I want to correct a blogger's erroneous interpretation about my "feelings" regarding take-home textbooks. I specifically said that the building based Administrator would be better able to determine the specific needs of their schools, and because it is their budget dollars they should make the decisions that best serves their school's students.
The suggestion was that Principals should be mandated by the BOE as to what to do -- ergo the referenced policy for same. I "feel" they should be given enough autonomy and flexibility to do what is needed at their school. These are highly paid professionals and they should know how to manage the affairs of their students, parents and schools - FISCALLY, FAIRLY, EFFECTIVELY and SUCCESSFULLY. If parents have complaints that do not get resolved by the building based administrator then it should be escalated to the CSA and BOE respectively.
It was also shared that the interim CSA has not received any complaints about the lack of books this year by parents, and in fact parents have been complaining that the books are too heavy. For the record, I have not personally received any complaints either regarding the lack of books this year, but I have too had several concerns brought to me about the weightiness of the children's bookbags due to the amount of books they are bringing home.
So -- there are books...
I personally don't think my daughter needs to bring home a book unless the assignment requires it. Not all do, in fact many don't. When there's a question on a subject matter we look it up on the web yielding a rich source of information that we browse through to get our questions answered. AndYes, I know not everyone has a computer, but many do. And again -- I'm talking about the needs of my household not every child -- just as the blogger in question was specifically speaking to her needs and that of her child.
I think that is one of our biggest problems --we want to dictate the needs of every household's educational needs instead of providing the flexibility that speaks directly to each child's need. It's more effective and efficient both academically and financially. If a parent feels their child needs to bring home a book -- then it should be provided - no question! But let's allow the individual conversations to happen between parent and teacher, and parent and administrator (if needed) to decide what is instructionally best for the child.
It can no longer be assumed that every child will have a take-home textbook in every subject, but it should be ABSOLUTELY expected that if a parent wants a book for their child to take home then it should be provided without fail.
So--let me be perfectly clear here-- I "FEEL" a student should be provided WHAT EVER they need to be a successful student; at no point during the discussion did I say, imply or suggest that a student should not be given a textbook. My point, in our brief conversation, was simply at WHAT LEVEL I believe those decisions should be guided.
I really dislike being misquoted/mis-contextualized!
And how do you think parents will communicate with teachers about their children's needs? Most don't even come to the schools for parent-teacher conferences and there is very little communication with teachers. Maybe there's not a lot of communication between parents and children, either--that's probably a big part of our problems. You are involved, and so am I, but most parents in our community either can't because they have to work or don't want to bother.
ReplyDeleteHey Anon 6:40AM -- Huh? I've read this a few time and I can't for the life of me figure out what you mean. Ya think the Board should create policy on how parents communicate with their children too???!!!
ReplyDelete"Highly Paid" is the only factual statement here. The fact that you couple that with the words "Fiscally, Fairly, Effectively and Successfully" is laughable. Overpaid bureaucrats that can't seem to educate the children of Plainfield year after year and yet, the BOE continues to defend the policies.
ReplyDeleteIt always humors me to read comments that wreak of a person's disdain for me than really anything that's being reported...notice the words "and they should know how to manage..." proceeding everything you took painstaking effort to point out. If you have issue with policies the BOE is "defending" take it up with them during their many monthly meetings.
ReplyDeleteThe fact remains that many districts provide their books online. My son's school has all of his textbooks online and homework assignments,information provided by the teacher etc.... This is a digital age and people need to understand the time of duplicate book orders in an era of fiscal prudence is uncalled for.....The next problem will be that some people do not have access to a computer ........ you get my point......The most cost effective measure is to move to online books.....Next problem please...............??
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