Thursday, July 07, 2011
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Where’s the courageous Dr. Clay we saw last summer?
For the last two weeks, I had been attempting to communicate with EMSD#63 Superintendent Scott Clay to determine the current direction and extent of EMSD#63’s plans for replacing the four departing Spanish teachers imported from Spain last summer.
I received this email response from Dr. Clay to my multiple inquiries this morning.
Background
Last summer, I wrote a couple posts discussing Dr. Clay and Ms. Glickman’s taxpayer-funded trips to Granada Spain: June 07, 2010, Spain is a great place for a vacation. Hope our lucky administrators had good ones; and July 06, 2010, Spain is a great place for a vacation. Hope our lucky administrators had good ones – Update.
| As an aside: for several months the Spain postings were the most read postings on this site, and by quite a margin at that. The reason for this I think was Dr. Clay’s conscious choice to break new ground by articulating his ideas on this subject directly, in an open and public forum. |
While Dr. Clay was conversing with me, he was also developing his own blog-site. There, he offered for our comment, a more detailed explanation: English as a Second Language, Bilingual Education, and Immersion and Visiting Teachers Program.
Recent developments.
At the April 2011 General Board Meeting we learned that 4 of the 6 newly hired Spaniards were resigning.
When 4 out of 6 hires resign, that raises the Muleta so to speak. Sorry, we watched bull fights every Saturday night in my house when I grew up. But I digress.
So far, Dr. Clay has refused to publicly discuss this important issue. As a matter of fact, nothing has been posted on his blog-site since April 17, 2010 when he told us he had, in my opinion, prematurely given up on renegotiating union contracts.
Picture of EMSD#63 Blog - 06-07-2011
I even attempted to draw out a response from the good Doctor by writing Hasta la vista! and Hasta la vista – Continued…, where additional timely documents were presented. Poof! Nothing happened!
After a couple weeks I grew concerned, so I wrote him a couple emails.
Dr. Clay usually responds to my emails in a timely manner; a day or two, a week at the most. His continued silence on this subject seemed very odd indeed!
Today I received that terse emailed response!
Dr. Clay is long aware to my publically stated and principled aversion to behind closed door meetings with public administrators. He is well aware of my prior publically stated refusals to meet with him in that way.
Transparency is the name of the game here!
So, I consider his offer to meet cynical, disingenuous and hollow at best!
Further, Dr. Clay clearly understands the nature of Freedom of Information requests. He is well aware that the questions being asked in my emails, can not be answered under FOIA.
Scott Clay went to great effort last summer to justify his taxpayer-paid trip to Spain. He went to great lengths to justify bringing in foreign teachers to replace their “American Made” and highly qualified counterparts. Dr. Clay has already proven his willingness to answer questions on this subject in public.
His current unwillingness to do so at this stage of the game, only peaks ones curiosity.
That said, this was my response to his email.
Speaking of efforts.
Dr. Clay also went to great efforts here, last summer, to show us how different his administration could be from that of his predecessor, Dr. Kathleen Williams. I spoke highly of those efforts then. Now, I’m sad to say, the days of willing transparency are gone.
EMSD#63, where opaque communication is in vogue - today!
Of course, that only my opinion!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Hasta la vista – Continued….
Back in early May, I wrote a post titled: Hasta la vista! There, I lamented the imminent departure of four non-returning Spanish teachers for Spain.
One would have thought the subject important enough to stir a response from Dr. Clay, either on this site or on his own. But alas, silence!
So I wondered, maybe he’s just keeping a low profile but still doing something; like looking for replacement teachers for the four he lost.
EMSD#63 Employment Openings 05-24-2011
K12 JobSpot - EMSD#63 Openings - 05-24-2011
Reviewing these two lists, I could see no job postings to fill those positions.
So today, I sent the following email to Dr. Clay.
Email to Dr. Clay - Spanish Teachers - 05-24-2011
Maybe he’ll tell us what’s going on.
What do you think?
Saturday, May 21, 2011
High School Graduates Must Speak English!
The New London Connecticut School System will, in 2015, require all students who graduate from their system to read and speak English!
Can you imagine that?
Here’s the New York Daily News article: Students at Connecticut's New London High School must know English if they want diploma.
I hope these guys are feeling better now!
EMSD#63 administrators regularly remind us that dozens of foreign languages are spoken throughout the District. By their own account the District has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in an attempt to accommodate this segment of the Districts population; without, in my opinion, that much success.
Maybe it’s time for EMSD#63 leadership to rethink its ESL goals and strategies. What do you think?
Of course, it’s just my opinion!
Friday, May 20, 2011
School cheating still on the rise!
Nobody likes a cheat; or at least that’s the way things were for most of my 65 years. But something has changed. Some kids and some of their teachers see things a little differently!
From the DC’s Washington Examiner May 18, 2011.
Is cheating on tests happening elsewhere?
From NY-Times February 12, 2010: Experts Say Schools Need to Screen for Cheating. Or from Education Issues September 16, 2007: Cheating Is On The Rise. Or from this December 9, 2010 article: Spotlight on cheating in the school system. Or from Education Portal.com August 4, 2007: 75 to 98 Percent of College Students Have Cheated. And from Science Daily May 12, 2010: Most High Schoolers Cheat -- But Don't Always See It as Cheating, Study Finds.
So what do you think?
Do you think school cheating’s a problem? If so, what do you think should be done about it?
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Not All Future Jobs Require a College Degree - Revisited
I wrote a post back on March 3rd titled: Not All Future Jobs Require a College Degree….... I believed then as I do now, that a college degree is not always required to have a successful and happy life.
It appears I’m not the only one who thinks this way!
I’m not sure I agree with the video’s producers on purchasing silver or gold at this time but I sure agree with their findings on the outrageous cost of a college “education”.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Trust but Verify! - Part: 1
By this time, some of you’ve already noticed 11 new posts; each an individual EMSD#63 Final Budget Report for a given year, starting in school-year 2000-2001.
The reason for these entries is this. I will be using facts derived from those documents in an upcoming blog series featuring EMSD#63’s Budget History. I will also be using these same documents on my new blog: Butterly on School Budgets…. scheduled to officially appear later this month.
Trust but verify!
When it comes to reviewing budgets, I follow former President Ronald Reagan’s sage advice: “Trust but verify!” And I hope you do too!
Now, there’s a lot of information packed within those budget documents. Too too much for the casual observer. So, to help make processing this much information less daunting and more understandable, I will be presenting EMSD#63’s Budget History data in differing report formats. Each report is designed to answer one or more questions. The questions we will ask are the same questions any competent School Board would ask, and the reports designed to answer those questions are the same type of reports a competent administration would provide.
Today’s post then, is to serve notice of the new series, provide easy access to the source documents and to ask the first question:
Question #1: So where’s the money?
Between School-Years 2000-2001 and 2010-2011, EMSD#63 is expected to have spent close to $16 million more than it has taken in. We’re not even talking “budgeting” yet. That number reflect the actual dollars received for disbursement and the actual dollars disbursed based upon EMSD#63’s official documents.
BUDGACT-1000 - Budget Report - Act. Rev. and Exp.
The two primary components of the budget are REVENUE (dollars-in) and EXPENSES (dollars-out). The District Officials can only guess the number of dollars-in. District Administrators and Board however, have full control of the amount dollars-out!
Let me remind the reader of EMSD#63 Budget-making goal.
| Budget Overview Page (9) – 2010-2011 Budget |
| The District’s budget goals and objectives are to provide an optimum educational program for all of the children of the school district in line with the district’s educational philosophy, consistent with efforts to achieve a balanced budget and the taxpayers ability to support such a program. |
EMSD#63’s budget goals and objectives are obviously not being met by a wide margin which reflects at best, in my opinion, willful non-adherence or incompetence!
In the mean time, if you are curious and wish to start reviewing the FOIA’d Budget Reports used for the upcoming posts, click the year.
| Budget Files by Year |
And as always, it’s just my opinion!
