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Share information to help Hillsborough County school children, school employees, and taxpayers.
Tell me what you think
Since 2006 I have had the honor of representing all Hillsborough County children and voters...I created this blog in 2007 and have welcomed the opportunity for feed back throughout my term.
I am now a candidate for re-election and I need your help. Visit my website at http://www.voteapril.com/ .
I still want your input. If you think something is wrong, then tell me how it can be better. If you have information that would help our children, employees, or taxpayers, this is the place to share.
Please also note that this is my personal blog, not the board's. Furthermore, the opinions expressed by posters on this blog may or may not necessarily reflect my opinions or those of the School Board.
Follow the Japanese model in the automotive industry by asking, listening, and considering the suggestions of those who actually touch the product. There is some reason that Honda, Toyota, et al can build factories in the US and still clean our clock. Walk into a couple of showrooms this weekend and compare products. Check out Consumer Reports.
I LOVE talking to former students and asking them what was effective and what wasn't. It is often a validating and liberating experience. Some of my most dramatic suggestions have come from the "F" and "A" students. Its amazing to see a subtle shift in the comments as the student matures into adulthood.
The most important thing is that if you ask you must sincerely want to listen and act on what you are told no matter how it may "hurt". The reward is next time you see the "student" you discuss the effect their suggestion had on your current students! Its like magic. Can doing that in the district be so wrong?
The School Accrediation Committee is based on the Quality Assurance Review process. Their implimentation method needs some modification but this approach is in its infancy and the direction is more in keeping with modern management techniques.
This process will work in HCPS if the domains and fiefdoms that have developed in the district can be changed. It is a monumental task as illustrated by the fact that ANY employee associated with our Transportation Dept could have been asked for input on how to improve our service. The responses would have been authentic and free.
The public is hungry for an efficient, common-sense approach to solving our problems and improving the schools. We need to let them know when we are successful and when we aren't with a brutally honest assessment of what we did.
Most of our parents can forgive a lot with an honest "I'm sorry. We really screwed up on ______ . It won't happen again."
Foster a team environment? First, all sides have to learn to trust each other. The district administration has to actually get out of their offices and spend some time in the schools, and the teachers ought to have to manage the day-to-day at the district level and deal with being responsible for keeping the district running. An appreciation of each others' jobs and the effects of decisions and actions at both levels might help break down the "us versus them" attitudes that have taken hold.
Yes, I think we teachers would very much like to be part of a team of decision makers. I have often thought that a team of teachers could replace pieces of the district administration, or at least act as an advisory counsel.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "How can we foster a team environment?":
If we are to foster a team environment communication must improve. Teachers need to be advised of impending changes that will greatly affect their daily work habits. The district should ask teachers their opinions of different issues as well. Also parents and students should play a role in any change. As much as it hurts to hear that you arent doing something right, it is productive to hear these comments in order to improve the current situation. However, this must go both ways. Constructive criticism should be given to administrators as well as teachers.
Creating a team environment also starts with your leader. If he or she doesn't model this behavior then nothing will improve. I am hearing way too many situations of principals bad mouthing fellow staff members and warning other young teachers to stay away from these "troublemakers." This does nothing but drive away good young teachers to other schools or out of teaching.
I believe many of the problems that plague this school district could be solved by sitting down and using a common sense approach to fiscal responsibility. Why not consult teachers, and the public to see if they can come up with better solutions?
Right now the decisions that come from downtown challenge common logic and reasoning. If teachers felt for a second that they were indeed a part of the decision making process,the problems that exist now would be minimal. Go to any school board meeting and ask most teachers who show up if they feel their opinions are welcomed. Teachers would get more hospitality at a Bobby Knight lockeroom tirade. If the team environment is to catch on,this must improve. Several board members especially Mr. Jack Lamb dont foster a professional nor hospitable enivromnent for teachers. Mr. Lamb interrupts teachers (part of this sentence was edited out because it was, in my opinion, mean spirited and unconstructive - I am reading all of these comments and taking them all very seriously - Please follow the 2 simple rules. April)
Teachers need to be a part of the decision making process and feel that they are on the same level with school district employees. Until this is done teachers will continue to resist and many are going to leave for more attractive careers.
How about how can we foster an environmental team?
What is the school board doing to develop best environmental practices in the schools? Anything? Our young kids really need to be taught to respect the environment, not asked to bring in ever increasing numbers of packages of wet wipes and rolls of paper towels!
I'm appalled at he waste I see at my son's relatively wealthy elementary school. No paper recycling, no compact flourescent bulbs, no composting from the cafeteria, nothing special for Earth Day, and ever greater and increasing emphasis on private fund-raising by selling that most useless and wasteful of products--gift wrap!
Maybe we can't do everything but we really need to develop an environmental sustainability model program, and then behave like we mean it at the elementary school level. It will teach kids when they are young enough not to be cynical about the values of environmental respect, and it will likely save the district a lot of money too! Please do more about this. thanks.
We've been trying to tell Mrs. Elia for months how we can foster a team environment.
She absolutely has the right to make the decisions. That's what we pay her for.
But, I would suspect she never expected the backlash when the decision was made to change schedules. Why? Because she has not ventured out to schools to have town hall meeetings. If she had talked to teachers, she might have heard three things:
1. If you need to cut $20+ million, fine. But, where have you looked and have you extracted cuts from other areas? (i.e. Have travel budgets been cut? Do we need all those administrators? Have you cut mileage allowances? Have you asked ROSSAC department heads to cut 5% across the board?)
2. Why not look at other solutions? Is a 5/7 day appropriate with 60-minute periods?
3. An English teacher spends about 10-15 minutes reading and grading an essay. With 27 extra students, that adds about 7 hours a week, with 4 hours less planning time. Is the potential loss of some clubs and the possibility of less graded material the desired outcome?
If she knew of these issues, her communications plan would have been much different than simply asking principals to meet with us for 20 minutes.
I don't know the anwsers to any of the above. But, clearly, if teamwork is the goal, listening on a frequent basis is the key. And mutual problem-solving involving those who know best what the issues are should be a goal of Mrs. Elia.
Mrs. Elia has to change her method of decision making. Her direct reports don't know how to improve working conditions and what the issues might be. While they may be outstanding individuals, she's organizationally top heavy. (Imagine all the teachers that could be hired in place of those folks.)
Just showing up at a high school to say "hi" isn't enough. Get in a conference room with those that care, run through the issues, and let's solve the issues together. It's an us vs. them mentality right now, and Mrs. Elia has to take ownership of that issue, in spite of other board memebrs explaining it away. Mrs. Elia's decision created the problem, and it's now up to her to solve it.
In summary, let's see more:
1. Listening through town hall meetings.
2. Direct and frequent communication from Mrs. Elia, not from her assistants. (And, ask her not to write letters to the Tampa Tribune. She should be articulating her thoughts to teachers.)
3. Mutual problem solving, utilizing teachers at all levels.
Sorry for the long response, April, I hope this helps.
First and foremost, and board members listen up, STOP DENIGRATING TEACHERS!
A part of the teacher contract says, teachers are never to be dressed down in public. If a teacher needs to be corrected it is to be done behind closed doors. The reason is simple. Teachers are in charge of many students during the day that do not want to be there—it is compulsory education to them. The number one complaint teachers have involves student conduct in class. Trying to keeping order in a classroom with 30-plus students so that learning can occur is a daunting daily task.
It is a joke when board members compare teachers to students to belittle them because they are rowdy at board meetings. It's a joke because the board members doing it are showing their ignorance of what real disruptions in class are. During times like these when teachers are outspoken concerning radical, major changes next year, board member need to put it in perspective. Instead, they seem to take offense and try to degrade and patronize teachers in front of God, TV cameras, and worst of all students that may see it. Board members on TV and administrators at school must NEVER scold a teacher in view of students. For one thing, it violates the collective bargaining aggreement and for another, the last thing we need while struggling daily with unruly students in class is for someone perceived as a superior to dress down a teacher for all to see. It puts a hit on the teacher's image as an authority figure for students.
School board members if you want to support teachers then please stop chastising them for speaking out at board meetings. At public forums, people, even teachers, may speak out vigorously when they disagree with government.
Rule number one for team players is play as a team. If you have something negative to say, then call a huddle and say it there not out on the playing field.
Let's be fair, too. Not all board members treat teachers like they're children. It's mainly one or two of them.
Teachers could make their voices heard to each and every school board member as well. Teachers could bypass their union leadership (cut out the middleman, as it were) and make their voices heard loud and clear. The web address to contact them via email is
Please remember to be clear but polite, and also remember that these board members represent children, parents, and teachers. They are not your enemy, and you will catch many more flies with honey than with vinegar.
April, I'll understand if you don't post this. I was looking for a way to compel the union to give me a list of items that they submitted for Impact Bargaining, and I came across this Florida Statute: 407.605(2) The collective bargaining negotiations between a chief executive officer, or his or her representative, and a bargaining agent shall be in compliance with the provisions of s. 286.011
286.011 is the public meetings law, which includes the requirement that the meeting (in this case, negotiation session) be announced before it occurs and be open to the public, the same as board meetings are announced and open to the public.
I haven't found anything in the Contract that contradicts the open meeting requirement, but even if there was it would be void because Florida Statutes cannot be superceded by a contract. The Teacher Contract is up for renegotiation. It might be a good idea for the Board to announce the dates and times of negotiations on the Board website. Given the current climate I am amazed that no one has challenged the validity of the New Contract Language because it appears to have been negotiated in private, instead of in public.
The students are the only reason that anyone in the school district even has a job, and the people who are in direct daily contact with those kids deserve first call on resources and money.
The district administration, like any management layer, exists for one purpose and one purpose only - to set up an environment in which there are as few obstacles as possible for the teachers and support staff who do the real work. Good administration is like good information technology - it's best when nobody knows it's there. The job of the superintendent, to oversimplify a bit, is to make sure the trains run on time.
Address the "arrogance with ingnorance" mentality of the decision makers. The fact that you as a school board member have such a public forum will certainly shake up how HCDS has run their business. Public exposure is the Achilles heal of a poorly run bureaucracy. Historically, HCDS have been able to keep tight control of how decisions were carried out as well as control the public exposure of any discord was kept from the public eye. This system was supported by hiring from within. "Fostering a team environment" will depend on what the stakes are for the individual players. The power people that are entrenched in the status quo of the political and financial security they have enjoyed for many many years may feel threatend, therefore covertly subvert any attempts to change. Retaliation to parents or employees may now be carried out in a less subtle manner. I, for one, having been exposed for over fifteen years to how skillfully and aggressively the District could thwart any complaint or grievance despite the facts, think it is now ironic that their defense mechanism is falling apart.
14 comments:
Follow the Japanese model in the automotive industry by asking, listening, and considering the suggestions of those who actually touch the product. There is some reason that Honda, Toyota, et al can build factories in the US and still clean our clock. Walk into a couple of showrooms this weekend and compare products. Check out Consumer Reports.
I LOVE talking to former students and asking them what was effective and what wasn't. It is often a validating and liberating experience. Some of my most dramatic suggestions have come from the "F" and "A" students. Its amazing to see a subtle shift in the comments as the student matures into adulthood.
The most important thing is that if you ask you must sincerely want to listen and act on what you are told no matter how it may "hurt". The reward is next time you see the "student" you discuss the effect their suggestion had on your current students! Its like magic. Can doing that in the district be so wrong?
The School Accrediation Committee is based on the Quality Assurance Review process. Their implimentation method needs some modification but this approach is in its infancy and the direction is more in keeping with modern management techniques.
This process will work in HCPS if the domains and fiefdoms that have developed in the district can be changed. It is a monumental task as illustrated by the fact that ANY employee associated with our Transportation Dept could have been asked for input on how to improve our service. The responses would have been authentic and free.
The public is hungry for an efficient, common-sense approach to solving our problems and improving the schools. We need to let them know when we are successful and when we aren't with a brutally honest assessment of what we did.
Most of our parents can forgive a lot with an honest "I'm sorry. We really screwed up on ______ . It won't happen again."
And it NEVER does.
Foster a team environment? First, all sides have to learn to trust each other. The district administration has to actually get out of their offices and spend some time in the schools, and the teachers ought to have to manage the day-to-day at the district level and deal with being responsible for keeping the district running. An appreciation of each others' jobs and the effects of decisions and actions at both levels might help break down the "us versus them" attitudes that have taken hold.
Yes, I think we teachers would very much like to be part of a team of decision makers. I have often thought that a team of teachers could replace pieces of the district administration, or at least act as an advisory counsel.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "How can we foster a team environment?":
If we are to foster a team environment communication must improve. Teachers need to be advised of impending changes that will greatly affect their daily work habits. The district should ask teachers their opinions of different issues as well. Also parents and students should play a role in any change. As much as it hurts to hear that you arent doing something right, it is productive to hear these comments in order to improve the current situation.
However, this must go both ways. Constructive criticism should be given to administrators as well as teachers.
Creating a team environment also starts with your leader. If he or she doesn't model this behavior then nothing will improve. I am hearing way too many situations of principals bad mouthing fellow staff members and warning other young teachers to stay away from these "troublemakers." This does nothing but drive away good young teachers to other schools or out of teaching.
I believe many of the problems that plague this school district could be solved by sitting down and using a common sense approach to fiscal responsibility. Why not consult teachers, and the public to see if they can come up with better solutions?
Right now the decisions that come from downtown challenge common logic and reasoning. If teachers felt for a second that they were indeed a part of the decision making process,the problems that exist now would be minimal. Go to any school board meeting and ask most teachers who show up if they feel their opinions are welcomed.
Teachers would get more hospitality at a Bobby Knight lockeroom tirade. If the team environment is to catch on,this must improve. Several board members especially Mr. Jack Lamb dont foster a professional nor hospitable enivromnent for teachers. Mr. Lamb interrupts teachers (part of this sentence was edited out because it was, in my opinion, mean spirited and unconstructive - I am reading all of these comments and taking them all very seriously - Please follow the 2 simple rules. April)
Teachers need to be a part of the decision making process and feel that they are on the same level with school district employees. Until this is done teachers will continue to resist and many are going to leave for more attractive careers.
How about how can we foster an environmental team?
What is the school board doing to develop best environmental practices in the schools? Anything? Our young kids really need to be taught to respect the environment, not asked to bring in ever increasing numbers of packages of wet wipes and rolls of paper towels!
I'm appalled at he waste I see at my son's relatively wealthy elementary school. No paper recycling, no compact flourescent bulbs, no composting from the cafeteria, nothing special for Earth Day, and ever greater and increasing emphasis on private fund-raising by selling that most useless and wasteful of products--gift wrap!
Maybe we can't do everything but we really need to develop an environmental sustainability model program, and then behave like we mean it at the elementary school level. It will teach kids when they are young enough not to be cynical about the values of environmental respect, and it will likely save the district a lot of money too! Please do more about this. thanks.
We've been trying to tell Mrs. Elia for months how we can foster a team environment.
She absolutely has the right to make the decisions. That's what we pay her for.
But, I would suspect she never expected the backlash when the decision was made to change schedules. Why? Because she has not ventured out to schools to have town hall meeetings. If she had talked to teachers, she might have heard three things:
1. If you need to cut $20+ million, fine. But, where have you looked and have you extracted cuts from other areas? (i.e. Have travel budgets been cut? Do we need all those administrators? Have you cut mileage allowances? Have you asked ROSSAC department heads to cut 5% across the board?)
2. Why not look at other solutions? Is a 5/7 day appropriate with 60-minute periods?
3. An English teacher spends about 10-15 minutes reading and grading an essay. With 27 extra students, that adds about 7 hours a week, with 4 hours less planning time. Is the potential loss of some clubs and the possibility of less graded material the desired outcome?
If she knew of these issues, her communications plan would have been much different than simply asking principals to meet with us for 20 minutes.
I don't know the anwsers to any of the above. But, clearly, if teamwork is the goal, listening on a frequent basis is the key. And mutual problem-solving involving those who know best what the issues are should be a goal of Mrs. Elia.
Mrs. Elia has to change her method of decision making. Her direct reports don't know how to improve working conditions and what the issues might be. While they may be outstanding individuals, she's organizationally top heavy. (Imagine all the teachers that could be hired in place of those folks.)
Just showing up at a high school to say "hi" isn't enough. Get in a conference room with those that care, run through the issues, and let's solve the issues together. It's an us vs. them mentality right now, and Mrs. Elia has to take ownership of that issue, in spite of other board memebrs explaining it away. Mrs. Elia's decision created the problem, and it's now up to her to solve it.
In summary, let's see more:
1. Listening through town hall meetings.
2. Direct and frequent communication from Mrs. Elia, not from her assistants. (And, ask her not to write letters to the Tampa Tribune. She should be articulating her thoughts to teachers.)
3. Mutual problem solving, utilizing teachers at all levels.
Sorry for the long response, April, I hope this helps.
First and foremost, and board members listen up, STOP DENIGRATING TEACHERS!
A part of the teacher contract says, teachers are never to be dressed down in public. If a teacher needs to be corrected it is to be done behind closed doors. The reason is simple. Teachers are in charge of many students during the day that do not want to be there—it is compulsory education to them. The number one complaint teachers have involves student conduct in class. Trying to keeping order in a classroom with 30-plus students so that learning can occur is a daunting daily task.
It is a joke when board members compare teachers to students to belittle them because they are rowdy at board meetings. It's a joke because the board members doing it are showing their ignorance of what real disruptions in class are. During times like these when teachers are outspoken concerning radical, major changes next year, board member need to put it in perspective. Instead, they seem to take offense and try to degrade and patronize teachers in front of God, TV cameras, and worst of all students that may see it. Board members on TV and administrators at school must NEVER scold a teacher in view of students. For one thing, it violates the collective bargaining aggreement and for another, the last thing we need while struggling daily with unruly students in class is for someone perceived as a superior to dress down a teacher for all to see. It puts a hit on the teacher's image as an authority figure for students.
School board members if you want to support teachers then please stop chastising them for speaking out at board meetings. At public forums, people, even teachers, may speak out vigorously when they disagree with government.
Rule number one for team players is play as a team. If you have something negative to say, then call a huddle and say it there not out on the playing field.
Perhaps the board could read "The One Minute Manager" for some sage advice as well - "Praise in public, reprimand in private."
Let's be fair, too. Not all board members treat teachers like they're children. It's mainly one or two of them.
Teachers could make their voices heard to each and every school board member as well. Teachers could bypass their union leadership (cut out the middleman, as it were) and make their voices heard loud and clear. The web address to contact them via email is
School Board Member Contact
Please remember to be clear but polite, and also remember that these board members represent children, parents, and teachers. They are not your enemy, and you will catch many more flies with honey than with vinegar.
April, I'll understand if you don't post this.
I was looking for a way to compel the union to give me a list of items that they submitted for Impact Bargaining, and I came across this Florida Statute:
407.605(2) The collective bargaining negotiations between a chief executive officer, or his or her representative, and a bargaining agent shall be in compliance with the provisions of s. 286.011
286.011 is the public meetings law, which includes the requirement that the meeting (in this case, negotiation session) be announced before it occurs and be open to the public, the same as board meetings are announced and open to the public.
I haven't found anything in the Contract that contradicts the open meeting requirement, but even if there was it would be void because Florida Statutes cannot be superceded by a contract.
The Teacher Contract is up for renegotiation. It might be a good idea for the Board to announce the dates and times of negotiations on the Board website.
Given the current climate I am amazed that no one has challenged the validity of the New Contract Language because it appears to have been negotiated in private, instead of in public.
Ms. Griffin,
Please look into the Armwood
activities mentioned on The WALL.
Thank you.
And while we're on the topic...
If you want a team environment, upend the district's priority pyramid from this:
[District Administration]
|
[Partner Companies]
|
[Everybody else]
to this:
[Students]
|
[Teachers]-+-[Support Staff]
|
[School Board]
|
[Ditrict Administration]
The students are the only reason that anyone in the school district even has a job, and the people who are in direct daily contact with those kids deserve first call on resources and money.
The district administration, like any management layer, exists for one purpose and one purpose only - to set up an environment in which there are as few obstacles as possible for the teachers and support staff who do the real work. Good administration is like good information technology - it's best when nobody knows it's there. The job of the superintendent, to oversimplify a bit, is to make sure the trains run on time.
Address the "arrogance with ingnorance" mentality of the decision makers. The fact that you as a school board member have such a public forum will certainly shake up how HCDS has run their business. Public exposure is the Achilles heal of a poorly run bureaucracy. Historically, HCDS have been able to keep tight control of how decisions were carried out as well as control the public exposure of any discord was kept from the public eye. This system was supported by hiring from within.
"Fostering a team environment" will depend on what the stakes are for the individual players. The power people that are entrenched in the status quo of the political and financial security they have enjoyed for many many years may feel threatend, therefore covertly subvert any attempts to change.
Retaliation to parents or employees may now be carried out in a less subtle manner. I, for one, having been exposed for over fifteen years to how skillfully and aggressively the District could thwart any complaint or grievance despite the facts, think it is now ironic that their defense mechanism is falling apart.
oops correction - heel, not heal
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