Dear esd15.org visitors,
While I am grateful for your resounding support and enthusiastic encouragement, I must ask that you reign in the emotions a bit. I cannot post all of the material I am receiving. Though very interesting, some of the information goes beyond our collective interest in improving the District and its performance. Try to keep it civil and upbeat. Try not to include personal attacks or declarations of individual incompetence.
If you seek to write a full post, you may email it to me at mark@esd15.org, otherwise it can only be relegated to the status of a comment. If you are worried about revealing your name or sharing your email account, I can set you up with an email address (you@esd15.org) and can offer my personal guarantee that your identity will be held in confidence. I do not work for the District and they have no power over a community forum dedicated to improving how public resources are allocated for the benefit of our children.
For those of you that still work for the District, my thoughts are with you.
Mark Zandberg, Moderator
Former Planning and Property Management Specialist
March 2001 - June 2007
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7 comments:
I offer my apologies to you on behalf of those who are submitting inappropriate material. I would suggest that this phenomenon indicates the level of frustration by employees, directly corresponding to the administrative lack of integrity multiplied by the time of which each employee has endured the outrage.
Edmonds needs a makeover, and it will not occur until we replace the board with community members who care about the school system and are willing to fully accept the responsibility of being a trustee. Our school board has long avoided knowledge of District activities, and contact with rank and file employees. They know what they like, and like what they know. If in fact they are not outright collusive, which may be a generous assumption.
you need to post these comments,if you don't. we all go away in the end & you will have nothing.......
remember you started this for something! ?
I think the level of frustration directly correlates with employee morale at the school district.
You are absolutely entitled to filter this blog, but perhaps constructive ideas for improving employee morale can be included?
7/7/2007
Dear Mark,
Yes, we most certainly keep our emotions in check and try to focus on what we as a community we can do to change the wrong that has happened to all of us AS A COMMUNITY!
I for one would like to see more accountability for not only the dollar amount that we see in figures for property but also account ability as far as the whole educational system.
Right now your blog is a good out let for a lot of frustrated people. Parents, employees or just the community itself.. But in reality, we need change, change for the good, and change for our children and the community.
I know your interest has been more on the property end of things so some of this might be out in left field to you.
The teaching industry overall is great, there is a lot of really good hearted teachers out there that putting all there HEART and SOULS into there everyday tasks. And I want to commend them for trying to work within the system.
I would really like someone to explain to me how so many teachers can complain on his or her workload. And the amount of money they’re making for what they do.
This is what I am looking at:
At the elementary level a child is in school for 6 ½ hours.
Take away lunchtime of ½ hour that leaves you six hours.
Take away 2 recess times of 15 minutes each is ½ hour, which leaves 5 hours.
In 5 days that to me is 20 hours a week.
Then music, physical educational and library education, twice a week at an hour each, that leaves 17 hours per week. Or, 3.4 hours per day, which a teacher is with a student.
And it is a proven fact that children learn most in the morning hours or when they first wake up.
This is fact, Mark, not fiction.
The next school years calendar for the Edmonds School District is out and we don’t get out until June 25th. When I was in school, we got out the beginning of June. This is due to teachers needing off time to critic their skill. Why is this on our time and not district time? And please, don’t say we don’t pay enough taxes! The common person has to move out of the area, as they can’t afford to pay these taxes!
I am a taxpayer in this community and I would like some answers. How about you!
In regard to the comment made by anonymous on 7/7/07:
I agree with you that our district is blessed with many talented and wonderful teachers, but it makes me question how many of these individuals you truly know. The work of a teacher goes beyond the time that is taken while spending direct time with children. Paperwork, meetings, parent conferences, professional development, planning time, prep time are also included into the mix. It saddens me that you failed to even take these other duties (and all of the others that I failed to name) into account. It seems to me that your outlook on the matter may change if you were to have a better understanding of the job.
To the teacher responding on July 10th 2007:
While your point is valid, this is a two-way street. As a custodian I am all too familiar with the demeaning and narrow minded appraisal that your fellow "professionals" afford custodial staff as a matter of course. The level of arrogance displayed by your co-workers is rarely exceeded even by admisistration.
We would all have a more comfortable educational and work environment were we to assume an effective approach to mutual respect and understanding. But given the attitudes of most teaching staff this is very unlikely - too many need tear others down to bring themselves up.
I have many years of experience and literally hundreds of examples to support my position on this matter. I would be happy to personally debate you on this.
To the TEACHER that posted on July 10th
PLEASE, WE ARE BEGGING YOU!
Please step out of YOUR CLASSROOM; we want to show you something.
Something very unique, it’s called the REAL WORLD!!!!!
This is the place the common folk have to live everyday. We know it may take you awhile to adjust, but we think you will like it once you get used to it.
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