Comments on: Baker’s Dozen http://cheatinginclass.com/2010/04/bakers-dozen/ providing parents with the truth about the public education system Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:07:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: volkswagon http://cheatinginclass.com/2010/04/bakers-dozen/comment-page-1/#comment-454 volkswagon Fri, 30 Apr 2010 03:00:33 +0000 http://cheatinginclass.com/?p=1592#comment-454 I hope he can't sleep well, but when he gave the anouncement about cutting hours of para's, he said I am fine with my decision and I can sleep at night. Of course he doesn't know the faces of the people, or how hard and how long they work. I'd like to see him change the diaper of an 19 year old, or get kicked and spit at by a middle school behavior student, or teach a child with learning disabilities how to read. He doesn't know or doesn't seem to care. But Joanne Mabbott is millions over budget from her inappropriate spending habits: putting kids in expensive out of district schools, doing contracts with her husband, hiring family members, for the first time in years putting lots of kids in home instruction and hiring 8 teachers.....But instead of looking at her spending habits: her large raise her assistant's large raise, a life coach to help her and her assistant get along, lots of food for her staff, lunch, dinners, snacks....taking staff out for dinners, traveling...But lets cut the para's who make the least. I hope he can’t sleep well, but when he gave the anouncement about cutting hours of para’s, he said I am fine with my decision and I can sleep at night. Of course he doesn’t know the faces of the people, or how hard and how long they work. I’d like to see him change the diaper of an 19 year old, or get kicked and spit at by a middle school behavior student, or teach a child with learning disabilities how to read. He doesn’t know or doesn’t seem to care. But Joanne Mabbott is millions over budget from her inappropriate spending habits: putting kids in expensive out of district schools, doing contracts with her husband, hiring family members, for the first time in years putting lots of kids in home instruction and hiring 8 teachers…..But instead of looking at her spending habits: her large raise her assistant’s large raise, a life coach to help her and her assistant get along, lots of food for her staff, lunch, dinners, snacks….taking staff out for dinners, traveling…But lets cut the para’s who make the least.

]]> By: Show Me http://cheatinginclass.com/2010/04/bakers-dozen/comment-page-1/#comment-449 Show Me Fri, 30 Apr 2010 01:35:46 +0000 http://cheatinginclass.com/?p=1592#comment-449 The PFTCE union told us that he cut 1,000 classified employees when he was in Chicago. If this is true, he is used to cutting classified employee staff. The fact that he proposed cutting 24 bilingual para-professional and shaved 2 1/2 hours from the Special Ed para-educators indicated that the union information might be correct. Mr. Botana came from Chicago so he does not have any strings attached. He does not have to put names and faces together so it was an easy decision. I don't think he has been able to sleep well. But it will take him a while to learn that our district is quite disfunctional and it will take a while to fix both ESLL and Special Ed problems that have accumulated for over two decades. The PFTCE union told us that he cut 1,000 classified employees when he was in Chicago. If this is true, he is used to cutting classified employee staff. The fact that he proposed cutting 24 bilingual para-professional and shaved 2 1/2 hours from the Special Ed para-educators indicated that the union information might be correct. Mr. Botana came from Chicago so he does not have any strings attached. He does not have to put names and faces together so it was an easy decision. I don’t think he has been able to sleep well. But it will take him a while to learn that our district is quite disfunctional and it will take a while to fix both ESLL and Special Ed problems that have accumulated for over two decades.

]]> By: volkswagon http://cheatinginclass.com/2010/04/bakers-dozen/comment-page-1/#comment-434 volkswagon Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:58:02 +0000 http://cheatinginclass.com/?p=1592#comment-434 It is reported that Mr. Botana stated he slept fine after making the decision to cut para educator hours for the second time in 5 years. And the Supt. asked for applaue for that.The Paras are already not making a living wage and now they are cut down to 6.5 hours a day. And of course many and most of them will continue to work longer hours and not get paid, because they are caring professionals. Why not ask administrators to take a 1 or 2 percent cut in pay. Take from the highest not the lowest paid. It is reported that Mr. Botana stated he slept fine after making the decision to cut para educator hours for the second time in 5 years. And the Supt. asked for applaue for that.The Paras are already not making a living wage and now they are cut down to 6.5 hours a day. And of course many and most of them will continue to work longer hours and not get paid, because they are caring professionals. Why not ask administrators to take a 1 or 2 percent cut in pay. Take from the highest not the lowest paid.

]]> By: Zarwen http://cheatinginclass.com/2010/04/bakers-dozen/comment-page-1/#comment-373 Zarwen Fri, 23 Apr 2010 01:48:11 +0000 http://cheatinginclass.com/?p=1592#comment-373 At this point, I would regard that as a given. At this point, I would regard that as a given.

]]> By: Show Me http://cheatinginclass.com/2010/04/bakers-dozen/comment-page-1/#comment-367 Show Me Thu, 22 Apr 2010 06:36:53 +0000 http://cheatinginclass.com/?p=1592#comment-367 Zarwen, Sorry for a slow response. Susan Kosmala started out as an Assistant Director of Title I. Then, the district promoted her to Director and added Title IA (ARRA) to her plate. She could not even manage Title I, let alone the additional task. Then, the district reorganized central and added Cliff Brush as another layer on top of Susan so now Cliff is Susan's boss. To make effective cut, one of them should be gone. Ray Demarko is overseeing Migrant which only has 150+ kids and Private Schools which is a joke. He needs to be gone too. That cut would make sense because he makes over $100K for doing nothing. In terms of teacher-student ratio, I know for a fact that ESL teachers only average 1 per 9.6 students across the district. Some classrooms only have 4 or 5. Some even have one. So why aren't ELL students progressing at the rate they should be. NCLB laws require that ELL students make one level per year. In order to close the achievement gaps, experts estimate that they need to do 1.5 level per year. PPS needs to push teachers to do more not less since their class loads are so low. Of the 4,700 ELL students at PPS, only 750+ students are high school age. The rest is K-8. So why can't ELL students acquire English at a faster rate at a younger age? We cannot blame it all on students' homes speaking another language because some of the best ELL students come from pre-literate families. In terms of our superintendent relying on her staff to do her work, it is very true, Carrie. She came from having been a long-time administrator of a very small alternative school to Chief of Staff and then Superintendent. We like her and would like to invest in a local Superintendent and want her to succeed. But her decisions to hire staff to help her have not been wise. She wants to hire people who are more like her but do not have the expertise or skills to help her. She needs to get rid of a few and reorganize her team and gets some experts in to help her run the show. If this HS Redesign and the bond measures don't pull off, she and her team might have to go too. Zarwen, Sorry for a slow response. Susan Kosmala started out as an Assistant Director of Title I. Then, the district promoted her to Director and added Title IA (ARRA) to her plate. She could not even manage Title I, let alone the additional task. Then, the district reorganized central and added Cliff Brush as another layer on top of Susan so now Cliff is Susan’s boss. To make effective cut, one of them should be gone. Ray Demarko is overseeing Migrant which only has 150+ kids and Private Schools which is a joke. He needs to be gone too. That cut would make sense because he makes over $100K for doing nothing. In terms of teacher-student ratio, I know for a fact that ESL teachers only average 1 per 9.6 students across the district. Some classrooms only have 4 or 5. Some even have one. So why aren’t ELL students progressing at the rate they should be. NCLB laws require that ELL students make one level per year. In order to close the achievement gaps, experts estimate that they need to do 1.5 level per year. PPS needs to push teachers to do more not less since their class loads are so low. Of the 4,700 ELL students at PPS, only 750+ students are high school age. The rest is K-8. So why can’t ELL students acquire English at a faster rate at a younger age? We cannot blame it all on students’ homes speaking another language because some of the best ELL students come from pre-literate families.
In terms of our superintendent relying on her staff to do her work, it is very true, Carrie. She came from having been a long-time administrator of a very small alternative school to Chief of Staff and then Superintendent. We like her and would like to invest in a local Superintendent and want her to succeed. But her decisions to hire staff to help her have not been wise. She wants to hire people who are more like her but do not have the expertise or skills to help her. She needs to get rid of a few and reorganize her team and gets some experts in to help her run the show. If this HS Redesign and the bond measures don’t pull off, she and her team might have to go too.

]]> By: Art http://cheatinginclass.com/2010/04/bakers-dozen/comment-page-1/#comment-341 Art Sun, 18 Apr 2010 01:34:54 +0000 http://cheatinginclass.com/?p=1592#comment-341 Taking the 571 kids in charter schools out of 47,000 total would make a tiny difference over 2600 FTE. Taking the 571 kids in charter schools out of 47,000 total would make a tiny difference over 2600 FTE.

]]> By: Zarwen http://cheatinginclass.com/2010/04/bakers-dozen/comment-page-1/#comment-340 Zarwen Sun, 18 Apr 2010 01:03:19 +0000 http://cheatinginclass.com/?p=1592#comment-340 If charter schools were included, then your figures may not be correct. As far as I know, charter school teachers work for the charter organization, not PPS. At any rate, PPS has nothing to do with hiring them. This may also be true of some community programs and alternative programs. If charter schools were included, then your figures may not be correct. As far as I know, charter school teachers work for the charter organization, not PPS. At any rate, PPS has nothing to do with hiring them. This may also be true of some community programs and alternative programs.

]]> By: Art http://cheatinginclass.com/2010/04/bakers-dozen/comment-page-1/#comment-339 Art Sun, 18 Apr 2010 00:31:48 +0000 http://cheatinginclass.com/?p=1592#comment-339 OK, I dug around a little and found some 2005-2006 figures for PPS. ODE reports 2605.3 FTE classroom teachers for PPS. The PPS October 2005 enrollment report lists 47008 students. That count includes community programs, alternate programs, special education, charter schools, and other programs on top of the "regular" schools. That comes out to 18 kids per classroom teacher. OK, I dug around a little and found some 2005-2006 figures for PPS.

ODE reports 2605.3 FTE classroom teachers for PPS. The PPS October 2005 enrollment report lists 47008 students. That count includes community programs, alternate programs, special education, charter schools, and other programs on top of the “regular” schools.

That comes out to 18 kids per classroom teacher.

]]> By: moonbaby http://cheatinginclass.com/2010/04/bakers-dozen/comment-page-1/#comment-338 moonbaby Sat, 17 Apr 2010 23:24:30 +0000 http://cheatinginclass.com/?p=1592#comment-338 susan kosmala is director of funded programs and cliff brush is director of funded programs, grants,ect susan kosmala is director of funded programs and cliff brush is director of funded programs, grants,ect

]]> By: Zarwen http://cheatinginclass.com/2010/04/bakers-dozen/comment-page-1/#comment-337 Zarwen Sat, 17 Apr 2010 23:17:52 +0000 http://cheatinginclass.com/?p=1592#comment-337 Art, You may be missing the fact that some of those teachers are part-time. You are right, what is needed is the total number of FTE, not the total number of teachers. Show Me, I was actually asking what Susan Kosmala and Cliff Brush do. What are their job titles? Art,

You may be missing the fact that some of those teachers are part-time. You are right, what is needed is the total number of FTE, not the total number of teachers.

Show Me, I was actually asking what Susan Kosmala and Cliff Brush do. What are their job titles?

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