In the course of this interview with KZRG, incumbent Joplin R-8 Board of Education member Randy Steele says that one of the biggest problems facing the school district is its dwindling reserves. "We have overspent," Steele said. Unfortunately, KZRG never asks the follow-up questions- How have you overspent? How much have your overspent? Steele also brings up the problem of hanging on to good teachers, but KZRG does not ask why more than 200 teachers have left the district in the past two years. From what I am hearing, there will be at least another 100 leaving this year and the new Joplin High School will most likely be filled with new, inexperienced teachers.
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8 comments:
Wow that is amazing that you are so close to not just 1 or 2 or 20 JHS teachers but the actual number is closer to 100. So close they confide in you, a retired middle school teacher. You know as well as I do that there is no way you can back up that statement. You probably talk to a few disgruntled JHS teachers or ex-employees. The majority of JHS teachers are ecstatic about our new building and we appreciate everything that our community, our fellow Americans, our government and Dr. Huff had done for our district and our students.
One source in each school, or a representative subset of them, can count noses, new and old, and come up with an estimate of how many teachers have left.
I've never seen anyone "with the facts" credibly deny R-VIII is hemorrhaging teachers.
Maybe they should make sure their teaching staff earns a pay that is equitable to other school districts of the same size? Meet the state average? Instead, more and more work is dumped on them every year and they are shown less and less respect. Maybe they could cut back on the tremendous number of non-teaching staff they have and pay their teachers more? Making the pay competitive will draw better teachers, making extra "helpers" unnecessary for the most part. Maybe they could even cut back on those big, expensive trips and some of the excess initiatives that were put in place to pad resumes and see what that would do for the budget. It's not rocket science.
Gosh, Mr. Steele, it's nice to see you finally acknowledging that things aren't just peachy in R8. That must have been tough, stating the obvious like that--spent too much? What was your first clue? And more important, what do you propose to do about the mess you allowed to happen? This is what happens when you rubber stamp every decision CJ and Angie make in order to preserve the foolish idea of appearing unified. It's a little late now to try and act like you can be responsible and save the district. You were part of the gang of seven that destroyed it. Step down, please. You've done enough already.
talked to an ex-teacher from Huffville said anytime she and her co-workers traveled to worksshops etc. they would say they were from the Webb City area,then would listen to those asking that's close to Joplin kmown more for its bad schooling than the tornado!
Here's another book for Joplin:
Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts
by Carol Tavris (Author) , Elliot Aronson (Author)
Why do people dodge responsibility when things fall apart? Why the parade of public figures unable to own up when they screw up? Why the endless marital quarrels over who is right? Why can we see hypocrisy in others but not in ourselves? Are we all liars? Or do we really believe the stories we tell?
Backed by years of research and delivered in lively, energetic prose, Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) offers a fascinating explanation of self-deception—how it works, the harm it can cause, and how we can overcome it.
The huffers can suggest that that book is for Randy and the three people that write all his comments.
That's the problem. R-8 is overspending on new schools. It all seems be about appearance. These are our "crown jewels". I could care less about the school itself. It is all about the education. If my kids are getting a quality education in a barn, so be it. The fact is, Joplin is loosing teachers left and right and it is a major problem. My kids are at Cecil Floyd where there has been a mass exodus over the last few years. Confirming the numbers should be very easy through an open records request. I have no reason to doubt he numbers that Randy has given. I know the Globe did a cursory article last year and the numbers were very high.
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