The people of Lebanon have been through the ringer. Mr. Robinson is gone, but the people of Reedsport say that a decade later they are still recovering from his short tenure there. What this means is that we will be feeling the effects of this administration for a long time to come.
However, we have a choice... we can choose to sit and wallow in bitter resentment over the situation, or we can take a look around and find some common ground to stand on (kids) and then find ways to agree on a course of action. There are things that we can agree upon.
Here are my suggestions:
1. Let's talk to retired teachers and current teachers who were here before Robinson came and discuss things that worked well that were thrown out during his tenure (advanced programs, freshman core, alternative education etc.) See if we can find some of those babies that got thrown out with the bathwater and bring them back.
2. Let's look at effective models that are out there and actually use some of the strategies for the things that we struggle with.
3. Let's bring back teacher leadership (department heads, committees that have power headed by teachers etc.) and use the expertise we have here in the classroom.
4. How about a closer relationship between the city and the schools? It seems that we should be working together to build up Lebanon!
5. We need to remember that the only key to school success is teacher buy-in. If teachers believe in what they do, they can get the kids to buy-in.
The teachers in Lebanon, for the most part, do not buy in to the loss of social development support and the Special Education violations...they do not buy in to the idea that we cannot afford PE, music and counselors at each building, but we can afford teachers who aren't in the classroom... they do not buy in to the waste of resources and teacher abilities due to the academies...they do not buy in to administration that does not back them up nor seem to be able to provide solid leadership in any area.
Let's find programs that parents can support and teachers can buy in...then we will be able to find more success than failure, more joy than fear, and more anticipation and less dread.
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3 comments:
You have some excellent points. As an organization begins to rebuild itself many ideas will be brought up. What people must understand is that not all ideas can be implemented. Therefore, patience and understanding if paramount. However, if the school board works with the new administration, teachers, parents, students and community, and puts a "transparent communication system" in place (i.e. good school web site available at all times) this can work. Get a good strategic plan in place and have some tools of measurement available so the parents and the community can see that the kids are indeed improving in their education. One last thing: LEBANON MUST NOT EVER AGAIN GET COMPLACENT AND ALLOW A FEW PEOPLE TO RUN ANY OF OUR COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS THE WAY C.A.R.E.S. ATTEMPTES TO RUN THIS RECALL ELECTION. WE MUST NOT EVER ALLOW A SMALL SEGMENT OF OUR POPULATION TO SAY THAT THE "MAJORITY" OF LEBANON PEOPLE WANT SOMETHING THAT THEY DO NOT WANT AND WAIT UNTIL IT GETS TO A POINT OF SPENDING TAX DOLLARS IN SUCH A WASTEFUL MANNER. WE CANNOT EVER SUFFER THESE TYPE OF CASUALTIES AT THE HANDS OF PEOPLE LIKES THESE FOLKS AGAIN, NOR CAN WE EVER ALLOW ANOTHER ADMINISTRATION LIKE THIS TO REIGN OVER OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT! We have our community and our kids back, lets take care of them now from this day forward. I love what I am hearing in the article. Keep up the good writing Lebanon Proof, you are a breath of fresh air!
Thank you for the wonderful suggestions. Lets hope we can move in this direction.
Yes, you are truly a breath of fresh air, LP. Please keep this blog going!
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