A Job Is A Good Job
When you work for a government agency like the school district, as I do, and feed at the public trough for hours each day, you better be productive…and thank your lucky stars.Every Monday morning, as the Principal and I stand outside the school where I work and welcome the staff and students, we greet all with a, “Good morning, how ya doing?” Most staffers will reply, “Great. I have a job.” It wasn’t too long ago that most would say, “Monday darn it. Wish we had another day off.”
Even with the Superintendent’s new proposed budget cuts and employee furloughs, my informal survey shows most folks saying, “Hey, I got a job.”
You’ve no doubt heard the old saying, “If you snooze, you lose.” With future layoffs still on the table, I don’t see many school district employees “snoozing” right now, particularly those in the role of support staff.
Uniforms Are Pretty
On my way down Hillsborough Avenue today, I saw a number of children leaving the Pepin Academy charter school. They were all wearing uniforms…and they looked great.
I’ll bet every teacher in every school wishes our district had a strict uniform policy. Of course, for that matter, most administrators also wish there was a strict uniform policy for teachers and staff. But that’s another story for another day.
Years ago, a group of intellectuals along with a bunch of ACLU bottom-feeders ( I mean lawyers) decided that student attire and hair style did not effect learning or grades. I guess, maybe in some ideal, pure oxygen bubble top world where goths didn’t have multiple body piercings while wearing black coats, or bangers didn’t have multiple tattoos and gang symbols everywhere, or guys grabbing their crotches while trying to keep their pants from completely exposing their butts…..yeah, maybe student dress would not influence the classroom learning environment.
But in the meantime, almost every study I’ve read suggests that intensive student counseling coupled with strong discipline and strong dress codes equals uniform student success.
School Board: Our teachers are waiting!!!!!!!!!
posted by admin @ 6:42 PM
2 Comments:
Given the socialist turn our country is taking, you may get your wish. Our children will learn to conform, conform, conform. There won't be any tattooed gang-bangers standing out, but there also won't be any self-motivated free-thinkers either that may someday grow to be our artists, inventors and breakthrough scientists. What is so great about a bland, uniform, vanilla world?
Isn't it better to teach our youth to make good decisions in accordance with reasonable guidelines?
Children don't want to feel like an inconsequential part of a homogenous group. They want to be special, important, unique. If you can harness that in a positive way, instead of looking for yet another way to stifle their individuality, you will have an amazing ability to motivate and inspire them. Heck, I'm not sure that this is the right audience for asking others to inspire the next generation to be bold and innovative. Better FCAT scores is really all we're aiming for here, right?
Mr. Schmidt, I think you were sleeping or smoking wacky weed when your English teacher was reviewing the required reading of "1984" and "Brave New World". Perhaps you were as unlucky as our students subjected to Springboard, and the curriculun did not include the likes of such relevant (although controversial due to adult content) literature.
So, gentlemen of the administration, put on your power tie, jump into your hybrid vehicle, and report to the "public trough" where you can find new ways to quash individuality. I half-expect that someday we will all be wearing identical jumpsuits, driving identical vehicles, and reporting to government-regulated employment. We will all receive the same "food vouchers" and "housing vouchers" and we will have the same health coverage. It will be a Utopia.
Dave, were you aware that Adult Ed. has an under-age GED program that requires students to wear a uniform, every day, no matter what. The best part about it is "it works!"
Post a Comment
Please feel free to comment on the current topic or on any issue you feel needs discussion. Comments with inappropriate language will not be posted.
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home