Chris, You Don't Get It

In response to the viewpoint from Christopher J. Lewis in today's PNJ....

Chris,

So your magic bullet to make it all better in Escambia County Schools is to make school board districts “at large”?  Really? Didn’t you think “at-large” council seats were the solution for the Pensacola City Council?  What happened there, Chris?  Never mind.

Let’s see what your idea would do to our schools.  First, in violation of a standing court ruling from the civil rights era, it would potentially eliminate the minority representation for district three.  Poof, gone, and we’d be in violation.  Guess you did not think of that unintended consequence, right Chris?

Secondly, in case you didn’t know this, we do represent the community county-wide, we are simply elected by geographical districts, in order to minimize the influence of the politically savvy and wealthy concentrated in some areas of town.  You see Chris, geographical representation is a balance to outside influence.  What does this mean?  Let me dot-connect for you.   It means I can walk neighborhoods and visit Thousands of households going door to door in my campaigns to target my message inexpensively in my district (which I have done on multiple occasions)—neutralizing, to a large degree, any outside money, influence, and power.  So your proposal actually takes power away from voters and candidates at the grass-roots-which seems counter to what you appear to believe in based upon your writings.  Paradoxical.

But, back to the response to Peacock’s article—I stand by every word of it, because it is accurate.  Chris, I understand from scanning your lengthy and rambling screeds that you see the world through rose-colored glasses instead of dealing with reality.  Folks like you that are naïve and glib on many


important issues improperly blame teachers when students don’t do assigned work.  You blame teachers when students and families move from school to school to school every 6-8 weeks.  You blame teachers when students don’t behave appropriately and must be disciplined to maintain a safe and appropriate learning environment for all students.  People like you think that changing this, or modifying that, or tweaking this will magically fix the system.

Here is the reality, though.  Our district is full of wonderful people (teachers and employees) who-by and large-care greatly for kids and work their guts out for these children who live in dysfunction in many areas of our community.  To constantly hear from the some in the community that it is the teachers’ fault, the administrators’ fault, and everyone except the students and families—this becomes grating and it ruins people and leads to the silent yet worrisome reality of staff-churn at the 12 schools in our district with the highest levels of social dysfunction.  That’s right John, people burn out and they move to districts and schools with less dysfunction.  Look in the mirror for the reason why—they have people like you, blaming them!?!

I’m sick of hearing people beat up on teachers, thinking this will somehow make things better.

Over the last few years, we have eliminated tenure for new hires, we have implemented a rigorous evaluation (no more pencil-whipped, everyone is fantastic performance evaluations) and we have focused our efforts on professional development for our staff.  We’ve pushed our teachers hard.  We’re ready, we’re standing by, and I’d stack the teachers I have seen and the ones I know in Escambia County against ANY from anywhere else.  We have the resources, we have the facilities, and we have the staff.  What we need to have is the wisdom and the fortitude to quit playing PC games and to call out the real reasons some areas of the community consistently fall short of potential achievement expectations.

Anything short of that is simply scapegoating the wrong people, attacking the wrong problems, and demonizing the wrong institutions while glorifying others that may not merit the accolades.  Do you get what I’m saying here, Chris?   I, for one, won’t stand back and let that happen.

And so I repeat, so that everyone can see it again, the five things we do control as a board that we must do to move all schools in Escambia County in the right direction if we truly want beneficial change (please re-read these carefully Chris):

1.       We need to stop the PC application of discipline.  One standard, let the chips fall where they may but strict, fairly applied school-wide discipline is an absolute must.  No more 39^th or 50^th try for “some” students who hate school and destroy the atmosphere for teachers and other students that are serious about learning.  These bad apples must be removed for the betterment of all.  No more out-of-school suspension for others who make (1) one bad decision.

2.       We need to stop the PC practice of social promotion which occurs rampantly in our district between the 8^th and 9^th grades destroying our 4 year, on-time graduation rate while simultaneously demoralizing students who are being promoted. Many new 9^th graders are academically unprepared for the rigor of High School and this MUST be addressed.

3.       We need to establish one or more boarding schools for those students most at-risk, as have districts in Miami, DC, and Ohio.  For many of these kids who live in absolute dysfunction locally, this is the only way out and anything short of this or some other radical home-life modification is only a half measure that will not succeed long-term for them.  For those who want to wear red shirts and yell and scream on the steps of the capitol in Tallahassee for more “programs, money and resources”—here is what we need the money for!

4.       We need to pay teachers a realistic, recurring, and cumulative yearly stipend for assignments at our 12 schools with the highest levels of social dysfunction.  Otherwise, we will continue to see churn as teachers burn out, quit and/or transfer out leaving inconsistency in these classrooms and instability in the instruction of students who need the MOST stability.  People who reject this idea, but that in practice do this themselves by offering 3 steps to school principals to take on tough assignments, are acting hypocritically.  Nobody is in it for the money, but if you want solid performers long term, you must recognize what they deal with and provide some additional compensation.

5.       Most importantly-we must recognize that there are no “quick fixes” or “new methods” that will solve this. Just look at what happened at one of our crisis schools when we brought high priced consultants in to fix the issue-it did not work.  I don’t blame them; but I had my doubts, which I expressed at a workshop last year, that what they were doing would work.  It didn’t and I do not think it was due to a lack of effort by this company or the two ladies at that site. This issue is social, not scholastic, and it has been percolating for 50 years as the entitlement state has dis-incentivized work, family, religion, and personal responsibility-- while society’s morals have simultaneously loosened to the point that we glorify celebrity and hedonistic, nonsensical behavior more that academic success.  This environment is destroying some schools.  The fix will take time, decades perhaps.