PK presentation? If there's more the public should have the whole story, bot just a few select individuals.
The study was paid for by the public.

Anonymous said...

The study was paid for by both the taxpayers and by the unsuspecting donors to the Mt. Lebanon Community Endowment (quickly offered up by Joe Rodella of "Rodata") and the other unsuspecting donors to the MLFE (who thought their money was going to some educational enhancement project for the kids.)

Anonymous said...

Mr. Moertel, a good question and asked by 5:46 early in this chain. But it may not be quite so easy since the program only started in 2007. Further complicated by the information provided by 3:11.

The upcoming Keystone exams may shed some light, but this blogger would suggest the district spend less time worrying about the curriculums of charter schools and pay attention to it's own.

The old adage, build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door, comes to mind.
Build a better school district and parents won't go looking for a charter school.

john david kendrick said...

Tom Moertel,

What is the scoring rubric?

Are they using the same exam when both teaching methods were used?

Did the same instructors apply both instructional methods to identical students?

Have you applied any statistical tests to test the hypothesis that you've suggested?

Lebo Citizens said...

John Ewing at 10:45 AM, David Huston sent me a copy of an email he sent back in 2007. With his permission, I am reprinting it here.

"From: FormerSchoolDirector
To: David Huston
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2010 17:37:46 -0400
Subject: Re: TERC Investigations math

I have no idea. Don't remember the discussion. Probably bc supervisor said to...


On Sep 7, 2010, at 5:37 PM, "David Huston" wrote:

FormerSchoolDirector,
Why did the 2007 school board choose TERC Investigations
for the Mt. Lebanon math curriculum? http://amherstmathprogram.com/math/main.php"

I also received an email from a person who wishes to remain anonymous but is a faithful reader, never posts, yet contributes a wealth of information. Here is a portion of the email.

"Dr. Allen is ultimately responsible for selecting the best curriculum in the academic subjects. She is the one with
the psychologist's degree and know s which curriculum model yields the highest scores and prepares the students to be successful after high school and not just in college. I remember that none of my children were adequately taught in English. I paid many years of tutoring in Math and English...I would bet that Allen deliberately picks the inadequate models to further compromise the special ed students. Parents can't afford tutoring, complaints to the state, nor lawsuits. They then move. It is the ultimate goal
to get rid as many average and special ed students as possible.

And Dr. Allen keeps getting raises for greed, malfeasance, and incompetence!"

These are two examples of how stakeholders are treated in Mt. Lebanon. In David Huston's case, he was publicly humiliated when confronting Steinhauer about his post it note entry on the Super's blog. David sure gets his share of digs from "anonymous" commenters who face the camera during school board meetings. I don't publish most of them. Likewise, I had removed several comments posted previously regarding Mr. Witte. They just weren't accurate, but I am sure the commenters were trying to nip this thing in the bud.

Tomorrow evening, the school board is having an emergency meeting at 6:30 in the Jefferson Middle School Library. It is customary to have Citizen Comments at the end of the meeting which do not appear as an action item. Tomorrow is no exception. Later on in the evening, the commission will be voting on a joint sports advisory board to study (what else?)field use. More time will be devoted on fields, both on the commission and the school board. You would think the school district has more pressing issues.
Elaine

Lebo Citizens said...

Two current board members, Posti and Remely, approved the TERC Investigations math books back in 2007. Minutes of board approval for TERC Investigations books
Elaine

Lebo Citizens said...

I am sorry. I meant to type 2010, not 2007 concerning David Huston's email.
Elaine

Tom Moertel said...

John (K), the reason I asked about test scores is that I had examined PSSA scores in 2010 and 2011, mainly focusing on 11th grade but also briefly looking at all tested grades, and don't recall noticing anything in MTLSD's early-grade math scores that suggested a sudden loss of math proficiency compared to earlier years. But since I wasn't looking for it, I may just have overlooked it, had it been there.

So, what I'm asking is this: Of the people who were concerned about TERC math and therefore were primed to look for the program's (presumably harmful) effects on test scores, did they see the expected effects?

(I'm on the road today, otherwise I'd just grab the data and have a look myself.)

Cheers,
Tom

Richard Gideon said...

Mr. Moertel:
Your questions of November 24, 2012 5:32 PM are valid, and I would like to know the answers myself. However, I suspect the standardized test scores may not give a clear picture of the effects of TERC. It's public knowledge that many parents jumped in to fix the problem themselves, either by working with their kids, hiring a tutor, etc. What affect those efforts had on test scores is difficult to determine, especially at a distance.

It has been a while since my daughters went through the system, but I was never a fan of the way math was taught to my kids in our elementary schools, and given the controversy over TERC it does not appear the situation has improved.

Anonymous said...

I'm a student at a Pennsylvania state college. I went to Mt Lebanon and didn't get a good enough foundation in math. I had to take algebra 1 and then algabra2as a freshman. A lot of what I learned was never taught to me in Mt. Lebanon. These math classes aren't going to be applied as credits to graduate so that means I spend more than 4 years in college and it will cost money to stay longer. My parents thought I was getting the best education possible...but Mt. Lebanon couldn't provide even the minimum needed to finish college in 4 years. All these years I thought I was not good with math turns out once I got the foundation I needed here in college I was fine. I actually like math now because I'm successful with algebra. My SAT math score was 540. 540 isn't good enough to prevent the college from evaluating you before they assign classes for your freshman year. They caught that I didn’t have enough algebra to take any higher level math classes until completing algebra 1 and 2. Other students should blog their experience with math. There were a lot of good things about Mt. Lebanon though...sports, lunch, dances, a few really caring teachers along the way and friends.

Lebo Citizens said...

Welcome, 12:38 PM! I imagine most of your peers are returning to school today, but I would love to get their input on this once they get settled.
My kid dodged that bullet by majoring in Fine Arts. Like his mother, math was not one of his favorite subjects.
Elaine

Anonymous said...

A question that is some what related to this chain. A number of topics ago, some anonymous poster queried why anyone would send their kid to an inferior state university. Their opinion, not mind, but let's say that person had evidence supporting their statement.
Then the obvious question would need to follow... how Mt. Lebanon teachers are products of these inferior colleges and universities?

Anonymous said...

What's Wrong with Public Education?
Public-education statistics often tell us scores are going up and things are getting better. It's a false impression. Scores might be going up, but public-school students are not being well educated.

The dizzying downward spirals of skills in science, technology, engineering and math are jeopardizing students’ futures and the nation’s stability.
Many of the people who built this failing education system make money off of it as it crumbles around our ears.
Most of the people in the education establishment refuse to engage in this conversation (leaving students and parents to work it out on their own).
Of the rest, most neatly sidestep any blame for the tragedy as they foist blame on parents, teachers, money, legislators, society, hormones (yes, I've actually heard that), and the students themselves.
Just a handful will try to warn you of this education apocalypse. Some of those brave souls have been censured, reprimanded or fired.
The third bullet point above is the one most pertinent, I think, to the conversation here-- "Most of the people in the education establishment refuse to engage in this conversation" at least if you agree with Mr. Witte's experience dealing with the district.

Is Rogers, a kook, a hater or another cheapskate that doesn't want higher taxes, I dunno! You'll have to decide for yourself. For me she makes a lot of interesting points on her blog, especially regarding early math instruction.

To read the rest of Laurie H.Rogers post go to http://betrayed-whyeducationisfailing.blogspot.com/2008/10/whats-wrong-with-public-education.html?m=1

Her resume - Member of the executive committee for Where’s the Math?
Author of “Betrayed: How the Education Establishment Has Betrayed America and What You Can Do about it”
and the blog “Betrayed,” located athttp://betrayed-whyeducationisfailing.blogspot.com

Lebo Citizens said...

The PG had a pretty cool interactive on PSSA's by schools.
Here is the link:
PG PSSA Interactive
Elaine

Anonymous said...

If you ask a majority of high school guidance counselors, most of them will point to one Mellon math teacher who "has single handedly destroyed more student's math careers" than any cirriculum.

Anonymous said...

Then why is that teacher still teaching??????!!!!!!

Elaine gets criticized for allowing anonymous comments, so if you're accurately conveying the counselors' comments, what are we to think of these anonymous guidance counselors?
These are the very people that proclaim they are dedicated to educating our kids and are only interested in giving them the best education.
So they say a teacher at Mellon "has single-handedly destroyed more students math careers" and do nothing about it... while gladly accepting generous salary increases... so much for ethics in education.
Whom has more responsibility for weeding out the dead wood and incompetents than educators protected by the largest, most powerful union in the country, if they believe their mantra that they do it all for the kids.
One other point, if the counselors know about the Mellon teacher, the Superintendent and staff do too. So much for meeting expectations.
Bring on education reform, charter schools and vouchers!

Anonymous said...

It probably deserves its own post but the data for the AYP/MATH scores is here. All historical information is in the left sidebar:

http://www.education.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/school_assessments/7442

Anonymous said...

Viewing that PG PSSA interactive site brings up an interesting question.

Foster Elementary seems to be on the bottom of the heap in proficiency ratings in math and reading at the 3rd level.

Yet it appears to me that the Foster parents are the most vocal in their support of the district and curriculum.

Is my perception wrong or is their something else at work here?

Anonymous said...

12:06 I'm betting if the board and administrators, and union boss read this blog the first reaction will be to meet with the guidance counselors, and it won't be To find out who the bad math teacher is.

It'll be - quit talking 'out-of-school', you're making us lokl bad.
I suspect that's why Sable was run out of town and why the stonewalling on the math curriculum. It's against the rules to rock the boat.

Anonymous said...

12:06 - Unfortunately, there is nothing the guidance counselors can do. This has been a known issue for many, many years.

Anonymous said...

Nothing they can do 2:35?

Guess they have no roli or responsibility in: "providing the best education possible for each and every student"!

Maybe we should change the motto to: "it's not my job, man!"

Anonymous said...

In my opinion the subject of any meetings concerning a bad teacher will be focused on a discussion of how to cover-up the problem, excoriate the person who brought it to light and their plan retalliation.

Anonymous said...

I heard there is some type of connection between Mt Lebanon and Cal U (most of the Lebo teachers come from cal U).

Anonymous said...

4:33 that's usually the way it works in an organization that believes it must always wear a happy face.
Take the Center Court blog. Can you find one instance where both sides of the school voucher and charter schools are offered?
Isn't it interesting that the board president, who is supposed to represent the community only presents the NEA/PSBA positions.

Lebo Citizens said...

4:33 PM, school board director Bill Cooper is on the Cal U payroll.
Elaine

Anonymous said...

This CALU professor used to be the English Curriculum Coordinator in Mt Lebanon:

http://cup.uloop.com/professors/view.php/505084/Henry-Huffman