What Can I Say about This? Who's Fault is it when Students Misbehave?

I received this email of concern from a parent today--but where to start with this........

>>> XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX  01/27/15 >>>
To Whom It May Concern:
I am the concerned parent of children attending school in Escambia County. I have a child that attends XXXXXXXXX Elementary and I have received call after call concerning my child's behavior. I have tried everything I could think of to turn the behavior of my child around and then I thought of a solution...why not see if my child would do better in another classroom? To my dismay I was told the classrooms were full and I continue to receive calls about my child's behavior. As I sat at work today after being called yet again this morning I decided I would reach out for answers. The most prevailing question I have is why is my child in an overcrowded classroom when millions of dollars are being poured into remodeling schools that really didn't need remodeling? Millions of dollars go toward remodeling schools where the children that go there are already exposed to experiences that other children may not get to have yet those children get to go to schools with smaller classrooms and state of the art technology. Why? Why doesn't the school budget distribute funds equally and put that money into some of the schools where children may never get a chance to experience those kind of things? Schools in low income areas are ran down and low staffed. The teachers are frustrated; the parents are frustrated; the children are frustrated! and the classrooms are overcrowded (closing those schools when time that should have been spent teaching is spent managing behavior is not the solution). Is there a solution? What I have seen so far is children in overcrowded classrooms acting out and then being labeled...and then funding is used in order for those children to go to alternative programs. Instead of labeling children why not hire more teachers in those schools and have smaller classrooms sizes? Why not give them a chance to experience state of the art technology; go on fieldtrips; plant gardens etc.? These are just the thoughts of a concerned parent. I hope someone is listening.

....and here was my response


XXXXXXXXXX,

I am listening and I have a few questions, and a few suggestions.

First off, what grade is the student in that is having behavior issues?  there are different statutory requirements for class sizes based on grade, so what grade is he/she in and how many students are in that class?

Second, what sort of misbehavior are we talking about?  Have you discussed this at home with your child, explaining the consequences for bad behavior?  behavior and discipline begins at home, our teachers have their hands full teaching and dealing with chronically disruptive students destroys the learning environment and is not necessarily the fault of a teacher or a school.  This is an issue that must be addressed at home.

If a classroom reassignment is requested, that is totally up to the schools' administration to decide.  I would discuss these issues with the teacher and  principal first.  If you don't get anywhere with the teacher or principal, you can discuss this with their boss, Ms. Linda Maletsidis, at 469-5494.

And finally--to your point about allocation of resources.....

We spend inordinate sums of money on the schools with the greatest degree of poverty in this county, to include facilities like XXXXXXXXXX and XXXXXXXX.  Between additional staffing and additional technology, after school programs, clubs and extracurriculars-schools like XXXXXXXX get more per pupil than do most of the suburban schools.  

Call me if you'd like and I'll go through this in detail with you and provide examples.  My contact information is below.

Best of luck with getting your child back on track at school.
Sincerely,

Jeff Bergosh
Escambia County School Board 
District 1 Board Representative
850-469-6147
www.jeffbergoshblog.blogspot.com