Stuck in the middle again. I go back to middle school Monday when my twins start sixth grade.
I am going back to middle school.
It's back to middle school for me Monday, when my twins begin sixth grade. I am not looking forward to it.
My twins begin sixth grade Monday, going to the same middle school that my older two children attended.
I found middle school the weak link in my children’s k-12 education, which opened with a fantastic elementary school and concluded with a strong high school experience.
Middle school was another story, in part because their school went through a series of principals in six years, each bringing a short-lived flurry of changes that destabilized the school and the teachers.
The school boasted some wonderful teachers, but the overall experience was a disappointment and the atmosphere off putting.
Parents often felt they were entering a prison under lock down when they visited the school during the day, half expecting to be checked for contraband themselves.
I know that many people argue that middle school is of small importance because the students themselves are so addled by hormones that they can’t concentrate.
As a result, middle schools have long been seen as holding pens until the young teens and their hormones simmer down.
Whenever I voice any misgivings about middle schools, advocates sent me scolding messages that the problem is not with the fundamental model, but with how poorly districts have put it into practice, not fully funding it or not faithfully adhering to the principles.
There is a national effort to improve middle schools, but the results remain unimpressive, suggesting to me that the concept itself is flawed.
Anything that is this hard to repair may not be worth fixing, sort of like my beloved canary yellow Mustang that ended up costing me more to fix than it was worth. Looking at a second camshaft in less than a year, my mechanic counseled me it was time to move to a new model.
I hated to see old “Yeller” go to the scrap heap, but my new car was more reliable, safer and far less costly to maintain.
I suggest that we ought to consider new models for educating adolescents, including k-8 schools that offer the nurturing environment of elementary school to children for these critical adolescent years.
The average middle school in Georgia houses nearly 900 students. While educators complain that parents step back in middle school, the research suggests they are also pushed back a bit.
Parental involvement is strongly influenced by a school’s treatment and view of the parents and by whether teachers believe parents can make a contribution.
The problem is that teachers dealing with 150 students a day in a big, impersonal middle school can’t really connect with them. When their children don’t bond with teachers or the school, neither do the parents.
One of the selling points of middle schools is the team concept in which a group of teachers have the same collection of students every day, and the classrooms are often located in the same wing of the building.
As one middle school manual explains: “This middle school team approach allows teachers to more closely ‘follow the child,’ i.e., develop stronger ties with individual students and therefore better able to monitor their progress and offer quick feedback and assistance…which in turn allows students and teachers to establish the stronger connections.”
But I never saw this team approach in action. Yes, my children were on a color-coded team, but beyond scheduling, the team didn’t seen to serve any other function in their daily lives or interactions.
I remember my first meeting with my child’s “team.” It was clear that the teachers had never had a single conversation about my daughter. This didn’t surprise me as she was a good student who would not have created a need for too many huddles.
But the teachers couldn’t even answer my basic questions about her schedule or her classes: How does the school assign students to elective classes? No one had any idea. How do band and chorus work? Again, no clue.
Later, a friend who teaches middle school counseled me that her colleagues concentrate their efforts on the kids who are drowning, that a student who does well, shows up and turns in her homework is probably going to be considered a gift and left to her own devices.
I understand the focus on students who are struggling, given what is at stake in middle schools today.
In its report “The Forgotten Middle,” ACT researchers concluded: “Our research shows that, under current conditions, the level of academic achievement that students attain by eighth grade has a larger impact on their college and career readiness by the time they graduate from high school than anything that happens academically in high school.”
But I also think that it is disheartening to drop off your children at a building that resembles a Russian prison and hope that somebody notices them.
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126 comments Add your comment
catlady
July 31st, 2010
3:51 pm
stuck 3:45
LMMS Parent
July 31st, 2010
4:32 pm
I suggest that parents encourage middle school students to involved in the music program @ your school (if it still exists depending on the school system). The different types of students involved in these programs create a more realistic environment for peer to peer development and gets students out of their “clicks” for a time each day. Music teachers are one of the few teachers who will see your child each and every day of their middle school experience and can really get to know them and guide them through their time in middle school.
My 2 children are in the band program at their middle school (Lost Mountain MS in Cobb County) and it is the best thing that could have happened to them and the other students involved! The directors are so good with the kids and really care. It seems to be this way almost everywhere as the music programs in high schools are littered with great kids who I would trust my kids being around and the teachers there are wonderful too.
It often seems that too little is expected of middle school aged kids, but it isn’t like that in all schools and with all teachers. Parents who invest their time in the school themselves can find where the gems lie if they try.
Atlanta mom
July 31st, 2010
5:50 pm
To all the parents of middle school students, Teacher, too hit the nail on the head
“If schoolwork is late, don’t e-mail, call, or send a note. Usually, due dates are given in advance (at least in my class, they are). Unless there is a legitimate emergency, let the child suffer the consequence of the teacher’s late work policy”.
Middle school is when they have to figure out that mom and dad will not bail them out. And, you don’t want to be chasing after your high school student to be sure he has completed his homework. If they need to fail to figure it out, middle school is where you want that to happen–not high school. Grades actually matter in high school.
David S
July 31st, 2010
6:06 pm
Once again, parents as the victims of the failure of government education. It should not matter which side of the street you live on, or even what city you live in. Quality educational services would be available to everyone if we had a truly free market in education with thousands of smaller private and charity schools competing for customers instead of a failed bureaucracy that continues to receive ever more funding despite poor outcomes and a complete lack of customer accountability.
So yet another year begins. This blog will be filled throughout the year with more stories of failure, more stories of disappointment, and more calls for “parents to get more involved.” Yet nearly nobody will be calling for any real change from a system that has been disappointing for decades and nobody will be calling for any sort of system that forces the hand of parents by making them directly responsible for both the choice and financing of their child’s education. The inevitable economic collapse of the dollar and the american economy will send devastating shock waves through every sector of society that has become dependent on government. The government school system will not be immune. If parents would get their heads in the right place and start seriously considering a non-governmental approach to their children’s education, they would find themselves far better off when the crisis really hits.
ASHLEY
July 31st, 2010
6:10 pm
I agree with children first middle school is a big waste for a broken school system . I went to a junior-high school there was more structure and kids were better prepared for high-school everything was gradual. The teachers knew how to deal with 12-14 year olds. A sixth grader doesn;t really belong in a class of hormone raging teenagers, they just don’t have the maturity level. Although they changed to middle schools when I was in ninth grade alot of the junior -high teachers move to high -school teaching level . I personally never understood why. but the idea of middle school did’nt make a lot of them happy. Some things are best left the way they are , it was called junior-high for a reason.
irisheyes
July 31st, 2010
6:57 pm
@David S, I’m going to ask you the same question I asked earlier. If the demise of public schools occurs (as you seem to hope for), what will you tell that single mom with three kids who is not receiving child support from her ex-husband and is barely making ends meet? How she can educate her children? Even if she has to pay no money in property taxes, that certainly won’t cover private school for three kids. While I’m assuming that you don’t use the public school system, and consequently don’t feel you should pay for it, that’s the case for most public institutions. In my entire adult life, I’ve only called the fire department once, but I certainly don’t feel like I should get all of the tax money I’ve paid to support it back. There are just some things in this world that the public pays for to support the public good. Public education is one of them.
irisheyes
July 31st, 2010
7:06 pm
BTW, just read Boortz’s column, and he’s an idiot. While I am one of those teachers that does put all of the supplies together, what he doesn’t seem to understand is that those supplies are to replenish the ones already in the classroom when the students come in. That’s right. So far I’ve bought a class supply of crayons, scissors, glue, dry erase markers, composition books, pencils, and enough folders for every child to have two. Then, I replenish as needed throughout the year. Plus, where would he have students store all of these supplies they’ve bought? Have you seen the size of kids’ desks lately? I challenge Boortz to spend a week at an elementary, a week at a middle, and a week at a high school. He should go to a variety of schools in a variety of areas with a variety of socio-economic status. We’re not all the Marxist brain-washing institutions he thinks we are. But, in his case apparently, ignorance is bliss.
irisheyes
July 31st, 2010
7:06 pm
filter!
Zachs Mom
July 31st, 2010
7:17 pm
I also went to school in Dekalb County in the 70-80’s with the K-7 and then 8-12. Egith graders were called “SUBBIES” for sub-freshman and I remember being with my peers for most classes but a good mix when it came to electives.
We moved to Habersham when my son was in the 9th grade. They have a whole seperate school just for the ninth graders. They also pull the 6th graders out and they have their own school also. So far we have been very happy with the school system and the attention that he has received. One of the best parts of a smaller system, and I know people will disagree, is that there is ONE High School in the whole county. That was a novel idea for us after living in Gwinnett where there is a monster size on on every corner. Yes, we might not have everything that bigger systems have but we are very happy here.
Educator for Life
July 31st, 2010
7:27 pm
The bottom line is that we need to go back to K-7 and 8-12. It worked then and it may work now. NAEP data suggests that our 4th graders are on par with the rest of the 4th graders internationally. But, by 8th grade, our students are far behind. Sure, there are other factors, but the creation of a “middle” school has intensified the problem.
Really amazed
July 31st, 2010
7:31 pm
@Atlanta Mom, I finally agree with you!!!!!!!
J.B. STONER
July 31st, 2010
7:50 pm
?????
J.B. STONER
July 31st, 2010
7:51 pm
I’M think on what I want to tell you people…
Cere
July 31st, 2010
7:53 pm
When we bought our house in the Lakeside district in 1994, Lakeside was one of the best schools in the state. Back then, students went to Oak Grove or whatever ES for K-7 and then to Lakeside for 8-12. Ever since DeKalb enacted the middle schools, things have steadily deteriorated. I’ve had experiences with three different DeKalb middle schools and they all seemed as if they were teetering on the edge of disaster. None was remarkable. I will say though that there were two or three individual teachers who really impressed me. Then again, there were two or three who were the worst I’ve ever encountered. Sadly, it’s easy for bad teachers to “hide out” in a middle school environment. As a parent, it’s extremely difficult to suddenly have to deal with 7 different teachers for each child. It’s very hard to maintain any kind of open communication. They have over 100 students to teach – and you get very little of their attention. If I had to do over, this is the point at which I wish I’d gone private.
ScienceTeacher671
July 31st, 2010
8:04 pm
If the free market educational system worked as David S. says it would, we’d have never gone to our current system of public education — and if all parents wanted to ensure that their children were well educated, compulsory education wouldn’t have been necessary.
@ScienceTeacher671
July 31st, 2010
8:30 pm
ScienceTeacher671 was there ever a time in our country that free market compulsory education has been tried?
Legend of Len Barker
July 31st, 2010
9:04 pm
The closest we came around here to the idea of free market education began in the 1960s when private schools were built to avoid integration. Most of them closed by the mid-1980s. Some of it could be chalked up to realizing that integration wasn’t a terrible thing. Some closed because they just couldn’t get the community support necessary after a few years.
If my hometown was forced to pay for its own school system, we wouldn’t have one. Not much money to be had in a county where the per capita income is $24,000, the population is 16,500, and the only major business is a boat plant on the brink of death.
ScienceTeacher671
July 31st, 2010
9:23 pm
In the early years of this country, there were local schools run & funded by the parents. In some locales, there was a “poor tax” or other method of funding education for students whose parents couldn’t afford to contribute. In other cases, if the parents couldn’t afford to pay the students received no formal education, and frequently the children had to go to work instead of school.
I don’t know of any compulsory free-market education.
Free Market Educator
July 31st, 2010
9:44 pm
Home schooling eliminates the age-grouping problems. Home schooling with siblings teaches them to deal with vastly different ages on a daily basis. The older ones are given more responsibilities and are taught to set a good example for the younger ones. Mine are not allowed to date and church /home school activities provide well supervised opportunities to mix with their peers. My kids don’t watch television, nor do they use online chats (Facebook) or cell phones. They can hold mature conversations on interesting subjects as well as tell (clean) jokes. One child is developing an i-Phone app so he can hopefully earn money for college. Being able to filter out corrupting influences on young impressionable students is a real plus for home schooling and “teen rebellion” becomes rare. Home schooling K-8 is great! Then, depending on the child’s maturity and future goals, home school, private, public, or charter for 9-12.
First Alert
July 31st, 2010
10:58 pm
The APS report on the CRCT will be out soon. You’ll see a lot of righteous indignation from various AJC staffers, but the one thing you will not see anybody ask at the AJC is what did Beverly Hall know, and when did she know it.
Now let’s see someone from the AJC come on here and claim that the highest levels of AJC management aren’t in communication with members of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.
Here's a thought...
July 31st, 2010
11:06 pm
@Free Market Educator… Some people would say your method is terribly old-fashioned but I totally agree with you! Too much “freedom” is the demise of many young people who need their parents to help and guide them. As a high school teacher I’ve seen some very sad situations. Your children will thank you when they are grown up and successful.
Nothing We Can Do
July 31st, 2010
11:36 pm
Once again “Free Market” teachers everywhere thank you for home-schooling your children.
Meme (retired)
July 31st, 2010
11:46 pm
One of the things I hated about teaching middle school was taking up the supplies of the kids and sharing them with the class. I didn’t understand that part especially when the subject teachers didn’t share any supplies with the ’specials’ teachers. I bought tissues, paper, pencils and other supplies for my students because they would tell me that, “My parents sent all that stuff at the first of the school year.”
Elizabeth
August 1st, 2010
7:19 am
Re: the quote from Neil Boortz ( spelling?) : In all my15 years in middle school, my kids NEVER purchased school supplies and put them in a common box for all to use. We asked for donations above what parents purchased for their kids, but NEVER were kids required to give up all the supplies their parents had purchased for them. NOR DO I BELEIVE THAT THEY ARE DOING SO IN MOST MIDDLE SCHOOLS! Where does this man get this stuff? Obviously, he has nrver set foot in a school since his own school days. And that is the problem with 99 per cent of those who complain about public schools–they have not yet caught up to today’s schools.He has zero credibility with me.
Middle School Mom
August 1st, 2010
7:33 am
I don’t take up supplies in middle school (except for tissue and paper towels). All the kids seem to expect tissue, but hardly anyone brings it anymore. Every year I’ve scoured the sales and brought in supplies for those who don’t/won’t/can’t. Not this year. Unless you have the same last name as me and live at my house, you can buy your own supplies. If you need to blow your nose and no one brings tissue, use your sleeve.
bootney farnsworth
August 1st, 2010
7:47 am
middle school is important for its place in a kids
development. it serves as a transitional point in their lives.
I went to HS in DeKalb in the 70s. those poor subbies were
deer in headlites. any girl with the sightest bit of
breast mass was facing pressure from Jrs & Srs she just wasn’t
ready to handle. the geekier subbies were an ATM for the
hoods in school.
if a middle school (stupid name)is underpreforming, before
yapping about the quality of the teaching, look in the mirror
at the quality of involvment of the parents.
when parents get off their asses and acutually get involved,
schools and teaching improve. the quality of the education and
the personality of the school are ALWAYS a reflection on the
parents – not the teachers.
bootney farnsworth
August 1st, 2010
7:48 am
get me out of the filter!
bootney farnsworth
August 1st, 2010
7:50 am
@ first alert
don’t hold your breath. the AJC is so in bed with Hall I’m
amazed it hasn’t fathered her children
bootney farnsworth
August 1st, 2010
7:55 am
about Boortz….
get a stinkin’ life.
one of the reasons things like the Fair Tax get demagoged
so badly is because of stupid things like ranting about
boxes of kleenex.
maybe when the State of Ga. values what we do as much as
say, the college football hall of fame or Sonny’s fishin hole,
then we’ll be funded well enough not to have to ask for a
second box of cayons.
grow up, people.
bootney farnsworth
August 1st, 2010
8:03 am
to me the biggest issue is why on earth kids are going back
to school in July and August? we’re broke and about to get
broker-er, so we send kids to school in the three hottest
months of the year?
how much money could be saved by going with the old labor day
to memorial day schedule?
adam
August 1st, 2010
8:30 am
STOP PAYING TEACHERS MOST OF THEIR SALARIES!!! INSTEAD…..bring in trailers behind the gym and give them free housing. This way they don’t need cars and can eat for free in the home ec room and workout in the gym. Teachers today make way too much money. It accounts for most of the State budget. We are stealing from the taxpayers. Instead, give corporations more tax cuts and anyone making over $200,000 a year should have a big tax cut. HAHAHA
HStchr
August 1st, 2010
9:04 am
The problem is, as it has long been, a recognition of the fact that from age 12-16, kids are going through the biggest physiological changes of their lives. I have a 7th grader and a soon-to-be 9th grader. Talk about nuts!! But, puberty happens whether you’re ready or not. MS isn’t working- as a veteran teacher I can attest to that. In many districts, we’ve started Freshman Academy because we realize those kids still need the smaller community of learners and teachers focused on their success. Personally, I think MS should be 6th-7th and Jr. High should be 8th-9th. Then we’d be able to increase the rigor and help kids prepare for high school 10-12. We don’t expect enough of 8th graders and have to work closely with them in 9th to make high school successful. I’ve been teaching since before MS and I can tell you 9th graders are NOT ready for the independence and demands of high school. And they can’t help it- it’s a developmental phase that they have to get through.
Iggy
August 1st, 2010
9:19 am
Elizabeth, Neil Boortz is one of worst distorters of the truth I have ever had the displeasure of reading in a reputable newspaper. Column after column he makes gross “errors,” but even when shown to be wrong never corrects them. He diminishes the AJC.
Dunwoody Mom
August 1st, 2010
9:29 am
@bootney farnsworth – I also went to a DCSS HS when it was 8-12. The seniors did not bother the poor “sub-freshman” – heck, they would have been caught dead being seen or talking to one.
HStchr
August 1st, 2010
9:37 am
“maybe when the State of Ga. values what we do as much as
say, the college football hall of fame or Sonny’s fishin hole,
then we’ll be funded well enough not to have to ask for a
second box of cayons.”
bootney- you are soooooo right!! When the AD for UGA makes in one year what has taken me TEWLVE years to make, I have to think our priorities are a little skewed in this country!
Dunwoody Mom- I went to school in Fulton with 8-12 in high school. The seniors wouldn’t even acknowledge our existence or be seen in the vicinity of the 8th grade lockers. I’m not sure that’s the solution these days, but I know MS isn’t working.
J.B. STONER
August 1st, 2010
9:47 am
Open up the windows and cut off the AC….
When I went to school, we didnt know what an air conditioner was…
Yall should have paid closer attention to me.
random thoughts
August 1st, 2010
10:32 am
Japan implemented the 6-3-3 (ES, starting with Gr. 1, MS, HS) system because that’s what the US occupation office told them to do so. Their compulsory education coincides with the end of MS. Thus, students will have to take entrance exams to go on to HS – although 99% of Japanese students do go on to HS, they are, in a way, tracked by the ability and interest (there are some more “vocational” HS). So, what happened to that US system they copied from us?
In most states, including GA, a separate teaching license for MS is rather new. Many (most?) MS teachers (particularly 6 & 7) were elementary certified. Basically many MS teachers were either glorified elementary teachers or HS teachers who couldn’t get the job at HS. Even today, as colleges offer 3 separate tracks for future teachers, MS option seems to attract a similar group – ES inclined but relatively strong content knowledge in one or two area, or not strong enough in the content area but don’t want to teach at ES.
As long as people have the reaction “you teach at a MS!” you will not attract high quality candidates to a MS teacher preparation program.
bootney farnsworth
August 1st, 2010
10:56 am
Its good to know that Subbies somewhere were treated with
something resembling indifference. not where I went.
I’m a big fan of middle school, but think it should be 7-9.
6-8 catches them in at odd points in their growth and transition.
not to mention how big HS would be without them. sadly, like them or
not we need the overflow to keep HS classes from becoming like
college auditoriums.
Chris
August 1st, 2010
11:12 am
I work in a middle school – and our school is implementing some great ideas this school year that I believe will have an impact, if executed properly (our school is in it’s second year of operation).
#1 We are promoting parent involvement by having scheduled parent-teacher conference “days” where parents can work within their schedules to come in and check on their child’s progress. The idea is that they come in, no matter what, even if their child is acting perfect. To build the relationship.
#2 We are also having student-led conferences. The student must schedule the conference, and one teacher is there as an “Advisor” and will not even comment until the end. The student is expected to tell their parents about their progress, grades, behavior, etc. – and come with samples of work. The student must schedule the conference with the counselor’s office by a certain date. This, in my opinion, puts the ball in the student’s court, but also doesn’t leave them hanging.
#3 Looping – This will be my first year looping – I am moving to 7th grade with the 6th graders I had last year (well, many of them). Being a Special Ed co-teacher, I have the benefit of being able to build more one-on-one relationships with parents and students because I’m not stuck in the same classroom all day. If a student is having a meltdown, I can take him/her in private and just listen to what’s going on. At the middle school age they need that. I think looping is a great idea for middle school students.
#4 Positive behavior focus. There are consequences, but also to not leave out those who are doing what they are supposed to we are giving more incentives for positive behavior – in hopes that those exhibiting negative behavior will follow suit when they aren’t receiving the same rewards.
Middle school CAN work, with a strong administration and consistent staff. It’s harder right now with the cuts because we can’t do the things we want to. And more cuts are on the way, as long as Republicans are in charge and afraid to raise the sales tax. With teachers being laid off, and new ones brought it, it’s too much change – especially for the 11-14 year old child. They need some security and consistency..most of all they need to know that someone cares.
KIM
August 1st, 2010
11:16 am
I learned years ago that most bloggers are discontented. While many of you may have been disappointed by middle school, thousands upon thousands of parents are not. To the many wonderful middle school teachers and teams I yell out, “Thank you!” And for those parents who are unaware that middle school teams meet weekly to review their students’ progress….well, now you know. Keep your children’s teachers aware of your concerns. And they will keep you aware, too. Work together. Stop this us vs. them mentality. It never works to help students. Of my two children, one was on middle school teams; the other was not. Both approaches must have been OK because my children were successful in school.
ScienceTeacher671
August 1st, 2010
11:42 am
Random thoughts, I have a degree in a hard science. I have 2 different science certification fields for grades 6-12, but so far I have been told that I cannot work at a middle school without going back to get “middle grades” certification.
As you are probably aware, “middle grades” certification requires less content knowledge than “high school” certification. Therefore, as far as I’m concerned, middle schools are rejecting more qualified applicants in favor of less qualified ones.
ScienceTeacher671
August 1st, 2010
11:43 am
(which is not to say that I don’t know some excellent middle school teachers)
Teacher&mom
August 1st, 2010
12:08 pm
@ST671..I’ve never heard of a high school certified teacher not being able to teach at the middle school level. I was originally a middle school certified teacher and my husband was originally a secondary certified teacher. He was able to move to the middle school level without any problem. I had to take GACE science test for high school science to teach at the high school. I wonder if in your school system it is because you are only highly qualified in science? That would limit which classes you could teach at the middle school level. It isn’t uncommon for a middle school teacher to teach in more than one academic area. All middle school certified teachers (or at least they did when I was in school) were certified in two content areas, and had to take at least a couple of reading courses.
Having said all of that….I wonder if the reason has more to do with getting you to pay a testing fee to take the GACE. I betcha’ this is just another way to add to the PSC coffers.
ScienceTeacher671
August 1st, 2010
12:15 pm
Teacher&mom, I don’t know the specific reason, but I do know that I’ve been told in two different districts that I’d have to get middle school certification to teach at the middle school. I thought they said they couldn’t get middle school funding unless all the teachers were middle school certified, but I could be wrong. This was back in Praxis days, so maybe things have changed?
understanding
August 1st, 2010
12:54 pm
@ST,
I wonder what it means for you to be certified 6-12 if you aren’t allowed to teach in MS.
Anyway, if you tried to move to MS before they instituted the separate MS certification, you would have been welcome to teach MS – but most likely you would have gotten Grade 8 assignment where teaching is usually done in a departmental way.
Lisa B.
August 1st, 2010
12:54 pm
For a teacher to be “Highly Qualified,” the teacher must be certified in the area(s) taught. In middle school, all teachers must be certified in at least two content areas to be “HiQ.” Until recently, schools had some flexibility to hire according to their needs, but now we’ve passed the deadline where schools must have all “HiQ” teachers, even in Special Ed.
Concerned 1
August 1st, 2010
2:13 pm
D-Day tomorrow for APS? I doubt it. The system is in flux. Everyone knows what should be done but who will do it? And the economy of China has moved ahead of Japan? A college drop out has more power than the tax payers In education and 1984 has arrived for teachers and students. Typical.
Profound thoughts
August 1st, 2010
4:43 pm
I came accross this wonderful graduation speech from the valedictorian of a high school in upstate New York. Wonder, inciteful and profound. Gives one a lot to think about. Certainly nice to see that she “gets it” despite the school system’s hard work at making sure she doesn’t.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/pr/valedictorian-against-schooling.html
ScienceTeacher671
August 1st, 2010
4:50 pm
@understanding – “I wonder what it means for you to be certified 6-12 if you aren’t allowed to teach in MS.” I wondered the same thing!
Economicwoes
August 1st, 2010
5:01 pm
THey do combine supplies in the elementary schools, primarily because the kids cannot determine who owns what…..he took my crayon etc. etc.
If our educational system is a laughing stock amongst the world, the administration should be replaced, superintendent all the way down to the directors who harass employees. Isn’t Gwinnett asking for more money from the feds simply because they are out of money after paying the high salaries to Alvin and his staff. It’s true, Dekalb fired senior staff, 15 or more teaching years to replace them with entry level. How is Gwinnett going to justify keeping open a middle school when enrollment starts to decrease?