As owners of this blog, there are several of us, we always indicate when the comments are our own and not submitted by readers. As the following comment points out, the general unrest, dissatisfaction, disaffection and hopelessness began with the departure of Jesse Gonzales. With Gonzales, we had a long run of relative stability. Now, we are like children whose parents change the rules every day. You wake up anxious and unsure of what the day will bring. Will the things that were acceptable yesterday be punished today? Will you be in favor or persona non gratae?

Our Board of Education cannot seem to understand the need for consistent leadership and consistent application of policy and procedure. The turmoil of the past 5 years is not the fault of teachers or central administration. It is the fault of the Board of Education alone. The Board has promoted personal agendas and bullied its way to this juncture.

Teachers are caught in the crossfire. With a change in instructional leadership every few months, teachers barely begin to understand and implement one program before a new one is introduced and the old one scrapped. Teachers react to the Principals' instructions, Central Office reacts to the Superintendent's direction, and the Superintendent reacts to the Board's whims. Stan Rounds is no saviour. He has proven he is as much a puppet of the Board as Martinez or Diaz. Remember- this all flows downhill.

With the election of Votaw and Phillips, we have hope. We now need to rid ourselves of the remaining 3 incumbents. Gene Gant has been a major disappointment. Wishy-washy Gene. Chuck Davis is what he is. NEA Chuck. Lonnie Briseno is a bigot, has a major conflict of interest and is a generally underhanded and nasty person. Devious Lonnie. LCPS will continue to be the laughing stock of the state until these 3 are replaced with people who can think beyond their personal agendas.

That's my take on things.
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The unhappiness in our district is a cumulative effect. There has always been grumbling, but the huge dissatisfaction expressed on this blog is a result of mismanagement and abuse by the board and central office in the past four years or so. Teachers just want to be able to teach without having to carry out some new lame-brained scheme or be supervised by people who have no idea what good teaching is. With NCLB testing and gross incompetency at the state and local administrative levels, teachers are not allowed to teach any more. In the words of Moses, "Let my people go!"
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Administrators... how about focusing on the really important issues? The teachers/support staff need, and deserve, positive support. Cock-eyed ideas and foolish initiatives should be abandoned in favor of plain, solid teaching strategies that have stood the test of time. Too many kids in LCPS are not learning the basics that should enable them to move forward academically. Teach in a manner that assures success, step-by-step, however small each victory may be. Develop pride in learning... focus on reading and readable writing, math essentials, and the basics in other elements of the curriculum. If the basics aren't learned in elementary school, find ways to make sure that the kids become 'basically-proficient' at whatever level his/her deficits are identified... in mid-school, or even high school. Too many 'students?' are graduating from high school with third grade academic skills. Many professionals (teachers, support staff, and administrators...inclusive) in today's schools don't seem to understand that a kid's pride, and sense of accomplishment, must involve more than social approval... ACADEMIC progress is the name of the game. On the subject of pride, some of you administrators have some extra, unearned, pride. How about finding a way to pass some of that on to your deserving teachers? On a personal note... I have a few gripes concerning important specifics that are being ignored in our schools. Here's a big one... Why is penmanship no longer taught? I have an intelligent mid-school child who has never learned to write legibly. Instead of having pride in his work, he's ashamed for anyone to see that work. Do you expect the parents to teach penmanship? Maybe we could, but we're busy earning money to support out kids... and pay the taxes that provide your salaries. Another gripe... we've forgotten that 'drill' is necessary for most kids to learn, so drill, drill, DRILL. Remember, the kid who's kept very busy, in an academic atmosphere, doesn't have time to indulge in negative behavior that destroys his, and his classmates, focus on learning academics.
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Blogger: That letter that was posted....doesn't look like a fabrication to me! I'm glad someone finally found the courage to start opening everyone's eyes and let them know what a farce Jeff Harris is. That letter seems to be very clear, he's more concerned about his correct "title" and the possibility of a pay raise, and not to mention trying to find a job for Marcy Oxford! Not once have I seen him in our building, so how would he know what our school needs?
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What is going to happen when all the teachers, ea's, custodians, cafeteria workers, and secretaries have been let go? Are the principals going to do all of it themselves? Or are they going to be let go so the superintendent and the central office personnel can do the jobs? Who do we really need more-all the people downtown or the teachers, ea's, custodians, cafeteria workers, and school secretaries?