But What Does Today's Document Dump from the Federal DOE on Absenteeism, Access to Counselors, and Disciple--- Mean?

The Office of Civil Rights within the Department of Education has released a large compilation of data today, data that was collected from more than 16,000 public school districts nationwide for the 2013-2014 school year.

The first look report can be read here.

Initial articles about this data are all negative, like this piece of tripe from the Washington Post.  And this garbage from the LA Times

To read these articles apart from perusing the report independently might lead a reader to believe there are no successes whatsoever for the massive yearly expenditures we are making in public education as a nation.

The report itself sheds some light on some interesting, albeit rarely discussed topics, such as the following:

--Asian students represent nearly 5% of the schools' populations, but only 1% of suspensions.

--Latino and Asian Boys and Girls, as well as Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, are NOT disproportionately expelled from schools.

--English Language Learners are NOT disproportionately expelled from schools.

--White Boys make up 26% of schools' populations, but 35% of the expulsions without continuing educational services.

--American public school students reached an all-time high percentage of on-time graduations in

How Ideologically Driven Social Engineering Usurps Local Control and Damages Public Schools Part II.....

Beginning at minute 43:32 of this video (Items II, Part II of II & IV) and continuing through minute 47:00 I relay a concern that I have regarding the dis aggregation of discipline statistics based upon race, with goals set that specifically target reduction in discipline incidents by races for certain students.

This, I believe, is a stark example of ideologically driven social engineering that has been creeping into public education with a growing velocity lately, hastening the demise of the public schools.  It is a real problem.

I have always disagreed with this approach because I feel that all students should be treated equally, and if we start dis aggregating behavior incidents by race in order to achieve goals by race then we will invariably lower the discipline bar to achieve these goals to the detriment of good and well-behaved students (of all races) and good teachers.  It will become a self-fulfilling prophecy in many respects.

If we want to truly start treating all students of all races equally, then why are we measuring their behaviors and setting goals for different students based solely upon their race?  I disagree with this approach.

My biggest concern, which I voiced here, is that having such goals will lead to manipulation of the data and numbers at best, and a lowering of behavior standards to meet the goal, at worst. The schools will look at the goal and try to meet it--like the GEICO commercial states, "everybody knows this!".

I consistently hear from multiple sources within the schools that classroom behaviors at some schools are unacceptable, yet the teachers are being prevented from writing referrals until they go through a series of steps that serve to limit referrals. (special area teachers and other school employees and guidance counselors, librarians, etc. do not have to go through the step process, though, and this is infuriating to classroom teachers I have spoken with.  It is an unfair double-standard)

This all concerns me because behaviors that were once absolutely unacceptable in a classroom are now tolerated in order to stem the numbers of referrals generally, and for certain races specifically.

As an example, a teacher at One Middle School in my district told me that students cuss at him and he cannot write a referral;  he must put a "step" on a behavior incident form, and an individual student must receive several such "steps" within a certain time-frame before a referral can be written which would result in such a student being sent to the office or to a counselor.  This is destroying teacher morale, and resulting in stressed out teachers and heavy churn at many of our schools.

Think back to when you went to school:  Can you ever imagine saying to a teacher F%&# this! and then subsequently wadding up an assignment and throwing it across the room and not being sent to the office immediately?  Well, if you answered no, then you would be surprised to know that this sort

How Ideologically Driven Social Engineering Usurps Local Control and Damages Public Schools Part I.....

In central Illinois, a new state law that dictates the if and when of school discipline is being widely panned by professional educators.  The administrators that were interviewed for this article are concerned that the law is taking away discretion at the local level, which will tie the hands of teachers and principals to the detriment of schools in general.  from the Bloomington-Normal Illinois  Pantograph:

"Some Central Illinois educators think a new state law about school discipline needs a time-out.The law, which goes into effect Sept. 15 for the following school year, requires schools to end zero-tolerance policies, limit out-of-school suspensions, address bullying and create a parent-teacher advisory board on school discipline. But educators think those decisions are best left at the local level to find a way to properly discipline students while keeping them in class and in school...The law also states that students can only be sent to alternative schools as a last resort."

One of the comments to the article summed up the potential problems this infringement on local control will create, and how it will damage the schools....from "Freemarketcapitalist's" comment to the article:

"I've seen this coming down the pike for the last four years, and unfortunately it has arrived. This is part of the [President Barack] Obama policy of discouraging teachers from disciplining [certain] students because it is his belief that they are disproportionately disciplined. Forget that the misbehavior warrants the discipline. That doesn't matter. Basically this ties the hands of the teachers even more. They are being Intimidated to NOT discipline [certain] kids, because [President Barack] Obama thinks they are unfairly targeted, even though they aren't. So this takes the power out of the teachers hands and puts it in the students hands. "I dare you to discipline me. I dare you." Do you see how badly this is going to turn out? The behaving kids have to sit there watching while the misbehaving kid challenges the teacher. Then if the teacher dares to discipline the kid the teacher may face disciplinary action from the administration because of these new policies. This will create utter chaos. If I were a teacher, I'd quit before I would put up with anymore. I seriously don't know how they do it now. (By the way, this mirrors the way [President Barack] Obama is going after law enforcement.)"

Getting Better Numbers Part III: Coding Infractions Incorrectly

When a discipline infraction occurs in our schools, if it rises to the level that consequences must be administered, a certain code is assigned to the infraction.

This coding drives the discipline consequences.

Politicians in Tallahassee and in DC have over the last several years made bullying a high priority issue.  It is for this reason that Florida DOE puts a school district's Safe Schools allocation (for Escambia County it is about $1Million dollars) on the line if a district does not accurately report and code bullying in the system.

I know that school administrators don't want to have bullying be an issue on their campuses--nobody wants that problem.

But when a teacher uses the word bullying in a written referral, and the corresponding coding is not utilized, I have an issue with this.  This month there are instances of this and I am going to ask about this.  In a particularly blatant instance--the classroom teacher writes the referral on a student she has witnessed bullying and harassing her students in her class.  She uses the word "Bullying" two times in the referral.

"[he is] bullying another student.. XXXXXX Knows he is on thin ice.  He tries to control his behavior but I do not tolerate bullying against another student who is trying to learn"

In this instance, the bullying was then coded to "disruption,minor, instigating trouble, refused to follow instruction"  but no bullying listed.

Our board rule stipulates, in 7.18, as does the state law, that once the term bullying is used a specific set of steps must be taken to address the behavior, generating an incident report of the findings.  Within ten days an investigation must be concluded and a report generated.

I have asked the superintendent today for a copy of that report as it relates to this student's infraction from 12-2-2014.  I hope it was completed and the process was followed, because this infraction was not the one that led to this particular student's removal from school;  that infraction happened later in April and was much worse, leading to his arrest on a Felony charge.

But why was this behavior not curtailed after all the earlier transgressions, the bullying, and other infractions this student committed?  Why?

Having the greatest reporting system in the universe and a magical "Discipline Intervention Matrix" does nothing if they are not both properly utilized and aggressive, abusive, and violent behavior is not swiftly addressed.

School board rules have a specific set of steps that must be taken when bullying is alleged and I'm going to push and push on this until I know these steps are being followed.

Are these reports being completed as board rules dictate?  I do not have complete confidence that this board rule is being followed.

I certainly hope it is not being done deliberately in order to get lower numbers.

If so, it is not right and it will jeopardize, potentially, not only student safety but also our safe schools allocation.

Getting Better Numbers, Part II

Everyone involved in schools wants fewer student expulsions and suspensions.

Everyone wants lower numbers, just like the cholesterol commercials.

But like the pharmaceutical statins that reduce cholesterol and also have significant side-effects like turning livers into shoe-leather---lowering numbers of suspensions just to get “lower numbers” has side-effects, trade-offs, and unintended consequences as well.

For example, in the Escambia County school district for the months of May and June 2015—there are only (4) students being expelled.  Considering we have just over 40,000 students—this 4 expulsion stat is a small number, right?

The reality—we had during the same period 87 “disciplinary changes of placement” which is the dandy new term we use for what used to be called expulsions just two short years ago. Drugs, weapons, fights, abusive conduct—yeah, now all of these infractions are handled with “disciplinary reassignments”

We get lower expulsions by changing what we call punishment, and everybody golf-claps—but in reality the discipline problems are getting worse but because we are expelling fewer students than ever, the illusion is that things are “better.”

But things are not better.

  Things are getting worse. 

I recently spoke to an administrator who showed me pictures of physical injuries she has sustained in

Getting Better Numbers, Part I

A common metric being used around the country to show that school districts are "taking misbehavior seriously" is the lowered number of suspensions and expulsions.

We do this locally as well.

At one school locally, those charged with managing the discipline are keenly aware that the numbers must be kept low, and these staff members know there is the potential for a lawsuit if too many students, particularly those of color, are suspended or expelled.

So different punishments are being utilized.  Teachers are told to re-direct misbehavior up to as many as four or five times and to "handle the misbehavior in your class, deal with it!"

In some cases this is appropriate--if the behavior is minor and can be corrected.

But what about students that bully and harass their classmates?

One middle school teacher I spoke with recently told me straight up he gets "cussed at all the time, the students get away with it and they know there is no meaningful consequence."  he continued "They know I have to fill out a behavior incident form, and even if I fill in all four parts in a day--it is still no guarantee the student will receive a written referral"

It is not just happening here.  Instead of having real "courageous conversations" about strict enforcement of discipline, many districts are weakening the ramifications of bad behavior to make "numbers better."

Tacoma, Washington is changing the way they handle discipline.  They are being pressurred into lowering their suspension and expulsion numbers.  They are also, apparently buying in to the flawed notion that in order for minority students to learn, they need to have minority teachers teaching them.  (I think that is garbage, good teachers come from all cultures and backgrounds, and are good whether they are White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, or any nationality.  There should not be a racial quota system in hiring teachers.) 

From today's  News Tribune:

"If a student uses profanity, for example, she believes there are alternatives to suspension. In some cases, Santorno said, students might try to use that kind of language to goad a teacher into suspending them because they want to be out of school.  Another factor: While more than half of Tacoma students are students of color, 86 percent of its more than 2,000 faculty members are white, as are the vast majority of teachers statewide.  Last year, Tacoma began a new program called the Tacoma Whole Child Initiative which uses positive discipline techniques. Instead of telling kids what they can’t do, it spells out what they can and should do. The goal is to make sure schools meet the needs of students not just academically but also socially and emotionally. That often requires understanding a student’s cultural background.  If a student is disrespectful to an adult, Franklin staff use the episode as a “teachable moment.” Instead of sending the child immediately to the office, teachers instead review their expectation of how to behave respectfully."

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2015/06/07/3829049/new-state-data-on-student-discipline.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2015/06/07/3829049/new-state-data-on-student-discipline.html#storylink=cpy

New York Schools on Reducing Discipline "Problems"

New York City Schools under Mayor Bill DiBlasio are taking the kinder, gentler route on student discipline.  In order to make the numbers look better, DiBlasio has instructed his education chancellor to strictly limit the types of infractions for which principals in NYC schools can administer appropriate, firm discipline.  Fighting, cursing, defiance--any discipline for students engaging in these behaviors requires "approval" from downtown.  Sounds familiar to me...minimize the significance of the misbehavior, water down the consequences, marginalize what impact such disturbances have on class learning time----then claim victory and "mission accomplished" when the "numbers" are lower.

Like he did for crime rates in NYC by eliminating proactive policing and "stop and frisk" policies that worked- leading to escalating crime rates--DiBlasio is now socially engineering schools to fulfill a campaign promise to make discipline more "fair."

And now he's claiming victory.

Appeasement does not equal solution, though.

from Staten Island Live:

"The system will basically bend over backward to cater to those who disrupt lessons and break the rules. The kids who actually behave and do their work be damned. It will also remove a measure of local control from borough schools and consolidate more power in the hands of the central authority, the DOE.

De Blasio is pushing the plan in response to data that indicates that minority students are more likely to be suspended or arrested. So it's basically a DOE version of stop-and-frisk reform. The message will be a powerful and simple one for disruptive kids, no matter what race they are: Don't worry. They can't touch you."

The administrator's Union has filed a protest.

Teachers hate this plan.

Parents are appalled.

Media have panned the plan.

But the numbers for school discipline, not surprisingly, are looking better!

Encouragement Continues for More Appropriately Addressing Chronic Misbehavior in our Schools

I'm once again receiving significant support for the DESPERATE NEED of a restructuring of discipline enforcement locally in our schools.  I've talked about it, blogged about it, and now appeared on TV locally.  This is a focus that I will continue, do to tremendous, widespread support for the idea that I'm continuing to receive from stakeholders.

Some district leaders condescendingly, deridingly,  attempt to marginalize my initiative on getting control of our discipline enforcement failures in the schools.  I won't take it personally, I'll stay positive and I'll stay persistent.  And I'll clear up the misconceptions they perpetuate about me.

I never give up on a kid in our schools who wants to learn and is not a predator and a chronic nightmare to everyone around him/her

and...

No, It's not that "I don't understand the issue"

No, It's not that "I'm over-reacting"

and no, it's not me catering to "disgruntled outliers"   Nope, it's none of this.



At a PTA function I attended yesterday,

 a High School teacher that was present made it a point to come over to my table and shake my hand stating:

"You are right-on about discipline-thank you, and  I have a lot of stories I could tell"  (I'm going to be meeting with him soon)

Another stakeholder, a parent,  came by my table, gave me a hug, and said: 

"Good job on bringing up the discipline problems" 

A former ALL STAR teacher that we lost to a neighbor county last year (in large part due to a deteriorating, dysfunctional discipline climate in one of our elementary schools) stated in a recent communication directed to me:

"I saw you on the news! praise God for the boldness in addressing this discipline problem!"

Another teacher wrote:

"Thank YOU, for continually speaking FOR teachers and issues that other members want to sweep under the carpet because they actually have NO IDEA what teachers go through on a daily basis............TRYING to teach students who want to learn, but constantly being disrupted by students with multiple referrals. Yes, you are correct, younger teachers do not want to speak up because they are no longer "tenured", so they endure things day in and out that should not be..........My heart aches for teacher friends I have in other schools who have to endure with NO SUPPORT. And these are ELEMENTARY schools!! I can't imagine what it's like in middle school and high school. Keep fighting the good fight!!"

Another teacher wrote:

"lack of discipline in the school district is a major reason teachers are leaving the system. Behavior is a big issue in the school district. I don't believe we are helping children when we are constantly allowing them to continue with negative behavior and no consequences are given to them for their negative behavior."

On the issue of the current leadership team's reaction to fixing this discipline issue, another teacher wrote:  

"They live in a dream world of ideology and too long out of the mainstream. The truth is, solving the problem would be difficult at first, but zero tolerance would be quickly embraced by everyone involved. It is truly the answer. The taxpayer, the student, the parents of those who do what they are supposed to do!!!"

Another Parent wrote me about his concerns:

Mr. Bergosh,



I wanted to take the time to say, Thank You, for your comments regarding the
need to begin the process of reclaiming a respectful standard of behavior
and compliance in Escambia County Schools and establishing a consequential
path to students continue an often As the father of a 7th grade XXXXXXXX at
XXXXXXXXXX and a XXXXXXXX in XXXXXXXXX grade at XXXXXXXXX,XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXs,
 I sincerely believe the lack of definitive and escalating set of
consequences which students are savvy enough to be aware of lead to the lack
of courtesy, cooperation and at the very least, compliance with standards of
behavior. By the PNJ article on the 2-16-15, I am led to believe there is
not a limit to disciplinary events which force the parents or guardians to
act  or be notified further non-compliance will result in expulsion. Tell me
this is not the case. I just had the unfortunate conversation with a good
friend whose son will be attending  St. Paul's Catholic next year for 6th
grade because of the accounts of harassment, bullying, intimidation and lack
of consequences for offenders[in his district-ed school]. His outstanding son who simply was never
evaluated for XXXXXXXXXXX, wants to be able to experience the Workforce
Development department engineering robotics and energy courses and
participate in the new Technology Student Association club next year but
because he is not in the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX will face the disturbing accounts of
behavior during transition, lunch, and in several cases, classroom
occurrences. These accounts widely discussed by everyone in the feeder
patterns of XXXXXXXXXX, XXXXXXXXX and XXXXXXXXXXX overshadow the
outstanding education and educators which exist at Workman Middle. To put a
relevance to this comment, my XXXXXXXX relays the weekly accounts of behavior ,
language, and conduct which seem oddly familiar with my experiences in
1979-80 as a 6th grader there. The difference being that we had to face dean
XXXXXXXXXXX in the XXXXXXXXXX office. He was fair but did not mess around. 



I am concerned the school system will continue to lose outstanding families
to private and parochial schools until this school system makes the
difficult and possible unpopular decisions to reign in the purposeful
disruption of the academic environment and behavioral expectations
concerning the rights of students to attend an institution with realistic
expectations of respect and in harmony with education's primary functions
intellectual and personal development. 



I am basing these comments and directing this commendation to you towards
your fellow board members and my family's board member, XXXXXXXXXXXXX, 
from the PNJ article. I hope you and your fellow members find
these words encouraging and constructive. I look forward to hearing the
progress the Escambia County School Board makes in continuing this dialogue
to reach an equitable but effective set of policies regarding disciplinary
consequences.



Kind Regards,

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Overwhelmingly Positive Response to PNJ Viewpoint on School Behavior Part II

The text message from a district History Teacher and coach was short and to the point on Sunday morning, the day this viewpoint dropped:

"Excellent oped!!  Thank you for voicing the frustration that many of us feel in the classroom."
was the content of this text message.

On Wednesday, I was on the campus of an elementary school on my lunch break.

Two teachers at this west-side elementary pulled me aside when I was on their campus.  One, a kindergarten teacher, said  "I just want to say thank you for writing that piece.  I agree with it wholeheartedly" she said.  "The behaviors just seem to be getting worse and worse, and this year is especially bad!"

Another teacher that walked by joined the conversation, explaining she has taught at this school for more than 7 years and has dealt with her share of discipline issues as well, suggesting that "Administration really does not seem to get what we are dealing with;  they don't seem to realize the uphill challenges we are facing everyday--it's like they are oblivious to it"

Later that same day, three different elementary teachers from a different elementary school contacted me about atrocious, out-of-control and unsafe behaviors being tolerated at their school.

"Every day XXXXX is out of control. He is throwing things across the room, and when a call for assistance is made they remove him--but then he is right back the next day and the bad behavior continues"  said one teacher.  She went on "I believe that Mrs. XXXXXXX  is trying to cope with XXXXX, but the feeling I get is that she is not getting support from downtown--and this is not safe, someone is going to get hurt!"

The other teacher from that school that called echoed these sentiments  "I know how to teach, and this is NOT a classroom control issue. I've taught for almost 20 years-- I can and do deal with these run of the mill issues.  This is different than that"

Finally, a former Pine Forest HS teacher related to me that "These out of control student issues are more common than people realize, I hear these sorts of complaints from teachers in this district all of the time"  he stated to me.

The following email (excerpts of which I'll paste below) that I received from yet another teacher really defines the problem---and suggests and requests a common-sense solution (bolded by me)

"I wanted to tell you how much I appreciated you recent op-ed in the PNJ.  It definitely hit home... I have been a teacher for nearly 30 years.  I have been a teacher in Escambia County for nearly 27 of those 30 years at the same school.  I wanted to share that I am very concerned about discipline.   I have witnessed events in the past three years that I never dreamed I would see as a  teacher.  Let me put it like this.. I can retire as soon as possible, which will be next December.  While I may stay a bit longer, I plan to retire.  While I truly believe the administration at my school realizes the serious issues we are facing, they tell us their hands are tied, and they have little recourse.  I never thought I would see the day when my judgement as a teacher was so disregarded that I am not even allowed to write a referral on a student for a serious offense.  Classroom management is my strong suit, however, the level of disrespect on a daily basis is difficult to endure.   I do have a suggestion that will not cost anything or require cameras.  My suggestion is that when administrators are doing a classroom walk thru to see what I am doing, they instead inquire about my day, ask if I am having any problems, and if they need to speak with a student or make a call home.  I feel as a teacher with nearly 30 years experience, this would put most of your "small time" problems on alert.  Without parent inconvenience, and knowledge of the problem, we are beating our heads against a wall.  At my school, it isn't unusual to have TWO walk throughs in a day.  As a teacher who is ALWAYS on task, this interruption would be better served addressing discipline.  The children would then see that there is a connection between the classroom teacher, and authority.  At the moment, there is not a connection.  They walk through to see what we are doing, and discipline isn't part of it.  This is just a suggestion by an old timer who is about to leave the building.  I loved your op ed, and again, thank you for your support.  Warmest regards"

Getting Ahead of Chronic, Habitual Discipline Problem Students in Schools

On the School Board's next discussion workshop agenda I have placed an agenda item regarding discipline.

I am going to propose to my counterparts that we establish a discipline intervention overlay to the district's recently adopted school discipline matrix.

The purpose for this proposed  policy addition is to catch and address bad behavior early and often in  in order to improve the safety, climate and learning atmosphere in our schools. Once we get this area under control (because currently it is not) all the other difficult issues surrounding teaching students will be much more manageable.

As we have seen with our first grade retention protocol regarding intensified notification and interaction with elementary school parents and students at the first grade level--setting a firm set of steps improves parental engagement and  student academic outcomes. With the reading program, we mandate parent conferences with students at risk of retention.  This has helped us tremendously with reducing the number of students not reading on grade level upon leaving first grade.  It has also helped our general parental engagement efforts as well.

With respect to discipline in our schools, we simply have too many students racking up obscene numbers of referrals while simultaneously being allowed to stay in their schools and demoralize staff and destroy the learning environments for other students who come to school to learn.

The overwhelmingly positive response to my recent op-ed in the Pensacola News Journal is the stark proof of this....

So what I'm proposing to my counterparts on the school board and to the superintendent's staff is a district-level intervention be written into policy.


If a student receives more than 10 referrals in any one semester, or a total of 15 in any one school year, such a student will  automatically be given a 9-day suspension from his regular school and a summons to appear downtown at the McDaniel Building for a district disciplinary hearing.   His/her family will also be required to come to the district office and appear before this panel of administrators, specialists, counselors, and other personnel as necessary--the point of which will be to ascertain what has gone wrong with such a student's behavior.  At this meeting at the downtown office, a judgement will be rendered as to the future placement of the student (traditional school w/ STRICTLY ENFORCED behavior contract, alternative school, or perhaps Camelot or DJJ) depending upon what the causes for the misbehavior are.   Additionally, if the student requires other district provided services (ESE, Counseling, etc.) for conditions that may be contributing to the misbehavior, a timeline and a detailed plan to administer such services will also be offered.

Lastly, and most importantly, such a policy must be adhered to with fidelity to ensure success.

For this reason, I will suggest that it be disseminated far and wide, throughout the district, that our anonymous hotline number be made available to everyone district-wide, with the intention being to ensure compliance.  A call to this hotline alleging any employee  attempts to subvert this policy by directing employees under their charge to not write a referral for discipline or to not act on a blatant behavior violation in an attempt to frustrate this policy, that such conduct if confirmed will be met significant disciplinary consequences in accordance with school board policy, Florida Law, and relevant collective bargaining agreement language.

I'll further suggest that the minutiae of the procedural aspects of this board policy be developed by the superintendent's staff via a SOP and disseminated to members of the board.

As we did with first grade reading--we must engage in school-wide discipline interventions.  We must do more, and we must do better.

Let's Get Serious About Smashing the "School to Prison Pipeline!"

Many bemoan what has been characterized as an ever-expanding “school to prison pipeline.”  As the theory goes, underprivileged minority students are disproportionately subjected to harsher, more punitive discipline than their non-minority peers.  This “pushing-out” of students is the initial driver of the pipeline, eventually landing these students in the criminal justice system.

Many scoff at this characterization, instead believing that discipline is administered in a largely even-handed manner nationwide.   Any acute over-representation of some minorities in expulsion statistics results simply from more serious infractions being committed by such students--is this rational, more logical assessment.  To believe otherwise would lend credence to the preposterous notion that minorities are being targeted institutionally, nationwide, for more draconian punishments based solely upon race. 

Believing professional educators, administrators, teachers, and deans nationwide would deliberately conspire to subject underprivileged minorities to tougher punishments than non-minority students for similar infractions is ludicrous in America circa 2015.    

Rather than institutions “targeting” students, many believe this troubling nationwide pattern of disproportionate minority removals from school is actually the by-product of dysfunctional, deficient home lives.

The breakdown of the family unit has hit epidemic proportions in America; too many children today have no fathers, no mothers, no discipline and limited social foundations as they reach school-age.

Poverty is bandied about as the cause of such problems; however this is a disingenuous cop-out; the 

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

Individual School Site Behavior Management Plans are Posted

The school-wide behavior management plans have been posted on the district's website, and can be accessed by following this link.

For those that are interested in seeing what your student's individual schools are doing to improve discipline at your school, you can look and find your school at the above link.  Then, you can look at what other schools are doing as well--if you are interested.

As I have perused several of these plans, I think there are some incredibly good ideas.  If these plans are implemented and followed, there is no doubt that they can help to improve the school climate district-wide------- If these plans are implemented as presented  and followed.

The Matrix

Discipline is an issue in our schools that I believe is a significant problem.  I've discussed it here and here and I have stated on this blog  that I fully intend to make this issue an intense area of  focus during the rest of my time on the board;  I believe that lax discipline directly contributes to a dysfunctional, potentially unsafe learning environment.

And a learning environment that is not conducive to learning leads parents to chose private schools or move to the suburbs to find better schools.

With this as the backdrop, the district staff have put together a "Discipline Matrix" for how students are to be treated and what disciplinary consequences  such students will face if they misbehave.

The primary grades discipline matrix, describing punishments/consequences for elementary schoolers, is linked on the district's website and can be found here.

The secondary level matrix, for middle and high school students, is here.

I think this matrix idea is a great first step, and some of what I see in this matrix, I really like.  Particularly, I like that we start to escalate the consequences for students that start racking up an obscene number of referrals.  In the past we have had students get  20, 30, 39, 50 or as many as 61 discipline referrals, and we still allow such students, like Mr. 61, to come back.

I think this practice of allowing a few disruptive students to continuously degrade the learning atmosphere with their antics and to then be invited right back--  is destroying our classroom environments and slowly killing our schools.  It is demoralizing for staff, stressful on students that are trying to learn, and cumbersome for school site administrators to address.

I'm hoping that this new matrix is followed, no interference from district admin, no PC filters, and/or litmus tests for who gets the punishments and who gets warnings.   But I do have concerns.  At the bottom of "The Matrix" is a generic disclaimer phrase allowing principals in their "sole discretion" to deviate from the matrix.  While it is understandable to give the principal some flexibility, that could possibly allow for uneven treatment of students from one school to another school, if principals over-rely on the discretionary exception.

So I am going to ask about this.

And I have a lot of other questions I'll be asking about this matrix at the board's next discussion workshop.  I'm hopeful it will be a positive step in making our classroom learning atmospheres better than they have been in the past.

Trying to Improve an Organization Doesn't Equal Not Supporting the Organization

Radical, out of control political correctness exacerbates discipline issues, maintains the status-quo, and hampers district growth.

How can you tell that people are wary of your local schools?  Where is the proof?  That’s a question that someone asked at a recent workshop.   So, let’s see-here goes.  In my last three campaigns I have literally walked and knocked on Thousands of doors each time.  And along with my campaign spiel -I always asked about how we’re doing as a district.  Worry over discipline was a top area of concern. Do I have that fact scientifically synthesized into an action research study?  No. But other evidence is all over the place; apparently it must be hiding in plain sight if people can’t see it… 

Teachers and other district staff send their own children to private schools in large numbers --that is a reality not captured in the latest climate survey.  New neighborhoods that are flourishing have lots of SUVs with “EDS”  “PCA” “CLA” St. Johns Christian School, and East Hill Christian Bumper Stickers on them.  Large PCA busses full of students run through our neighborhoods, up and down Navy Blvd. and Blue Angel Pkwy., and I see them on the way to NAS Pensacola on my morning commutes.  

People contact me about bullying, discipline issues in classrooms.  Students I know personally tell me they can’t learn due to out of control discipline issues in their classrooms and schools.  Many go dual enrolled to PSC just to escape the problems.  Parents pull their kids out of our schools to home-school them. Teachers burn out due to out of control discipline issues anda lack of administrator support. Some schools have astonishing levels of turnover over periods as short as just a few years. Some schools cannot get subs-some subs are highly selective.  Employee morale is low. 

Conversations are had with top level administrators at large growing firms and it is stated that many new transplanted workers to the area are choosing to live in Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and/or Baldwin County.  Anecdotal evidence is all over—yet some people don’t want to acknowledge the uncomfortable reasons why, but here it is.  We have a classroom and school level discipline issue in many of our schools and the word is out. Normal, rational citizens expect us to do better, but it seems we are acquiescing to political correctness instead.  Rather than utilizing firm but fair discipline, we

Implications Arising from Mr. "61"

A disruptive student can be devastating to a classroom.  A disruptive, violent and disobedient student can kill the learning environment of the classroom. You don’t have to be a genius or hold a Doctorate Degree to figure this out.  What does a disruptive student do to a classroom?  This sort of a student behavior manifests itself into a situation where other students, there simply to learn and do what is expected of them, become stressed to the point that it affects their learning.  And teachers get worn down.  Often, in this district, teachers are told they must attempt to curb the bad behavior of a student 6 or 7 times through re-direction or other classroom management technique before sending a student to the office.  How much class time does that waste? How much learning time does that rob?  What sort of a toll does it take on a teacher, who is simply trying to do his/her best to teach, when after attempting to re-direct the bad behavior 6 or 7 times and having to eventually send the student to the dean’s office—the behavior continues?  And administrators have the student returned to the same class the very next day for a replay?  I know this is devastating to morale.  That’s why we have such tremendous churn in some schools.  And it’s why we have some teachers, desperate to re-locate out of these schools and precluded from doing so, try desperately to be moved down to the kindergarten or first grade level.  In some cases, some of these disruptive students get violent; they are intimidating to some teachers.  There are some 5^th graders who are 14, 15, even 16.  Frustration builds and the environment gets toxic.  And the employee churn begins, many teachers quit, principals get switched around, and the underlying environment stays the same.  The lucky teachers, some might say, are the

2013-2014 District-Wide Discipline Statistics