Sunday Thoughts

Isn't it ironic that LULAC would come out in support of Sonia Diaz without even doing an investigation? How could Jesse Gonzalez be lumped in, considering he left for a higher paying job and the school board gave him a lucrative benefit package, not to buy him out, but to reward him. Then, Martinez specifically targets Hispanics in the school district and systematically and ruthlessly eliminates them--Gutierrez, Lucero, Acosta, Ogas, etc. I didn't see the LULAC defending the Hispanics harassed and forced out without any reason by Martinez. The LULAC organization should be ashamed. They certainly have no credibility, not that they ever had.
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My daughter has often spoken about Mr. Peace's weekly class at Jornada Elementary School; she looks forward to this class every Thursday afternoon. I have seen his name mentioned once or twice on this website. Jornada had their Christmas lunch this week so I took the opportunity to meet Mr. Peace. I found him to be a polite, intelligent, caring individual. I can now understand why the Middle or High schools want him back.
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I am happy that my Daughter is receiving her degree in elementary education and has decided to seek employment somewhere other than the LCPS. The LCPS district is in such shambles due to poor management which starts at the principal position up to the board that it's not worth the money or time to be employed by LCPS at this time. Elementary school principals seem to be on a "power trip" of sorts and could care less about the educating of students and this is why I had recommended that she seek employment elsewhere until the BS in LCPS is straightened out which may take a decade.
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I agree that changes need to be made. But do you really expect teachers to do everything, keeping files on each student, monitoring daily, etc.? One huge problem with that is teachers where I work have between 150-200 students throughout the day. Those same teachers have one team planning period, where they discuss discipline, etc. and one personal planning period, where they would presumably handle all the paperwork you suggest. As it is, most teachers come in around 7:00am, and a lot of them stay well past 5:00pm, even though contract time is 8:20am-3:50pm. Even then, a good deal of them take work home with them in order to just keep up. In my opinion, the only way to accomplish everything you want is for the district to 1) Start hiring more teachers and educational assistants; 2) Treat the staff already in place like they are valued employees; 3) Make working for the schools a worthwhile job; 4)Make room for the additional staff to teach, even if it means new schools or additions to existing schools. Once these have been taken care of, the class size can be a manageable one (maybe 25 students per class instead of 35-40), and teachers will have time to do all the paperwork want and still be good teachers.
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I have submitted abstract rants or complex discourse? Perhaps it has created harsh, yet imperative, dissonance, which may be quite difficult for too many secondary educational cronies to understand!
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Thank-you for your "fixing the school system" comments. I'll keep that in mind, when I will be leaving my school often 9pm every evening, after I've effectively noted every child's progress into my antiquated school computer. By golly, I'm so glad that you commented that "by just having multiple objectives for every kid for every lesson, I can be rest assured that my students will absorb the information, AND test well on any given testing day". Dang...you're good! Ever think about running for supt.?
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After reading these postings, I wonder if I should take my kids out of their respective elementary, middle and high schools and homeschool them!

But then I remember I can barely find all of them matching socks in the morning...No, really, it wouldn't be a good idea.It's time for this town to come together and demand the board create a task force to come up with community-generated solutions to the problems referred to in the past few posts. Nothing is so bad or out of control that it's not fixable with a little refocusing of our budgetary goals and some ingenuity. Unfortunately, I don't think that Las Cruces is much different than any other school system of its size in the nation, because almost all middle and high schools are far, far too big, which creates a cut-off from community for the kids who then feel anonymous and that no one cares what they do (Read up on the Bill and Melinda Gates experimental grants and the outcomes!) But in the meantime, it's time for the stakeholders on this bus headed for the cliff to grab the controls. We need an "employee takeover" like we have seen in major corporations that couldn't seem to turn a profit with their top-down management approaches and then began to soar once the staff became owners---and in case anyone is wondering, the employees are our teachers, parents, and students. The opportunity is NOW, with this board freezing the superintendent search and things in flux to move and make bold new directions in our school system. We have seen some incredibly informed, caring and committed people post their opinions on this blog over the past few months, and I believe they are just the tip of the iceberg.Please, don't get discouraged.

Its always darkest before the dawn, folks.