On School cuts raise red flags
Posted on February 9 at 5:52 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
jqpublic... guess what? I **DON"T** work at the ESC.
On School cuts raise red flags
Posted on February 9 at 12:17 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I think it would be great if the "public" was willing to be educated on how the school district operates, and THEN provide constructive suggestions based on an informed understanding. Comments like "close the ESC" and "fewer teachers should mean fewer administrators" and "I don't suppose we'll see administrators in the classroom" show a lack of knowledge.
No matter how many teachers we have, people still need to be paid, and hired & benefits administered, and purchases of school supplies and materials still have to be ordered & received, bills have to be paid, budgets have to be reconciled, applications for free/reduced lunches have to be processed, the health and safety of students and staff still needs to be compliant with state and federal requirements (that constantly change), new students have to be enrolled and withdrawn, every student who moves or wants to transfer has to be recorded and reported to the state, curriculum has to be developed, updated & implemented, various state testing and knowledge assessments have to be processed, computer systems and hardware has to be installed, maintained, replaced, repaired, etc., building maintenance has to be scheduled & repairs made, school books & materials have to be cataloged and ID'd, special education and learning support has to be documented, reported and supplied per state and federal requirements, student services (like counseling, social work, psychological support) and reporting has to be performed... etc. All these activities and more happen at the ESC, and the staff who perform these functions are NOT qualified to teach in the classrooms, and the teachers are NOT qualified to perform those functions. Administrative directors HAVE to guide and direct district operations AND education.
Our Charter schools serve specific groups of students who have specialized needs -- most of whom have BEEN in regular classrooms, and need alternatives to succeed that are not available in the other schools. Most often it is to the benefit of the mainstream students AND the charter students that the needs of the charter students are met outside the mainstream classrooms.
The district is holding "listening sessions" open to the public, for those who would like to offer informed & constructive ideas. I would hope that the "listening" would be able to go BOTH WAYS.
On Pain sufferers say fired doctor, opiods helped them
Posted on August 2 at 5:57 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
"They need a doctor who is willing to find the source of the pain and treat it without turning the patients into addicts who can't live without narcotics. This really IS possible, IF the patients really want to be helped." This is a rational comment spoken like someone who has never experienced chronic pain. Ashley said in the article, "I don’t feel there should be a fear for a physician to prescribe to their patient for a legitimate need.” Also nice in theory, and yet here is a Dr. who prescribed what he felt his patients legitimately needed, and he was fired. That would tend to make a physician fearful! The article mentioned several times that this is "a matter of trust," and yet the trust has to go 6 ways: Administration > < Physician > < Patient. In this case the Physician and Patient had trust in the treatment. The break-down is between the Administration & Physician. If the insurance companies aren't telling doctors how to doctor, the administrators are.
Dahl says, "If they’re taking a drug and not doing anything with their lives, then the drug is doing them harm." If the patient is taken OFF the medication, and can't do anything with their life because they are in so much pain, then NOT having the medication is doing them harm. And isn't the physician's creed, "Do no harm?"
Dr. Maninno tried to get out of pain treatment and they wouldn't let him. He tried to treat his patients as he felt best and they fired him. He was my dr & now that he was forced to leave, my family has switched to Dean. My elderly mother suffers from chronic pain and Dr. Maninno is not her dr, but can we expect the same "mgmt control" of the doctors who DO treat her? And when her needs don't meet their "guidelines," what can we expect? That they are going to whithhold treatment from her because they are afraid she's going to be an "addict?" Addiction is not always the worst case scenario. HER drs know she's not looking for a buzz. She has several health issues, which limit the treatment options available to her, so "This really IS possible, IF the patients really want to be helped" doesn't really apply. They know the sources of her pain. They are chronic. They don't have a "cure." If her choices are living out her remaining few years in constant debilitating pain, or living them out as an "addict" at a manageable level of pain -- if achieving that is even possible -- I'd reather she was an addict, and "doing nothing with her life" other than being able to make it through the days, I"m for that.
On Group: Charter school still violating constitution
Posted on June 12 at 12:12 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I agree!! CRES is trying to provide a service to the families of the Janesville School District, and support students in recovery, and this anti-faith group is nit-picking it to death for it's own political agenda. Let them get back to their work of providing an education to recovering Janesville students in a supportive environment instead of spinning their wheels and wasting their time answering to the manipulations of a group making accusations about wording and suggestions just to get attention for THEIR OWN (lack of) faith issues. What the taxpayers of Janesville deserve is a program like this, in a "recovery-safe" environment that isn't going to waste taxpayer and district money to relocate and re-word its program for no good reason. FFRF, find a productive use of your time and effort that will actually support the community instead of shredding it!
On Sex questions deleted from teen risk survey
Posted on May 3 at 11:57 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Just because the survey is "private and optional" doesn't mean that every student feels comfortable with graphic questioning even though they chose to participate in the survey. It's funny that we ASSUME that they would answer truthfully "because we are providing them the opportunity to", when people are saying in their comments that they and their friends did not when they had the opportunity to share that information with adults.
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I'm glad that the students and parents were considered, and that the "conservative" approach was chosen. It doesn't mean the kids are not being surveyed at all, and it doesn't mean that the adults want to bury their heads in the sand. Maybe we'll get the truth, and maybe we won't. But some of us don't allow our 6th graders to "educate themselves" with internet porn. And some of us limit tv and movie exposure to age-appropriate content. Some parents set a good example for their kids by NOT sleeping around, and by having family values that encourage sexual self-respect for both genders of all ages, not a "kids will be kids" mentality that abdicates parental responsibility.
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The survey gives us all a chance to talk with our kids about risky behaviors regardless of the outcome of the questions. I would appreciate MORE consideration of this kind by the district. The schools push the limits way too often. My student's health teachers have made highly inappropriate comments in their sex ed discussions. It can take a lot of "talking" to try to undo the power of suggestion!!
On Board gives superintendent good marks
Posted on April 13 at 11:41 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I agree with badger4life. Notice the board's evaluation focus: "the board..." "the board..." the board ! !" How self-absorbed are they in the power and the glory of being "the board" and having people jump through their hoops? How about what the students, and the staff and the parents think about how well the superintendent is doing? And if people think "the board" is a representation of that, I think they are kidding themselves. Yes, it IS unfortunate that more people don't run for the positions. We could probably all speculate as to why that is. Interesting that 4 out of 6 of "the board's" criteria had to do with THEM, but those that had to do with characteristics like professionalism and courtesy were mostly above average. How about identifying assessment criteria (for the board and administrators) that has to do with students, education, staff turn-over (including administrators), safety, discipline, working conditions, availability of time and tools to do the job, etc. Things that are a reflection of effectiveness, and not just how much time and effort is put into "pleasing the board?" I think the superintendent and the board need to serve the schools, and not the other way around!
On Janesville School District state test results 2009-10 (WKCE)
Posted on April 9 at 8:38 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
So looks like over 50% of the individual school and district scores are worse this year than last. Any thoughts yet that Studer isn't helping much?
On Janesville School District reviewing its 12-step rules
Posted on April 3 at 1:09 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
OH MY H E A V E N S!!! People need to get over themselves. Here CRES is trying to support and assist youth who are recovering from addictions be successful academically, and the FFRF wants to come in and MAKE an issue where there isn't one!! They want to throw a program like CRES under the bus and waste their resources and divert their focus and work away from the students who need them, and on to responding to trumped up claims. How is this helping the students? Or are they only interested in getting attention for themselves?
Posted on March 31 at 11:33 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Compared with the abundance of spirited comments on other school related article topics such as snow days and walking vs driving to school, etc., I have to say I am amazed and disturbed by the relative lack of interest by Gazette readers on something as important as the philosophy under which our schools are being operated. NINE comments???
The success of our school system and our students is something that affects every resident of this city whether it's your child, grandchild, or neighbor's child. Our students are the future of Janesville AND the state. Successful schools that produce well-educated citizens draw potential residents to Janesville and improve our economy. Supporting at-risk students and helping them to become successful members of society benefits us all. We should ALL CARE A LOT about how successfully Janesville's children are learning and whether we're doing all we can to make that happen. Do "happy" students, parents and staff equate to academic achievement? Are "surveys" an accurate and effective way to measure success? Does teaching to the test demonstrate knowledge? Come on people! Become engaged in the educational process! Vote next week and get some school board members in there who are more supportive and less antagonistic toward the staff and students and families they are supposed to be helping. These are difficult times. Let's work together to get it right!
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On School cuts raise red flags
Posted on February 9 at 11:25 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
The school board runs the district, not the district administrators. The board is telling the administrators how much and what, will have to be cut. Obviously the majority of the school board felt they had some higher priority for the past few years, than avoiding this crisis. Everyone knew it was coming. The board members who really care about the students are out-numbered. There has been an almost complete turn-over in administrators in the past couple of years, including the finance staff. Maybe the ones who left got tired of beating their heads against a brick school board who wasn't listening to their budget concerns or recommendations.
People wrote that lazy, unmotivated trouble-makers should be kicked out of schools to flip burgers early, and that students who are motivated to excel should not expect to do it at a public school. They should go to a private school – which further reduces our school population & state funding. If public education is only mean to educate people to a certain level, and that level doesn’t qualify them for college (or scholarships), then who will be our future doctors & lawyers & teachers? Only the kids whose parents can afford to send them to private schools?? What kind of mediocre future are we offering our kids and our community? Isn’t every child entitled to realize their FULL potential? And do YOU want to go to a doctor that was only educated “to a certain level?”
The law MANDATES that students “at risk” of not graduating from school be served, not kicked out. The state sets increasingly higher academic achievement goals which are REQUIRED to be met. And students are not only required by law to attend school until they graduate or are 18 years old, the district actually has to spend their rapidly dwindling staff & resources to track down students who are not attending, and figure out ways to get them to attend AND achieve to the state and federal goals. With all the effort that goes in to educating students, why do some people insist on labeling them as “trophies” or “trash??” It benefits our entire community to help students to become productive future members of the community and job force.