I deleted a posting and the associated comments for the first time this morning. I posted a concern/fear I had within the G2A rules, however it was evident very quickly that I had stepped on some sensitive toes. Also, the comments were leading to name calling and me possibly violating my own rules. I apologize for any frustration my openness caused and am always available in a less public forum to discuss your concerns and frustrations.
Friends and Politics
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4 comments:
Wow, John. My name is Wendy Batz and I was the co-PTO president and a parent at PLE for the past two years. I had always heard that certain members of the ZLE community carried an "elitist" attitude, though since I do live within a close proximimty to ZLE and love my neighborhood and neighbors, I really tried to discount such gossip. Well, I now know at least one of the parents that gave ZLE this reputation. It is very disappointing to know that there are people living in this great community that still feel they are somehow more entitled to, what? I don't know. In light of the current changes and the very unfortunate closing of PLE (which may I say had a leading hand in passing the much needed referenedum that allowed your school to remain open) might I suggest that in the future, you check your negative attitude at the door and instead focus on what matters most - the community and our children.
Best regards,
Wendy Batz
Wendy,
After 10 years of listening to conversations from RAS parents, I think both ZLE and PLE have parents with elitist attitudes.
My simple questions are:
Does passing AYP matter in your opinion?
How do we close the achievement gap?
Nothing elitist, my goal was to remind folks that RAS schools do not succeed until all kids get a good education and are ready to become productive citizens. This is the intent of No Child Left Behind/AYP.(even with its flaws)
I simply believe that saying we are great without achieving this goal is letting ourselves off easy. Now how do we get there? That is truly a positive community and children focus I can get behind.
Any thoughts?
One more note: The irony is I truly would have been happy enrolling my kids in ZLE, PLE, Sonnesyn or Sunny Hollow. To me they are all good schools with caring staff and parents.
I think I will make a poor poster child for the snobby elitist. I like most schools and want ALL kids to succeed before we declare success.
If you think I am making this up, please look over the last 150+ blog postings.
Sorry again for stepping on the land mine. I deleted it as soon as I saw it was a hot spot. Hopefully I will be forgiven for my insensitivity.
I would hope we could discuss things in a candid, constructive manner, with good humor, in a way that avoids negative personal comments. Those are things I always try to do.
As for John's questions:
"Does passing AYP matter in your opinion?"
It matters, but lots of other things matter too, and some of those things are a lot more important. I want to see better AYP results, and I want to see them in more categories. But I don't think passing AYP should be the highest priority for Robbinsdale schools, because I think that would distract our schools from their real mission.
"How do we close the achievement gap?"
Work harder, and try more things. One problem is how we go about doing those things in an environment of de facto budget cuts.
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