[LM_NET] HIT: NCLB Reorganization

[Michelle Walker <michellekwalker@GMAIL.COM>]

I did not receive many replies to the forwarded request for
informaiton on what other library staff have faced when their schools
are reorganized under NCLB rules.  Hopefully that's a positive sign
that few of us have yet had to face this.  Thank you to the two
members who shared the thoughtful replies and experiences below.  The
original post was a bit long so I included it at the bottom of this
message below the replies.

Responses:

I went through a reorganization in New Orleans the year before
Katrina.  All of the staff were laid off.  We were given the
opportunity to A. be on a seniority list for open positions B. Apply
for our old position and be hired by the "reorganized" school.  I
don't know were your school is or the number of teacher looking to
work at your school, but in New Orleans there weren't many so called
"highly qualified" teachers trying to work at a failed school in a
high poverty district.  I am sure this is the case for most schools.
So, the result was that the school opened the next year with exactly
the same staff except for a few.  We all had to be interviewed and
hired anew.  It was a total joke.  We had the same incompetent
principal, vice principal and teacher.  The few that weren't hired
went to other schools in the same situation.  We opened the next year
with a longer day, 90 min. and a so called "distinguished educator".
At any rate, to make a long story short, nothing changed.  Finally, I
was rescued by the Katrina Flood.  I now teach at a high school in
California that actually just met the AYP two years in a row and we
are not our of corrective action.  A lot of this depends on your State
Ed. Code.  In Louisiana the code required a library in each school.  I
can't imagine a high school of 2200 without a library, but there are
some really stupid administrators.  Anyway, good luck.

-----------------------------------------
I can tell you what happened at my school, but how do we know these
two situations are equal? There are many similarities--the poverty,
minorities, transience, etc. Ditto the Freshman Academy, massive
tutoring, etc. Our school went into "corrective action" this school
year. We have not lost any personnel, though. As a matter of fact,
there appear to be monetary grants available. Also the district
finally agreed to help us to Title I status, which we weren't before,
so there's money, too. That was all to the good.

The worst thing was that the superintendent was required to notify all
parents that our school had failed to meet its goals for graduation
rate, mostly due to the transience (even though we passed all
standardized tests!) and that our students could attend any other high
school in the district.

Naturally there was a mass exodus. Parents get REALLY nervous about
announcements like that, and they didn't stick around to see that we
really do have a good school, but left in droves. Fairly or not, if
the federal government labels your school as a bad school, what can
you do?

So we have had a mostly quiet school year with smaller classes. Three
of our teachers were forced to transfer to other schools--this was
very painful--but we didn't actually lose anyone. We have rarely had
fights at our schools, while the other, now overcrowded schools have
had numerous fights with arrests, weapons on campus, etc.

Morale and school spirit are on the low side. And all of this is so
unnecessary! Our school has such a long and proud history. We need to
serve the population we serve. We have great special ed teachers and
social workers, and very caring teachers. Our kids need a lot of love.
They may never be high achievers, and they may get moved to a new
foster home in mid-year--but that's what public education is--taking
care of EVERYONE in ways that can't be measured on standardized tests.

It is indeed heartbreaking in many ways. I have hopes that this year's
elections will bring change and sanity. People say it takes a long
time to get legislation passed, but I keep thinking it didn't take
very long to get NCLB passed--it was upon us before we knew it.
Tell your friend to hang in there. I am also sad to see many friends
who should be teaching but have retired early or sought other careers
because of this nonsense. The federal government can't shut down ALL
the schools!

By the way, even though the superintendent tried to block it, many of
the fleeing students came back after the first semester, after they
found out the grass wasn't greener.

Original Post:

Friends and colleagues,

I am forwarding this message to the group on behalf of one of our
members who wishes to remain anonymous.  I realize this is a departure
from our strictly-enforced signature policy.  But as you can see from
the details below, our colleague is concerned about the fate of his
position, and as all LM_NET posts are publicly viewable on the web,
his message could cause difficultly for him during a time when his job
may well be at risk.

If we had not granted this member anonymnity, it is likely this post
would not have been made, and our moderation team feels this topic is
too important and will become even more important as more of our
members find their own schools in a similar position.   Please direct
your comments to me.  I will compile them, remove identification, and
share back to the group as a HIT.

----------------------------------

Forwarded message:


Greetings:

Here is an interesting situation that may be coming to your high school:

Background:

My high school (2200+ students, significant poverty, significant
minority, significant transient population, significant ESL, etc.) has
failed to meet AYP in certain subgroups for the last four years.

For the past two - three years, we have undergone massive curricular
reorganization.  We have implemented a Small Learning Schools grant;
Freshman Academy classes; dedicated Freshman wing for classes; massive
amounts of tutoring before, during and after school; intensive reading
intervention at the middle and H.S level; advisory periods;
intervention summer school for at-risk incoming freshmen; student-led
conferences; our faculty is 100% KRISS trained (and uses it); 90%
Kagan trained (with high utilization); ...Lots of other measures...

We really ARE trying different ways of meeting student needs via tools
that are "research based."  We have made significant progress in many
areas, but we still fail to meet AYP.

During a faculty meeting before spring break, our Principal said we
might have 2 years before "they" (the State and the Feds) come in and
do a wholesale termination of all teachers and install a "new" set of
administrators and faculty.

At mid-term, several administrators were told their contracts would
not be renewed because the school has failed to meet AYP.  ...The
terminations have started, and more are coming.

Here is the question:

Is there anyone out there that has gone through a state/federal
mandated "total reorganization"?  If you did, what happened to the
professional/certified Library staff?  Were they terminated also?

Please post your experiences and facts, no suppositions or
speculations, please.  Let's call the subject line for postings "NCLB
Reorganization."

Thanks, and good luck to us all.

A Midwestern Librarian.

Forwarded by:
-- 
Michelle Walker
Co-Moderator, LM_NET and El-Announce with LM_NET Select
Librarian, Hamilton Union High School District
620 Canal Street / PO Box 488
Hamilton City, CA 95951
(530) 826-3261
http://www.glenn-co.k12.ca.us/ham-hs/library.html
michellekwalker@gmail.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
  You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings
  by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book.
To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET  2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
 3) SET LM_NET MAIL  4) SET LM_NET DIGEST  * Allow for confirmation.
 * LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/
 * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
 * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/
 * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html
 * LM_NET Wiki: http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------