News-Record.com

D I S C I P L I N E

D I S C I P L I N E

D I S C I P L I N E

Get the disruptive kids OUT of the regular classroom and put them in an environment where they can learn, but AWAY from those who want to learn.

Nothing the county will do will help without discipline. I think people would be amazed at how well most schools would run if administration would be allowed to part ways with a few.

Trade schools for those who don't see a need for the traditional education......

GED programs for those who don't see a need for ANY education........

That would be three tries for our hard to reach kids. Quit sacrificing the education of all trying to save a few disruptive, out of control kids.

to 9:46 am anonymous

D I T T O

D I T T O

D I T T O!!!!

Start the path early for those who want to:

a) go to college
b) want to work but do not want to go to college (Why do these students need Algebra?
Why should we keep Algebra on the curriculum for all students if they continue to fail this subject several times? Why not business math, basic reading and writing skills?
c) get student OUT of the traditional classroom once and for all; put them in another setting; part-time school, part-time community service
d) concentrate on the students on the students who want to learn and build them up
e) offer more for advanced students

D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E
Meaningful curriculum instead of constant testing

Truth and Open Communication that means something

Advanced Learning that works and inspires, not advanced amounts of meaningless homework that kills the spirit

Intelligent use of taxpayer money

Magnet schools that do what they advertise instead of just circumventing No Child Left Behind

Safe schools that do not require membership in or protective services of “General Activity Neighborhood Groups”

3rd Graders that can read at 3rd grade level and 9th graders that can read at 9th grade level.

Classrooms and Sports events where “slushee” is the worst expletive and respect is reintroduced as fundamental of education and sportsmanship. Where integrity is not just another spelling word and teacher is not a caretaker position but the most respected title in society next to Mom and Dad.

Hey, it just sounded like a good time to post an after Christmas fantasy.

Garth

better estimation of school enrollment

academics before atheletics

no transferring to play sports (this isn't legal now, but goes on all the time)

Accredited AL Teachers for AL classes

Books and workbooks when school starts( we still don't have the 'free' workbooks that are suppose to come for foreign language)

Less principal turnover when the right person is in place

Fully funded arts programs

Foreign language in ALL elementary schools

Revamping the cost division of using facilities (each school should be reimbursed for supplies instead of downtown getting that revenue)

Meaningful parent involvement

Parents being held responsible for their students behavior/absenteeism/tardiness/potty mouth etc

True respect from each and to each member of this educational experience

evaluating programs and getting rid of those that do not work, including magnets

put a stop to the explosion of 'saved seats' at the BOE meetings. Over the last few years we have taken 3 rows of seats away for staff/press, the public can seat in the back, many times standing room only

ditto Garths remarks

Funny, you've all just described Private Schools. You're all dreaming if you think a public school can/will offer all that. It's impossible.

Structure.
Camera Surveillance in the classroom on a teacher voluntary program
Learning is a priority in a student's life.
Agreement that reading is the key to education.
Better utilization of school buses.
Reduce the number of magnet schools.
Introduce color-blind instruction in all schools.
Hire teachers that support goals, reading and discipline.
Concentrate on Middle and High Schools. Leave Elementary alone.
Quit blaming Washington and Raleigh for our problems.
Stay out of national and local politics.

Dream On:
I might have called it a fantasy, but guess what…it’s what I am fighting for. If not I will have sacrificed much of my family’s time in vane. If we do not first dream, we fail to create.

Thank you for your time on the board, Mr. Garth. I'm sure your district appreciates what you have done and all that you're trying to do.

In all other areas of life I'd agree with your inspirational dream ideal. But, we are talking about a government institution. You are totally kidding yourself if you believe all your ideals can come to fruition before your time on the board expires. We have been struggling with the same issues for many, many years. The entire country has the same issues. I'm sorry to report that I don't see Guilford county, NC finding the cure-all.

I am curious as to what the public thinks about this as I try to understand it in the context of elementary education. Our educators are required to take “continuing education classes each year and we are offering them this inexpensive (almost free) class. Bullying is a problem that needs to be addressed and in elementary school I believe there is a place for educating about bullying.

Now enters an element that I have a difficult time with, gender diversity (gay, lesbian et. al) and related issues. I understand that I might be too conservative and overly sheltered in this day and age of federal giveaways and open marriage laws, but as schools often reflect the community I am beginning to wonder if I am out of touch.

Here is an excerpt from our Diversity Office, what do you think?

"The GCS Diversity Office invites GCS educators to participate in a unique opportunity for Training on Bullying and Gender Diversity Issues in our schools. A six-hour (CEU) training is being offered, which will give them a deeper understanding of and tools to address these pressing concerns. GCS administrators are encouraged to enroll at least one person from a school’s staff to take advantage of this important training and serve as a resource for faculty. On Feb. 19, participants will view a film screening with Academy award-winning producer/director, Debra Chasnoff. Chasnoff is the creator of the “Respect for All” series of films and curriculum guides that help children, teens and educators take a closer look at diversity issues in schools. You can learn more about these films at www.groundspark.org. Participants will have a private session with Chasnoff in which they will view and discuss the film “Let’s Get Real,” which takes a close look at bullying at the middle school level. The accompanying curriculum guide will be included as part of the package. "

I cant see anything wrong with it.

Is there a difference between bullying and intimidation?

Garth,
if you believe that the homosexual person is born with their sexual identity and it is not 'chosen' then you must realize that their diversity needs to be considered when we talk about issues- no one should be made fun of for their color, sexual preference, clothing, weight, height etc... even if being gay is a chose, we should still not bully or ostracise any child. If taking these classes helps any child be helped, I am all for it.

Sounds like the BOE needs to participate in this also.

It is a big issue on our campus and regardless of
what you believe , the staff must think about how to relate to these students on campus.

Mr Garth,

You are out of touch. Like it or not homosexuality exists.

It seems like you could do with this training too!

Just a reminder that we are talking 11 to 14 year olds here, or does it make a difference?

The question is does this behaviour manifest in a 11 to 14 year olds at school?

If it does and teachers become aware of it then its good that they know how to approach it.

I agree with the above poster. Have you been to a middle school lately. The students are really becoming sexually aware of themselves and others. They have boyfriends/girlfriends. There are pregnant girls, there are incidents of sexual behavior in bathrooms etc, so in my opinion gay and lesbian students are probably becoming aware of their orientation as well as straight children.

Three points:

What is bullying? I realize that some students are tormented by others for a variety of reasons, i.e., the way they dress, etc. But it seems to me that what is good natured fun one day may be bullying the next. Unfortunately, I think that the term "bullying" is intentionally vague. We need to have a more objective standard, as Joe points out above.

Second what is the extent of any bullying of students based on sexual preference or gender identity? If we have that information, it has not been provided to board members. I have looked at the information that supposedly supports the position that this sort of bullying is wide spread and what I see are simply assumptions that everyone believes it exists because people say it exists. There is no data (hard or otherwise) that I am aware of.

I am, however, informed that bullying is an issue at some places and very serious in some cases (my oldest, however, tells me that this sort of stuff is rare at her high school as students are more mature and are in her words "over it). I would tend to think, however, given the lack of objective evidence and my own conversations, that this sort of bullying based on gender identity, i.e., a girl who thinks she really is a boy, for example (gender diasphoria) are fairly few and far between in Guilford County when compared to children who are the butt of jokes because of the way they dress (believe me, middle school girls are tough on this issue), or are overweight, or any number of other perceived shortcomings. In short, I question the seriousness of this "crisis" and tend to think that the emphasis is more political than remedial.

Finally, there is the question of who should address this issue. It seems to me from a lot of reading that I did over the weekend that Ms. Chasnoff and the folks who are bringing her to Greensboro are advocates of her position and come here with an agenda of furthering a political cause rather than help our educators deal with any problem. If we need to address this issue, we should have someone who comes to it from an objective perspective, not someone who has Ms. Chasnoff's history and agenda.

Paul Daniels

My son is in 10th grade, and I agree with Paul that the bullying, making fun of kids seems worse in middle school. By high school most kids are more tolerant of difference, however it does happen. I believe it would be hard to have concrete numbers as most don't get reported, or they are made light of (shake it off, ignore it etc).

I don't know the best way to make teachers aware or and how to handle it. As a rule I would never bring in outside sources that are controversial unless it was necessary to provided the classes. Unbaised consultants would be better IMO

Garth....
We have pregnant 11 year olds.....can you start to soon.....

Real bullying starts in the elementary grades...and peak in about 7th grade.........

It is essential that our staff deals with it appropriately and yes...this includes gender differences.....

I think 7th grade is the grade in which "your gay" became the famous put down line....do they know yet...maybe not....are they thinking about it....
most definitely in some cases.....

I wonder what was meant with Garths question. There is a hint of something unsaid in his questioning.

Unfortunately, teasing still exists in the high schools, and it can be devastating. My son has some issues, but not enough to keep him out of the regular classroom. He is very bright, but has Asperger's Syndrome. At his previous school (considered a very good school) he had some classes that were intolerable. When the teacher was absent, certain other students would change seats and torment him. Substitute teachers were not able to control the situation. It got so bad, that if a sub was going to be in a class, they would send my child to the Library for that class. While that helped him for that period, it did nothing to resolve the issues of cruelty these other children inflicted on him. It was very difficult and continues to affect my child. A lot of bullies do stop once they reach high school, but some do not and the high schools do not seem to know how to handle it.

The plan has been rolled out.

The major theme is reorganize.
This is what companies do when they don’t know what else to do.
It’s kind of like a “group grope”

Now in all honesty. I am not qualified to know if they should reorganize or not.

However. What I do know:

1) The previous superintendent was not fired he left for greener pastures.
2) The majority of the school board was happy with his approach/results (they renewed his contract even as he was interviewing)
3) The new superintendent wants make significant changes.

If the board agrees then those that supported the old superintendents approach have a duty to do the honorable thing and resign.

Thoughts

Dream on Dave.

I heard from a good source that most of the board now HATES Grier.

The Board of Education is in charge of education. Mo is a hired professional employee. To buy his entire plan is to say we had no plan. It is unclear how he is going to implement the plan in 120 schools. This plan may serve as a shield to keep all of us from questioning anything. He is going to implement character development. Is this going to take time away from reading, etc.? What character traits will he emphasize. Decentralization causes about as many problems as it solves. He seems to be going with more independent thinking and what we need is more structure. He had a choice. He could fix what is broke, or he could rebuild from the ground up. He has chosen the latter. The surprise to me is that he is going to go with county wide instead of demonstrating that it work in a few of our most needy schools. I wish him luck. To go for this plan, you have to believe Dr. Grier was off the reservation.

Joe,

Grier was not only off the reservation he was off the planet as far as having good character.

Good riddance - I'm glad San Diego now has to deal with his deceitful ways.

I'm behind Mo on this - until he gives me reason to feel otherwise.