In Joplin, the school board has suffered a complete turnover, the longtime superintendent abruptly stepped down, and 65 percent of current teachers have five years of experience or less.
“The community was ready for a change,” said Koch, who has been on the board less than a year. “Hopefully with this, it will stabilize the district.”
The reference to stabilizing the district is the key. Over the past few years, Joplin has careened from one disaster to another (and that is not even including the tornado) under the guidance of former Superintendent C. J. Huff.
Sixty-five percent of teachers with five years of experience or less. This fact, and not Bright Futures, will be C. J. Huff's legacy.
And that is not even mentioning the district's financial situation.
First order of business for the new Supt. here's some more change that you really need, almost immediately.
ReplyDelete1. Fire Jennifer Doshier
2. Demote Weatherman Jason Cravens
3. Make the new assistant Supt.'s also in charge of curriculum
4. Fire the 2 curriculum people, aka "reduction in staff"
5. Dismiss Tina Smith, hire an HR secretary, and let the building principals hire who comes in their building
6. Fire Mike Johnston, that would save approximately $150,000 in lawsuit money and we could look at the changes that need to be made in that position.
7. Re-assign most of the TLC's, they like JD have no educational value.
Right there you are cutting almost $250,000 in salary and benefits. Keeping teachers in the classroom, which would save almost $100,000 in sub pay per year as well as have the teachers in the classroom, on average 7.8 more days per year.
this is the change that now needs to happen.
And in related news, water is wet. Run the same story much? Beating of dead horses and such.....
ReplyDeleteAnd in related news, the pot shot reader known as Anonymous takes time out of his busy schedule to glance at a headlne on a blog and responds to what he thought was the content. This champ went to bed assured that his witty retort finally shut down the monstrous juggernaut of public opinion that had eaten a festering hole in his heart. Sleep well champ...you earned it.
DeleteI find it quite interesting that the Springfield paper provides a more accurate assessment of the Joplin district than the Joplin Globe does. Perhaps everyone should drop the Globe and read the Springfield paper. Between it and Turner, we will have more of the facts and less of the bias.
ReplyDeleteWhen you see a fact like 65% of the teachers having less than 5 years experience, it is shocking. I know Dr. Fort used a similar statistic in a board meeting not too long ago. New teachers can be fantastic. Experienced teachers can be terrible. But overall, experienced teachers have more tools to use for diverse learners. Joplin has lost a tremendous amount of talent that will take years to rebuild. What a sad story, that cannot be blamed on the tornado. We wish Dr. Ridder the best of luck in trying to turn the district around. The children and the teachers deserve it, and so does this community.
Ahh, 4:20....I sleep fine every night, without regrets or remorse. Interesting that in true hypocritical fashion you las out at someone for posting anonymously while posting...um....anonymously??!!lol! Move along internet blog comment troll. Move along. Thanks for playing.
ReplyDeleteHypocritical and trolling is hating a blog so much that you read it religiously and anxiously post dribble that in your little head discredits the blog. Are you so blinded by your briliance that you fail to see this? Thanks for allowing me to play big master.
Delete10:49 AM: The Springfield paper doesn't have a dog in this hunt, so they were apparently willing to honesty interview Koch and relate what he had to say, something I gather the Globe won't do as things stand now.
ReplyDelete