I think the brutish behavior exhibited in the schools mirrors the social and political climate we're in. The issue is the lack of respect for the authority of the teachers. I'm appalled that some students are banding together to harass a teacher to the point of forcing that person out of the classroom. This is disgraceful! This should be addressed in a public forum where parents are required to attend to find some cooperative resolutions to this situation. Who would want to be a teacher in this type of atmosphere? This contributes to the dumbing down of our future "leaders".
I agree with you completely. The lack of respect for teachers and this behavior is appalling. A lot of this can be traced to a lack of support for teachers from the administration themselves. Teachers are now being asked to monitor the hallways between classes now but if they do intervene in disruptions, which it sounds like is a difficult task in itself, they are often reprimanded for their actions. (Whitman has had a couple of these examples..).
I think it would be reassuring for a lot of parents if administration/school board/Dr. Means would acknowledge that the school district has a problem with student behavior. In my opinion, a lot of the behaviors can be attributed to what has been allowed over the last few years. Maybe then we can all proactively take steps to work to make the changes that need to happen.
Ben you may want to determine why it is thought to be "bad" if one high school (Wauwatosa East) had maybe 100 to 200 more students than Wauwatosa West. That was the case in the 1990s. As I remember the contentious discussions focused then on what change should be made to the boundary line for high school attendance. It would be interesting if you remember the seemingly good reason given for the proposed change to policy 5120 which would impact assigned high school attendance. The proposed change seems to revert to the policy that was in effect prior to 1997. The only students impacted would seem to be some attending McKinley school and some attending Longfellow school. There was a period when attendance at the two high schools could have been considered equal.
One thing that was mentioned during the school board meeting was that with fewer kids in a school, courses and extracurriculars and other things get cut because they can't fill the classes or get enough interest. And that some consider it unfair or get upset when one school has a program or course that the other doesn't.
I think the brutish behavior exhibited in the schools mirrors the social and political climate we're in. The issue is the lack of respect for the authority of the teachers. I'm appalled that some students are banding together to harass a teacher to the point of forcing that person out of the classroom. This is disgraceful! This should be addressed in a public forum where parents are required to attend to find some cooperative resolutions to this situation. Who would want to be a teacher in this type of atmosphere? This contributes to the dumbing down of our future "leaders".
I agree with you completely. The lack of respect for teachers and this behavior is appalling. A lot of this can be traced to a lack of support for teachers from the administration themselves. Teachers are now being asked to monitor the hallways between classes now but if they do intervene in disruptions, which it sounds like is a difficult task in itself, they are often reprimanded for their actions. (Whitman has had a couple of these examples..).
I think it would be reassuring for a lot of parents if administration/school board/Dr. Means would acknowledge that the school district has a problem with student behavior. In my opinion, a lot of the behaviors can be attributed to what has been allowed over the last few years. Maybe then we can all proactively take steps to work to make the changes that need to happen.
Ben you may want to determine why it is thought to be "bad" if one high school (Wauwatosa East) had maybe 100 to 200 more students than Wauwatosa West. That was the case in the 1990s. As I remember the contentious discussions focused then on what change should be made to the boundary line for high school attendance. It would be interesting if you remember the seemingly good reason given for the proposed change to policy 5120 which would impact assigned high school attendance. The proposed change seems to revert to the policy that was in effect prior to 1997. The only students impacted would seem to be some attending McKinley school and some attending Longfellow school. There was a period when attendance at the two high schools could have been considered equal.
One thing that was mentioned during the school board meeting was that with fewer kids in a school, courses and extracurriculars and other things get cut because they can't fill the classes or get enough interest. And that some consider it unfair or get upset when one school has a program or course that the other doesn't.