Symptoms of Greater Concerns or Petty Issues?

What happens when schools disregard input from teachers? The consequences are not good at all; in fact, they amount to the questionable use of significant amount of dollars.

Case One

Did we really need the winter retreat at Dana Point, O.C.? Shouldn’t we have been asked for our opinion as teachers? I know, the reply will be that, in fact, we indeed were consulted. Not really. I personally would like to know how many thousands were spent that could’ve had a greater impact at the classroom level?

Case Two

$340,000 for 120 iMacs and a service hardly used! Who conceived of this and how was it justified? We, I can assure you, were not consulted, and if we had, a resounding NO would have been our response. How could this have happened. Let’s use our imagination a bit. It goes something like this: A certain budget has several hundred thousand dollars and it must be spent by a quickly approaching date; otherwise we stand to lose funds. We don’t have a Technology Coordinator, nor do we have a Technology Committee, so input from such can’t be had. Besides, the powers that be know better how to spend such funds than the very teachers that need them. Furthermore, seeking teacher involvement would have endless dialogue/arguing among teachers. It would be too messy and too...democratic. Oops, dead-line is approaching, let’s buy 120 iMacs for $350,000!

Case Three

Visual CASEL? Heard of it? Of course not. The good news is that the cost was $45,000. What is it? Well, this is the bad news, for 99% of you don’t use it. It’s a program that creates and manages user accounts for an Intranet such as we have at JHS. If implemented it has many benefits. What then is the problem? It was purchased with little or no teacher input and no foresight to provide teacher training and support. End result is its lack of use. Where does the buck stop at JHS? Apparently nowhere for there are forthcoming funds which will experience the same fate, decided upon by the same couple of people.

Case Four

Vantage Program? Again, heard of it? Not likely. Cost: $100,000. What did this get us? A service hardly anyone uses and some iMacs. Can someone help me with this? The service involves students submitting essays online in order to have software somewhere correct them and provide jargon-laden feedback. English teachers that approved this and use this service please step forward!

Case More

There is more I hate to tell you. This UTLA investigative reporter will do his best to bring to light the details on these and other much-left-to-be-desired use of our students’ funds. Heard of Edu Soft? It’s supposed to provide a 24 hr. turn around on periodic assessment data. Yeah, right. How about TeleParent? (arguably most used by teachers of the bunch) Use it?

For vets. old enough to remember there is Connect, FastForward , etc.

Hoping to retract most of this on the next issue.

’The more things change, the more they stay the same.’

Sponsored by the spirit that believes laundry cleanses best out in public. +

Information is the currency of democracy —

Thomas Jefferson