I enjoy a good debate and some of the comments here have encouraged some great discussions. The most recent comment talks about the value of the TOSAs (Teachers on Special Assignment) and affirms that the community would support another bond if it were for teachers...
There are not enough TOSAs to make a serious impact on the district....they can only help so many, and the commentor was correct, there are many teachers who do need the help, but unless administration identifies that fact and requires it, most of those who "need it most" will never ask for it.
In my opinion, we could add more teaching staff easily with current funds (even considering the 2.9 million dollar deficeit we have incurred under Mr. Robinson's leadership - which I state as a fact because the loss of students and the loss of money have a statistically significant correlation...) if Mr. Robinson were willing to re-allocate funds away from administration and new programs (on top of old programs) and toward the hiring of more teachers.
But, I hear you protesting, he did cut us by 1 whole administrator at the high school!
You need to go back further in the memory of the district to see the real change. We used to have 6 directors district-wide. The assistant Superintendent had 1 full time secretary. The high school had 1 principal and 2 vice principals (cheaper than "administrators") and 1 half time Activities Director/ half time vice principal.
If you go back even further... we had close to ninety teachers at the high school alone...(now 64 more or less)...we had PE and Music in EVERY elementary school. We had middle school sports. We had an alternative high school here in Lebanon.
What we have lost is almost unfathomable... and yet... we continue to take from the buildings and add to the district office and its new programs...and the fact is that this community will not support a new bond as long as Mr. Robinson is managing the money and the allocation of funds.
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3 comments:
We haven't had 9o teachers since before Mr Robinson took office. We have lost most of our funding from Measure 5 and declining timber revenues. That along with the lack of quality jobs in Lebanon caused many middle-class families leaving to find work. To blame Mr. Robinson is a stretch and shows your irrational thought patterns and beliefs. Further, if you support smaller class sizes, you should support academies as they allow a smaller set of students to be taught by the same group of teachers. This allows better contact with the students and a closer relationship to be developed. There are many things to fault Mr. Robinson for but this is not one of them. Could it be that being a disgruntled former teacher who let students spend class periods watching turtles rather than teaching has clouded your ability to think?
Despite economic changes that have impacted this community over the years, it is STILL Robinson's job to manage the shrinking dollars as efficiently as possible. I don't think assigning teachers to district office positions is the most effective use of scarce money.
Lebanon Proof, whoever he or she may be, is refreshingly logical. I would imagine the fact that your comment was printed indicates the author is not the person you seem convinced writes this blog.
You would assume too much. The blogger is anonymous. Being anonymous allows you to print anything. Why wouldn't you print a comment negative to you? Who would know? Your argument reflects a deep lack of knowledge. The fact that we have people in the district office, supported by grant money, not tak revenues, is a good sign for education in Lebanon. These people are there to improve education in Lebanon. If you got rid of these people there would be no more "in classroom" teachers as the funds used to employ TOSAs does not come from the funds that are used to hire "in classroom" teachers. In fact it would be illegal to divert the grant funds to this purpose. If you want to hire more teachers demand more funds from the state or demand more from your community. You could have a special levy in Lebanon to specifically fund more teachers and programs. You don't because the community does not care for education, they care for themselves. The blame for the problems in the district are not Mr. Robinson or the school board(surprised I would say that?) It is the community that is to blame. They can hire any board member and hire any superintendent through their choice of board members. Parents could respond to teachers like Mr. Martens who sends out progress reports and does not get them returned. Or other teachers who try to contact them and get no response. Look at yourself before blaming everyone else. If your house is in order then check your neighbors. As far as I am concerned all involved in the education of our students are doing the best that they can with very few exceptions.
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