Education

Four reformers for Douglas Schools

As I noted on radio today, teacher union endorsements of a Douglas County School Board slate have led to GOP endorsements for a reform slate. Here is their contact information. District B John Carson 2652 Baneberry Court Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 (303) 524-2754 - Home Email: jcarson@swlaw.com Campaign Web Site: http://www.johncarsonforschoolboard.com

District D Dan Gerken 52 Glenalla Place Castle Rock, CO 80108-9026 (720) 733-6200 - Home (720) 219-3366 - Cell Email: Dan@DanGerken.com Campaign Web Site: http://www.DanGerken.com

District E Doug Benevento 6642 Tiger Tooth Littleton, CO 80124 (303) 925-1909 - Home (303) 572-6554 - Work (303) 921-8563 - Cell Email: Doug@Doug4Douglas.com Campaign Web Site: http://www.Doug4Douglas.com

District G Meghann Silverthorn 15632 Longford Drive Parker, CO 80134 (303) 554-9003 - Home (303) 977-5418 - Work (720) 839-4494 - Cell Email: meghann@meghannsilverthorn.com Campaign Web Site: http://www.meghannsilverthorn.com

Teacher's Desk: When parents cop out

Here I am, back to blogging. Why the hiatus? Partly because of how many special education students without current IEPs (Individual Education Plans) showed up on my school’s doorstep. Over 20% of our student population has an IEP and most of them are due now! Suffice to say, I’ve been too exhausted to even write when I get home, much less ponder on significant education reforms and policy. One of the two major issues I’ve seen is a lack of parental backbone. I have six special education students performing at the third grade level when they are sixteen or older who do not come to school and their parents don’t even try to get them here. Feeding them, and providing a place to sleep is not enough. Loving them into illiteracy won’t help either. Growing a parental backbone will help them.

Another issue I’ve noticed is again, one of poor parenting, and poor teacher judgment. I have students that are former gang members that are going straight and spent most of their high school careers incarcerated. They have an emotional disability due to anger issues. What they really have is a temper and was never taught strategies to calm down.

These young men both have mothers and fathers in prison. They come from neighborhoods where crime is the norm and your colors may keep you safe or cause you pain. The first teachers we all have are our parents and these parents didn’t have the skills to raise these young men to be the role models they both want to be now for their little cousins. So out-of-control, naughty, African-American little boys get penned emotionally (behaviorally) disabled and land in special education and even special programs for the mentally ill.

So how did these young men escape the cycle of poverty and crime? The usual way. They got caught and put in jail. One of the young men, I’ll call George, had a choice to either go to the Lookout Mountain juvenile facility or the Rites of Passage program at Ridge View Academy, a school and lock-up. In the beginning, he continued his behavior by not cooperating, but eventually, he saw himself at a fork in the road. He could continue the path he was on and end up in prison or make something of himself by getting a high school diploma, going to college, and making something of himself. He again, made the right choice.

Poor parenting has an enormous effect on our schools, our neighborhoods, our hospitals, our police and our selves. Children are not a toy that can be discarded when we become bored. It is hard work to raise nice, young men. I know. My husband and I raised two.

Kathleen Kullback is a licensed special educator at Colorado High School Charter and is a former candidate for the State Board of Education.

Douglas GOP endorses school slate

Editor: This website has argued for the usefulness of party labels in helping voters choose leaders for public education. Kudos to Douglas County businessman, charter school organizer, and GOP officer Mark Baisley for helping put his party on record in that suburban district's upcoming election. See our related posts on local nonpartisanship in general and on Centennial municipal races in particular. Statement by Mark Baisley Vice Chair, Douglas County Republicans While this is a down year for most elected offices, it is a significant season for the Douglas County School Board. Four of the seven seats are up for vote, ending with the final count on November 3. The school board election is unusual in two manners; all registered residents can vote in every district and the races are non-partisan.

Douglas County is sectioned into seven school board districts, named A through G. Every registered resident can vote in all of the four district races.

This election is non-partisan; that is, party affiliation (Republican or Democrat) will not be indicated alongside candidate names on the ballot. Candidates are not vetted by the political parties through Colorado’s traditional caucus and assembly process. However, sides have been staked out for these races by the two general political philosophies of conservative and liberal. The Douglas County Republicans and the Teachers Union have endorsed candidates in each district as follows:

District * GOP endorsee * Union endorsee

B John Carson * Sue Catterall

D Dan Gerken * Kevin Leung

E Doug Benevento * Kristine Turner

G Meghann Silverthorn * Emily Hansen

This election will be held by mail or drop-off voting. Ballots will be mailed on October 3 and must be received by the Douglas County Clerk by 7:00PM on Tuesday, November 3. For questions, including drop-off locations, see www.douglas.co.us/clerk/elections/.

Watch your mailbox in two weeks for your ballot and please vote wisely!

Digging the dirt on DPS

Besides nannying, mowing the occasional lawn and the seemingly full-time job that basketball and soccer demand, neither of us had really had a “real” job until this summer when we worked for a prominent Denver businessman and private investor. While the majority of college students were basking in the freedom that comes with summer vacations, we were inside an office doing research on the Denver Public School system. Although at first, the topic seemed dull and as arid as the Colorado weather, after digging in, we both started to become emotionally enticed by the subject. Did you know that almost half of DPS students do NOT graduate?

This figure came as shocking to us; we both attended private, religiously affiliated schools and graduating was the only viable option for us. While both of us had been exposed to the occasional troublemaker-type drop-out or the befuddled kid who didn’t take enough P.E. credits, neither of us had any idea that the chance of a kid graduating from is really a coin-toss. We were even more discouraged when we found that Denver has one of the best big-city public school systems in the United States. What has gone wrong in the public school system?

The passionately compassionate businessman we worked for believes that outdated and politically corrupt teachers unions are the culprits; they prevent individual schools from having effective control over their staff, abdicate the power of the principal to make informed decisions for their school, and protect the jobs of impassionate, ineffective, and just plain bad teachers. We both have been blessed to have many inspiring, zealous and talented teachers, who are probably one of the biggest contributors (next to our parents and the fear of being grounded) to our academic achievements. Teachers can motivate and encourage their students towards success- both in and out of the classroom.

So why the shortage in good teachers, we ask? The teachers’ unions are run by and for the benefit of the teachers that are late in their careers. Accordingly, they are motivated to pay the new teachers as little as possible, allowing the older teachers to get paid more and vest in larger retirement benefits at the end of their careers. It is also almost impossible to fire a teacher after they receive tenure, which happens after three years on the job. As a result, less than 1% of teachers in DPS receive unsatisfactory ratings each year, and only a handful of DPS teachers have been terminated over the last several years. See data here.

However, the blame cannot be thrown entirely in the teachers unions’ or even the bad teachers’ corner; parents and family life play a big role in a student’s success. John and Rama Pfannenstein never missed a single parent-teacher conference in either daughter’s entire academic career. When in high school, they recalled that one teacher even commented that they didn’t need to be there; “its usually the parents who should come that don’t show up.” Maybe they only liked to hear all the good things about their bright and charming daughter (says Kari Ann tongue in cheek), but we think the real reason they attended 14 years worth of conferences is because they genuinely care and take interest in their children’s academic pursuits.

Opening the car door or walking in the kitchen every day after school and being pummeled by questions like, “how was school today?” or, “did you learn anything interesting?” is really just an excited attention and the recognition of the importance of an education; even though they were usually answered with a curt, “fine” or, “no, not really.”

Roommates Rally is the byline of Kari Ann Pfannenstein of Denver and Corinne Smith of Virginia, sophomores at Washington & Lee.

Parental boycott grows

As the entire civilized world now knows, President Barack Obama will be addressing the nation’s school children this Tuesday. As soon as this was announced, and the accompanying Department of Education lesson plan released, a storm of controversy arose and suddenly schools were being besieged by angry parents. Bombarded principals, administrators and superintendents all across the country were almost overnight in a mad scramble for cover. I received the following email yesterday from the superintendent of the private school that my children attend. It did save me from having to make the decision as to whether or not take the proactive step of pulling my children out of school on Tuesday. I’m not sure I would have because I trust the Christian educators to whom I have entrusted my children’s education to not be fawning, drooling idiots when discussing the mere mortal who is currently occupying the oval office.

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s): I received the below request from the U.S. Department of Education yesterday.

A MESSAGE FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

President Barack Obama to Make Historic Speech to America's Students C-SPAN and White House Web Site to Broadcast Speech Live Speech Scheduled One Hour Earlier to Noon Eastern Time

On September 8, 2009, history will be made. Will you be a part of it? At 12:00 p.m., Eastern Time (ET), President Barack Obama will deliver a national address to the students of America. During this special address, the president will speak directly to the nation’s children and youth about persisting and succeeding in school. The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning. The U.S. Department of Education encourages students of all ages, teachers, and administrators to participate in this historic moment by watching the president deliver the address, which will be broadcast live on the White House Web site and on C-SPAN at 12:00 p.m., ET.

[School name] highly respects the position of the President of the United States and believes whatever he says always has impact and historical significance. With that said, we do not feel it is our place to show this address to the children at [this school]. We strongly believe this should be a decision for each family! Thank you for your continued support .

[Name withheld]

The concern for most in the public school system is less about the speech itself than the worshipful “historic moment” tomfoolery that passed as a lesson guide from the Department of Education. The best way to reach the parents is through the youth and Mr. “Mandatory Volunteerism” knows it as much as anyone. I’ve been urging everyone I know to boycott the speech and keep their children at home if their school is going along with it. Now my local school district (the public one) will now not be showing it live either. It will be taped and each teacher will have to get both parental and administrative permission to broadcast any of it and it will have to be rolled into some sort of other curriculum or lesson plan as well. Obama has managed to become a serious polarizing figure quicker than any elected president in my lifetime and his administration has become a mere bloopers reel of idiocy and badly scripted public relations stunts. Too bad, The One had shown such promise…

This school address is the gruel that liberal teachers turn into propaganda and cheerleading or misty-eyed moments of awe. Don’t tell me that this will not become a “hurrah for Barack Hussein Obama” pep rally in thousands of classrooms across the nation. I’m glad that people are raising a ruckus and I can’t tell you how many people are beating the heck out of each other over this. I can’t hardly find a conservative parent at the moment who is letting their child participate. It has become a four day weekend for thousands of children. I encourage everyone to turn it into a conservative, family day free from President Obama and his damaging agenda. It was the Left who created the idiotic, sickening hero worship that now so permeates anything and everything that Obama says or does and we'll see that repeated by vast numbers of reporters and teachers on Tuesday. How sad and embarassing for everyone involved.

A six year old is too young to distinguish propaganda from information.

So how do liberals see Obama when he gives an address like this? Denver Post columnist Tina Griego gushed this way about him.

You may look at Obama on television and see a politician with whom you agree or disagree, but he is something else too. He is the son of an immigrant, abandoned by his father, raised by his mother. He is a black man who studied hard, who excelled in college and who, only 10 months ago, made history when he was elected leader of this country. The president hopes to inspire all children in this country to go to class, to do their homework, to believe that if they do the work, education will open doors to worlds they cannot even imagine. But he chose to deliver that message from a school that brims with promise for a reason. He chose a school full of brown and black children from struggling families because they are the children he once was, and he is the success they could one day become. If they work hard. If they believe in themselves. If people believe in them. If that’s indoctrination, then I only have one thing left to say: Preach it, Mr. President. Preach it. When you are done dry-heaving please continue reading.

Conservatives, on the other hand, tend to be a bit less star struck by the latest success story of the corrupt Chicago political machine. If you can judge a man by his friends, President Obama fails miserably. He has surrounded himself all his life with mentors, friends and spiritual advisors which run the gauntlet of race-baiters and radicals, terrorists and Marxists. He is the most Left wing radical to ever occupy the white house who seeks to impose environmentalist extremism, mandatory-volunteerism and government-rationed health care on all those he seeks to bless with his oratory on Tuesday.

Conservatives are not fooled by the reassurances of partisans that President Obama exercises no agenda as he lurches from one bumbling political event to the next. I have strongly urged conservatives to wage an unceasing conservative guerilla war against the Obamanization of the country and I couldn’t be prouder of each and every person who is angrily denouncing the showing of the President’s speech on Tuesday to a captive audience and the idiotic Department of Education gobbly-gook lesson plan that accompanied it.

David Huntwork is a conservative activist and freelance columnist in Northern Colorado where he lives with his wife and three young daughters. He strongly believes in the importance of Faith, Family, and Freedom as the formula of success for a good life and a healthy nation. You may view his bio and past columns at: http://DavidHuntwork.tripod.com.