Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The PCT Will Pick Your Board Members, if You Don't...":
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My dear Plainview, the home of my childhood, the town I came back to so my kids could have what I always felt I had, a superior education. Oh, how you've changed.
We have a superintendent who trusts his administrators to do right by our children when so often they do not even come close. True, there are some who have a strong handle on things like at Parkway or the K Center but onto Stratford Road and you've got mediocrity, dishonesty and quite frankly substandard leadership where the individual child is the lowest priority in the building.
Our associate superintendent for curriculum and instruction is in way over her head. She has limited skills in effectively listening to and partnering with parents. Her goal is not to benefit the children but rather a means to fulfill her own ambitions, climb the career ladder and relish in her own success. Again, the individual child is incidental to the overall objective of her position.
The teachers are a multifaceted group. Many are hard working and devoted to our children. Others, although quite dedicated, simply do not have what it takes to effectively reach each and every child. Sadly, there are some who should have left the profession long ago.
How much involvement the board has in the day to day instruction of children and the management of teachers is unclear. Do they realize how many children are falling through the cracks? I truly do not know.
When I read this blog, I see that there exists so much animosity toward the schools. No question, I can relate to many of the complaints raised. What I cannot comprehend is how there is so much to say about the teachers, the board members, the financial crisis, etc, but yet when it comes to a discussion of the children, the most vulnerable members of this community, the ones for whom this school district is all about, the ones who have no voice but that of their parents, how is it that the children appear almost as an after thought?
The schools could be giving our children so much more. I wonder how many people out there feel as I do.
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The budget passed, prop 2 passed, Gary Bettan got reelected and the darling of all of you in blogland, Mrs. Nelkins, came in last! Lets hear you blogsters spin this.
ReplyDeleteOne special person in this community has been speaking for the children and education for years - Stefanie Nelkens. Sadly the community gave more election support to Craig Levy who came out of nowhere talking about electric buses and didn't even know what RtI was. I wish Stefanie well and hope she takes this election loss as a temporary setback and continues her advocacy for education and children of this district.
ReplyDeleteYes I feel exactly like you do. Well said.
ReplyDeleteYou don't know what your talking about...
ReplyDeleteWe have wonderful schools here in Plainview and teachers and a great superintendent!!!
You should be thankful for everything we have, Enough said!!!
How about giving some specifics on why you say we have a "great superintendent?" Also, why use the term "thankful for everything we have?" It almost sounds like you are suggesting what "we have" is being given to us freely. We pay high taxes in this town. We have a right to expect high standards. In my own personal experience, the mediocrity that's accepted here is inconsistent with what I am paying to live in this town.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, starting a response with "You don't know what your talking about" is an unprofessional (and somewhat immature) manner in which to be taken seriously (Notice your forgotten apostrophe). Also, your second sentence could use some grammatical editing (parallel structure). Given the way you write, your deep satisfaction with the education here is not surprising. You are probably a student in this district. In that case, your response further proves my point.
The first comment on this posting would be more appropriate somewhere else on this blog. Otherwise, it just adds to what is being said about the children being an after thought. It mentions the budget, the board members, Proposition 2 but of the children, nothing.
ReplyDeleteDerogatory comments about individuals in this community are inappropriate whether they are about Ms. Nelkins, Mr. Bettan or anyone else on this blog, anonymous or not.
To person who thinks our district is so wonderful - Do/Did your kids ever get workbooks? Do/Did you spend money on tutors or home school? Or do/did you kid get special privileges and special pick-of-the-crop teachers? Do/did your kid go to Mattlin or to the dilapidated POB Middle? Maybe you need glasses since you are so happy.
ReplyDeleteWe should be thankful for everything we have? In comparison to what? In what ways does the education our children receive reflect the high taxes we pay?
ReplyDeleteWe have a great superintendent? Obviously, you've never dealt with him on an issue of any importance? Why do you believe him to be great?
We have wonderful schools? Again, in comparison to what? What is so wonderful about these schools? Please tell us.
The teachers, like any school district, are a mix of effective and ineffective. The original post here provides a balanced view of this fact.
I agree with the reply that comments on your grammar. I would further remark that your reaction did not say anything about the children, which was the whole point of the posting in the first place. In light of this, in addition to grammar, I question your skills in reading comprehension. For those of us who are raising our children to be literate individuals, the schools do not measure up. For people like you, whose writing style does not reflect basic communicative skills, well, perhaps the low standards do make for a "wonderful" experience for you.
I am not a student.
ReplyDeleteI AM JUST A THANKFUL PARENT!
Wake up and look around you...
What a great place we all live in!!
(or go back to being depressed)
Times are not easy, but to put
blame on our teachers and superintendent?
They have done a great deal for our children, the schools and Plainview. (They all work hard, just like me and maybe you)
Keep checking for those typos and get a life.
I have to agree I don't see where the terrible district you all speak of is. I've been very happy with the education my children have received. When dissatisfied (very few times) I have gone to the teachers and administration and was well taken care of. Perhaps it is a luck of the draw? One child used tutors while the other did not. I did not fault the teachers for this. He needed extra help because he had a difficult time processing all the information in school & needed extra one-on-one time. I don't expect our teachers to do all the work.
ReplyDeleteParents in Plainview should do more than just shuffle their kids from one activity to the next. Which is more of what I see every day. How many parents who complain on here have morning breakfasts and nightly dinners with their families? How many take the time to be active in the schools? How many go to the PTA meetings?
I will ask you again - Workbooks? Great teachers? POB or Mattlin? Are your kids still in school? Or did they graduate? Why are you avoiding the questions? I am not here to blame - just want equality in our district.
ReplyDeleteto the THANKFUL parent
ReplyDeleteUnlike you I am not looking through the world with rose colored glasses
Plainview IS a great place to live despite the schools.
Education is mediocre.
Teachers are a mixed bag and there is no consistency within schools or from grade to grade.
The superintendent and BOE allow disparity beteween the schools.
There are haves and haves nots depending on what side of town you live on.
Sounds like you live on the right side of the tracks.
I notice you left out the Stratford principal from your comments.
No one can defend her.
I Take great umbrage to your remark. I am active in the schools, on committees, run a business, and I shuffle my children to music lessons and two sports and make breakfast and lunch everyday and 5 out of 7 nights I and often my husband eat with my children as a family for dinner. I don't think the schools are up to snuff. The administration seems to think the goals set by the state are 'good enough'. What our neighboring districts actually achieve, is evidently not something that our district can get their act together on. Our Board kowtows to the PCT giving raises and asking nothing in return. I am only hoping that Emily has as big a set as Angel and Amy do and takes a stand against the teachers and asks for give backs or at the very least the return to a six and a half hour day, -like the rest of the state.
ReplyDeleteI open the floor for others to start listing what some of the give backs should be as evidently the BOE and their lawyer need some help.
As to the previous poster, -when all of the schools are operating with the same materials, covering the same curriculum, and getting similar scores, when the teachers are working a 6.5 hour day, and making sure their students are getting the same exposure in all the schools, I will feel that my children are getting the education they need.
I think perhaps some of you should drop your children off in another district..,try Amityville or Hemspstead. Maybe you will appreciate what you have and stop complaining about what Syosset or Jericho have. If you like their schools so much go move there. More bang for your buck apparently.
ReplyDelete2 of my kids have graduated. One went to POB and the other wen to Mattlin. We moved so Ive had experiences with both schools. I did not have any negative experiences at either one. They received their books, work books, had some good teachers, some great teachers. Maybe it is because I grew up in the NYC public school system and I know all too well what it is like to actually be in a mediocre school system that I do not have all these issues some of you do.
One child is attending SUNY Binghamton and finishing up her last year and the other just began at Vassar. My two youngest are just coming up in the school district. So far (aside from the drama with the PCT) our experiences in Plainview continue to be positive. More good than bad.
Why did you move from POB to Mattlin? Upgrade? Better schools?
ReplyDeleteWe can continue to pay our teachers AS IF they are providing what Syosset and Jericho teachers are doing and PRETEND that our school district is ALL THAT.
Our teachers do A LOT LESS than teachers in better performing districts. There is no consistency and little parity. Everyone knows that NO ONE can MAKE a PCT teacher DO anything - give a test, cover curriculum. In other districts, even in NYC, teachers are ACCOUNTABLE without parents having to get involved and DEMAND better education.
You say respect is a two-way street. That is correct. So why are teachers on phones during class time? Two-way street? I absolutely respect all of my kid's teachers who show their dedication by actually teaching (and they know who they are bc I told them).
ReplyDeleteNo we moved from Mattlin to POB. Didn't even think twice about the school changes.
ReplyDeleteAll this hoopla over what school is better and so forth. Give me a break. Stop blaming the schools for all the problems your children may be having and take some responsibility. You cannot possibly expect teachers to do it all for you. Education isn't just about what a child learns in school.
And stop with the BS. Not all the teachers are on their phones while in class.
Stop nitpicking. Stop grouping every darn teacher into this group of people who only care about their paycheck and clocking out as quickly as possible at the end of the day.
For those who have legitimate concerns - like the lack of educational consistency from school to school-cannot argue with you there. There should be more follow through with the admins of said schools.
I hope these parents are contacting the Board and going to the meetings, making themselves heard. This blog isn't enough.
Considering the thousands of dollars I spend yearly on tutoring for basics like reading, writing and math on an elementary level, I have to differ with the post that speaks so highly of our district.
ReplyDeleteLet's remember a few years ago when a math program went on that didn't even have numbers in it. Kids couldn't add, subtract, multiply or divide. It sounds like your kids are old enough to have missed those wasted years.
There is little ELA work beyond test prep to speak of. Writing is conveniently assigned to go on at home where parents take over the teaching role or just do the work for the kids. My kid's class doesn't have reading groups - instead they sit in front of a computer and get "instruction" from a computer. How better to take the joy out of reading!!!
Specials get more respect than core subjects. No kid is taken out of Chinese to get math help but they do miss social studies, science, ELA or even math! Other districts, like Syosset, provide help before school so that kids don't miss their regular class instruction. Here a kid gets penalized for needing help and falls behind in another area since they miss that while they are getting help. It's discouraging. Maybe your kids never needed AIS but a lot of kids do.
Elementary report cards without academics. This needs no further comment.
We should be doing a lot better than this. Or maybe put the money into more techonology instead of teacher raises and benefits. Better yet, do it all over the internet and we can save the money on staff and buses. At least the kids would only be watching one video or using one program at a time.
Ok, first of all the taxes in Amityville and Hempstead are nowhere near what we pay in Plainview. The same holds true for NYC public schools.
ReplyDeleteWhat it sounds like you're trying to say is that this blog is so focused on the negative that it's going overboard. I agree that some postings are continuous complaints without any suggested solutions. On the other hand, there are some serious issues raised that are indeed an embarassment to an educated community such as this.
So much of people's perceptions are clouded or sparkled by the particular building and/or mix of teachers their individual children have. Many arguments here are really comparing apples and oranges because there can be such a disparity between the educational package everyone receives.
A major theme of this blog seems to be inequities at Stratford, the current principal, the new associate superintendent, the recent contract negotiations. Many people feel powerless to change things that really do a disservice to our children.
Let's calm down and see if anyone can come up with some solutions to make everyone happy. Perhaps this is a useless call to action but I invite anyone with any concrete ideas to share them. Venting is ok but what can we do to effect change here?
Syosset has its problems also. I speak as a former Syosset parent. Although we often think the grass is always greener, it isn't.
ReplyDeleteAll this complaining...
ReplyDeleteAll this blogging...
and don't forget the blame game!
Can't you all just enjoy your children?
(It looks like this blog the most important thing to you)
ENOUGH ALREADY!
I can not believe that teachers are saying we should be happy not to be in Amityville or Hempstead. Personally, I think that the statement that blogger posted carried a tone of racism. It is inappropriate and wrong. I pray it wasn't a teacher who made it because it isn't the example I want for may children.
ReplyDeleteAnd to tell me to be thankful for "what I have" conveys a public employee entitlement mindsight. I don't "have" family or possessions. I earned them. Effort at work and effort with family/children build on these things. But you wouldn't understand. You don't view salary increases as a function of effort. You view them as something you "have" or "get" as a function of time.
And for the teacher to then say "You should be happy you are in Plainview"...Hello? I paid to be here.
It is you that should be happy to have a job in our schools. If Amityville and Hempstead are your standard for comparison...then quit and seek a job there!
But if you plan to stay...maybe you can consider putting in a 6.5 hour day like all of the districts you compare yourself with. After all, if you believe that salary increases are a function of time....the least you could do is put in the time before demanding the raise.
"All this complaining... All this blogging...."
ReplyDeleteIf you find the discussions here so disturbing and you see yourself as knowing so much better than everyone here how "superior" the schools are and consider your experiences and opinions to be the only valid ones, perhaps you'd be happier not reading this blog.
I recently found out about the boy from POB Middle School who was bullyed and wound up leaving POB under horrible circumstances. There have been many parents who are beginning to speak out against the right s of our children. Our children have no right sif someone hurts them physically or verbally or online. yet the aggressors have more right sthan them. They are never removed from the school or made to suffer the consequences of their actoins. Unless your child is killed you cannot sue the school or the families of these hcildren. There are parents in plainview who close their eyes to their kids bullying or simply do not want to know. We send our children here to be safe and they really aren't..it's an illusion that needs to be dealth with. The violence and aggression of the children in all long island schools is growing. alot comes from the parents. Children who don't want to be aggressive or mean suffer the consequences. SOme day the tables will turn and the parents and these children will know they have to suffer the consequences of their actions or lack of.
ReplyDelete