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Role of the Board of Education
It is my belief, the role of the Board of Education is to establish and direct educational policy for Charles County Public Schools including budgets, curriculum , and personnel appointments. In addition, the Board of Education should create the best environment to educate all students and enable them to reach their full potential, develop personal responsibility and achieve career readiness in order to be productive members of society.
How do you feel? What do you believe should be the role of the Board of Education?
13 comments:
I'd like to see how the students did on the AP exams.
It seems like more and more students take the exams, but are the scores getting higher, lower, or staying the same? I would think that a national or state-wide assessment is a better way to see how the students are doing in the county compared to other counties in the state.
Why are we still using block scheduling? How can students that are 12-14 years old stay focused in a 90 minute class? What is the thinking behind this type of scheduling?
The board members should be comprised of people who have/had children in the public school system. Home schooling your
child(ren) does not count!
What's wrong with homeschooling?
Most homeschoolers are ahead of the pack when compared with good ole' federal skoolers.
They have to pay taxes AND pay for their schooling! Look out, someday your boss may have been homeschooled!
Nothing is wrong with home schooling, to each his own! There are great homeschooled children out there! However, homeschooled parents and children are not in the public school system on a day to day basis, so how can they be fair minded to the decision making process regarding the public school policies and procedures? More importantly, why would they care, how would it affect their children? After all, they are homeschooling their children because they don't fully back public schools and their procedures.
Poor argument.
Many managers are not in the field of day to day operations, but yet make most of the very important decisions of a company.
Homeschooling parents pay the salaries of teachers, principals, and the people at the Board of Education, therefore these people must be held accountable for anything that goes on with the taxes that they have paid.
If they are not to be held accountable, then exclude their share of the taxes that they pay toward the schools. Allow them to keep that money and pay for the supplies that they use with homeschooling.
Homeschoolers have friends that tell them what goes on in the schools. Unfortunately, the paper will not cover all the violence that occurs in the schools and the
poppycock that goes on in the overcrowded and mayhem-filled classrooms.
I'm kind of surpised that "anonymous" mentions parents being in the schools on a "day to day" basis.
As far as I recall, the BOE does not allow parents to come in and observe on a "day to day" basis.
Doesn't Mr. Richmond have a rule that prohibits parents coming in more than a couple times during the semester?
It would be nice if parents were allowed to observe teachers and classes when they felt it was necessary (i.e. reports of kids being out of control, or a report that the teacher was either typing on their computer (IM'ing) while the class was in session or they had not idea how to teach?)
I agree the role of the BOE is to provide the best possible learning environment. To that end, what sense does it make to have so many half-days, early-dismissals, & late-arrivals??? NOTHING gets done on those days, except the school collects its precious federal & state monies because it counts like a whole day. But the kids are out of sync, as are the teachers. Then they either didn't learn as well as they were supposed to or they skipped it due to lack of time & didn't learn it at all. Lose-lose for the kids! Either go to school the entire day or not at all.
As for the late-arrivals due to bad weather, I've heard the lame excuses that the roads are better a few hours later or that back-country roads aren't cleared & it's not fair to them to not be able to get out & have to miss school. That's just hogwash. The roads are generally no better until the sun comes up & has had several hours to do its magic - 2 hours late arrival usually doesn't cut it. All it does is create hardships for us working parents who have to scramble to get our kids taken care of or we're late for work. I live on a back country road & we know its our responsibility to clear it to get through so we do what we have to to make that happen. In our case I get on the tractor with a blade & clear the road myself. Some of my neighbors hire someone to do it for them. Others have 4-wheel drive vehicles to get through. But we all have a method that works. Stop using us as an excuse! Heck, half the time you have late arrivals because it MIGHT snow (& often it either never does or we get only 1 millimeter). That's the most ridiculous, over-protective, let's panic & try to avoid any frivilous law suits, thing I've ever heard. Do you really want to teach our kids to be alarmists? That's what you're doing.
What's with the half-day once a month for teachers to do grades? Sounds like a union negotiated that one. Either give them the whole day to do it or let them do it on their own time. But the half-day makes no sense from a students' learning perspective & just creates problems for working parents who have to come home early to be there for the kids.
Bottom line - It's not in the students' best interests to miss any part of school. I say again, either go to school the entire day or not at all.
BTW, I agree with the comment that parents of home-schooled children should not have a vote on the BOE. That's not a knock on home-schooling at all, in many cases it is indeed a superior education (though I think there are social aspects that need to be addressed in other ways). I think the home-schooling opinions should be heard...ALL opinions should be considered, especially when it comes to molding young minds. But I simply believe that people with a vote should have a direct vested interest.
I think 50% of my tax dollars is a VERY "direct vested interest" especially when the 16 year old idiots can't even count change when I use the drive thru. Tain't like it's algebra or calculus or something. It's second grade math. I'm paying for them to be educated. That's a "direct vested interest if I ever saw one." Kudos to those who are willing to go above and beyond to donate time when their children AREN'T benefitting.
Thank you for all the information and opinions. Please keep them coming and email the sight to everyone you know! The more community opinions I can receive the better. I will be trying to post new topics once a week, generally on the weekends. If you have suggestions, please let me know. I am currently monitoring posts, but only for language not content. I WANT to hear the negative too.
I'm curious what your thoughts are, Mrs. Abell, on the half-day, late-arrival, early-dismissal comments. I agree completely that they are no good for the students. I vote for full day or day off! How about the masses...What do y'all think?
I see both sides of the home schooling/vested interest debate. I home school my kids too because I feel they're getting a better education and I also would like to see my tax dollars better educate those "16 year old idiots" you spoke of. But I also feel the school system can only do so much. They are educators, NOT PARENTS! Where are the parents of those "idiots" who should be monitoring their kids' education, making sure they're doing their school work? Additionally, this stupid "no child left behind" policy is only making sure that ALL the kids can barely make change at McDonalds instead of allowing teachers to teach those who want to be taught and thus reaching the higher students and expanding their minds and desire to learn. Schools simply cannot force a kid to learn, especially when the parents don't care. As a home schooler I do feel like I should have a say so in how my tax dollars are spent, but I also believe the kids are way more important than my taxes and those with by far the biggest vested interest, and who therefore should have the biggest vote, are those with kids in the system...not me.
I don't know about the homeschoolers, but anyone that pays taxes does have the right to control who they want running the schools during election time.
Kennedy-Townsend found out the hard way that taxpayers DO have a say in regards to government.
Even the "ivory tower thinkers" at Radio Station Road should remember that they are payed by the taxpayers and not by the "general fund of Charles County".
Doodydom, I'm lost. I don't see anything in any of the the posts regarding morality. Can you elaborate?
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