| Message: 126 of 200 Re: SRHS Athletic Director's position by: RPratt 12/05/00 08:43 pm Hello b.dabaldo. On Nov.20 the Slippery Rock School Board approved the hiring of Corey Hake, Greenville, Pa, as the Athletic Director, effective Jan., 2001 until June 30, 2003, with a salary for the 2000-2001 school year being set at $36,000 pro rata, with all management benefits. Salary increases for the 2001-02 and 2002-03 school years to be established on performance. By law, any member of the public can review the minutes from any board meeting at the district office during regular office hours. RPratt srschools@aol.com Message: 127 of 200 Re: pink and blue assembly by: RPratt 12/05/00 09:07 pm Hello Mother. To no avail,Dr. Beaton, superintendant, explained to Adams how parents had to sign a permission slip to attend this event (silly her). Adams responded that the "BD's responsibility was greater then the parents". He mananged to convince the other board members that teaching gender equity was just a tad bit too warm and fuzzy and they all voted to stop the program. They did however agree that the people putting this on could come to the BD and present the program to them for review and approval/disapproval. Remember, there will be an election in May. RPratt srschools@aol.com Message: 128 of 200 What about our books? by: High School French Student 12/06/00 10:22 pm I'm a high school French Student. For my entire high school career, and my sister's as well, (she graduated in 1998) the French department has been without adequate textbooks. The books were last copyrighted in the 1970's, and as culture has evolved, they've become obsolete. We've resorted to totally abandoning books, rather than use the ones we have that can be classified as antiques. The issue has been scheduled to come up at many board meetings... yet nothing has come through. We need these books!! Message: 129 of 200 the bid game! and it's big... by: Godzilla 12/12/00 11:12 pm Expense in any one ‘category’ in which a school would reasonably expect to spend over $10,000 in the course of a year, must be bid (weeks of ads in two or more newspapers). Any single expense over a few grand (~$3-4K) must have three or more quotes. The exceptions to all of this, though, are the expenses related to “professional services”. This is a big loophole that lots of money can sluice through. Districts can hire lawyers, architects, and numerous other ‘professionals’ with little control or accountability to the taxpayers. Business Managers, micromanaging board members, and superintendents can hire any class of ‘professional’ as they see fit for whatever purpose strikes their fancy. Conversely, they can deny and derail projects and progress by denying access to ‘professionals’ when they are needed to get work done. False claims are laid that the services in question do not fall into the ‘professional’ category: Or that the district would be better off bidding these services. The result is delay, and as often as not, defeat. Watch out when you hear someone say “I’m just trying to get the biggest bang for the buck”. Message: 130 of 200 Re: pink and blue assembly by: Richard Speck 12/12/00 11:43 pm stop all this nonsense about 'pink and blue'. the MEN running this district know what's best! no one really thinks blue is good and pink is bad. it's not like black vs. white (see last sunday's p-g comics "boondocks";>/), where we know which is good and which is bad... <right???> but blue and pink? we know what pink means. just look at the reading material found at many men dominated work sites, locker rooms, manly hunting camps, and you'll know precisely that pink is good-in it's place! men AND women need to know their places, right? so, mr. pratt, maybe you and Mother need to put away these crazy ideas about teaching kidz about 'gender equity'. do like the three NO brothers (you know, see-no, hear-no, and speak-no... those monkeys...) and domestic violence will go way. forget the election, too. ask the 'disqualified' 29,000 florida voters if their votes counted? or even the 6,000-9,000 voters whose vote was marginalized by machine error. i'm sure the monkeys will be back. sorry dr. b! Message: 131 of 200 Re: What about our books? by: Don Quixote 12/13/00 01:37 pm Books? You don need no stinking books! Reruns of old Monty Python skits with fake Frenchmen speaking English with bad French accents is all you need. Who really needs a foreign language anyway? Everyone should just learn to speak English, and then everything would be fine. Culture? What culture? We got all the culture we need right here in Slippery Rock. Kept those monks out, right? Those Frenchies are just a bunch of cowardly Nazi collaborators. They’d do anything to keep from standing up for something. Look at all the terrorists that have taken up residence in France – that Iranian goof, for instance. We got their French-fries, but they can keep those weird cheeses, like Brie. Yuck! Have you ever tasted that cr@p? Give me some Kraft singles, or mac-n-cheese, any day: That’s cheese! Those books from the 1970’s might be old, but they aren’t antiques. They may just be bad books. Of course the board would never tell you to use a bad book. Look at how well they handled the curriculum fiasco – oops, I mean issue, this past year. After all the dust had settled, the board proudly slapped themselves on the back for the great job they did protecting students from bad math books – long after the decision was made to not buy the book. I even heard a story that Dr. Bonfield had long ago warned Dr. Spinella to not select that book. And I’ll bet that these stories of Dr. Bonfield and the board’s omnipotent powers over textbook selection can be documented, right? Someone call Jerry Springer… If you really think you need a textbook, I’ll bet an old 1950’s textbook full, of drill-n-kill exercises, could be found that is out of copyright protection. The district could just copy pages out of that, and save a ton of money. Maybe you don’t really need books. Another option is the Internet. But your teachers would have to go online at home and make a list of sites for you to use: The CENSORSHIP program ‘protecting’ the district (not the students), and managed by the IU, wouldn’t allow teacher’s to see unauthorized sites. Then, that list would have to go to the middle school principal for review, and likely the business mgr. They MIGHT then ask the IU to look at it. But I wouldn’t hold my breath. Your teacher will likely be told that the list is too long and of questionable educational value. If you think I’m kidding, just ask any of the staff that thought that they were going to have Internet access for education use in their classrooms. Many of them spent a lot of time researching sites appropriate for class use, only to be told that the IU didn’t have time to type all the web addresses into the CENSORSHIP program. Windmills on the horizon! Ahh, yes! I can hear John Clease’s nasal fake French laugh now: Haw, haw, hawww! Message: 132 of 200 Pre-fab buildings and renovations by: Just Another 'Crat 12/17/00 05:10 pm Two years ago, the Board and the architect met with parents and teachers to develop a list of what they wanted to see in the Har-Mer and Middle School renovations. I wonder how those lists compare with what the school board wants? They've probably cut out everything the parents and teachers wanted. Even when parents and teachers talk, this board won't listen. It's money that talks. But does saving money = saving souls??? Message: 133 of 200 Re: Newest school board member by: gravely concerned 01/15/01 10:31 am Perhaps I'm a little slow on the uptake, but could someone please explain to me WHY our current board members would CHOOSE to appoint yet another member who is CLEARLY AGAINST public schooling? Mr. Bruno home-schools his children, yet now he serves as a member of a school board that supports (or at least is supposed to support) public education. Gee, maybe the idea will catch on and Bush will appoint Castro to his cabinet.... Message: 134 of 200 NEW ATHLETIC DIRECTOR by: casual observer 01/31/01 06:36 pm On a positive note, I would just like to say two things. First, someone ought to give Mrs. Raisley a big raise for all the outstanding work that she did while we were all in limbo without an athletic director. She is definitely worth MUCH more that she is paid. Second, I would like to applaud the new athletic director. He seems to have a lot of great ideas and actually wants very much to do things for the kids. Whoa, there is a new concept, do something for the kids instead of some political jargan bull that wouldn't benefit anyone. HMMM....some people could take a lesson. If you see Mrs. Raisley, please thank her for all of her outstanding work for the duration of no athletic director. Message: 135 of 200 Feb. 19, 2001 School Board Meeting by: Carl 02/10/01 10:22 am After attending the "core knowledge" Message: 136 of 200 Board Meeting by: Carl 02/10/01 10:39 am Sorry for logging off on previous message,as I was saying after attending the "core knowledge" information meeting I was pleased to see the number of "concerned" parents these same parents need to be at the next board meeting and more as needed until we get our concerns addressed and rectified to our liking. Remember they all work for us and we need to dictate to some degree what is best for our children, along with the teachers who teach them. Message: 137 of 200 Re: Board Meeting by: concerned citizen 02/12/01 03:11 pm And speaking of the teachers who teach them.....what do they think of core knowledge? Maybe we can get some responses going here? Message: 138 of 200 staff change by: concerned citizen 02/14/01 07:45 pm Rumor has it that Dr. Spinella has been bought off. I wonder when the board plans to tell the tax payers what it cost them? Message: 139 of 200 Re: staff change by: RPratt 02/15/01 02:20 pm Are you kidding? Our Board will never tell us how much it cost the taxpayers to hire this guy, then fire him and then pay him off for the remainder of his contract. I am still puzzling about the way the Board hired him to begin with. Remember, they voted on him to be Director of Curruculum and Staff Development with 2 members voting no. Then at the very next meeting, Bill Adams (1 of the 2 who voted no to his hiring)came in and demanded that the vote be taken again, explaining that he had changed his mind because he had made a "deal" with Spinella and he now wanted to change his vote to yes. And that's what they did. Without rescinding the original vote they took another vote and Adams voted yes based on this "deal" he had made. Buying out his contract? A "deal"?? Hmmm. RPratt srschools@aol.com geocities.com/srschools Message: 140 of 200 board meeting 2/19/01 by: CARL 02/20/01 10:50 am I do not understand our parents or teachers obviously there is not as much interest in what our board is doing by the show of people at this meeting I believe only 5 parents showed and at the "core"meeting we had 50 parents & teachers asking Dr. Jones questions that the board would have to answer, but only 2 of us spoke up THANK YOU Debbie Wells and good luck in the upcoming election Message: 141 of 200 RE: CONCERNED CITIZEN by: Carl 02/20/01 11:53 am I don`t know if you were at the last board meeting 2/19 but we DEFINITLY need more PARENTS/TEACHERS at these board meetings I realize that everyone can not attend every meeting I know I can`t,but rest assure I will be investigating proper procedures that the board needs to be following and addressing my cocerns to them at every possible meeting that I can attend. I am in the process of obtaining rule and regulations for the board so that I may review and procede with my observations and investigation and what recourse we as citizens have,but my gut feel is lawyers wrote it and most probably left loopholes for boards to interpret their true meanings. Any suggestions from anyone would be welcome. Message: 142 of 200 Re: Newest school board member by: No Name 02/20/01 02:44 pm Mr. Bruno does NOT home school his children. He has two children enrolled in the District's schools. Someone should check their facts before they make an issue of them. Message: 143 of 200 Re: Attending meetings by: Sue 02/20/01 05:26 pm I can't thank Mr. Pratt enough for his web site and keeping us informed. I am unable to attend because of my job and look forward to the updates. I don't think that attending the meetings will have as much effect on the board decisions as it will voting in new board members. Someone like Mr. Adams who obviously is self serving needs to be replaced. Parental involvement in school and asking the board members to actually attend the classroom may be as helpful. We are a community and need to remain so and help our district be the very best in education. Share this web site with your neighbors...Thank you Mr. Pratt for your time and input. Message: 144 of 200 Re: Attending meetings by: Not Amused 02/21/01 12:32 am I find it appalling that so many people look to Mr. Pratt as the be all and end all as the provider of information regarding the school board. His latest antics with the "Little Johnny" pictures are disgraceful. It is obvious that many of the people who are his followers would disagree with everything and anything the board and administration says or does just to be disagreeable. Message: 145 of 200 Re: Attending meetings by: Not Amused 02/21/01 12:32 am I find it appalling that so many people look to Mr. Pratt as the be all and end all as the provider of information regarding the school board. His latest antics with the "Little Johnny" pictures are disgraceful. It is obvious that many of the people who are his followers would disagree with everything and anything the board and administration says or does just to be disagreeable. Message: 146 of 200 Re: Attending meetings by: Lighten Up 02/21/01 09:48 am If Mr. Pratt's antics are disagreeable, what about the board's antics? Just look at his web site. The board called the monks pagans. They rejected textbooks because they teach kids about the guilt of the white christian male. They let a school year start without having textbooks for the kids. What about the children at Har-mer? They're STILL drinking bottled water. Then there was a bomb threat and kids were kept inside the building and not evacuated. What about the illegal student searches or students privacy rights that were violated? Core Knowledge is another example of a board gone wrong. They are trying to pit one group against the other. They make it sound like its only bad teachers or bad parents that don't want Core Knowledge. Mr. Pratt respects teachers. He gave the Teacher of the Year Awards to show that. He cares about children. He goes to board meetings which is more than most of us can stomach. He tells it like it is. Those pictures are disgraceful. I thought they were kind of funny and the point wasn't lost on this reader. Message: 147 of 200 Re: Attending meetings by: Rpratt 02/21/01 10:14 am Dang. I started this web site to hold our Board accountable and to try and get those living here to become involved. Judging from the "Not Amused" post- it's working. Right on! Now, I wonder which administrator/Board member "Not amused" is?? Thanks for the support! For those who did/didn't find the "Little Johnny" update amusing, check out the following: http://thecoasters.com/lyrics/charliebrown.html RPratt srschools@aolcom Message: 148 of 200 Re: Attending meetings by: Cloaked in Anonymity 02/21/01 01:01 pm Looks like Not Amused is so not amused they had to be not amused twice! While I agree that Mr. Pratt's site may not be the "end all" as a provider of info about the board, his site does seem to be the "be all". That is until someone else has the guts to provide us the "real" story concerning our board. The newspapers sure aren't. I'm sure everyone who visits his site (Not Amused included) uses his or her own judgement in drawing conclusions. I venture to guess that most readers (myself included) pretty much agree with his assessments. Those who find his site "appalling", "disgraceful" (Who was he disgracing with his "Little Johnny" pictures? The before Core Knowledge picture or the monkey?) or "disagreeable" can just not go to his site- you know, kinda like turning off the TV! Stop whinning and get involved! Message: 149 of 200 Little Johnny by: concerned citizen 02/21/01 03:56 pm We can't even find humor in the situation anymore?? I think we're in worse shape than I thought! Too bad the pictures were removed. It lended a little levity to a pretty heated topic. Any evolved person on either side of the issue should be able to see the try at lightness was needed. That's the scary thing....someone didn't. Message: 150 of 200 Re: Little Johnny by: RPratt 02/21/01 06:34 pm Thank you. I had NO IDEA that people might not see the humor. Johnny might load a little slow, but he was never removed. In fact the "Johnny" page holds the record for the number of hits in a 2hr period-82. Try again at: http://geocities.com/srschools/Johnny.html RPratt srschools@aol.com Message: 151 of 200 Core Knowledge by: SR Parent 02/21/01 08:51 pm I can't wait! So my child will excel because of Core? My child will be above average? What does Dr. Beaton consider to be average or below average? My child does terrific now. She is even EXCITED about school. Nah! I won't be signing her up. And how did Dr. Beaton's previous district do with Core?? I understand that it was a district wide adoption in York City. So many questions and few direct answers. Message: 152 of 200 Re: What gives? by: Curious 03/23/01 09:01 am I wonder why the Slippery Rock Area School's computer network has recently been blocked, by its Cyber-patrol watchdog, from gaining access to this web site. Typically only sites dealing with entertainment or socially offensive (pornography)subjects are blocked. I wonder into which catagory Mr. Pratt's site falls; or is this just blatent censorship(legal?)of information the District has unilaterally deemed as inappropriate? I wonder if "little Johnny" had anything to do with this recent deveopment? Message: 153 of 200 Re: What gives? by: RPratt 03/23/01 11:03 am Geez. I was under the understanding that the Unofficial Slippery Rock School District HomePage had always been blocked by the District. My site falls under the "I don't think so- too close to the truth " category. I asked Little Johnny about this and he told me that according to his Core Knowledge Corp. training, that this is called political censorship. Similar to that which takes place in less free countries around the world. He went on to explain that he dosen't know if it is illegal in a democracy or not because he won't get to that aspect of censorship until later in the Core Knowledge Corp. sequence- third grade, I think. RPratt geocities.com/srschools Message: 154 of 200 Re: What gives? by: No Name 03/24/01 08:46 pm I think you may have been given misinformation regarding district computers being blocked from the unofficial site. Message: 155 of 200 Re: What gives? by: RPratt 03/24/01 09:32 pm So far today I have heard from 2 people who say that my site has been blocked by district software. Now, I am being told that this might be misinformation. Do you know something that can help resolve this mystery? Are they are aren't they? RPratt geocities.com/srschools Message: 156 of 200 Re: What gives? by: Parent With Questions 03/25/01 10:27 am What really gives? Why are all teachers being told that they may not discuss core knowledge? I asked a question to a school teacher and their reply was,"It is a done deal. We are not to discuss any negative comments to the parents. If we do the soliciter will be notified." WHERE DID THE BOARD FIND THIS WOMAN!!! To whom are we to ask about this site being blocked??? Are the teachers allowed to answer this question??? Message: 157 of 200 Re: What gives? by: RPratt 03/26/01 03:42 pm In Pa the school board establishes the powers, duties and functions of the superintendent (except for a handful prescribed in the School Code). I am assuming that our superintendent is doing her job according to the wishes of our school board. Again, as with any superintendent in Pa, ours is operating under the powers, functions and duties that the school board have given her. RPratt srschools@aol.com Message: 158 of 200 Re: What gives? by: Not Blocked 03/28/01 03:59 pm I have been on the Unofficial Site from within the District intranet in the last 24 hours. The site is NOT blocked. Message: 159 of 200 Re: HarMer by: Jim Strickland 04/08/01 11:34 pm I can't believe how long the board has debated renovations at Har-Mer. If we think that this school is the place where we send our children, the people that we would do anything for, the human beings to whom we will hand down everything we've accomplished, why in the world would we send them to second-class facilities, why would we treat them like outcasts condemned to impoverished surroundings? We're not building dog kennels. A school should say to our children, we value what you do here during the day, learn, learn, and we will do everything we can to support you! Message: 160 of 200 Re: HarMer by: concerned citizen 04/09/01 06:50 am Amen! And why renovations at the Area building and Moraine but not the Middle School and HarMer? Hmmmmmm... Message: 161 of 200 Re: HarMer/election by: no name 04/09/01 02:15 pm We know what to do! Vote the bastards out! Message: 162 of 200 Heath/Sexuality Education Curriculum by: srae parent 04/10/01 04:24 pm A note came home today from the Area Elementary school informing parents about "the Health/Sexuality Education Curriculum developed and approved by the School Board...." I assumed the members of the School Board approved the Health/Sexuality Education Curriculum but I didn't know they developed it too. There are videos to go with their curriculum too. Scary thought! Does anyone know anything about this? Message: 163 of 200 Re: Core Knowledge by: Kim04/12/01 12:36 pm Are you against Core Knowledge? I am. It is developmentally inappropriate for children at the elementary level. There is a petition circulating around all 3 elementary schools that parents need to sign so that we can let the school board know that we DO NOT want the Core Knowledge Curriculum adopted into Slippery Rock. Parents we need to unite and let the board know that we mean business. If you wish to sign the petition or want more information about core knowledge please and I will get in touch with you. We are planning on presenting this petition to the school board on April 23rd at Moraine Elementary at 7:30pm. If you are against Core Knowledge make arrangements to be at this meeting and tell others to do the same. The majority of the teachers are against this curriculum and have been told (threatened) not to discuss this with parents on school time. I thought we lived in a free country but I feel as though are teachers are under "Martial Law". Let's protect our children and support our teachers. Message: 164 of 200 Re: Core Knowledge by: an informed parent 04/14/01 01:10 am Isn't it ashame that we ask the advice of our teachers and when then don't give you the answer you want you just threaten to take away their free speech. What does it have to take for the school board to realize that we don't want core knowledge? Since the teachers have opposed it vehemently it is now up to the parents to fight the good fight. Don't let the opportunity for your voice to be heard.....or will you wait until your child comes home with inappropriate material....who will you complain to then.....the teachers? They opposed this curriculum many times and it continues to be shoved down this communities throat. Isn't time to take a stand and fight for the rights of your child? Message: 165 of 200 Re: Core Knowledge by: Carl 04/18/01 12:51 pm I have been negligent due to sickness in family but, Its great to see PARENTS uniting to fight in what we believe in we must not let these board members or any new members (which I hope we have several ,its time for some new people)just cram ther personal agenda hidden or otherwise down our throats or up other parts of our anatomy. Message: 166 of 200 Re: Core Knowledge by: Jim Strickland 04/21/01 12:25 pm No hidden agenda from this school board candidate. Here's what I sent to the papers as my position on Core Knowledge (I could've simply said no one buys an apple for the core): Core Knowledge gives the impression that students are to learn "things" instead of learning how to learn. It sees learning as accumulating a shared "core of relevant background knowledge"—facts, discrete bits of information that children supposedly must have to participate actively in class. However, the truth of the matter is that we live in "an information age," and the number of facts that are known or knowable has increased to the point that randomly choosing facts becomes little more than memorizing trivia. Our students need to learn how to think critically and solve problems. Who are the authors of Core Knowledge to decide what facts or bits of information children in Slippery Rock need to know? That's the job of our teachers who know our students. Core Knowledge just doesn't make sense. Message: 167 of 200 Re: Core Knowledge by: Kim 04/24/01 06:22 pm Sorry I didn't present the Core Knowledge petition at the board meeting on 4/23/01 but I felt that the petition needs to have more signatures. If anyone is interested in obtaining signatures please e-mail me and I will send out the forms to you asap. If you want to sign the petition please let me know and I will get in touch with you. Let's band together and let the Board know that this is a curriculum that we do not need or want in our district. Message: 168 of 200 Re: Core Knowledge by: DFD 04/29/01 10:53 pm For parents wishing to sign the petition in the Moraine School, please contact DFD . The school board should covet a curriculum that the better school districts have and ditch the core knowledge curriculum that brings our children down to below standard quality. What kind of deal is that anyway? The parents of this district should not stand by and watch the school board sell out our children! This district should be setting the standards for all of the other districts to follow, not the other way around. If Core Knowledge were a sucessful curriculum, Dr. Beaton would not have left York. You would think that she would have stayed back to enjoy it's fame and not run from it's shame. I guess once she gets core knowledge in our district, she will move on to the next district to destroy their kids too! Message: 169 of 200 Re: Core Knowledge by: 04/29/01 11:37 pm Since Dr. Beaton will not tell you about how York is doing with Core knowledge, I will. The following are the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test scores from from the York School district, and the Slippery Rock School district. Don't take my word for it, just go to the Department of Education and look for yourself. These are "Official Core Knowledge schools" in York. I included Slippery Rock for comparison. Don't let Dr. Beaton kid you about the high minority and free lunch thing. First of all, The color of you skin means nothing about your ability to learn. Being poor doesn't either. It may however play a factor in other people taking advantage of your situation. Here are the scores. Keep in mind that the state standard is 1310. York Schools Mckinley School - Math: 1210 Reading:1180 Davis School - Math: 1210 Reading: 1220 Goode School - Math: 1150 Reading: 1140 Ferguson School - Math 1220 Reading: 1180 Slippery Rock Schools Har-mer - Math: 1350 Reading: 1400 Moraine - Math: 1350 Reading: 1340 Slippery Rock Area Math: 1270 Reading: 1350 Yes we can use a little IMPROVMENT not regression. Core Knowledge has been around since 1987. as of 4/5/2001, not one school to date has achieved Certified Core Knowledge School status. That means that no one has reached the 100% level in teaching the sequence topics on grade level. I wonder why that is? Message: 170 of 200 Core Knowledge Presentations by: RPratt 05/03/01 03:12 pm Core Knowledge lives! It looks like the Superintendent of Schools has scheduled some "Core Knowledge Presentations" for us in the near future. The one for the Area Elementary School is scheduled for May 15, Election night, at 7:00 (the polls close at 8:00). Interesting timing. Does that mean that if no one votes and the incumbents stay in, we'll be a certified Core Knowledge district before we know it? Hmmmm. Anyone know an outspoken CK opponent on the ballot in SR Borough? Or will CK (sorry I can't make that registered trademark symbol that shows who really owns the knowledge - we all know who's going to be paying for it...) just slowly creep into the district until everyone is on the same page at the same time? Saxon Math, Opencourt reading - all endorsed by Core Knowledge converts. New Core Knowledge textbooks and tests on the way. When everyone is teaching the same thing with those scripted lessons, what kind of teachers will we really need???? What kind of schools will we have???? Remember- hearing a "presentation" on CK is important, but voting is more important. If at all possible, please vote before the meeting on May 15! Message: 171 of 200 CK presentation dates by: RPratt 05/03/01 03:40 pm In reference to my previous post concerning the Core Knowledge presentations- the meeting times and dates were posted on the district's website 5-3-01. VOTE MAY 15! RPratt Message: 172 of 200 RE: Core Knowledge by: 05/04/01 12:42 am I don't know what the parents and taxpayers were like in Oklahoma or in York Pa, as Dr. Beaton pulled the wool over their eyes. I can tell you that the teachers are not talking about Core Knowledge and therefore not speaking negatively about the subject. Dr.Beaton states this on the Slippery Rock web site . I quess she figured that I wouldn't know about that site either. Does she really think that the parents would not research this issue on their own? After all, This is concerning the future of our children. I limit what they can see on television. Why would I allow them to learn questionable material at school? All of the information that I have on Core Knowledge has been obtained by me. I have done the research, not the teachers. If the board was not trying to keep the parents from finding out the truth about Core Knowledge, then there wouldn't be speculation that the teachers are bad mouthing this curriculum. I quess once Dr. Beaton ruins our school district, she will be on to the next victims. I wish the teachers could sit down and discuss this curriculum with us. I quess the rumor is true about Dr. Beaton getting kick backs for every Core Knowledge school she recruits. She seems to have moved from place to place to implement it. Funny though, how this curriculum has been around since 1986 and yet there are no certified Core Knowledge schools. There have been many changes to the Core Knowledge site. One minute there are several Core Knowledge Schools and the next minute they are just "friends" of Core Knowledge as stated by the site itself. They keep changing their minds about which schools are and which ones are not Core schools. The contacts have changed. These are not upgrades. Every parent owes it to their children to know what they are learning in school, So that when they grow up the can be educated people that don't let people like Dr. Beaton pull the wool over their eyes.It is interesting that after months of supposing to have a parent meeting, That right around election time that we are having a presentation. I imagine the dates will be changed to Memorial Day weekend at 7:00, when everybody is out of town. That way , as before, nobody can be there. Message: 173 of 200 core by: just say no! 05/04/01 12:37 pm It's time for beaton to go! Where does she get off writing such a offensive letter to us about core? These are OUR children and OUR community. Does she have children in school here? Does she pay property taxes? NO! our children are not widgets, suction cups nor magnet men! Our school is not a factory! It's time for her to get her carpet bag and get back on her high horse-bill adams loaned her to ride in here on and ride it back to where ever she came from! We don't need blue ribbon schools- someone needs to tell her that we don't give a damn how they do it where she comes from. We deside what is right for our children- not some outside group like blue ribbon schools or core! It's time for her and bill Adams to go! What is it about the word no she dosen't understand? We don't want core! Message: 174 of 200 Re: core- where are the teachers? by: anonymous 05/04/01 04:52 pm I keep hearing the teachers in the district are against the core curriculum. I also heard our super told them they can't talk to parents about it. If the teachers think core is so bad for students, why don't they have their own meeting off school property? The reason is that the teachers don't really think it is bad for our students. The real reason they don't want the core curruculum is they might have to work for their money. I think they feel it will be to much work! Mr.Pratt. You attend all the meetings, have you ever heard a teacher talk about the core curriculum in public? Message: 175 of 200 Re: core- where are the teachers? by: Stop whining and do something! 05/04/01 08:40 pm In a dictatorship, one is not allowed to speak... if this is the case with Dr. Beaton are we then going to quietly sit back and allow this to happen to our children? Isn't it time to get involved? Ask yourself these questions.....Do you honestly think that our elementary teachers just sit back and collect their pay? Do you think you could do their job? Most people being honest with themselves get frustrated with their own children as they have to juggle sports, family time and homework. Can you imagine trying to get 25 or more students to do schoolwork while sunny days distract them, problems at home plague them, and teach them in an effective and motivational style? Don't blame the teachers .....they do work hard but have been silenced by the magical wand of Dr. Beaton. Ask yourself ....when was the last time you stood up at a board meeting to voice your concerns, gathered information, or just take a concerned interest in the life of your child? Message: 176 of 200 Re: core- where are the teachers? by: RPratt 05/04/01 10:12 pm Anonymous- I'm not sure if teachers have spoken in public about CK or not. Even if they haven't, I really don't think it's because they don't care about their children! I attended the last CK meeting with Dr. Beaton and Connie Jones. At that meeting one parent asked Dr. Beaton if the next meeting could include teachers. Dr. Beaton told her that parents can talk to teachers about CK anytime they wanted so they wouldn't be included in the next meeting. Later, at a board meeting, Bob Watson asked Dr. Beaton if they(the board) needed to have a public meeting concerning CK. Dr. Beaton told him-no. I think anyone with half a brain can figure out whats happening here. It's called divide and conquer. Message: 177 of 200 Re: core knowledge presentation by: 05/09/01 10:54 pm I think that Dr. Beaton's core knowledge "presentation " will be a major waste of time for everyone. She has been busy trying to create the illusion that the teachers are talking negatively about this curriculum. Therefore at her so called "presentation", she will be trying to make this curriculum appear wonderful. It is a little to late. Why was this not "presented" over a year ago, when core knowledge was first mentioned? Why has it taken so long for another meeting after the one several months ago? How can the board expect anyone to buy into this program after keeping it a bigger secret than the Kennedy assassination? They haven't offered any proof about improved test scores, intelligence, or of anything else. I can see a potential employer asking about skills and a core knowledge recipient replying that they have none but they can play a mean game of trivial pursuit. Stop blaming the teachers for supposedly saying bad things about core knowledge. Blame the parents who cared enough about the education of their children, to do the research on this crap! Message: 178 of 200 get rid of beaton! by: beaton hater 05/10/01 01:40 pm beaton should be fired - wait, she should never have been hired in the first place. she has made my life a living hell with her stupidities. Message: 179 of 200 Re: The Eagle Cuts core knowledge answer by: Jim Strickland 05/12/01 10:08 am Core Knowledge is probably the most telling issue of the campaign for school board member but the answers the candidates gave to the Slippery Rock Eagle (to be shared with the Butler E) were cut from this week's edition of the paper. I tried to find out why and I was told that it was "space consideration," that the Butlet E would run the same 3 questions, and that it's too late for a letter to the editor on the subject. I would have liked to have seen what each candidate (including Bill Adams) had to say about the curriculum. I would have liked to have seen how articulate and conversant they each were about the this issue. I would have liked potential voters to have seen my position (posted earlier on this message board), but instead the editor chose to run the generic questions, "why are you running..." Beaton seems to get plenty of space in the paper and you-know-who rules the "letters" page. I think it's a shame that the Eagle(s) gave the impression they were going to run answers from candidates to six questions, including their position on Core Knowledge, and then only found room for answers for 3 questions. Message: 180 of 200 Re: core knowledge presentation by: Levi Hakim (quiet you!) 05/15/01 04:01 am the srasd board should look around at the rest of the world for a clue as to what right and wrong is. when you're in the wrong and can't see it, you need some perspective: i don't see other districts using their websites as fascist propaganda tools. the lame srasd site should just as well sport a cartoon-character, miter-capped goblin wielding a beaton wand, that spouts deriding oratory against a free society. In the tirade that was posted at srasd, credited to beaton, all non-ck sinners were told to ‘believe me’, trust me when i say…’. Perhaps a little time on the rack could make converts of all those that reject the true word. Of course, nobody expects the Spanish inquisition. A side note about the srasd site. mike bruno could play chief inquisitor and work to purge those pesky spelling mistakes from the srasd site. Last time I checked, “Speical Education…” was spelled “Special…”. Its somewhat ironic that word was misspelled. maybe the head of personnel could place an ad at the district website for a spellchecker. Wait, don’t most word processors come with a spellchecker? The link at the bottom of some of the pages for core knowledge is missing too. Yikes, people won’t know what to think if they aren’t herded to the trough, right, mr. A? plus once they’re at the trough, they’d have to fight their way through the teachers, too… Message: 181 of 200 butler eagle:censorship and editorial by: Levi Hakim 05/15/01 04:42 am perhaps the b.e. is taking a lesson from the tribune-review: they can't tell the difference between reporting, editorial, and censorship. the 'trib' is the only paper i've seen that puts their editorial slander on the front page and calls it news. now it seems the b.e. can't tell good reporting from censorship. hell, you'd never have heard of the spanish inquisition, the russian polgroms, or the fate of the hakim family, if these two papers were the only ones around. my last post would have looked like this if it were a letter-to-the-editor at the b.e.: the srasd board has looked around at the ____________ world. ____________ what is right and wrong ? you're in the wrong and can't see it, you need some perspective: i don't see ___________________________ fascist propaganda. the _____ srasd site ________ is well, _________________________ wielding a _______ wand, that spouts ____________ oratory against those against a free society. It was great ________________ at srasd, credited to beaton. all sinners were told to ‘believe me’, trust me when i say…’. Perhaps a little time on track could make happy converts of all those that want to see the true word. Of course, nobody expects the Spanish here. A side note about the srasd site. mike bruno could play chief ____________ and work to purge those pesky _______ mistakes from our life . Yes, Levi, “Speical Education…” _is spelled “Special…”. Its somewhat ironic that word. maybe the head of personnel could place an ad at the district website for a spellchecker, although most word processors come with a spellchecker. The link at the bottom of some of the pages for core knowledge will be on all pages, top AND bottom, soon. Yikes, people won’t know what to think if we don’t help them, right, mr. A? plus once we’re at the trough, we have to fight our way through the teachers, too… Leroy Himler Message: 182 of 200 re: core knowledge by: 05/16/01 01:55 am Dr. Beaton was kind enough to brag about having been fortunate enough to work in York city, Pa. and in Oklahoma city. Oh, by the way, Nichols Hills school in Oklahoma is only a finalist for the blue ribbon. Be Careful what you say Dr. Beaton, because I will check up on the facts to make sure your facts are accurate. If I were her, I wouldn't brag about the scores from the Oklahoma City School Ditrict. They are not that great. They list their results as advanced, satisfactory, limited knowledge, and unsatisfactory. In the area of mathematics the district had 71% of the students score as satisfactory. Only 8% scored in the advanced section. In the reading results, the scores were only 56% that were satisfactory. 10% were in the advanced section. The numbers got worse as the kids got older. By the eighth grade, the math was at 40% and the reading at 42%. Only 5% were advanced in math and 9% were advanced in reading. The district average was at 18.8% and the state average was at 20.8% There were no high challenge schools and 3 low-performing schools. Does Dr. beaton need me to post all of the scores from core knowledge schools before she agrees that core knowledge is not for the Slippery Rock School District? You can check out these scores for yourself at the Depatment of education in Oklahoma and follow the link to report cards. I know that she said the core curriculum is on hold, but I will not rest until it is no longer even a consideration. I think it is time that our district stops spending so much money on a useless curriculum and start utilizing the resources we have. Message: 183 of 200 re: core knowledge by: john malkovich 05/16/01 07:16 am just remember, dr b IS part of the board's spending to integrate ck @ srasd. she is just another piece of the furniture decorating the ck landscape. for that matter, this dr b and the last dr b are just mouth-pieces for the board: kinda like handpuppets... this isn't about dr b, it's about the board. yesterday's voting was another chance the public had to change the board and it's pursuit of ck. did they? Message: 184 of 200 Info please. by: Gunny 05/18/01 03:12 pm Would someone please post a link for the official SR school page and is there a Slippery Rock newspaper on line? Thanks. Keep kicking butt and taking names. The powers that be sometimes think they were running for emperor. Keep up the good work that is being done on this page. ........ Gunny (who left SR in 1964) Message: 185 of 200 CORE KNOWLEDGE PRESENTATION by: Kelsey Carr 05/24/01 10:26 am I was at the CORE KNOWLEDGE presentation at the Middle School and I thought it was wonderful. The information was helpful, insightful, and positive. I am not sure where all the negativity has come from. Message: 186 of 200 Re: CORE KNOWLEDGE PRESENTATION by: No turnip truck yesterday! 05/25/01 06:44 pm You too have been snookered! Teachers are not allowed to speak about this program for fear of being fired and the only mouth piece they have for the ck program is an administrator who was hired for the specific purpose of implementing the ck program by our infamous board of education......be afraid, be very very afraid! Some people can sell snow to an eskimo! Do your own research then be the judge, don't fall for the honey dripping from the superintendents mouth. Message: 187 of 200 Re: CORE KNOWLEDGE PRESENTATION by: concerned parent 05/26/01 04:27 pm I too was at the ck presentation and I found it to be very disturbing. My research and what was presented are two different things. Core knowledge is already costing the district over 100,000 dollars a year and we haven't even begun to implement it. The more research that I do, the more frightening Ck becomes. I am curious as to why so many schools are abandoning this curriculum. Message: 188 of 200 core knowledge presentation by: irrate 05/26/01 04:39 pm who does dr. beaton think she is kidding? i have been to all of the core knowledge meetings, including her so called presentation. Her so called presentation was a line of crap. This core knowledge is costing our district a bundle. there is much more to it than she will have us beleive. It cost our district 108,000 bucks to have that presentation! Message: 189 of 200 Re: core knowledge presentation by: Adolf Hilter (yes, H-i-l-t-e-r) 05/31/01 08:19 am $108,000 so far for ck? what about all the wasted efforts of the staff over the last 2-3yrs in futile curriculum development? add up all the teacher time, sub expenses, & staff recommendations, that were summarily discarded by the omnipotent board, and the tax payers have incurred a much larger cost. back then, it seemed that dr spinella agreed to review, at the board's direction(coercion?), or at least one member's direction <soon to be ex-?>, all options for the district's course for curriculum development, including ck. the result was that ck was not found appropriate. but i would guess that one or more board member wanted to use dr spinella like a hand puppet(where would they put their hand: hummmm?). it would appear that he balked, and the rest is history. the students have lost, the tax payers have lost, the district has lost. of course if you read the fairy tale in last-week's bird-cage-liner (aka-eagle), ck is great, the citizens love it, and all is well. Message: 190 of 200 Re: core knowledge by: ticked off! 06/08/01 12:53 am Rumor has it that core knowledge is being implemented next year. If this is true, than Dr. Beaton flat out lied to everyone by stating that they would not be implementing it for a least a couple of years. Leave it to our sneaky school board for getting the parents to let down their guard and then passing it! I would like to especially thank bill adams for completely ruining this district. I would also like to thank the rest of the cowards on the board for not standing up to him and allowing this core knowledge crap into the district in the first place! I would also like to thank all of the parents , who either didn't care enough to find out what core knowledge really is or who just didn't know enough about it to put a stop to it. Once again, it goes back to not caring about your childs education! If all of you misinformed or uninformed parents want your children being used as guinea pigs, well, I wish your children the best of luck. They will need it! Message: 191 of 200 Re: this website by: curious 06/22/01 06:35 pm I was just wondering what has become of this website? I've always enjoyed the forum - seeing what the people of the district are thinking about the education of our students. It isn't possible to get to the website anymore for anyone that I've spoken to. Message: 192 of 200 My friend Michael by: Joe Biden 06/23/01 08:43 am Does Core Knowledge contain any information on creativity? I was just wondering... I am not against educating for citizenship and a common knowledge base (I think that might be a good thing), but I am concerned about standardizing all learning to the point of stifling originality. This story may sound familiar to those of you who attended graduation-- http://www.angelfire.com/hi/mrhippy/michael.html. It is all over the internet and a popular "forward". What kind of message does this send to your students? I think I remember my teachers telling me to "do your own work". more links by: Joe Biden 06/23/01 08:48 am Sorry if that first link didn't work--try this one. http://www.geocities.com/sondarya/friend.html Message: 194 of 200 Re: tax hike by: wanting a change ! 07/06/01 09:32 pm when Bill Adams and the other no shows, tell you that they didn't vote to raise the taxes, they are correct in saying that. However, they did not vote no either. You have to be there at the meeting to actually vote! Remember that in November. On an important vote like that, shouldn't ALL of the members be there. That just goes to show you how interested this school board is about our children! I say we get rid of the whole lot of them, including Dr. Beaton. Message: 195 of 200 Re: tax hike by: RPratt 07/07/01 07:24 pm Our taxes will be raised 4.5 mills or $343,000. Our board keeps saying that the majority of that 4.5 mills will go to the teachers in the form of a 2.8% raise in their salaries and benefits. Last year we replaced our Superintendent and Director of Curriculum. We are paying these new employees over 14% more just in salaries (don't know about benefits). This means that over 7% of the 4.5 mill tax increase represents raises for just 2 of our administrators!! How long will this board try to blame the teachers for the tax increase? You know- "It wasn't us! It was those gready teachers!" bit. There are plenty of reasons to not vote for the incumbents! RPratt Message: 196 of 200 Re: tax hike by: wanting a change 07/08/01 12:15 am I think it is definately time to get rid of Beaton. Core knowledge is also in this budget. So for all of you folks that don't care about it, here is several more reasons why, this district does not need it! But now that Dr. Beaton has gotten such a tax hike (raise), maybe she can get the whole box of hair color. If you get rid of Dr. Beaton and the core curriculum , we would be within our budget. Can anyone tell me why we pay that woman so much money but yet we also pay Dr. Alhom to write the policies? I wish Dr. Beaton and her ideas would go back to York, where she belongs. Perhaps if she won't leave, we should give her a salary cut. At least if she is going to ruin this district further, then we should not have to pay her! The thing that bothers me the most is how unconcerned the board was about a tax hike. It was mentioned so matter of factly. Why weren't ALL of the board members there for the vote? sometimes a tax hike cannot be avoided, but they did nothing to minimize the increase. The teachers have gotten raises before and yet taxes were not raised. If this is because of building projects, does this mean that our taxes will go down after the projects are complete? I think not. Message: 197 of 200 Re: tax hike by: real world 07/10/01 06:52 am Just maybe some of the board members have a job, you know one where you work 52 weeks a year. I guess a 10am meeting goes good with all the yes votes, it's the same old thing. You know Bob, special meeting with teachers for contract, extra meeting in May scheduled for last Tues. or Wed. but one of the yes votes couldn't be there so it was changed to Thurs. Bob you should know better then anyone the games they play. I'm sorry I forgot "they all care about our kids". Message: 198 of 200 Re: tax hike Part one by: RPratt 07/10/01 01:23 pm First, I believe all of our board members care about the children. To some this dosn't come through sometimes. I know that meeting times change depending on the issues and who can and can't be there to vote. This is called SR politics. The bottom line in this budget vote though is the LAW! School Boards are required to pass a budget within certain time guidelines. The reason this board had to have a 10am meeting was because they screwed around at the last few meetings arguing. Not taking care of business! As usual! Thus they had to have a special morning meeting just to make the legal deadline. If they had just done their job in the first place, this vote could have occured at a regular evening meeting. Yes they manipulate some meetings to get the "right" vote, but not this one, they had to pass a budget or they would have been in court explaining why they shouldn't be removed from office! Message: 199 of 200 Re: tax hike Part one by: wanting a change 07/11/01 11:22 pm perhaps the members of the school board should be in court explaining why they shouldn't be removed from office! If the members do have other jobs, then they should have agreed on a budget before they ended the last evening meeting. Even if it took all night! If they cared at all about our children and their education, they would be looking at a curriculum that isn't setting them up for failure! They would have never hired Dr. Beaton. Politics or not, the bottom line is the education of our children! That should be the number one priority. Programs should be looked at, that force the parents to look at the education their children are receiving. If the parents took an active role in the education of their kids, the children would be doing much better. Make sure your child gets his/her homework done. Sports are a great source of exercise and keeping a child out of trouble, but education should be the first priority. Message: 200 of 200 |
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