Parents for Educational Reform

Here are some notes and feedback from other parents and lots of teachers! If you'd like to post yours here, please visit here(click) and fill out the form. If you are a teacher and you want to psot here anonymously, please click HERE. Thanks!! I post from both sides... though I will omit anything that is not appropriate. I TRY TO POST EVERYNIGHT BUT PLEASE KEEP IN MIND I DO THIS ALONE, SO SOMETIMES I GET A LITTLE BACKED UP. :) - Also, please note, if your post has bad language or direct personal attacks I cannot post it due to liability. Voice your concerns, share your stories and suggestions, speak about your right to vote... but please refrain from personally attacking anyone.

The assembly line model that Mr. Johnson wants to put in place can be found in places like Cuba, North Korea and China, all totalitarian regimes. In America teachers used to be free to use their professional judgement to assess the unique needs of their students and provide instructions accordingly. A Palm Beach teacher is no longer a professional and can no longer speaks his mind. The school site is crowded with district agents under different titles (Coach, LTM facilitator, etc.) One of their jobs is to report to administration teachers with "negative attitudes". We are so grateful that the concerned parents can speak for us and the kids.

I teach first grade at an A school. A former student of mine (a top student, academically, and very nice girl), now a third grader, came by my room to say hi a couple of weeks ago. Of course I marveled at how much she's grown, etc., and I asked her who her teacher is this year. She named 3 teachers (departmentalization). Then she said to me, "I had a dream the other night. I was supposed to go to one class, but I forgot, and I went to another class,and I MISSED MY CLASS!" Just a little tidbit that shows how we're giving stress dreams to third graders (not to mention teachers)! Something is TERRIBLY wrong with this picture, and with education in PBC! Parents, teachers, and administrators should be out in the streets rioting to save our children and take back this profession! Leave it in the hands of those who know and love these students! Not that change is bad--we do need to improve things, but THIS change, and the un-thought out way in which it was shoved down our throats, is DISASTROUS! Everyone should show up at the school board meeting on Wednesday to TAKE BACK THIS PROFESSION! Thank you SO much, parents, for your support, and for providing us with a voice!

Response to Jac VerSteeg's editorial in Post 10/17

Dear Mr. VerSteeg,

Although I understand your point, as a teacher in a Title One school, I am sharply aware of the students who have no "voice" in our schools. The parents of those students care deeply for their children and are just as concerned about the new curriculum and its breakneck pace. They have no voice because they are illegals who do not speak English and are afraid to draw attention to themselves. We KNOW who these students are--they are the lowest 25% of our schools, and while they are highly concentrated in Lantana, Greenacres and Lake Worth, they are in some parts of every school from Boca to the Gardens. These students are desperate for teachers who have time to teach them, to work with them in small groups, to expose them to concepts and vocabulary, which they lack. You are probably aware that we gave Diagnostic tests in September. Those tests identified the specific needs of each student down to the exact details in which they need extra work. For example, in reading, we know which students are weak in main idea or in inferencing. We already know this and need time to teach it. These students need more than one day at each concept. The Curriculum Frameworks move from one concept to another way too quickly. Every students is not in a high performing school, with parents who work with them at home each day. My students have me and their other teachers, period. Testing is NOT the only problem. It is the pace of the curriculum. I would normally spend 3-5 days on a concept and build my lessons to reinforce the basics while applying it in different ways. Dr. Johnson has already acknowledged the lack of communication with parents and the large amount of tests given in September. If a teacher is using the Curriculum Frameworks and following it to the letter out of fear for their jobs or pressure from their principal, they are not helping their students. It is one size fits all. For some lazy people, it is the easy way out. No thinking involved, print out the lesson and teach it. Our students deserve better than that no what their immigration status. Extreme testing is actually discriminatory. It takes teaching time from the most disadvantaged students. After one of my students spent 200% extra time (required by his IEP) on the last Embedded Assessment only to earn an 11%, his response was, "Well, that's my life."

That is not right or fair; it is debilitating and defeating.

A caring teacher

Hi Eryka,

Thank you for this website and for your support!

I am curious, why haven't we heard anything from the CTA? It appears that they are not supporting the teachers in all of this craziness. Why is it that the parents are doing all the work that Mr. Dow should be doing?

Our union rep has not mentioned anything about the upcoming rally on October 21. Is there any way you can get flyers out to the schools?

Thanks again! We appreciate all you're doing for us!

There’s a letter circulating among parents and teachers written to Laura Green by a taxpayer which everyone deserves to see. Its subject matter is the appalling display put on by Johnson, Graham and Benaim at the school board meeting this past Wednesday when they effectively silenced Barbieri who was attempting to point out various concerns he had with a contract for in excess of $1 million to pay for graduations at the convention center. Of course the establishment will now try to quash Barbieri - he’s the only Board member who has had the courage and decency to speak out publicly against an administration that is not paying any heed to the concerns of the students, teachers, principals and parents in this county. Here’s the letter - I’m sure you all will be as disgusted as I am:

Laura, I watched this week's School Board Meeting and my concern turned into outrage at what I witnessed regarding this Convention Center Contract.

1. First, my perspective--I am a taxpayer, as you are. Our hard earned tax dollars went to build that Convention Center.

Second, I am a taxpayer, as you are. Our money continues to go into the Palm Beach County School Board, Superintendent, and for PB County children's education. So WHY we must pay what outside conventioneers pay is preposterous and a slap in the face to taxpayers.

One School Board Member, Mr. Barbieri, attempted to raise financial concerns with various clauses of a "poorly written" contract. He attempted to highlight areas where money could be saved. He tried in vain to caution the Board that some clauses in this contract would not hold up in court.

I watched as my tax dollars dissolved before my eyes. The Board Chairman, Dr. Johnson, and Dr. Benaim continuously shut down Mr. Barbieri. A candid, informative discussion could not take place which violated Robert's Rules of Orders as well as the School Board Meeting Policy Rules 1.03 and Florida Statutes.

Chairman Graham repeatedly called for a vote following Mr. Barbieri's attempts to discuss various contractual issues. On camera, one could see the number of post it notes Mr. Barbieri had attached to multiple contract pages. There were issues, but no taxpayer who pays these people will hear them!

Further, Dr. Benaim shut down Mr. Barbieri entirely by suggesting this was discussed in the previous Board Meeting (where Benaim wasn't present). It was never discussed. I have attended and watched. Strangely, at the previous meeting Dr. Johnson had rushed this contract to a vote but Mr. Barbieri pointed out that it was a three year contract vs. a one-year which their documents stated it was. The rushed vote was finally deferred on behalf of Dr. Benaim who was absent. So, ironically, when Dr. Benaim shows up the next week, Mr. Barbieri is not permitted to discusss these agenda issues? WHAT IS GOING ON?

An open discussion did not take place and was not permitted. By doing so, they denied the public an opportunity to hear all the issues surrounding how our tax dollars are being recklessly spent.

Robert's Rules were violated. Forida Statutes 1001.372 were violated. There is no rule, no law, no regulation, statute or case interpretation that supports these actions by Chairman Graham or the Board.

Your readers want to know why this is happening to our tax dollars. This is our money they are spending and they deny us the ability to hear what the issues are? This is highly dysfunctional and unethical under the Freedom of Information Act.

And, having watched School Boards operate in other states and in other counties in Florida, I am appalled at the fact that the Superintendent appears to run these meetings, introduces the agenda, the invited speakers, decides when to call the votes, even chases down a board member who is out for the day to call in to the meeting to vote. Chairman Graham visibly looks to the Superintendent before he even speaks. The Superintendent sits at the head of the table while all others are in a U-shaped conference table. This is NOT the Superintendent's meeting. This is the School Board's Meeting. He answers to them not vice versa. Rules are being violated. Please look into it. Our School Board operating procedures are dysfunctional and in great need of repair.

Mr. Graham likes the phrase "people seem to be resistant to institutional change." It is time he grasped that change himself because he is not doing the job he was elected to do correctly.

My child is a gifted 6th grader taking Algebra 1 Honors for high school credit. Why is she being forced to take 6th grade math embedded assessments? this is a waste of her time. The time taken on these tests is taking away from her learning time. We keep hearing that these tests are supposed to measure and give feedback on what is being taught. I can assure that it is not the case. Gifted students EP are being violated! Were it not for fear of losing my job as a teacher I would post my name.

I have been a teacher in Palm Beach County for 21 years and this year is a nightmare. Our schools are being run by dictators and control freaks. The creativity and personable teaching techniques are gone. Also, we are using truckloads of scantrons and copy paper for the embedded assessments. Thank you for supporting us!

Has anyone realized how much of our stimulus dollars are going to the new program? About 50 new administrative postions and others we may not even know about all are members of JH/s "compliance" staff...paid for by stimulus money...while schools were cut staff including security positions at high schools...has anyone wondered what will happen in 2 years when stimulus funds are gone,,,stress, departmenalization and testing are affecting us all, but having an administratively top heavy staff at the district is another huge issue...while school based administrators and teachers are struggling with mandates that the "squad" comes to check on...who pays for the gas that the teams use as they travel all over the county ...but there is no money for teacher steps? There is so much more involved in this mess...we can't let up. He needs to go...

I have been teaching for over 20 years, in Michigan and Florida. I am a master teacher and have never seen the problems that we are experieincing this year. The frameworks embedded assessments are not teaching.

The 3 week cycles are not enough time to teach all the children the skill/ concepts in the primary grades.

All we have been directed to do for the first 40 days of school is test and assess kindergarten students.

The things that have been written for us to do in kindergarten can not be done. I welcome anyone ( Mr. Hernandez or Dr. Johnson) to come in my class and model for me how to do the assessments. I am a pretty quick study and I'm sure If they show me how to do I can learn.

In the first four days of school I was directed to give 21 students a 30 question reading assessment/placement inventory and 28 questions math assessment/placement inventory, to many children that can not write their own names yet. Are you kidding??

Let's make they children hate school in the first week and feel like faliures because they don't know how to do what is asked of them. How do you undo that kind of damage? I refused to use those test and went with the kindergarten screening we have been using for the last 5 years.

This all must be done one on one, with the ESE cluster in my class and four non-speakers of English.

I have always had high expectations for my students and they have always made the most gains.

I'll stand on my performance record with all my students.

What did Mr. Hernandez "teach" for 4 years prior to going into administration? I'm just wondering about his experience and qualifications.

It sad to see so many good teachers stressed and talking about getting another job.

Teaching has always been my passion, but I would not advise anyone to seek a job in Palm Beach County at this time. The biggest losers are the children.

Do what is best for children and this is NOT it!

I just want to comment on the response Mr Hernandez gave to Robert Dow/CTA concerning teacher salaries.He stated the average teacher salary is close to $51,000. But there is no mention of the salary of teachers who aren't making the average salary. I've been teaching for 8 years and I have a Master's degree. I am making $41,000. Without my $3000 Master's supplement, I would be making $38,000 - 8 years experience! Starting salary for a beginner teacher is $36,000. Can you imagine that with 8 years of experience a teacher would only make $2000 more than a beginner teacher? This is because our step raises were stopped. Please don't believe that we are all making the average salary of $51,000.I am almost embarassed to tell people my salary. Also, I was turned down for a refinance on a mortgage because my salary has shown very little increase within the last few years. Teachers are not going to continue working 10 hours a day and on weekends just to keep up with the new curriculum and not receive an increase in our salaries.

Today my school had classroom walk-thrus by the administration so we could prepare for the District walk-thru in a few weeks. I spent more time yesterday getting my class ready for inspection, then I did teaching!

PLEASE let everyone know how important Oct 21st is. I know some teachers in my school still think they wont make a difference, but if we dont have 90% of our teachers that are upset show up, we will be sending the wrong message. EVEN if you DONT think it will make a change, this once PLEASE SHOW UP! For all of our sakes we need to show a united front with teachers standing their ground finally.

Parents we truly appreciate hearing about the mass amount of numbers you are expecting to show, I hope we triple everyone's expectations. Thank you for all your support.

We got an email from Mr Dow about the questions that were asked to Mr. Hernandez. Most of them were about what to do and he said to go and see your principal. Did you know that Dr J, JH and AK are getting bonuses this year for making an A? It is about 50,000 or more additional to their salary! I bet there will not be a raise this year for teachers........

http://realtyagentsportal.com/local/4/439340/Florida

http://www.peekyou.com/work_search=1/ttype=2/tag=Lakeview+Elementary+School

http://www.gablesgaterealty.com/meet_Our_Agents.htm

You might want to ask Mr. Hernandez about his real estate dealings.

How can you serve as the Chief Academic Officer in Palm Beach County & moonlight as a real estate agent in Miami?

Latest speaker that Hernandez choose to talk with principals and teachers. It's worth checking out

http://www.mcgrawhill.com/prize/winners_renzulli.shtml

As a Teacher of 1st Grade for 25 years Eryka, I agree with some of your summary and I also disagree with some of it. The reasons for the personal attacks on Johnson and Hernandez are:

1) When Hernandez himself comes into a classroom and rips the marker out the teacher's hands and tells them to take a seat and he will show them how to properly instruct his/her class, this is rather intimidating and very degrading as it is done in front of the class.

2) The same intimidation is being given to the Principals- One principal asked a question at a meeting of the principals and he was told; "That was a stupid question, who are you and what school do you teach at?"

3) It was told that you "must" attend the summer training with no pay and that teachers should not expect to be paid for such training.

4) There has never been a clear well defined program given to the schools. Even as they back track, there is greater confusion than ever.

5) Johnson lost a million dollar grant from the Gates Foundation because he stated he did not have any confidence in over 70% of his instructional staff.

6) The "SWAT" teams that Hernandez is sending out to the schools are very intimidating at best to the the entire school staff.

7) There are Hall Monitors that are reporting back to Johnson personally about certain teachers and school staff.

8) For the same reason you created a place for teachers to post anonymously, is the same reason that we want these 2 and most of the board removed from office.

Eryka, I would hope by now you are starting to understand why we feel the way we do. You would have to be in our shoes to fully understand what is happening and how it is affecting the entire school system.

Please, please don't take me wrong, we appreciate and fully support what you are doing. We are at the rallies and will be there at the upcoming one on October 21st.

Thank you for what you are doing!

All these new changes are not legal by the CTA contract! Therefore, if we ALL come together and say "I'm not going to do any of this" (whiteboard configuration, embedded assessments, etc) then don't you think the county will stop all this nonsense? And from my point of view, they want me to jump through all these hoops like a dog at a dog show, but they don't want to pay me any more money!!!!! I cannot sit at $35,000 a year for the rest of my life! How will I afford a wedding or buying a house? What about my students at school? No supplies because I don't have any money to buy them!!!! SO UNHAPPY THIS YEAR!!!! :(

Today, each teacher in the county was forwarded an answer to questions mailed in to the Mr. Hernandez. The question below was asked and answered in the exact words shown below. This statement is the core issue of what is going terribly wrong in education in Palm Beach County. As a teacher and a parent, I want my child to develop a love of learning. I want my child to become a life-long learner. I have felt that this attitude has been greatly overlooked. The proof of my fears follows:

Where/how is the love learning? What happened to the whole child?

Response: Not applicable.

It is considered in Palm Beach County that students should perform consistently, work hard, but whether they ever develop a love of learning is irrelevant. I could not disagree more. In fact, I am heartbroken by this callous response....

I talked with the CTA today. Was told a meeting took place between AJ, JH, CTA, and Helene (as I recall). AJ and JH BOTH said they are only requiring two things - the 'I Can' statements on white boards and the completion of embedded assessments.

At the meeting I was told they said ALL the other stuff is being required by schools and the school improvement plan as implemented by the principals and that they are not responsible.

Looks to me as though the principals are being set up to take the fall for this fiasco and they do not even know it !!

October 13, 2009

Dear Teachers:

As part of our on-going communication process, below are the emails that were sent to Elementary School Principals on Monday, October 12, 2009, that have an impact on academics. Bulletins, which provide additional information, can be accessed by going to your Microsoft Outlook and competing the following steps:

· Find and Click on the folder named Public Folders

· Find and Click on the folder named Bulletins

· From there you can view, sort, and search for all bulletins.

Subject: TIME SENSITIVE: TrainU information for 10.16.09

Contact Person:

Liz Perlman, PX 48255

October 12, 2009

Dear Elementary School Principals:

Friday, October 16, 2009 is a school based professional development day (PDD) for elementary schools. In order to provide opportunities for principals to select specific professional development activities, there will also be face to face presentations available that may be attended on a voluntary basis.

Please refer to TrainU for information about recorded and face to face professional development opportunities.

Subject: FYI - SCHEDULE CHANGE IN GRADE 2 DIAGNOSTIC TESTING

Contact Person:

Bill Thompson, PX 48664

October 12, 2009

Dear Elementary School Principals:

The window for administering the grades 2-5 Sunshine State Standards (SSS) Reading, Mathematics and Science SSS Diagnostic Tests is November 30 through December 10, 2009. These tests are used to assess student performance on selected SSS benchmarks tested on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).

Because grade 2 students will be tested on the Next Generation State Standards (NGSS) rather than the Sunshine State Standards, the new grade 2 Reading and Mathematics Diagnostic Tests will be based on the NGSS. In order to ensure that the grade 2 NGSS Diagnostic Tests, as well as the new scoring and reporting processes are of high quality, the testing window for grade 2 (only) has been moved to January 19-22, 2010.

We sincerely appreciate your support of this schedule change.

Subject: PLEASE READ and TAKE ACTION if appropriate - 4 academic emails

October 12, 2009

Dear Principals:

Per suggestions from principals, we are consolidating academic emails if they pertain to Elementary, Middle and High School Principals. Please review the four emails below and take action if necessary. You will receive area specific emails today as well.

Thank you.

1. URGENT - FAIR Testing Technology Update Provided on 10-9-09

Dear Principals:

Below is the message we received from Paula Noor on behalf of Chancellor Frances Haithcock on October 9, 2010.

We are pleased to announce we have had three successful FAIR assessment days. Thanks to all, but most importantly to the teachers and students who have participated in this process to improve instruction. There are seven more days left in this assessment window for most of you, and we are working hard to ensure all components of this system allow you to complete your testing. All schools and all districts may assess Monday through Friday.

Next week we will be convening with top district IT staff to debrief regarding this first testing period and to define improvements and protocols for the future of the system. In additional to technological system improvements, we are defining communication protocols based on input we have been gathering. Please continue to let us know how to improve so the valuable data this system provides to teachers and students is more effectively and efficiently provided.

We will keep you updated as we hear information from the Chancellor Haithcock.

2. ACTION BY October 16, 2009 - AFRICAN AND AFRICAN AMERICAN

CONTACT

Information is also included in Bulletin #P-13334-CAO/C

Contact Person:

Sandra Weatherspoon, PX 21154

October 12, 2009

Dear Principals:

The study of African and African American history is an integral part of creating a better understanding among all students and a greater sense of pride in our African American students. The Department of Curriculum Development has been working closely with Palm Beach County teachers to update current curriculum and develop new material to support this initiative in grades K-12.

As we progress on this path, we will continue to need not only teachers who work with our district staff to develop lessons, but individuals in every school who will share in providing communication between schools and the district. This two way communication will allow us to share ideas and make sure that information is disseminated in every school.

Expectations:

Participant will be willing to assist in bringing ideas and concerns to meetings several times during the school year.

Participant will be responsible for sharing and supporting new information and initiatives with school staff.

Please nominate a member of your teaching staff that you believe would be an outstanding African and African American Curriculum contact.

Please send an email to Sandra Weatherspoon, Manager for Social Studies and Fine Arts, no later than Friday, October 16. The email should be structured as follows:

· Sent from the Principal’s email

· Subject: African & African American Contact – School Name

· Body of email should contain contact’s name

Thank you for your efforts in this matter.

3. FYI PARENT ACCESS TO CORE K12, GIZMOS, AND FCAT EXPLORER

Contact Persons:

Bill Thompson, PX 48664

Gary Weidenhamer, PX 48224

Liz Perlman, PX 21105

Timothy Gadson, PX 48391

Peter Licata, PX 45816

October 12, 2009

Dear Principals:

We have received inquiries from parents and schools regarding parent access to information on embedded assessments and other technology-based instructional tools. We are providing principals with the following information for use in addressing similar inquiries at your school.

CORE K12:

Embedded assessments provide information about student performance on recently taught Sunshine State Standards for the re-teaching, reinforcing and enriching segment of the Instructional Frameworks. Parents can access both reports of their child’s performance on the assessments as well as instructional materials linked to the assessment items which are suitable for home use.

A letter explaining how parents can access and use the information about their child’s performance exists in CORE K12, and has been translated into Spanish, Creole, and Portuguese. To access these letters, principals sign into the Assessment Center, on the left hand side of the page click on Program Materials, and find a link to Parent Letters. Principals can download and print these letters, add login codes for individual students, and send the letter home to parents.

Gizmos:

You may also receive inquiries about the ExploreLearning product called Gizmos. As you know, Gizmos are highly interactive, online simulations that parents and students can also use at home to build understanding of math and science concepts.

Teachers in your school may be using Gizmos in their classrooms to introduce and reinforce math and science concepts as part of whole-class instruction. Teachers may ask students to work individually or in small groups to master concepts. By using Gizmos, students can increase their understanding of science concepts and can experiment, hypothesize, test scenarios and draw conclusions in order to increase their understanding in a “learning by doing” setting.

Since Gizmos are online, students and parents can login from anywhere, including home.

To access Gizmos, follow these simple instructions:

1. Connect to the Internet and open a browser

2. Type in the website address: http://www.explorelearning.com

3. Press the “Login” button in the top left corner of the page

4. Login using the child’s username and password

Once logged in, users are taken directly to the teacher’s Home Page, which lists all of the Gizmos that the class is using. Press “Launch Gizmo” to get started.

FCAT Explorer:

Programs in the FCAT Explorer provide students with explicit practice and learning guidance for the reading and math benchmarks tested on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). Each program also includes tools for educators and resources for parents and mentors.

To use FCAT Explorer, students are given a UserName and Password by their teachers. This UserName and Password can be used both at home and at school. Students who do not have Internet access at home can use the program at the public library or other public places that provide Internet access. Parents can use their child’s login at http://www.fcatexplorer.com to view their child’s performance.

Please share this information with the parents at your school.

4. FYI: K-12 Comprehensive Research Based Reading Plan

Contact Person:

Kim Stansell-Towe, PX 43882

October 12, 2009

Dear Principals:

The Florida Department of Education requires that each district complete a K-12 Comprehensive Research Based Reading Plan. The K-12 CRRP articulates the plan for reading instruction in each county’s schools. The K-12 Comprehensive Research Based Reading Plan may be accessed from the Division of Curriculum Development and School Improvement’s main page at:

http://www.palmbeach.k12.fl.us/curriculumlearningsupport/

Thank you for your efforts in this matter.

Jeffrey J. Hernandez

Chief Academic Officer

The School District of Palm Beach County

561-969-5850 Office

561-714-7411 Cellular

jeffrey.hernandez@palmbeach.k12.fl.us

I sent this once, but dont see it.. so sending it again...

I am a little frustrated that the media is only getting half the story. Teachers will not speak out for fear of losing their jobs so it seems as though some things are missing.. now that we can post anonymously, let me just tell you it is NOT just the EA’s… but so much more. Let me give you a quick list of some things not being exposed in the media and it might help those who don’t understand what “all the fuss is about.”

For starters, I am with other teachers who have posted that we are NOT mad about change. Just so you know, being a teacher means dealing with change—they change things on us every single year! The way they determine our school grade alone changes each year requiring a person to have a few PhD’s to understand it! Anyway, teachers are against THIS change. Teachers would like data to support that these specific changes work; if you prove to us with numbers, examples and data that it works, we will buy into it! Let’s talk about those changes. In HS science we have things beyond over the top this year. For starters, we have Science coaches now which just seem to be spies. JH and AJ tell the media that all the changes and lessons are SUGGESTED but when we have our dept meetings, let’s just say they are not SUGGESTED but wink wink we are told we need to do them! And yes, people stop in to check that we are doing them. So much for suggestions. Did you know that all this curriculum that they say was developed by a curriculum committee and a whole bunch of teachers just means that ANY teacher (good or bad) that wanted to make some extra $$ this summer could sign up to do this?? THIS MEANS THAT THE SUGGESTED LABS AND LESSON ARE IN MANY CASES BEING PROVIDED TO US EFFECTIVE TEACHERS BY TEACHERS WHO MAY OR MAY NOT BE EFFECTIVE THEMSELVES! Can you believe that!? This is very frustrating. The labs are sub standard and we have to do 1-2 of them per week. Then the students have to do lab write ups for all of them. That adds up to HOURS AND HOURS of grading that may or most likely may not have related to you class at all. My students are begging me, NO MORE LABS! I find that amusing since all students ever want in Science is MORE LABS! I can’t finish grading one set of these write ups before the next one is due. Hundreds and hundreds of these to grade. Oh, and then we have the labs that actually go along with our curriculum in addition to the required ones. (I mean suggested, wink wink… )

Our next LTM day was supposed to be a meeting on White Board Configuration! Can you believe your kids were going to stay home late so we can learn how to write on our white boards? HA! I find this incredibly ridiculous. With pressure, they have since decided this was not important and as long as we have certain things (agenda, objectives… which all good teachers have anyway!!) then that is okay. Guess the pressure worked on that one. And WHO THINKS STUDENTS ARE READING ANYTHING BUT THEIR AGENDA FOR THE DAY on the whiteboards anyway??? These people are so out of touch. I can’t believe they have meetings and spend our tax dollars on this stuff!

Here’s a rundown of the Requirements ahem.. I mean suggestions:

• Essential labs, 1-2 per week that students and teachers dislike greatly. We don’t dislike labs, we dislike their “suggested” labs.. they are HORRIBLE!!!!!

• Essential Lab write-ups that take HOURS upon HOURS to grade; this would not be a big deal if there were not SO many and like I said not to mention our OWN labs we are doing.

• The scope and sequence pacing is INSANITY. Are we supposed to speed talk the lessons? Short hand the notes? Skip any reinforcements? Not give examples? Demonstrations? Activities for reinforcement? NO EFFECTIVE TEACHER CAN KEEP UP WITH THEIR PACE! It makes us wonder further—what out of touch teacher wrote this thing?

• WORD WALLS in classrooms

• White board configuration that will be the same for our dept.

• Bellringers every day (more required grading)

• Embedded assessment that may or may not have anything to do with the class you are teaching

• EA questions leave a lot to be desired (like all questions on ONE topic!)

• EA- to give a grade or not? Not really fair to give students a grade for this test but then if you don’t get a grade the kids won’t take it seriously. So some teachers are giving a participation grade to students for bubbling in answers… effective testing? Good grief!

• Gizmos which most of us like a lot but now we are required to go the computer lab to do them and they are checking that we do. The Gizmo packets take HOURS to grade.

• CORE assessment center- they actually have a program that tells them HOW LONG we have logged on to the site to check our students scores

• Exit cards

• Required to analyze students EA tests—find where students are weak—and write lesson plans on how we will reteach and re-address the topics with students. Interesting.. 150 students—when would you like me to do this b/c this is going to take a LONG LONG time. Are you paying me extra for this?

• Let me just reinforce that we are doing this in addition to what we already do.. so when I tell you that teachers have HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS worth of grading I kid you not. It is insane. I have over 400 papers in my bag right now to grade. RIDICULOUS! I am not alone, NONE of us can keep up

• Too many emails to count on a daily basis about new changes, updates, requirements that make us want to SCREAM!

• Lesson plans that need to say: I DO, WE DO, YOU DO and the specifics of each (more hours writing lesson plans)

• 150 manila folders with student work easily visible and accessible for visitors. It should “tell a story” of the student’s progress in your class. Sounds great.. but my kids already keep a 3 ring binder and they want all their papers with them… so they can check their grades against Edline. So why can’t they just keep their work in their required binders? NOPE… was told that is not good enough… we have to put them in the “suggested” (read: REQUIRED) manila folders. I have 150 folders alone… how much $$$ just in manila folders for my school alone?

I am NOT a robot and am not like every other teacher. What makes me different? Unique? I happen to be good at what I do so LET ME DO IT. For the first time in my life I don’t feel like this is my calling in life anymore. You know the saying that If Mamma aint happy, aint nobody happy.. well the same could be said for your child’s teachers. We are miserable and doing our best to serve your kids under these ridiculous conditions.

We received an email from CTA today with a 46 page response by Mr. Hernandez to questions the CTA presented to him. What a bunch of political double talk... and BULL ! Notice how many times he said "not applicable" and "refer to your principal". Seems to me like he is now putting the principals on the line as his scapegoat.

As to his claim that the state is mandating much of this, again he is passing the buck. Yes the state has requirements, as we always have, but in speaking with teachers in other districts, none that I know of, have the mess we have. In response to blaming the state for lack of funds for teacher salaries, maybe if we were to cut back on the new Chief Academic Officers $180,000 and all those he has brought on board and promoted or placed in newly created positions, we could find some funds to cover a meager cost of living increase for overworked teachers or at least pay for after work trainings and workshops.

We had a walk-through (not the official one yet) and we were given a list of things we are doing wrong. Most of them had to do with our word walls being up too high, and our "I can" statements not being on the same side of the whiteboard. We were told to go to a configurated whiteboard with "I can" statements on the left side. Apparently they feel the kids are too dumb to find the words "I can" next to the big target??? So now, my "I can" statements are on the left, where they are covered up by my projection screen for more than half the day. How is this an improvement? How does this apply to AYP? This adminstration is a JOKE!

Today an email was received from CTA. JH's responses to questions. It is many pages long but this one response summed it up for me. Actually it made me want to throw up.Q;' Where/how is the love of learning? What happened to the whole child?" Response: " Not applicable" I read that as the child does not matter just the test results. I am so glad my children are grown and grandson doesn't live here.

Please read Hernandez' Friday memo about embedded assessments more carefully. He does NOT remove them, he merely couches them in another format. He does this constantly, as he "massages" his previous dictums. He is still going to do what he wants to do.

If the embedded assessments take the new format, through the principals as noted, they will have NO VALIDITY for uniform data collection.

Don't let Hernandez fool you. Embedded tests might be "optional" now, but they have to be replaced by a school based diagnostic test. Nothing has changed. This guy is a real "slick Willie".

My two children in the gifted program in Boca used to come home every day with an insane amount of incredible information full of excitement from what they had learned that day.

Now...they cannot tell me one thing they have learned all year and when I press the issue..they just say "Daddy..our teachers are miserable and we are not learning anything this year, why are they doing this to us?"

I unfortunately do not have an answer for them.

You can get in to the CORE testing site with the student number (aka pb number) and look at the Embedded Ass. your kids already took. Print them out/ Put them on the web. They're so paranoid about test security... use the loophole while you can.

PBCSD home page->learning tools->CORE

Jeffery Hernandez and his henchmen have destoyed what little trust there was between teachers and administartors. You can't lead people if they don't trust or respect you. Mr. Hernandez it is time for you to go.

My husband is a teacher and a wonderful one at that, with all the extra work that MR. H. has set up, my husband can not be the same wonderful teacher he was. Why can't they leave our students as well as our teachers alone. MR Johnson found this clown in miami, and His children don't even attend palm beach schools. If MR H. thinks his plans for our "A" rated schools are so grand why doesn't his children come up and go... Theres a question?

Our union is weak and ineffective, which is why so many teachers will not join. What is Mr. Dow doing to support his teachers? This would never happen up north because the unions support their teachers and DO NOT sell them out!

Mr. Dow, please step up and take action or do us a favor and step down.

Well, "Cycle Two" has just begun and I have just spent over a half hour trying to print out the cycle on my computer to no avail.

I see we have a full week lined up on Curriculum Frameworks, but, guess what?! This is exam week and tomorrow is review, Tuesday is the exam. Don't fear, kiddies, Wednesday will not be a day of rest for onward we tread into Thursday, when we are having our first District walk through! "Don't feel intimidated" ...just make sure your newly created student work files are available, just make sure your Lesson Plans are available, just make sure your Data Binder is available, just make sure your Secondary Benchmarks are on the board, just make sure you have a warm up, just make sure you have a Warm Down, just hope the kids are behaving ON THE LAST DAY OF THE QUARTER!

"Yea, though I should walk into the Valley of Death, I will fear no evil."

Those of us who have Xanax are happy we have it; those who are not are jealous or setting appointments with their doctors.

That's whats happening.

I freaking hate it!

In my opinion the embedded assessments weren't the problem! I'm a 4th grade math, science, and social studies teacher. The first science embedded assessment was horrible-it didn't test anything that was taught or follow how it was taught. But the assessment after that, was actually decent, even pretty good. The math embedded assessments have been pretty good also! They test what was taught, following the same way it was taught. The departmentalization is fine-we've figured out how to make it work. I wish I had my kids all day because I constantly run out of time! But it's ok.

My biggest gripe is with the pacing of the frameworks. It's way to fast!! Within the 11 day cycle we are in currently, I have to teach the following in science: Types of energy (heat, light, sound, electricity), Properties of light energy, Light making heat, How sound is made, Sources of Electricity, Classify insulators and conductors, Properties of magnets, electromagnets, and Potential and Kinetic energy. That is just way to much!! Most of those concepts need AT LEAST A WEEK EACH! The lessons on the frameworks stink. I don't use them-but I do look at the I can statements. I feel as a teacher, I am not doing my job by truly teaching what needs to be taught. And g-d forbid the students don't learn it the first time, there is absolutely no time to reteach! I'll give the embedded assessments-but give me the TIME to teach quality lessons at a pace that suits my students! The first thing I was taught in college, was that not ever student learns the same way nor at the same pace. Apparently, JH has forgotten that! We need the time to reteach, review, and challenge.

Let me do what I was originally hired to do-teach in a way to meet my students needs and help each one of them to become a better student and person!

So Mr. Hernandez and Mr. Johnson threw a bone to the parents and teachers! That is an accomplishment, so parents and teachers thank you!!! But...we still need to follow the frameworks to a degree. Some of us are not departmentalized, in K-2 and are still stressed and upset. To organize 5 subjects, have all the Anchor charts, Science labs and everything else to Mr. H's liking is beyond my wildest comprehension!!!!! We are doing the best we can do, but parents and colleagues IT IS FAR FROM OVER!

Please don't let them get away with this. The children are the ones who will suffer. I am a veteran teacher but it doesn't seem that I will be around for long if this continues. I love teaching and my class, but I NEVER have felt so unhappy in my entire career.

Also, I read the Sun Sentinel and Mr. H. experience. It says he was with Miami Dade for 20 years. Granted it said that he worked as a clerk in the office at 19, but 20 and 6 months with the state , 6 months with PBC add up to 21. That means he started at 14?????

Was there a typo or am I just not understanding something???? Thanks for letting me vent. Sorry I don't have the nerve to write my name.

Our administration has stopped answering questions in writing (via e-mail)-- perhaps out of fear of being wrong. In any case, it is frustrating to ask for guidance on an issue and to have the e-mail completely ignored....

I want to thank parents that are supporting the teachers. We have always had the best interest of your child in our hearts and in our classrooms.

Before I started this new year, I made it a point to review the "new" curriculum. While it was confusing at the time, I felt that the pieces would fall into place. They have not.

In my school, a majority of parents do not speak English and are unaware of what is going on in the community. Maybe some will not speak due to being "undocumented." I can only guess that this is the situation. I know there may be other reasons such as working two jobs, etc..

My concern is that ESE students are not getting the time they need for EA's. Most teachers count these as a grade. I do not. We just started giving these in class prior to input on the computer. This ensures my ESE students that they have the time. Doing this helps them but throws the pace way off.

The EA's do not reflect most of the items we cover in class even if you do your best to "do it all." Students do not spend a few days on a concept, thereby ensuring mastery. As we all know, we need to move to the next day's agenda. While time is build into the calendar, it does not reflect real time for me.

An ESE student is a very special kind of individual. We as teachers not only have to deal with the subject at hand but also deal with behavior issues. It could be the child that forgets their medicine, the child that is having a bad day due to problems at home, or is just not focused that day. Getting that child back on task takes up time, time I will gladly use to make sure they are with me. But it still takes time away from the "schedule."

When Mr. Hernandez came to the summer meeting, he said, and I do quote, "if a child does not learn it is your fault." I thought I heard him wrong but I did not. He said this in all his meetings with teachers in LA, Science and Math. My fault? I am a practical person and realize that not all kids get it. But to make it my fault is disrespectful to me and my profession.

Mr. Hernandez has now said that EA's are up to the Principal of the school. He has shifted the responsibility so he looks good. If it walks like a duck.....

One of the biggest concerns is the pacing. The pacing is so fast, erratic and does not flow. It is as if we have taken spaghetti and thrown it on the wall. Whatever sticks is what we will use. There is no continuity, no rhyme, no reason.

The fault of a child not learning is not the fault of the teacher. It is the fault of Mr. Hernandez.

To the parents and teachers, vote your School Board member OUT if they support him and this curriculum. Go to the rally on October 21. Speak to parents that have children in ESE or are 504's.

If you speak Spanish or Creole, talk to other parents that are unaware of what is happening.

To teachers, wear your orange. Let parents know about this crazy pacing and how the EA's are still going to be given.

To my fellow teachers. We all hope our voices will be heard. Remember, it is not us that will be failing our students, it is Mr. Hernandez.

This "small victory" is just another sneaky way that Dr. Hernandez can have the principals take the heat by having them decide whether to have embedded assessments. This is going to put my principal in a very uncomfortable position with her staff or with her boss...this is just going to add to the tension in my school.

I am reading a lot of teacher posts on TINT. I couldnt agree more! Besides the supplemental materials that everyone is saying they are expected to buy out of their own pocket, there is another issue. When the lesson plan actually calls for county adopted curriculum (which, sadly, has been rare....), I do not have all of those materials. It might be student books, a teachers' edition, or books that are part of a kit I really "should" have in my room and "must" have to teach the lesson, but don't. When I ask administration for them, my requests go unanswered!!! My educated guess is that the schools/district dont have the money to buy the curriculum for everyone. I am a homeroom teacher, and I know the resource teachers, who also fully service children, have nothing. The district refuses to buy required materials - at all - for the non-homeroom classes! This includes such groups as ESE. Isn't that illegal? How can they post these plans, expect us to teach the benchmarks, etc. and we do not have the curriculum?

Some of us got together and we were talking about the wearing orange and what not..but we wanted to take it a step further if at all possible. Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. We were thinking on that Friday before, teachers were black pants and white shirts, and make a arm band with your work number on it...After all we are working in concentration camps and not schools anymore....Food for thought...

Please don't give up parents. I am still not seeing enough about the departmentalizing in elementary schools. It is not working. We started 2-5th grade this year. Next year it's going to be k & 1. It must not continue. The constant movement for any child is not conducive to a continuous flow of learning nor is it a stable environment. Then you have those students with learning disabilities getting shuffled around.

The embedded assessments are being left up to the principals now. They have not gone away, so don't think that you won that battle. We may not have to use the districts embedded assessment but we will have to come up with yet another common assessment across each grade level to give the children. They are just eluding you to believe that they are giving into your concerns.

One last thing I would like to say. It would be wonderful for parents to open the forum up along with teachers about teacher's pay. Dade & Broward County recieved their raises last year, Dade 6.5%, Broward got their step increases plus 3.5%. We got 2% over the last 3 years. We lost our steps 5 years ago. Literally I have not gotten a raise due to health insurance increases over the last 4 years. It looks like we will not get a raise this year yet again. There is no loyalty to teachers and all they keep doing is spending millions of dollars on programs that don't benefit the children.

I don't know if anyone knows about the millions they want to spend on a radio station for the district. Someone should look into that one.

I love teaching and can't even think of doing anything else, however I am so disappointed in how this county does not look at teachers as a profession worthy of getting a decent salary or even getting a decent raise every year. I am asking that with everything else going on in the district, please let's open this can of worms as well. Let the board members hear that we are being support with this issue by the parents as well.

It would be great if someone can create a web page linked to the Testing is not Teaching facebook page or to this one dedicated to promoting more pay for teachers.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter and thanks for all you are doing.

Since Mr.Hernandez holds a valid teaching certificate for Grades 1-6, perhaps we should request his expertise to teach for an entire day in a self-contained Primary Classroom and then in a Grade 3-5 Departmentalized Classroom. Instead of just reading to a class or dropping by as a Fidelity or "Big Brother is Watching You"

Team member, assign him to TEACH for an ENTIRE day from 8 - 2 PM. Be sure to provide a 30 minute duty-free lunch and a 30 minute "relief" time. Given 2 days notice of class assignment, have our CAO do a Vodcast of his lesson plan preparations done utilizing Curriculum Frameworks for the assigned grade level so we can view how the "expert" would do it. Write up those "I Can" statements for display on the common board. Then, TEACH a real class using the benchmarks. Perhaps, if Mr. Hernandez walks a day or two in our shoes, he will show some empathy towards the trials and tribulations faced by those of us in the trenches.

Nothing has changed. I received a school e- mail from my principal saying the the embedded assessments are still going to be given in our school. Do your research parents. I talked with teachers in other schools. Their principals also said that they are still going to be giving the embedded assessments. The principals are now the ones being pressured into giving them by AJ and JH. Look deeper parents. Nothing has changed!

Eryka-

The announcement by Mr. Hernandez is far from a victory.

What he's done is put principals between a rock and a hard place. If a principal opts to keep using the embedded assessments, they lose the support of their staff and parents. If a principal opts to do away with the embedded assessments, Hernandez will fire or reassign them at the end of the school year. Principals work under an Annual Contract.

Stop and ask yourself, Why they are continuing to develop and issue the embedded assessments?

This announcement is nothing more then a ploy by Hernandez to try to sway public opinion about him and his program. He does not want a large turnout at the school board meeting. He and Art Johnson for that matter know that their jobs are in serious jeopardy.

You didn't hear Hernandez accept any responsibility, did you?

Eryka, these men want nothing more then for everyone to stay home on October 21st. They will say and do anything for that to happen.

Don't buy in to politcal public relations spin. If they were serious about ending the embedded assessments, they would have ended the entire project all together. Instead, they've tried to save their own careers by attempting to blackball principals.

What you are doing is appreciated by faculty, staff, administrators, parents, and students across the county. It seems you genuinely try to see the good in everyone. However, you are dealing with two men who will stop at nothing to remain in power. The only interest they have is their own.

It saddens me to see how low morale is at my school and at so many other schools. We cannot be effective teachers when we are overworked, stressed, threatened and treated like we don't know what we are doing. The students are the ones who are suffering from our stress.

Parents, please continue to put pressure on all the policy makers. We just want to have the freedom to exercise our professional abilities and to teach your children.

I don't give my students any less than I expect from my children's teachers. I am afraid that we are going to have a lot of teachers using up a lot of their sick time for stress related health conditions. This cannot be good. Let's stop this craziness once and for all. I believe in sound teaching and accountability, but it saddens me when I see students reduced to a number on a spreadsheet. Wow, what a revelation, that is what my own children are being reduced to. No, no, no!!!! All children are precious individuals able to learn, at their own rates, and only within the constrains of the environment they haven't chosen for themselves.

Thanks for all your efforts on teachers' behalfs. Keep up the good work.

Another teacher who is afraid to speak her mind

The Kindergarten teachers are really under alot of pressure this year. We get no extra support all day long and the curriculum is all academic. I teach at a 94% free and reduced lunch school in a poverty area where many of the children are non English speakers. This program is not developmentally appropriate for my children. The frameworks are much too difficult and the pace is too fast. Every school should be able to choose the right program to meet the needs of their student population. I am a 30 year master teacher. Mr. Hernandez is forgetting about Early Childhood Education and the needs of the children in specific areas of the county. We also have 5 coaches who virtually have very little contact with children and just keep sending us e-mails about websites. The RTI person and ESOL cordinator sit and do paper work in their offices all day long and our best paraprofessionals have been taken out of the classroom and put on hall duty, cafeteria duty or working one-on-one with one ESE student. Last year they were helping out in the K classrooms. We also have no volunteers. It seems like nobody cares about Kindergarten anymore. Do any of the other K teachers in the county feel the same way as I do? Please respond ASAP.

I have been teaching for about 20 years and have more than the standard B.A. degree. When I heard about the new decision regarding embedded assessments, I thought "Great! Finally, parents and teachers are getting something accomplished!" Then I read further down, JH decided to exclude the Differentiated Accountability schools. So now, myself, my colleages, and my students are even further segregagted in the school system. As a veteran teacher, I can tell you that this entire situation is not helping the children who are struggling, either. Just like any other school, it reaches some of the kids but not the ones who are really struggling, are in or need ESE, students with language challenges, etc. The embedded assessments are horrible, they aren't right for my students, either. The lesson plans leave so much to be desired. The materials are not available to us or we must spend our own money (and poorer areas have no resources to get these materials, trust me). I know many educators share my frustration and feel like they are being treated like they are idiots. Now, since we are not excluded from the EA changes, I feel that myself, my colleages, and my students are being treated even worse. I already sit in pointless training meetings nearly every day which rarely have any helpful or new information - just more work for the teacher to do that does little to help the kids. The constant message is: you are incompetent, you cannot teach children, and we will punish you if your students (no matter what outside factors they face that we cannot fix) continue to struggle, and you will suffer.

So now JH is even further segregating the poor and challenged students and telling us we are worthless through what continues to be piled on us. What all teachers are experiencing with this JH mess is just a fraction of what your hardworking teachers go through in our county schools that aren't meeting AYP. Thank you for all you are doing, I just wish that what we are all trying to do would be applied to ALL schools.

I am afraid that the real monster behind all this is NCLB - out of Washington. JH is just the one AJ thinks will get the district into compliance via his departmentalization, assessment, frameworks scheme. I think if someone can sell AJ on another way to get the district into compliance, or even address it on a legislative level (Shelly?) we would have a better long range solution.

What works’ in education is choice and freedom. What’s needed is the courage to stand up for what works.

In the face of a ruthless dictatorship that is anti-choice & anti-freedom, thank you parents for your courage to stand up, to be heard, and serve as a voice to those oppressed by this regime.

I share my apple with you all.

Please do not buy in to this announcement by Jeffrey Hernandez today. This is an attempt by him and Art Johnson to save face prior to the school board meeting.

Do some fact checking. Hernandez was changing administrators left and right in schools across the county this summer. What do you think will happen to a principal on an annual contract when they opt not to utilize the embedded assessments? They are goners. Why do you think they are continuing the process of creating and making them available?

Do not be the fool that Hernandez thinks you are. Remember, you are a few misinformed parents. All 5,000+ of you! Thanks for fighting for our children, for our families, and for school faculty, staff, and administrators.

Principals are meeting with Hernandez on Tuesday.

I saw on the homepage that embedded assessments have been "halted". I just thought I would add that it is now a Principal's decision on whether to continue to use embedded assessments. At our school, we have not yet heard our principal's decision on this. I guess we will see how much of an influence he has on school's administration, and whether schools are looked down on if they choose to get rid of embedded assessments. If a school decides to stop the embedded assessments, they need to choose their own school wide assessment to use.

From Hernandez's email:

As a result of these meetings, consensus was reached for the following to be implemented immediately:

· embedded assessments (formative assessments) will be made available to schools during the timeframe established on the assessment calendar/schedule previously provided;

· each school principal will have the flexibility to make the decision to use these assessments at their school/department/grade level or to develop their own school-wide assessments to assess learning/progress monitor; and

·each school principal will have the flexibility to make the decision of when it is appropriate to administer these assessments at their school to monitor the learning of students

Thanks for all you do!!

No, the anchor wall is not the same as the word wall, it's in addition. Are they providing chart paper and markers? No. Also have to pull together something called a "data binder"

--All by Mon!

got aspirin?

Congratulations, Parents! You won round 1. I think. The way I understand it, however, there must still be a test of some kind, the school's or the district's. Do I have that right? And there is much left to do. Yesterday I learned they will be looking for something called a thing called an "anchor wall".

BEWARE of Jeffrey's newest decision on Embedded Assessments. Schools will still be required to give "formative" common assessments based on the benchmarks being taught and report these scores on a monitoring system. Seems like he is doing this to tell parents that the schools don't have to use the "Embedded Assessments". I smell a rat!!

I am a secondary science teacher. I have close to 20 years experience and I am have a Natinal Board Certification. I teach college level classes each of which has a standardized exam at the end of the year. My results have been rock solid. For the past 5 years I have found it more and more difficult to complete my curriculum. Two years ago I recorded the amount of "instructional time lost" due to various school and or county activities. Some of these activities were unavoidable like fire drills and checking out textbooks to students. Most in my opinion were however avoidable. That year I recorded (in writing) over 1200 minutes of lost instructional time in the first semester alone. Sadly I did not record this information last year. However I find at least circumstantial that last year for (the first time) I did not make it to last unit because we simply ran out of time and my students scores decreased for the first time in six years. This year again I have experienced a "new first". For the past six years I have given 2 exams in the first quarter, this year I fell two chapters shy of completing the unit. Studies have shown "time in classroom" as the single greatest variable for increasing academic performance and yet each more and more things are piled onto teachers that ultimately remove them from student contact. This trend must be reversed or else student scores will continue to fall.

I have a teacher in PB co. schools for 40+ years. I retired this past summer. THANK GOD!!

Newsflash:

Now it’s up to YOU!!

Since even before the beginning of school this year, I have done my best to tell the press, and the public, and the parents, exactly what is happening to teachers in Palm Beach County. Now it’s up to you.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, the district continues to pound home the message that it has been a great beginning to the school year and a small minority of teachers and parents are resistant to change. The majority of the school board members, whom you elect, believe what the district is saying. It’s up to you. Here is what you can do about it.

Show up! The parents plan a major rally at the school board meeting, October 21st, 4pm until 8pm or later, to express their concerns about the “one-size-fits-all” shoe that education has been shoved into in this district. They will wear orange, brings signs supporting teachers, and they will bring pumpkins with sad faces on them to light up along Forest Hill Boulevard after the rally. I am asking that you do the same. If the parents show up and you do not, their concerns will be ignored, and so will yours, and things will continue as they are, and maybe more so. Carve a pumpkin. It’s up to you.

Speak up! Call the school board offices and sign up to speak at that meeting and make your concerns known. Call Alicia, 434-8139, or Kristen, 434-8136, (before noon on the 21st) and ask to speak at 7pm. If everyone who has emailed me their concerns shows up, the board will listen. If they do not, the board will continue to agree with the district that everything that is happening is in the best interests of the students and the district. Call your board members and tell them what is happening and how you feel about it: Monroe Benaim, Bill Graham and Sandra Richmond at 434-8038; Paulette Burdick and Carrie Hill at 434-8137; Frank Barbieri and Debra Robinson at 434-8136. Call any local politicians you know, call the newspapers, and call your family members and friends to attend the October 21st board meeting with you. It’s up to you.

Write up! Email Laura Green at the Palm Beach Postlgreen@pbpost.com if you are willing to speak with her on the record about your concerns and what you find to be the logical, logistical and mechanical problems with the changes that are occurring. Email your observations and concerns to school board members atBoardOffice@palmbeach.k12.fl.us, write a letter to the editors atletters@pbpost.com andletters@sun-sentinel.com. And email your concerns to me and I will present them to the school boarddow@floridaea.org.

Look up! Parents are on your side in wanting to fix this school year. parents4teachers.org is updating information daily for you, and on FACEBOOK “testing is not teaching.” weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/educationblog has continuous comment and coverage. Add your voice. It’s up to you.

When I asked you how the school year was going, your responses were overwhelmingly dominated by your concerns, your fears, your anxieties, your frustrations because the district would not listen and the mandates flying at you from all directions were conflicting, confusing, and impossible to do in the hours you are paid to work. I went to the radio stations and the television stations and the newspapers with your concerns, and they listened, and they reported what I had to say. The school board is still not listening. If I go alone, or with a few dozen teachers, they will continue to dismiss what I say. If WE go, united, in UNION, they will listen. It’s up to you.

Forward this email to everyone you know. We have made a lot of noise so far, without much affect, and I am sure that if we don’t show up, we may as well shut up. Cajole your family and friends. Make it a picnic. Make it a tailgate party! Make it a celebration of parents and students and teachers, but be there if you want anything to change. When I cam back from the Vietnam War in the sixties, I knew it would go on forever and nothing would change until I was out in the streets protesting, making my views known, taking a risk, facing my fears, and taking action to accomplish change. I did so. It worked. Now it’s up to you.

Robert Dow

CTA President

683-4623, cell 758-1556,dow@floridaea.org,redow08@yahoo.com

For starters, I am with other teachers who have posted that we are NOT mad about change. Just so you know, being a teacher means dealing with change—they change things on us every single year! The way they determine our school grade alone changes each year requiring a person to have a few PhD’s to understand it! Anyway, teachers are against THIS change. Teachers would like data to support that these specific changes work; if you prove to us with numbers, examples and data that it works, we will buy into it! Let’s talk about those changes. In HS science we have things beyond over the top this year. For starters, we have Science coaches now which just seem to be spies. JH and AJ tell the media that all the changes and lessons are SUGGESTED but when we have our dept meetings, let’s just say they are not SUGGESTED but wink wink we are told we need to do them! And yes, people stop in to check that we are doing them. So much for suggestions. Did you know that all this curriculum that they say was developed by a curriculum committee and a whole bunch of teachers just means that ANY teacher (good or bad) that wanted to make some extra $$ this summer could sign up to do this?? THIS MEANS THAT THE ESSENTIAL LABS AND LESSONS ARE IN MANY CASES BEING PROVIDED TO US EFFECTIVE TEACHERS BY TEACHERS WHO MAY OR MAY NOT BE EFFECTIVE THEMSELVES! Can you believe that!? This is very frustrating. The labs are sub standard and we have to do 1-2 of them per week. Then the students have to do lab write ups for all of them. That adds up to HOURS AND HOURS of grading that may or most likely may not have related to you class at all. My students are begging me, NO MORE LABS! I find that amusing since all students ever want in Science is MORE LABS! I can’t finish grading one set of these write ups before the next one is due. Hundreds and hundreds of these to grade. Oh, and then we have the labs that actually go along with our curriculum in addition to the required ones. (I mean suggested, wink wink… )

Here’s a rundown of the Requirements ahem.. I mean suggestions:

• Essential labs, 1-2 per week that students and teachers dislike greatly. We don’t dislike labs, we dislike their “suggested” labs.. they are HORRIBLE!!!!! • Essential Lab write-ups that take HOURS upon HOURS to grade; this would not be a big deal if there were not SO many and like I said not to mention our OWN labs we are doing. • The scope and sequence pacing is INSANITY. Are we supposed to speed talk the lessons? Short hand the notes? Skip any reinforcements? Not give examples? Demonstrations? Activities for reinforcement? NO EFFECTIVE TEACHER CAN KEEP UP WITH THEIR PACE! It makes us wonder further—what out of touch teacher wrote this thing? • WORD WALLS in classrooms • White board configuration that will be the same for our dept. • Bellringers every day (more required grading) • Embedded assessment that may or may not have anything to do with the class you are teaching • EA questions leave a lot to be desired (like all questions on ONE topic!) • EA- to give a grade or not? Not really fair to give students a grade for this test but then if you don’t get a grade the kids won’t take it seriously. So some teachers are giving a participation grade to students for bubbling in answers… effective testing? Good grief! • Gizmos which most of us like a lot but now we are required to go the computer lab to do them and they are checking that we do. The Gizmo packets take HOURS to grade. • CORE assessment center- they actually have a program that tells them HOW LONG we have logged on to the site to check our students scores • Exit cards • Required to analyze students EA tests—find where students are weak—and write lesson plans on how we will reteach and re-address the topics with students. Interesting.. 150 students—when would you like me to do this b/c this is going to take a LONG LONG time. Are you paying me extra for this? • Let me just reinforce that we are doing this in addition to what we already do.. so when I tell you that teachers have HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS worth of grading I kid you not. It is insane. I have over 400 papers in my bag right now to grade. RIDICULOUS! I am not alone, NONE of us can keep up • Too many emails to count on a daily basis about new changes, updates, requirements that make us want to SCREAM! • Lesson plans that need to say: I DO, WE DO, YOU DO and the specifics of each (more hours writing lesson plans) • 150 manila folders with student work easily visible and accessible for visitors. It should “tell a story” of the student’s progress in your class. Sounds great.. but my kids already keep a 3 ring binder and they want all their papers with them… so they can check their grades against Edline. So why can’t they just keep their work in their required binders? NOPE… was told that is not good enough… we have to put them in the “suggested” (read: REQUIRED) manila folders. I have 150 folders alone… how much $$$ just in manila folders for my school alone?

Is making teacher morale at an all time low good practice? They seem so out of touch with how miserable we ALL are. We don’t have time for our families, to get to know our students, or have any kind of a personal life and be able to keep up with all the requirements. All we do is SCHOOL SCHOOL SCHOOL. We have dreams about these things and wonder how we will ever win this battle. The teaching we are doing is not effective, the kids know it, the parents know it and we know it.. why don’t the powers that be? I am NOT a robot and am not like every other teacher. What makes me different? Unique? I happen to be good at what I do so LET ME DO IT. For the first time in my life I don’t feel like this is my calling in life anymore. You know the saying that If Mamma aint happy, aint nobody happy.. well the same could be said for your child’s teachers. We are miserable and doing our best to serve your kids under these ridiculous conditions.

My issue with the embedded assessments (in addition to the frequency of them) is that they do not test what the lesson plans we are made to follow teach! The 2 weeks prior to the embedded assessments we are cramming in the objectives we are TOLD to teach (regardless of logical sequencing) and then when I print the test out there are items not tested or items not taught being tested. Just crazy! And while I am in favor of departmentalizing, I am not in favor of one teacher teaching 2 of the FCAT tested subjects in a shortened class time. Now the stress has become even more elevated through the students and the teacher. There is not ONE teacher in HS that teaches 2 subjects in 1 period or probably at all yet they are doing this in the elementary level. It is to overwhelming for students and teachers alike. Something has to give.

This is in response to the post about 6 teachers coming into a teacher's room. Last May Carver Middle school in Delray Beach received a visit from the state of Florida Board of Education. There was a group of about 8 people (the school's principal, various members of Carver staff and at least 6 State representatives) who took a tour around our campus, walking in and out of teachers' room observing. We had a second visit this year on September 16th, where they did the same thing. Teachers are told we are supposed to have our lesson plans and student portfolios, with samples of student work, in folders readily accessible at all times for anyone who comes into our rooms to observe.

I teach Algebra I honors. I have wonderful students!!! We have block scheduling. On 10/8 they have Embedded Assessment Testing, on 10/12 they have a Chapter 3 test, on 10/14 they have a 9-week exam, on 10/16 they have no school. I do not get to teach my kids for TWO WEEKS. They would learn more if they went on a cruise instead of coming to school!!!!!!!!!!!!

Every day that goes by I feel more dejected and disheartened by what is going on in schools. Our students are bein subjected to a system that is failing them. Teachers are ready to quit but we need our jobs like everyone else... It makes me sick to my stomach what we are doing to kids and teachers are leaving work in tears. This is not right - WHAT CAN WE DO TO STOP THIS!?

Unless things change, I will be sending this on the last day before winter break. I wish you all the best.

Effective immediately, I would like to submit my resignation as classroom teacher, adviser and coach for the Palm Beach County School District. In the past eight years, I have grown to become a successful teacher who built strong relationships with my students. I was responsible for the several students making significant gains on the FCAT and, most importantly, becoming strong readers and writers. I enjoyed going into work every morning and could not wait to encourage my students.

Until this year.

I have lost all joy in the classroom. I come home exhausted. I barely get to teach anymore because I am constantly giving up days to embedded assessments and reviews. My students are so drained, they fight me every step of the way.

I have a box of hundreds of letters from former students and players thanking me for helping them to become successful adults. I will never receive another one of those again.

Thank you Dr. Johnson and Mr. Hernandez. You have destroyed the joy of teaching. You are depriving students of a well rounded education. You are forcing me to give up what I love.

I know I am not alone in my feelings. Maybe I will enter a classroom again. Life is not set in stone. However, as long as your program is in place, it will never be in Palm Beach County.

There are at least 3 schools in Palm Beach County that are not giving the county mandated Embedded Assessments, because a majority of their children's parents have voiced that they refuse to let their children take them. 2 of the 3 schools are Don Estridge MS and Watson B. Duncan MS.

Carver Middle School's principal has mandated that all teacher must take reading endorsement classes. She has said that failure to do so would be viewed as insubordination and grounds for immediate disciplinary action. The state of Florida does not require ALL teachers to have their reading endorsement, therefore the principals can NOT require it either.

I see people asking about recess and physical education on the facebook page.

Please review the district's Wellness policy.

http://www.schoolboardpolicies.com/p/2.035

http://www.palmbeach.k12.fl.us/policies/1-11gao.htm

(Retired teacher) Last night, I sent letters to a bunch of FL State commissioner, deputy commissioner, directors, supervisors, etc... (See below) Anyway, to my delight, I accidentally received an email that was meant for some chief- Apparently my letter is being circulated around state offices, and has created some raised eyebrows. I will keep you posted regarding any responses. The letter: "-I'm a recently retired teacher, and have been reading with interest the debacle that is unfolding in Palm Beach County between the PBC Board of Education on one side, and, on the other, the parents, teachers and school administrators. No doubt you have heard about the controversy involving Jeffery Hernandez versus the county. As a result, the whole FCAT premise has run amuck. In the interest of improving school and county AYP scores, the School Board of PBC hired Mr. Hernandez to design and implement various testing instruments such as multiple weekly embedded assessments. In addition, Mr Hernandez has essentially turned most PBC K-12 curricula upside-down, and no one seems to be happy about it.

The upcoming Palm Beach County School Board meeting on October 21st promises to be a lively one, as almost 5,000 parents (and others) are planning to attend. Those who cannot get in to the actual school board meeting plan to circle the administration building, wearing orange shirts and carrying various signs. They are very organized and extremely upset. From what I've read, I don't blame them.

My question is a simple one -Is this level of outcry, which parallels the level of county-wide school change, going on anywhere else in the state?

Thank you for any information you can provide in this matter-

Sincerely, Wendy Sue Meehan"

Where is CTA during all this ? Mr. Dow it is not up to Eryka to do your job. CTA reps have not been told by Dow to organize teachers for the Oct. 12th school board meeting; why not!Mr. Dow do your job or step down.

This is the third time I have written but have yet to see my posts. Parents of children in poor central area schools need to be rallied. We teachers are used to the silent people who send their children to our schools. Most of the parents are illegals and don't speak English. These parents are just as concerned but lack a voice. All I keep seeing is comments from wealthier western school and parents. You are missing the elephant in the room. If you think you're children are struggling, imagine a child with little or no English, absolutely no help at home, and who doesn't have enough food or a stable home to go to. You can drill benchmarks all day, in fact all year, but if you don't reach these students, your school will continue to plummet in its' grade. Fearful for our country's future--I am.

I completely agree with you that we need to be sharing these issues with all parents from all areas... I have gone out to the Spanish community as I am bilingual (mostly, I get by) and the flyers posted from the main page of this site can be translated into many different languages. I encourage EVERYONE and anyone to get out there with flyers in all different languages and start talking to parents from every school!

For that matter... taxpayers from everywhere period. Millions - like upwards of 10 million or more - have been spent on the changes this year. Not all of them are bad, but they all will be lost if they are not repaired and implemented in a less extreme way.

4th grade boys wetting themselves: I thought my school was under less stress than most others, because our principal has said we should do what is best for our kids. While I have tried to keep up to a degree with the benchmarks, I have done it my own way, taken longer on some things and moved faster on other. Still and all mastery of skills is escaping most students especially ELL and ESE. The latest development is five 4th grade boys have wet their pants since school began. In all cases, students had every opportunity to use the restroom. As a rule, if the teacher is not directly delivering instruction, kids can use the restroom at will. Today, a boy told me he didn't know why he had an accident. These children have not shown any embarrassment about these incidents either. In one case the parent could not come to school to provide the student with dry pants, he went through the day like that. Who does that? It appears that the stress of the changes and fast paced day are throwing the students off and causing such accidents.

We are and have been departmentalized. If anything, we have more time for students in each class, 90 min. for reading, math, writing. Students should have more time to use the restroom. My own granddaughter has had several days where she never used the restroom all day. She had the chance but didn't take it, for fear of missing something. We need to back up and remember that these are children. They pick up on this kind of stress from teachers,the administration, and their parents and guardians. We need to insulate them form extra stress. The curriculum frameworks is enough stress for anyone . Learn and learn faster and all at the same rate.

Worried teacher

Two letters "P" "R":

FYI - Dr. Johnson (with his granddaughter) and Mr. Hernandez (with his daughter) have taped a reading of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” which will be shown on the Elementary Education Channel 26 on Thursday, October 8, 2009, at 8, 8:30, 9, 9:30, 10, 10:30, and 11. Copies of the book were provided by Pearson and have been delivered to your school for primary classes.

We hope that one of the above times will be convenient for your teachers to read the book with their class and watch the short video in support of “Read For The Record” activities. Best wishes for a great event!

Please do not give up on us-they are counting on people to not follow through. Nothing is going to happen if we don't prove to "them" that we are not going to forget about this. We need HUGE numbers to show up on the 21st!! I am a National Board Certified teacher who has been teaching for many years. Every day I go to work thinking, "They can't possibly do anything to make my job any more difficult and every day, I find out they have. I am trying to follow the curriculum frameworks, but have problems with the order in which they are asking me to introduce certain standards to my class. Some things I know the children naturally learn later in the year they just aren't ready for yet. I tried to follow one of the lesson plans they provided and found the Discovery Streaming video they called for didn't even teach what I was supposed to be teaching. Some of the books called for are out of print. The first embedded assessment I gave took 4 class periods! I wish they would just trust me to do what I was trained to do. I didn't get a master's degree and Board Certification for nothing.

Where to start? I've been teaching 10 years. My school is an "A" school and we met AYP. 2nd - 5th grade is departmentalized at my school.

I am teaching subjects that I do not personally like to teach. I am doing my job and doing it to the best of my abilities because I am a professional but I must address the whole "teachers got to choose their subjects." NOT TRUE. Even on the same grade levels, work loads are not equal. Teachers teaching the LA block have it so much harder- a parent who subs even picked up on this! Some of the lessons are a laugh. Let me get to what needs to be taught and not some foo-foo stuff! One class has different strengths and needs than my other class but I can't stray from the framework. Resources it tells us to work from are not even found in our grade level materials! We had to go hunt them down from other grade levels!

The younger kids are constantly forgetting things in their homeroom class. As a human being am I suppose to tell the little kids "sorry, but you can't come in here and get it?" Transitioning takes away 30 minutes out of my teaching day if not more.

Meetings after school- I seem to have more of them since we all have to meet to make sure we are all on the same page each week. Taking grades is an issue. It seems no one knows quite what to take grades on. On embedded assessments or not?

I have no time to listen to my students share important news with me. I miss having that special bond with a certain group of kids. We used to have time to chat and share things. I got to know the kids probably better than some parents knew their own kids.

I miss doing fun educational activities that makes elementary school years memorable. Are there holidays/birthdays/important events? If there are, we can't acknowledge them because it is not on our scope & sequence and we can't get behind on those. Forget taking field trips. That would mean we would really get behind on our schedule.

The teachers at my school tip-toe around this whole departmentalizing. Teachers are afraid to speak out against it. We try to make it work because we are afraid not to. My principal is about to have a nervous breakdown but she can't say or do anything about it because she's also afraid to!

My home life is also being impacted. I am working til 9:00-10:00 at night! Thanks to this economy, I have to go buy supplies and materials for students in multiple classes! (with no raises or step increases). I loved the one lesson where it was suggested to have a publishing party with refreshments to celebrate finishing a writing piece. Guess who supplied the refreshments? Not Dr. J or Hernandez!

Change is good. BUT I think this whole departmentalizing should have been better planned and rolled out in a different way. I agree that it should have been tested on a hand full of schools first. If we continue to have departmentalizing next year, I think a lot of changes need to be made to fix the problems before parents pull their kids or teachers just flat out quit.

I CAN teach, I CAN find a lot of research that refutes this method of instruction. I CAN NOT find one article in a professoinal journal that supports our new changes

He said it himself:

"Public Education is the genius of our democracy." - Arthur C. Johnson, Ph.D.

http://www.palmbeach.k12.fl.us/publicaffairs/board.htm

Thank you for the reminder Art. We will be voting your supervisors out.

I am so tired of the hearing complaints from parents of gifted kids. Most of you paid a therapist $500 to give your kid an IQ of 130. And then once the work gets a little to hard for them you start crying. Maybe you just should have let your kid go to his or her neighborhood school, get a regulat education and if the teacher deemed necessary they would test the child for part time gifted. That was the way it was when I was growing up. It just seems like alot of wasted energy and time to me. Bottom line Florida schools stink, they need to get better. Something has to change.

Thanks, parents, for helping us stop the time wasting and unnecessary stress these "ideas" are causing. Just one example...I have 138 middle school students this year. If I spend just 5 minutes going over an essay and writing comments and corrections per the Gestapo's instructions, that's 11.5 hours of grading-for ONE assignment! So tell me WHEN will I have time to make word walls, keep up portfolios to THEIR satisfaction, fill my board with numbers and objectives, read and plan lessons THEIR way, copy papers, display student work, etc? There are only so many hours in the day!

I found the following on the Palm Beach School District website. If they are implying that this school improved due to the Curriculum Frameworks implemented this school year, they are not being truthful. The curriculum we are being forced to implement now was developed hastily during the summer, not tested and as of today has not been developed for the 2nd and 3rd trimester in Elementary School. As a teacher I am beyond frustrated. I can't work on a day to day basis. I have always planned out my school year one year in advance. I could not even plan my lessons for the week of October 19th because the benchmarks for that week have not been uploaded yet!

Governor Crist Expresses Strong Support For Academic Initiatives During School Visit

Public Affairs - October 2, 2009

Reading programs and other district academic initiatives were on display at A-rated Dr. Mary Mc Leod Bethune Elementary School when Governor Charlie Crist and First Lady Carole Crist visited the Riviera Beach school Friday morning. The Governor visited Ms. Edna Lisay's kindergarten class and Ms. Sasha Gibson's third grade class just after 9:30 and talked with the Principal, students and teachers about the school and the new programs being implemented in Palm Beach County Schools this year. "I can't tell you how impressed I am with your school and your accomplishments here and what you've been able to do in a short period of time, Crist said." Bethune progressed from an F to an A since 2002, and from D to A in 3 years.

"Florida has moved from 33rd place to 14th place in the nation, and Palm Beach is leading the way in Florida," Crist, a former State Education Commissioner, told reporters later. "It's my belief that we must keep education strong if we are to keep our state and nation strong and prosperous, and that is happening here in Palm Beach," he said.

Crist told reporters he has heard about complaints about a series of academic initiatives underway in Palm Beach this year, and said , "I think we're getting better everyday. I think that's the message we want to convey to people that may have concerns. Florida's on the rise and Palm Beach County clearly is on the rise. The leadership that Art (Johnson) has provided here is exceptional." Crist acknowledged the new tougher state standards are important.

Principal Dr. Glenda Sheffield told Crist of the hard work and initial resistance involved in raising the schools academic performance but said it was all worth it to achieve the A-rating. The school also met Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) under federal No Child Left Behind requirements. Dr. Sheffield said her staff welcomed the academic changes this year because, "they enhance what was already taking place," she said.

Dr. Sheffield has been Bethune's Principal for four years and was the school's Assistant Principal prior to becoming its Principal. She was also among a group of principals and teachers who spoke to the School Board over the past three weeks strongly supporting the district's initiatives as, "just what we need to continue to give all of the students the high quality education they need for the world today," she said. "It's hard work, we're not saying it's not. But it is worth it when you look at what it does for the students."

Crist was in the area and requested to visit a school. His schedule called for additional events in the area before he was to return to Tallahassee. For more information, contact Principal Dr. Glenda Sheffield at 882-7600, or Nat Harrington at 434-8228.

Today I was told that one of my ESE students may not receive intensive reading 5
days a week because his FCAT score doesn't count! How much more proof is needed
that our students don't matter, only their test scores?

I'm starting to think that Robert Dow is selling us out.

We were told it would not be a good idea to have a Facebook account..Also did
anyone check out the post at the PBCSB web site. The one about Charlie Christ

This email was sent to principals on Monday, October 5, 2009. Teachers, if applicable, will receive the same information (on Tuesday) provided to principals/assistant principals on Mondays.

Contact Persons:
Bill Thompson, PX 48664
Dr. Timothy Gadson III, PX 48714

October 5, 2009

Dear Principals:

We are aware that some schools have experienced difficulty with the
administration of the FAIR assessment. Schools in other districts have
encountered many of the same issues. Below are answers to frequently asked
questions and other information that will guide you as we near the close of the
first FAIR Assessment Period.

Q: Who must administer the FAIR?

All elementary schools must administer the FAIR to kindergarten students as a
part of the Florida Kindergarten Readiness Survey (FLKRS). Likewise, schools
classified as Intervene or Correct II under Florida’s Differentiated
Accountability System are also required to administer the FAIR to all students
in grades K-5 and to students in grades 6-10 scoring at Levels 1-3 during the
most recent administration of FCAT Reading.

Note: There are several schools that are not Intervene or Correct II schools
that have opted to administer the FAIR during the three assessment periods.

Q: What is the current administration schedule?

Due to periods of bandwidth related slowdowns in the testing platform, Dr.
Frances Haithcock, Chancellor of Public Schools requested that districts stagger
the administration of the FAIR. While this staggering has helped districts on
the technical side, it has reduced districts’ time to assess, collect data, and
implement instructional interventions based upon data from the Fair.

Since the School District of Palm Beach County is an even numbered district, our
testing schedule according to instructions provided by the State is as follows:

Week of October 5, 2009: Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Week of October 12, 2009: Tuesday, Thursday

Q: When does the FAIR assessment period end?

The first 35 day FAIR assessment period ends on October 14, 2009. There was a
September 25, 2009, Differentiated Accountability deadline for reporting school
baseline data (elementary) . Secondary schools had a September 30, 2009,
Differentiated Accountability deadline for reporting school baseline data. This
deadline for reporting reading baseline data has been extended to October 14,
2009.

What should I do if there is a problem meeting a deadline?

Even though data will be uploaded from PMRN according to the schedules outlined
above, schools are urged to take the time needed to assess students beyond the
deadlines. Teachers will still receive classroom level data for each individual
student, including those assessed outside the assessment period.

What should I do if there is a technical problem?

If your school experiences technical difficulties, please notify Gary
Weidenhamer, Director of Educational Technology at 56... (PX 48499). Mr.
Weidenhamer’s department will report any system-wide issues that are problematic
to the PMRN help desk. The PMRN staff keeps a record of these reports, which
will be key factors in making appropriate system-wide changes.

Who can I contact if I have additional questions?
Robin White, Capacity Development, PX 25974 or 561-707-5289
KathyAnn Panus-Baich, Capacity Development, PX 25974 or 561-351-4559
Shawn Servos, School Improvement, PX 47667
Gary Weidenhamer, Educational Technology, PX 48499

Thank you for your efforts in this matter.

Jeffrey J. Hernandez
Chief Academic Officer
The School District of Palm Beach County

Hello,

This is not standard protocol, nor have there been any reports that the Capacity Development Team has taken this action. I cannot investigate this concern unless specific details are provided.

Thank you.

Jeffrey J. Hernandez
Chief Academic Officer
The School District of Palm Beach County

-----------------> In response to a post about 6 people coming in the class at once to inspect, and looking through teachers desks and files. See post below.

I am not only a parent of school aged children, but a new educator. I am
extremely concerned for my children and what they are going through, as well as my own students. The classroom has become nothing more than a prepartory class for FCAT and a databank for the higher ups. There is no learning or critical thinking taking place as we teachers are being "scripted." We fear of deviating from the frameworks as administration may show up and mark us, uncooperative. How demeaning education has become, not only for the learner, but for the teacher as well. It makes me nauseous to think a man is being paid 6 figures and a teacher of 5 years can't even afford to buy a house...even in this economy. Do what you can to make a change!

Now there is talk about lengthening the school day, in order to accommodate a departmentalized schedule. Don't get me wrong- I'm willing to stay another half hour to an hour! I'm actually for it, in a huge way, because I feel that I could spend a quality amount of time on each subject area.

Here's the thing- teachers would not be paid for the extra time spent at school.
I have three priorities in life, in this order:
1. My family and friends
2. My finances (This is #2 only because it has to be!)
3. My job

If you are going to take me away from priority #1 in order to focus more on priority #3, you'd better respect that by adding to priority 2!

This new "system" of departmentalization, frameworks, hectic pacing, and- above all- poor planning is already driving away those close to retirement, not to mention those considering a career in teaching. I think adding to the school day while stagnating the pay scale will be the straw that breaks all of the talented teachers' backs...

Just food for thought!

I have written notes and emails asking about the embedded assessments to my child's teacher and school. The response each time is that they would like to speak to me in person. Nobody will put anything in writing!

I teach biology. We are almost at the end of the first quarter, and I haven't had time to run a single lab yet. I've had to give up on some great labs that teach the students the concepts simply because the framework doesn't give me time.

Also, the first quarter ends next week, and there are NO second quarter biology lesson plans on Learning Village yet. I'm starting to suspect that they haven't been drafted yet.

I am an elementary school teacher. I have cried 4 times this year just being completely overwhelmed. I am not the only one crying in our classroom when the students leave. We have to follow the benchmark of the day and move on even if your students are not ready for it. It is the opposite of everything I have ever learned. Every classroom dynamic is different. Every child is different. Why are we all teaching the same???? Teaching, noticing that your students need another day and then going over content again is a thing of the past. Also- what if a child is absent???? What if I get sick and need to rely on a substitute to teach an entire benchmark? It is so sad. I am so good at what I do and feel like if I was teaching the curriculum the way I had in years past and my students UNDERSTANDING and DEMONSTRATING would be the RIGHT thing to do. EVERY teacher at my school is so stressed and feels like their students are not succeeding and there is NOTHING we can do.
Teachers have addressed Jeffery Hernandez with questions and concerns, he then forwarded the emails to our Principal and the teachers were then written up for insubordination. It feels like a socialist union and we cant do ANYTHING. Thank you so much for your support and understanding. Why can't they see what is going on????? We are obviously not in this for the money, the only thing we are in it for is to make a
difference, be a creative teacher. WE NEED HELP!

Embedded Assessments...
Today I was dumbfounded to find out that while I am using all of the frameworks, pacing, and then going to take the embedded assessments, teachers at other schools are doing
things differently. It was reported to me that teachers at neighboring schools are printing the embedded assessment, putting it up on the overhead, and going over it question by question BEFORE the kids take the test. Now their results are skewed. What are these teachers thinking? First, they are making themselves look like phenomenal teachers when their students are scoring high. Second, they are making those of us who are actually doing exactly what has been handed down, look like we are inadequate at the subject matter at hand. ARE THEY NUTS? All they are doing is sending Jeffrey a message
that these tests work and they have the scores to prove it. The fact is the tests do not work and if teachers are now resorting to cheating, we all lose. It's bad enough that we are all stressed beyond belief and micromanaged to the nth degree. In our school teachers are pitted against each other with one half of the teaching team teaching 4 subjects and the other teacher 1 subject (a 2 team rotation) . The word team has taken on a whole new meaning, and it is far from pretty. Jeffrey...I hope you are reading this....

Some were told by obscure email that emb. assessments are no longer used as grades. Now what are we to do? We were told to use Reading running record for grade in reading. That's all we have. How can we teach when we don't have an idea about comprehension among other important standard traditional tests? What was wrong with what we had?

I saw the below post in the comment section of a Palm Beach Post article and it is dead-on regarding the Gifted Program. Hernandez is REQUIRING district office administrators become Gifted certified. Central office employees will be attending gifted certification training each week.

The next step is going to be all classroom teachers. Please keep asking what this man is up to. This madness has to stop.

Regarding the Gifted Program. Do believe that the school district wants to dissolve gifted classes and gifted clustered schools.

What the district seeks to do, is to have every teacher be "gifted endorsed"; then your child will have 'enrichment' in the regular classroom. Your gifted child will attend the neighborhood school, will not be in a classroom of gifted students , but a regular classroom and therefore each school would have the gifted students' test scores to raise the neighborhood school's overall grade/scores.

Elementary school parents need to be alert.

Sorry, gifted education will be diluted. Parents of the gifted will be a diluted power and the district will save money by not having full time, part time gifted classrooms and teachers.

The 'regular teacher', soon to be, 'gifted endorse' will be your child's teacher.

Don't allow for this uniformed, communistic-like, one size fits all change in education.

Our bright hopes for the future are being limited by an imposed philosophy from the government on high. This local district with it's superintendent and elected board members endorse this process.

Parents, you must seek new leadership from your midst or your chidlren, all children,will be limited, cut short on inspiration, due to the one size fits all philosophy.

Parents, you are the last line of defense. Save all the children from this mediocrity, dumbing down, lifting the bottom while curtailing, restraining the average and high achievers.

We support you, don't start attacking each other; face that invisible entity that wants to restrict your child's ability to soar. It's here, it's permeating the district and the state.

Be wise, organize and fight.

As a teacher I am in shocked that according to Dr. Hernandez I am not suppose to let my students take their tests home to show their parents or to use as a study guide for future tests.I am even more shocked that there are people on the payroll whose only job is to
go to schools to see if the teachers have wrote the correct "I Can" statement on their boards and are doing the lesson listed for the day.

First, I am a very well respected experience teacher at my school.

Friday I wore orange. On Friday, an APthat I do not have much contact with passed me in the hall. The very next period she came back and sat in my next class for 20 minutes writing in her book. Today, another AP came by and sat in on one of my classes and wrote in his book for 20 minutes.

You draw the conclusion.

I work as a one-on-one with a little girl and we just had our first MATH EA test.... she looked at me like I was from outer space. We had done it in class, but even with their "pacing" she didn't really get it then, either. She's a lower level than second grade, probably quilifies for (or will qualify as) ESE. I also sat with a little boy who was having lots of trouble understanding the problems, some of which were not even the same format we had been studying in our books. It was very absurd and painful to get through -- THREE pages' worth. I wanted to cry for these children.... where is THEIR learning?! I'm so scared that not only these ESE children, but the whole district is now going to grow up
knowing and learning nothing.

FROM THE INSIDE:

An earlier post had a question from someone regarding the price tag for this fiasco. Here is what I know from talking to teachers who have a bit of firsthand knowledge:

Hernandez himself makes $180,000 annually, which is already public knowledge. When the District installed him, they had to install 5 or 6 of his minions along with him, totalling somewhere between $700,000 and $800,000. In addition to that, there are roughly 30
more members of staff added whose job it is to research and implement (threaten and
force down the throats of intimidated teachers and rebelling students) our beloved new Frameworks Curriculum. Each of those good folks commands a salary of roughly $63,000 each. So when you do the math, just up to this point, the estimated total is around $2,640,000.

Now, parents -- please keep in mind that the District is spending this kind of money --over 2 MILLION dollars on this little adventure, and we've not even reached the end of the first nine weeks. Don't you find it rather amazing that with that kind of funding apparently available to set Hernandez and his oligarchy up on Forest Hill, that maybe a few thousand of that could go to teacher raises, or maybe even supplies for some of the central-area schools? I certainly do...but Mr. Johnson stood up and said that the school coffers
are empty when it comes to things like that...well I damn sure bet they are! Or perhaps, it depends on which coffers we're talking about. Maybe the coffers for teachers never ever get anything put in them to start with.

Over two million spent in about two months' time...that kind of waste takes serious concentration. Ask Mr. Johnson about those figures at the next public meeting...

I'm sure he'll be delighted to pull up in his new 2009 black Jaguar and tell you all about it.

I am a frustrated Palm Beach County teacher. Miracles are expected of us. We have been asked to make changes and complete additional assignments immediately. I am working three times as many hours as I have in the past. There is no way I can work to the contract (7.5hrs) as my job is threatened if I don't do as expected. Granted learning a new system takes time and extra effort and after a while, one can figure out how to streamline their efforts, but this is Sunday and I took a break from school work to respond to this article. I am working 10 hour days and at least one day on the weekend planning for the next week's lessons and compiling and analyzing data so that I can differentiate instruction in my reading classes. I don't even have time to grade all the paperwork that the Learning Village lessons have created!

We retrieve our daily lessons (each about 10-15 pages long) once a week. We have to sort through each day's lessons. The lessons are so confusing and disjointed. One day does not flow into the next. Each day's lessons should seamlessly flow from a basic tenant. In the LV, the lessons were written by different people who apparently have very little contact. Some of the 'stuff' is good, most of it is a waste of time. It takes four hours a day to sort through the paperwork, configure your board (write the lesson targets & agenda for each class) and copy handouts & assignments for the next day. This is a ridiculous waste of my time. It never took this long to plan my own lessons and copy handouts. In all of this time mentioned, almost no grading has been done.

Many of the instructional strategies that we are being asked to implement have no research basis. Read the NAEP report for research on Reading and reading instruction. Check with renowned reading researchers and educators like Ricard Allington & Kelly Gallagher.

You can imagine my frustration when I read your article. We are expected to be workhorses and receive no additional compensation for it. How is that fair? Much money has been spent on additional support staff, the Learning Village, and additional staff at the District. Teachers are angry and morale is at an all time low. I listened to Dr. Johnson on the Sunny in the Morning radio show. He had nothing positive to say to his teachers. It is about the kids, but we, those of us in the trenches, are responsible for bridging the gap between the haves and have-nots. We are responsible for motivating kids to want
to learn. We are responsible for dealing with our students' problems at home, with friends, and at school. How can we be dismissed so casually as though what we do is meaningless and any fool could do it?

Believe me, not everyone can teach. It is an art to motivate teenagers who have failed
at reading year after year, to pick up a book and complete it. And to have that same teenagers at the end of the year, thank you for helping them become readers.

We deserve compensation for our efforts. We teach because we love it, but we live in
the real world where family members are out of work or have to leave the state to
find work. We don’t ask for much, we’re often willing to spend our own money for supplies, but we always do the job or our district would not be the only A district in
the State! We must be doing something right.

Thank you for your time,
Linda

Besides the fact, I am literally working 13 hours a day and exhausted, I am teaching EDGE basil books that are at a middle school level to high school students. Since this is mandated by Hernandez, and the stories and lessons are long, I am spending 2 days
on these reading lessons that are of no advantage to the learner. As a teacher,
you want to challenge your students not teach down. I don't see how we can keep the same school grade when teaching down to our students and wasting 2 days a week on empty lessons.

Also, as we have walk thru visits by administration, Reading Coaches, and County. Other visited schools state these visitors are looking at folders and what is written on the whiteboard...primary objective, secondary objective, day's agenda, I do, we do, you do, HW assignments, etc....they seem to care only for this schedule on the whiteboard then the teaching lessons at hand.

I know teachers who are looking into other occupations as we speak. For the money we earn, it is not enough to spend 13 hour days and weekends working and grading.

Morale is down. We are Stepford Teachers doing what is demanded of us. If we don't pass
the County visit, then we will be visited again and again. As we wait for our anticipated visit in the next few weeks, we are spending our valuable time putting the specifics on the
whiteboards instead of spending quality time organizing and preparing our lessons. Then to find out after the Reading Coaches meeting, there are new changes. It is a work in progress and we are their guinea pigs.

We are so exhausted and over-worked that the lessons are not of the same quality as they were of the past due to the fact we run out of time preparing. We are too, too exhausted. We go home late to arrive 12 hours later. Teachers are crying with exhaustion
and frustration. There is something wrong with this picture. I am hearing that some faculty
members are at a point where they don't care anymore. The love of teaching is gone because there is no teaching going on as much as following curriculm frameworks set by
county. We are told we don't have to follow it. But we do have to follow the
calendar in order to prepare the students for the embedded assessments. What did Hernandez think the students will do when they are over tested...they Christmas tree
the test. They are burnt out from all the testing from their many classes
.
Why dont they just work with the "D" and "F" schools? Why are they changing something that is not broken with the "A" schools?

BTW: It is not only the teachers who are exhaused and frustrated but the secretarial staff and deans. Deans are in and out of class checking whiteboards than in their offices tending to their admin responsibilities.This is absolutely crazy.

I say we let the School Board know we will not vote for them at their next election unless they ask Johnson to fire Hernandez. This problem is not going to go away, and Hernandez states these new frameworks are not going away. Hernandez threw everything at us all at once with no data that proves his way works.

How can one man have so much power with so little experience....and the experience he does have is not good. I was told he has 4 years experience as a 2nd grade teacher, he supposedly was fired from Dade County for messing them up, and does not have any higher degree credentials or experience to say his way works. Who checked his resume? Who called his references? Why is he being paid a high 6 figure salary without a PHD
and/or years experience? Who approved this? He is being paid a high 6 figure salary based on what? Isn't anyone questioning this? Isn't anyone curious? Has anyone seen proof that this works.

Teachers are hard working employees. We will do anything if it
works in favor for the students. We are only chasing our tails and the students are the ones who will lose in the end. What will it take to have Johnson open his eyes....falling FCAT scores? Who loses...the kids who just lost one year of education. It is frustrating because we teachers know this is not going to work and we are FORCED to follow
through what we know will fail!The "A" schools in PBC already know
what works. Send failing school teachers to see what their peers are doing across town.

I need to sit at my desk, and grade papers for about 3 hours on this Sunday afternoon. Then to awake tomorrow for a 13 hour day, return home for 4 hours and read over my
lessons for the next day, to sleep for 7 hours, to awake, shower, dress, travel to work for another 12 hour day.Teaching was a great profession. Now I hate to go to bed to start my day over again. People hear our cries. I am sure my cries are also the cries of many,
many other teachers. Some of us need our jobs to pay bills and support our families. With our economy's unemployment at its lowest, where are most of us going? We are prisoners
and Johnson and Hernandez knows this. We are captive under their reign. It is time to overthrow their power and use our power to do what is right for our students. It is two of them against all of us!

Testing is not teaching!

NOTE: FOR THE SAKE OF ACCURACY... I DO NOT BELIEVE MR. HERNANDEZ WAS FIRED FROM DADE. I HAVE SEEN HIS RESUME, AND HE HAS A MASTERS, THOUGH NO DOCTORATE. HE MOVED FRMO DADE TO STATE TO OUR COUNTY.

You are asking for the individuals that worked on the curriculum in your reflections to speak up. I was part of the team who wrote this summer so I can tell you. I am a National Board Certified Teacher and have been teaching science for over 15 years at a high school setting. In addition to me, there were many. I worked with Wendy Spielman because I was science but there were Barbara Riemer, Nancy Kinard, and Sandra Weatherspoon. This writing initiative was led by Ms. Liz Perlman, Peter Licata, and Timothy Gadson whom I report to. From a big picture, Dr. Rugg was the one that was superivising this.

This week I had members of the Capacity team visit my school to provide services. THEY WERE AWESOME!!!!! They helped me understand the implementation of the reading program and how to use the data to drive my small groups. I was one of those teachers that were very fearful of this process but the more I am into it the more I know it is going to make a difference for us and our children.

I urge people to find out the truth before they speak because I was guilty of that and now I see the difference.

Thank you for providing more information... this is what all of us as parents need... we need all of the details of how this happened so we can figure out how to fix it... I am told right now there are no plans fully entered even for the next 9 week section of school... I know teachers who make lesson plans for the entire year at once... so I am confused how they are supposed to make their own lesson plans when the upcoming benckmarks and information are posted so late? That's a sincere question I am confused about.

Although publicly Mr. Hernandez claims that the lesson plans in Learning Village are "optional, but highly recommended" that fact is that the embedded assessments are tied to the district provided lesson plans, so teachers are essentially forced to follow them.

At the present time most subject areas have scopes with benchmarks posted through the last day of school before the holiday break, December 18th. What we have heard is that some subject areas do not have lesson plans written for the second half of the year.

This project should have been rolled out over 1-2 years, not 1-2 months.

If you want to fix the problem, start with Mr. Hernandez. This level of anger and frustration did not exist before Hurricane Jeffrey blew into town. His excuse is "state and federal laws" for these changes. Regardless of what the law says, the way he's rushed through these major overhauls to an A-rated school district, the way he's handled himself professionally in meetings with administrators, teachers, and parents is not right. There is not one company in America, large or small, that would stand by someone who has done what he's done, created the tension and turmoil he's created & treated co-workers the way he has without letting that person go. To his credit he appears to be an
intelligent man. However, a high IQ does not make up for the lack of leadership,
lack of communication, lack of empathy, lack of respect, and lack of listening
he's shown.

If he's open to dialogue as he proclaims, he should have no problem sharing
every public record email he has sent and received since he started in the
school district. Hopefully the news media will make that request and also make
requests to view his personnel folder from both Miami-Dade and the Florida DOE.
He should have nothing to hide, right?

The post regarding the timeline for making all the curriculum in June is correct. They originally wanted daily lessons, for the entire year, done in two weeks. This is impossible. As far as I know, only the first nine weeks of the calendar have been released on Learning Village. I would be shocked if lessons are done for the second nine weeks in many of the subject areas, and that is why they have not been released yet.

I am a National Board Certified teacher with 14 years teaching experience. I teach middle school social studies and the curriculum frameworks are HORRENDOUS. For example, for my sixth grade world cultures classes, I have already "covered" 9 chapters and it's barely October. Mexico was to be covered in ONE DAY. As soon as I print out the garbage for my lesson plan binder, someone (presumably district personnel) goes in and changes the lessons...sometimes a day before I am scheduled to teach the lesson. MANY of the lessons actually link to other school districts in other states where we basically pirate lessons from other teachers. When I asked about the legality (copyright, ethics, etc) of this, I was told by my principal not to make waves. BTW, at my school, EAs CAN be
graded as long as they are not weighted more than a classwork assignment...and I do have have that in writing. I have never seen teacher morale so low. THIS IS NOT WORKING, no matter what district officials are telling you. PLEASE keep up the fight.

"I also want to point out something that was sent to me... there are people who made this curriculum that has flaws... and those people are not Mr. Hernandez, though he is their boss. We need to hold those people accountable as well and understand what their process was too. I want to know who they are, what their credentials are, and how much experience they have working on something like this."

Do you know that a majority of the Curriculum Frameworks project started in early June? And, that Hernandez expected the entire project to be completed in 3 weeks! He tore into district curriculum administrators when his timeframe was not met. The subject area groups of teachers working on this project were given an extension and worked on this project through July (and did not get paid for their work until mid-August).

Today, there are still subject areas that do not have their entire school year's worth of material for this project completed. If you want to know why there are flaws, look at how little time was provided to complete this major overhaul.

This project was slammed through without any thought. You would think embedded assessments would have been tested for validity and reliability. They were not. The quality of lesson plans also varies across subject areas. The pacing and sequencing of lessons is also questionable. The entire plan was controlled by Hernandez, down to what font style and size teachers had to use on the scope documents.

Eryka, we appreciate what your doing. Teachers everywhere are feeling a great deal of support thanks to your efforts. Please continue to seek out the truth.

Although departmentalization was not mandated for k-2 this year, administrators were told it would be mandated for next year; therefore some schools opted to start complete departmentalization this year while otherschool sites started grades 2-5 this year to make the transition easier for next year. Some school sites allowed teachers of K-2 to make the decison as a team. I have to make this as clear as possible....the way frameworks is written FORCES departmentalization if teachers are following the pace of frameworks in all
content areas. In the past, primary ed. teachers who excel in integrating content area in curriculum could do so because they knew how to pace and get everything in, but as a relevant curriculum, making brain based connections for optimum learning for students. Experienced teachers have a vision and plan of their yearly benchmarks and objectives and create a relevant curriculum around that. With our new frameworks curriculum, there are disconnected subject areas and a pace that forces departmentalization because one teacher , even the best of us, cannot complete with the same excellence. Added to this dilemma is the fact that the Frameworks curriculum is NOT complete. Reading in some grades is only completed to 10/13 and the last 3 days are embeded tests! So....some teachers made a difficult decison to departmentalze as it was the only way to complete all frameworks benchmarks (at least those posted) aat the mandated pace. I have emailed Mr. hernandez a few times on these specific problems but have had no responses.
At a meeting with CTA members, Mr. Hernandez stated that k-2 departmentalization is not mandated and will never be mandated by the district....a complete turn around from what administrators were told last spring. Mr. Hernandez also did note, in answering another question, that one teacher cannot teach all subject areas. We are in agreement there; herefore Frameworks does force departmentalization. The MANY k-2 teachers I know who are not departmentalizing re beyond frazzled at this frentic, disconnected curriculuim.

There is a book called "Testing is not Teaching" by Donald Graves...interesting! Maybe someone should send Hernandez a copy!! He needs some enlightenment!

The Curriculum Department is the one that needs to be blamed for all of this. Mr. Hernandez did not write the curriculum himself. He just established a vision of what we, as a District, needed for this year. I work in the Curriculum Department and saw the many frustration Mr. Hernandez would go through because what was being produced was horrible. From Dr. Tuman to Ms. Perlman, the sloopy work went and it was not until we got Dr. Gadson and Mr. Licata that life changed. Even though Dr. Tuman gives them no authority at least they bring support to us that are crazy writing all day.

Mr. Hernandez asked for advice all summer about different things and Dr. Tuman and Ms. Perlman gave him the wrong advice so he would fail because they want his job.

I have been working with Mr. Hernandez all summer and he is very bright.

I am a teacher at Rosenwald Elementary. Mr. Hernandez came to my classroom last week. I was teaching mathematics and was having trouble with my students understanding the decimal concept I was teaching. He was very nice and helped me teach them different strategies on how to solve the word problems. He did it in a very professional way. Dr. Andrews, Dr. Coleman, my principal, and other administrators were there but they were all very nice.

Thank you to all of the parents who are supporting teachers. Your support is very much appreciated! Teachers cannot speak out because there will be consequences.We are constantly being told that we work for the District, not the school we teach at. In other words we can be transferred at any time.

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to participate in a focus group that was facilitated by Mr. Hernandez. I have to tell you that my perception of him changed. He is not what is being described by rumors and myths going around the system. He is very personable and open to suggestions and feedback. He was a true gentleman. He demonstrated a geniune passion for children and for us, teachers, to help us through this new system. We gave alot of feedback and it seems like they are meeting daily to look at the process.

I think we need to step back and watch very carefully because we might be attacking the same person that will move us forward. I will be participating in another meeting this week and will keep you updated.

In my classroom I have many students that would score higher but because of changing classes, not having me all day, stressing out over the new way these kids are not doing as well. They have lost the interest to learn due to too much testing....what is going to happen to these kids when they have to test for middle school or the dreaded FCAT? The discipline level is not good due to not being with them all day and holding them to their word.....I can't continue a skill in every class for the day due to the fact that I don't have them all day......the worst part is when I have kids that are absent...it is impossible to catch them up without them missing something else....I have no time to do this and our specials are shorter so I have no planning time and more things to plan for ....more meetings to go and more placed on my head.....the paper I use could be a forest yet no $ for any of these things....every one is crabby! this is going to come down on the ids....YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE SCHOOLS! You hear your students but you don't know it all.....stress is everywhere and the kids feel it. No more one on one....what a mess.

Thanks to all of you parents who are supporting all of us who are teachers. We REALLY need you to continue and are so appreciative that you are "in our corner". I have written to each PB County School Board member and will be at the October meeting along with lots of other teachers. Thanks over and over again, and keep fighting for our children!

I have been teaching in the district for 6 years and this is the greatest injustice and service we can be doing to our children. The ridiculous lesson plans that everyone is supposed to be teaching on the same day at the same time without regard to any other factors such as the speed at which children learn or outside events at school that disrupt the schedule is doing great damage to our children. The lessons are in a completely nonsensical order, we are testing kids on material we barely have time to cover just so they can take a test, and if the teachers are so stressed out - don't tell me the kids don't feel it too! It is not right and what a disservice we are doing. I love the kids in my classroom as my own and I feel guilty teaching them in this manner because I know it isn't the best yet I have NO CHOICE.

My best friend works at PPine Jog Elemenentary. The teachers there were hand selected when the school opened. They are all seasoned veterans. They had a faculty meeting the other day and the principal was at the big meeting with JH and AJ so the AP ran the meeting. One of the most seasoned teachers stood up and voiced his displeasure with what is going on in the county this year. So many of the other teachers joined in that the meeting basically was over. Teachers are very unhappy. I would really like to have every school do a no confidence vote on AJ and JH and their plan. Maybe then the school board will open their eyes. I plan to suggest this to CTA. This many trained professionals can't be wrong. Everyone keeps asking "What does JH have on AJ that he is allowed to continue to destroy education in PBC?" The teachers and parents need to stick together to get them BOTH out!

In a county where there is no money for teacher raises year after year, I find it ironic that they could find money for "coaches" in every subject as well as the teams of people who are now floating around the district to "check" that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing. We are PROFESSIONALS! Would they send a visiting team into your doctor or lawyer's office? That just proves the lack of respect Art Johnson has for teachers. I am really offended by the insulting that comes with these checkers. I am a veteran award-winning teacher with 33 years of experience. I have never seen teachers treated so horribly before. I don't need a 20-something checker telling me how to do my job. Put
them back in the classroom where they belong.

My daughter teaches at Discovery Key. They have a new principla and AP this year....whom they all dislike! Well, apparently the teachers have voiced complaints about this crazy curriculum ad the extra demands on teachers and I guess this annoyed their principal, Mr. Messing. They were told that he shared this with JH and that JH will be at their next faculty meeting! This is getting ridiculous.

First I want to thank you all for your support. I am frustrated that I can NOT teach a story from my reading book this year. I CAN NOT SEND home my students reading books! Parents can request them, but if all students can not take it home, then I can not very well ask them to re-read a story. I am frustrated, angry, and over whelmed wiht this year's requirements. NO ONE likes to work with a "gun" to their head. Most people take a job they love, and if new admin comes in they look elsewhere, BUT this is crazy, its everywhere, and short of moving out of state I have to make a decision of giving up my teaching career. I hate what I see its doing to the students, their faces all look up at me crying out lead me and I shall follow, and instead of being a leader I am one of the sheep
being forced to follow the flock of idiots who came up with this ridiculous plan! My husband has encouraged me to just quit and we will survive on my part time job that I currently have, even if it means cut backs in my family. My own kids are failing! I will be leaving teaching at the end of this year, and I know everyone is replaceable, but I truly thought I made a difference. My heart was in my job and with my kids. Now its not, I do not feel that I am effective, nor do I want to fail my students (kids) as I truly look after them like they are my own while they are at school, and I feel I am doing them an injustice by even
standing up there telling them this will work and we will get through it together. They can't understand why I am teaching them HOW to look in a glossary still in October, and neither can I! Has any parent SEEN These lesson plans? THEY ARE A JOKE! Anyways THANK YOU PARENTS. I am saddened to be leaving a job that I loved, and I wont do that to my kids and leave them mid-year but I know along with myself, there are 20 teachers at my school who have voiced the same thing. The end of this year we quit.

- Saddened annonymous teacher

Please pray for the cholee lake teacher, I know him and we are truly frightened of what actions will be taken against him for speaking out.

The Palm Beach Post reported yesterday: "While Johnson reports to the school board, the board does not have the power to overrule his policies." Does anyone else have a problem with this?

The board is "elected" by the taxpayers, while the Superintendent is "appointed" by the board. If the elected governing body has no control of policy, short of removing the Super, isn't that a potential disaster waiting to happen, such as right now?

Either change that power structure, or make the Superintendent an elected position, like many other districts. This also brings up an additional concern: Since the only power our elected officials apparently have over policy is to remove the Super, I'd like Laura Green at the Post to give us this story:

Why does it now take a "prioritive majority" vote by our Board to remove the Superintendent? Joan Kowal, the Super before Johnson, was removed by an appropriately democratic "4 to 3" vote. How is it that our School Board could willfully decide to inhibit such an important duly-elected democratic power, given that it's the tax payer's only
recourse to change a bad policy?

Today, there are still subject areas that do not have their entire school year's worth of material for this project completed.

If you want to know why there are flaws, look at how little time was provided to complete this major overhaul.

The entire plan was controlled by Hernandez, down to what font style and size teachers had to use on the scope documents.

Eryka, we appreciate what your doing. Teachers everywhere are feeling a great deal of support thanks to your efforts. Please continue to seek out the truth.

I witnessed a Kindergarten class change classrooms 3 times a day. I was shocked. I loved my Kindergarten teacher and remember her 44 years later. Will todays Kindergarteners love and remember their Kindergarten teachers? Mr. Hernandez has a team. Are we in the public allowed his team members names? From open-minded but very concerned.

Thank you parents. I hope to speak to the School Board on the 21st. There are other ways to improve our children's Annual Yearly Progress. Teachers can accomplish this without lock stepping to a pacing chart and constantly testing. If Dr. Johnson and Mr. Hernandez truly believe we are colleagues then we would have been asked to collaborate. We were not. This is tyranny reminiscent of the 1770's. We will prevail.

I have taught elementary age children for 15 years and have seen new programs come and go but this has to be the most absurd. Before this year I loved teaching now I'm miserable. I found an article in the Sun Sentinel from a July issue stating that Golden Grove's Elementary scores went down and they have been departmentalizing for 3 years. This concept should of been researched completely and further investigation of its effectiveness should of been documented prior to all of the elementary schools being changed. I've been reading a lot about the embedded assessments but departmentalizing has not been as big of an issue. The recent concerns of all the teachers across the county along with parents warrant further investigation and publication of this matter. I can see the concept on paper working however in reality there are many pitfalls that are troublesome.

The children are showing signs of frustrations and inability to focus due to the constant movement. Some classrooms have students with disabilities such as autism, ADHD, and learning disabilities. These students are being bounced around from an ESE teacher for reading then they go to a math / science teacher and then a social studies / writing teacher. These children are showing extreme signs of discomfort. They need the stability that an inclusion general education classroom has to offer.

Time is also being lost due to this movement. The teachers are finding it difficult to meet with students on a one to one basis that was easily incorporated in a contained classroom setting. They have given us a iii time which is intensive instruction with those students not meeting reading standards. Our iii time is right after lunch. Our grade level which consists of 8 classes take the students to lunch at the same time because of the blocked scheduling, you have to have for departmentalizing. That is approximately 140 students. By the time we get them back from lunch and settled back down again we have about 15 minutes left for those students in need of intensive instruction.

It has also been taking much longer to test the students strengths and weaknesses in reading. Testing in a timely manner is necessary so that I can plan for intensive instructions. If you are teaching reading you must do Running Reading Records on each child which is a form of assessment that takes about 30 minutes to complete. It has to be a one on one assessment. Now that I have 2 groups of children (40) students, it is completely impossible to do in a 90 minute block that they have given us for each group. That means I spend only 1 hour teaching reading in each group. That is not enough time. I use to take a time during the day when the students were engaged in an independent project to do these tests. These Running Reading Record Assessments are now taking away from my teaching what needs to be taught because of departmentalizing. Also these scores have to be input by a certain date.

Teachers are required to teach lessons that the district is mandating each day which follows their scope and sequence. Well that is going to cause a problem for students that need more time on that concept because we must move on to the next lesson the next day. We have been told if 70% of the students get it, that is all that counts, just move on. What happened to the no child left behind concept.

It is difficult to conference with parents in a timely manner because all teachers must be present and since we have double, triple, or quadruple the amount of students, that becomes virtually impossible to do. Someone recently mentioned to me that statistics show that general education classes with one teacher teaching all the subjects in the elementary schools have higher passing scores nationally than middle and high school. Maybe the elementary concepts should of been brought to middle and high school. Our young children are not developmentally ready for college organization.

The saddest thing is that I have not had the opportunity to bond with the children. There is no time. They are going to become a statistic. Children this young still need the nurturing of a teacher. They deserve it. Life is short and young children should experience smiles and laughter, song and cheer each and every day. The greatest gift a child could have is the security and safeness of a warm caring teacher. I will try to do my best even with the coldness of departmentalizing.

I am a 13 year veteran, high school math teacher ... 1st, I want to say THANK YOU Parents !!! Teachers really have little to no leverage in any thing that comes down the pike. For years we have been sent the next/newest idea & tried to implement it, yet it is usally gone within two to three years, thus a lot of wasted money. I am a parent of public school children & am afraid to speak out, fearing for my job. Please stay the course on this, as you are the only safe voice WE (teachers) have!! ***We are sheduled for our third embedded assessments next week. ***

I also helped write the curriculum frameworks for high school, figuring I would at least have some say in how it was set up. We pointed out problem after problem to no avail. The calendar was then changed after it was written. All of the chapter/unit test dates were taken out and replaced with FCAT activities. I guess they only want FCAT testing, and not content testing. I thought last year a law was passed that made it illegal to stop the curriculum for FCAT practice. This is exactly what is being done. About 25% (more if you include Bellringers) of our time is taken up by Embedded Assessments and Essential Labs, and its in black and white on the calendar. Thank you parents for bringing attention to this. I am a parent also, and will probably find a way to put my children in private school next year if things don't change.

Did you know that you can review your child's embedded crap on line. Just ask them for their numbers and sign in as them. You can read who fcatty the questions are. If the teacher gives the student a heads up on what day they are testing you could go on line and pre take the test for them and everyone gets 100%.

Our AP asked us what creative projects we had planned for the year. We said none. Teachers are only given one to three days to cover entire chapters. There is no time to be creative, no time to go into depth on any topic, only time for worthless tests. The only teachers who support Hernandez are looking to get a job at the DAC; and administrators are running around with their tails between their legs.

I have many concerns, but will only mention one. Here are the FACTS:

1. We have administered the only scheduled reading assessment thus far.

2. The students' scantrons on one particular test were run with an answer key (which was provided by "the powers that be") that had three of the ten answers incorrect!

It would be appreciated if, at the very least, while we are dutifully following these mandates, that the creators of the Embedded Assessments would get the answer right when they create the keys. We're supposed to be "collecting data," to help direct instruction, right? Well, if 3 out of the 10 answers were wrong on the given key on one particular assessment, how is this data supposed to be helpful? The data itself inaccurate! It's also laughable that whomever made the key for this particular EA only scored a 70%. Seventy percent is not even considered proficiency!

I had a math teacher at my school tell me today how she gave up on the district "problem of the day" she is supppose to do with her students because they just don't relate and they are not at a high enough level for her students (she teachers regular math classes). She said she went back to her own "problem of the day" which is related to what her students need. Anyway, she said her students scored so much better on her chapter test today than the last chapter test they took she was stunned.

More proof that the district "lessons" do not work.

The only reason embedded assessments are being dropped from the AP classes is their curriculum is control by the college board not the Palm Beach School district.

As a secondary teacher here in Palm Beach County, I think I can safely say that we all realize that there are changes we can all make to help our students. There is not a one of us who won't change things up to improve student learning. The idea of a frameworks is not a bad idea. It has been around in some departments for a few years. However, the authoritarian stance that has been taken by upper administration this year is nothing short of ludicrous. They don't want feedback from the teachers, students, or parents. If you have a question, you can ask five different people who should be in the know and get five different answers. Our department heads and school-site administrators have tried every channel they know to voice our opinions and to try to affect change to no avail. There is a HUGE level of frustration.

I know I have told my family were it not for the fact that I am in the middle of my teaching career, that this would be my last year. I would not be surprised at all to see lots of fairly new teachers and close-to-retirement teachers call it quits after this fiasco. Who wants to work for an employer who doesn't even value your experience or insight?

Administrators at my school have started a new form of intimidation. At least two assistant principals are looking through teachers personal folders and papers. Is this happening at other schools? Do you smell the stink of Mr. Hernandez behind this?

This is my 5th year teaching in Palm Beach County, and I never imagined I would grow to hate going to work as much as I do. We as teachers are overworked, and stressed about things that do not even matter. At my school there is more pressure on us to make sure our whiteboards all look the same, than on the needs of the children! Parents, please keep up all of your hard work to make change happen in this district. I appreciate you, and what you are doing more than you will ever know!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Eryka!

Knowing that this frustration is shared by so many other teachers that obviously take pride in what they do eases the burden. In 15 years of teaching, I've seen a few programs come and go... but nothing like the insanity we're dealing with this year.

I'm starting to question... WHO IS JEFFREY HERNANDEZ? According to his first newsletter (available on our district's website) he began is career "in 1988 as an office employee in Miami-Dade County Public Schools"... at what would have been age 15? He goes on to state that, after becoming an elementary teacher, he "left the classroom in 1997 to become an assistant principal." At 24? That's amazing! Last week, Hernandez told the CTA meeting that he was a classroom teacher for only 4 years... which would mean he started in 1993 at age 20. Frankly, does this make any sense? Parents, please demand the WHOLE truth about this man's employment record in public education, as well as complete facts and details of his previous "accomplishments."

We all know Hernandez is making 180K per year... but who are the others he brought with him, and what are their salaries? Also, who supplies the highly flawed "Embedded Assessments?" What are they being paid, and who else benefits?

Anyone visiting this website is already aware that this new agenda in PBC is a fairly widespread failure on the "frontlines" (students and teachers) of education. A LOT OF TAXPAYER MONEY has already been spent on this mess. Hernandez and Johnson have made it clear they have no intention of backing down, and the last 2 "Board Workshops" would seem to indicate a PR war is being waged. CTA, we need to take a district-wide vote of confidence/no confidence, so the truth can be known.

Parents... thanks again for your support! Please, do not give up the fight, as it may take a year and a major overhaul of the Board to accomplish.

CLICK HERE The link above is the schedule for Hernandez & his capacity team's visits to schools. Please encourage "Orange Out's" where teachers and students in these buildings wear Orange on the day they come to your school.

I teach 3rd grade. The capacity team tells us what we have to put on the walls and take down. We have to put up new anchor charts every couple of weeks taking down the old ones. Toys and kitchens have been taken out of kindergarten unless it is part of the benchmark that is being taughtat that time. Teachers have to configure their white boards with blue painters tape to include a list of criteria. Children are taken from fine arts for extra tutoring. Teachers keep red evidence folders with the childrens work. Many teachers probably did this before but now there is a checklist of what must go in the folders and the dates of each. Today we were given a list of the kind of notes that have to be put on the students work and then displayed in the classroom. This is crazy!...

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ THE BELOW ARTICLE! I SUM IT UP BY STATING WHAT I FEEL IS THE OBVIOUS. IN ORDER TO GET SOME OF THIS HUGE CHUNK OF FEDERAL CHANGE, THE STATES OR COUNTIES THAT APPLY MUST BE ABLE TO SHOW TEST SCORES AND ASSESSMENTS THAT SHOW THEY ARE IN NEED. WE ALREADY HAD FCAT THAT COULD HAVE BEEN USED, SO WHY THE NEW SYSTEM?????

WHAT IF....... THESE EMBEDDED ASSESSMENTS ARE MEANT TO SHOW LOW OR STRUGGLING SCORES TO MAKE IT APPEAR AS THOUGH WE ARE IN NEED OF THIS FEDERAL MONEY. YES SOME OF OUR POPULATION IS IN NEED, BUT IT SHOULD NOT BE AT EVERYONE ELSES EXPENSE! DID YOU KNOW..... IN ORDER FOR OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT TO BE AWARDED ANY OF THESE MONIES, GOVERNOR CHRIST HAS TO SIGN OFF, AS DOES THE TEACHERS UNION. VERY INTERESTING. WRITE TO THE GOVERNOR AND TEACHERS UNION HEADS, AND LET THEM KNOW HOW YOU FEEL!

'Race to Top' Guidelines Stress Use of Test Data

Why hasn't there been a call for a "vote of no confidence"? We need it from the parents, then the teachers and finally the principals. The principals won't stand up until they know the communitys position. The question isn't, "Are you for or against the Curriculum Frameworks?" It has to be about how it was implemented at the same time Departmentalization was implemented at the Elementary level. Also where's the call for public forum discussions, where all parents can attend, not just 1 school at a time? The SRHS meeting should have been in the 2000 seat auditorium, open to all parents and Hernandez stays until all parents have spoken.

-One of the parent/teachers that spoke up at the SRHS meeting.

Just a few concerns... How can we have high school students who can't read? write properly? spell? multiply?

Answer: They are no longer taught those skills at the elementary schools to the level needed because our teachers were forced to TEACH the FCAT instead. So how many years later is it and we still have kids lacking the basic skills needed to pass the FCAT??

So our latest debacle.... How can a teacher possibly... differentiate instruction? provide Individualized Instruction to meet the needs of student's with disabilities? Effectively review, reteach (if needed), provide adequate practice time, and use all modalities of teaching? Give feedback?

I'm a primary teacher (K -2) in a Title 1 school. The morale at the school is so toxic and demoralizing that I'm not sure that I can even effectively articulate what's going on there. If you don't want to read this whole message, skip to point five and at least read that.

First, we have bell-to-bell instruction which means that we pretend to teach reading, math, and writing for an hour each. Never mind that the first hour is interrupted with the morning announcements, attendance that is taken by students to the front office, homework folders delivered to your partner teacher who teaches the subjects that I don't teach, etc.

Second, 4 classes ARRIVE at the cafeteria at the same time because the lunch times are no longer staggered like they used to be leaving the teachers to eat into their own lunch time to wait in line with the kids or leave the your students in the cafeteria which has three adults supervising them. The teacher has to pass out a lunch card to each student daily so that it can be scanned with the meal. This is the ONLY free time that the students have all day long, so you can imagine how rambunctious they get. There are 4 additional classes already in the cafeteria when we arrive so you can imagine the noise and chaos. At the end of lunch, 4 classes try to be the first ones out of the cafeteria especially if they go directly to specials. The specials teachers want your class to be on time because they have approximately 25 minutes down 10 minutes from previous years. The 25 minutes is the teachers' planning time so we all scramble to get something done.

Third, there is NO play time, recess, or anything else you want to call it. The playgrounds sit empty all day until aftercare. It is a state law that students get 30 minutes daily of time to run around due to the rise in obesity. It's on our schedules for the last 30 minutes of each day so that administration can show anyone who comes to our school that the law is being followed (wink, wink). The reality is that dismissal begins at 1:50 over the PA system by which time students have to be packed up and ready to walk out the door. Five, six, and seven year olds need at least 10 minutes to get their backpacks from cubbies, fill out their agendas, and pack homework folders into their backpacks. You can do the math and understand why we don't even try to go outside. By the time we get out there, we have to turn around and go back inside.

Fourth, teachers are hard pressed to present anything fun when we aren't having any fun. The oversight, control, and micro-managing is so out of control that the fear is palpable. The kids sit grim faced and bored constantly yawning. The administration pretends that they support us and that is certainly what is put on paper, but the truth is that the fear of retribution is there for good reason. When teachers have spoken up as we have been told to do, we have been scolded like we are children ourselves. We're told that our behavior is unprofessional, that we aren't team players, and that we must be flexible.

Fifth, the amount of paperwork demanded of us either by Hernandez or the Principal has sky rocketed requiring hours more daily from teachers who have gotten no pay raises. We are to maintain 2 folders per student (70 to 80 folders for each teacher). These folders are to hold all assessments plus 3 student worksheets for each assessment where the student scored below an 80%! We have to score all of the student worksheets, file them, and fill out a student data analysis sheet to show whether the student has achieved proficiency for each standard and benchmark. Then we have to fill out a data analysis form online so that we can sit in a 90 minute learning team meeting every other week. I don't know of one teacher who wants to continue teaching, wants being the operative word. Everyone needs their job and benefits, otherwise the majority of teachers would be walking out the door.

Thank you parents. Keep up your efforts. We are counting on you. Embedded Assessments are provided from Core, a division of Princeton Review. Who is making the money on this deal? We all remember Bush's brother was the developer and ultimate money maker of the FCAT explorer software. There has to be a hidden agenda here as well. Hmmmm......

JH said that we were informed over the summer. What we were told is that this was to help us dig deeper into the subject. That is not the case in the beginning of the year. No one knows who to believe! We are scared to speak up, only to those who stand up for us Thank you for all your support!.

Thank you parents for this website! It is such a relief to know that other teachers are feeling the same despair and I am not alone! I used to love to teach but this will be my last year after many years in this county! One important thought: Lesson plans should be made to meet the needs of the students, not the demands of the state!

Do you know that 7 out of 7 essential labs for high school (mandatory labs for science) not even one of them work?

Mr. Hernandez and his merry band of men were at my school. Did you know that we were asked to forms groups to help correct what was wrong with some of the questions on the EA Tests. Also to make sure that we had our "I can " Statements on the white boards along with student friendly objectives. Don't forget student portfolios so they can few student work. Needs to be labeled and easily found when they come in. Bell-Ringers that do not apply to anything that I am teaching need to be done everyday regardless of the level of student I'm teaching. It takes at least 10-15min of daily class time away.So he did ease up on the number of tests but .. Please stop the madness

So, again today, a SMALL group of district employees said they are embracing the changes. The paper again quotes two principals. Let us all be reminded, principals have no union and Johnson has been known to move them around the district as if they were pawns in a chess game. With all do respect to Dr. Saltzman, you don't speak for all your teachers. You definitely don't speak for the students. It just amazes me that each week a few supporters get paraded through the board office and are allowed the chance to speak, yet all those who are upset and dissenting have been scolded like children and tapped on the shoulder and told to be quiet.

Letter from a Teacher in Miami from November 2008 - I have this in a seperate link because it is very detailed, and passionate, but it contains strong emotional content that should be viewed at your own discretion.

The frameworks does not allow enough time for students to build a strong foundation of each concept. Teachers do not have the time to work one-on-one with struggling students. It is frustrating to know that students need help, but we have to send them off to the next class!

Children learn in different ways; this we know for sure. So, I am perturbed by the fact that I have worked to become the educator that I am by getting to know my students needs, personalities, and learning styles in order to best meet their individual needs while they are in my elementary classroom, and now feel like the goals I have reached in doing so have been 'pooped' on. I love my kiddos and when they make gains I am excited WITH them. The excitement has been lost this year. I smile, although fake it may be, and do what I can to teach and entertain. (because that's what primary teachers do!) But, the love is lost... and that- my friends- is very, very sad. :(

I want to thank all of the parents for their support. We teachers appreciate a voice when ours has been taken away. There is no time to teach the children. We are totally burnt out, exhausted, and oh so over it all.

I am a veteran teacher and have never been so frustrated!! Thank you for standing up for us and your children! They deserve more than what Mr. Fernandez and Mr. Johnson have impletmented!

Thank you for all that you are doing. It gives us hope. Don't let the pressure off, if anything it needs to become more intense. Friday we had to give fourth graders 4 assessments in one day. This was Math,Science,Reading, and Writing. The writing was done under FCAT conditions and timed. We had kids falling asleep during the afternoon session. Today we had an embedded writing assessment on a type of writing that has not been covered in the lesson plans. Keep up the good work all the students need relief. Thanks again.

Dear Parents:

I am not a teacher, but a staff member who works in one of the non-Hernandez-visited (i.e., economically disadvantaged) schools. I will tell you from what I see personally, the media doesn't even have the slightest clue to the stress these teachers are under. As I walk the halls, I hear teachers lamenting various things, ranging from regretting ever becoming a teacher, a variety of health problems ranging from stress-induced weight loss and gain to heart palpitations and high blood pressure, and the list is endless. Many simply are showing up to work because they must feed their families, and HATE coming to work everyday. The biggest fraud being perpetuated against you and your children is the lie that your children's education and their teachers matter. They do NOT. It is a lie. What matters are test scores that bring in funds from municipal sources, almost all of which will go to worthless, overpaid administrators like Hernandez. None of those monies EVER go to student supplies, teacher raises, resources, or any of the things they should do. It cost the District over $700,000 to install Hernandez and his minions here (out of your taxpayer dollars, I might add), and many of the poorer parents in this District don't even have the option to fight what's being forced on their children. Your children are being cheated, unduly stressed, and being utilized for what funding the District can reap from them. Worst of all, the biggest result of this new academic program coup is overwhelming apathy and despair for your children's teachers. When their teachers are unable to be excited or care about their progress, what happens then? The District has already shown all of it's employees, from Administation to assistants, that it is perfectly happy to rule and control by force, using the threat of unemployment to keep these people silent. Please don't let them. Spread the word about their real agenda. We (the employees) are under a threat of reprisal. Everyone knows it. Use your anger, your voices, your lawy ers, and what influence you have to get Hernandez out, and force Johnson to directly accept responsibility for what he's doing. He won't pay, nor will Hernandez, for their bad decisions and huge salaries. You will.

From my perspective as a researcher and strategic analyst I'll offer some opinion as to your efforts. First, I have not read everything about this topic, but what I have read and heard (albeit the media is not the best source of information) is that there is a great deal of complaining occurring without little result. Make sure you let your school board member know, especially if they are up for re-election, that Hernandez is creating more problems than solutions. Do some research as to what is happening to the infrastructure. That is, Hernandez has hired numerous people to assist in the implementation of his plans. How much is this costing the district? He has also purchased costly programs to support his efforts, at what cost? What research backs up his plan? Where has this type of plan been implemented successfully? What are examples of successful plans and why weren't they considered? We know that Asian countries' students consistently outperform students in the U.S. public school system. This is primarily because the Asian system is competency based in stark contrast to our curriculum based instruction. More is not necessarily better. European countries have some excellent programs. In Belgium, for example, kids can attend school where ever they choose. The result is that schools are innovative and highly competitive. If they aren't they lose students and ultimately have to close. Arm yourselves with information instead of just complaints and continue to rally against not only Hernandez, but also Johnson (he hired him) and the school board members (they voted for Hernandez' position). Keep up the fight!!

Most teachers feel our union has sold us out so we appreciate what you and other parents are doing. Thank-you and I will continue to be there for your children in spite of Hernandez and Johnson. As a veteran teacher, I have hope that things will change, that Hernandez - not teachers - will be held accountable for the nightmare that we are living. My hope comes from the fact that for the past week, this issue has been in the paper and on the TV news daily. For that I have to thank all the courageous parents and teachers who are keeping the pressure on. Last night on TV, Channel 5 said they wondered why they had not heard from teachers. There are two primary reasons: fear of retribution from principals who are in favor of H's plan, and fear of increasing visits from H's team to further interrupt teaching. The news this morning indicated that for high school students taking the AP courses, the embedded assessments will not be required. That's a small step in the right direction.

I need to address something that Hernandez has said, since it isn't accurate. He says that "this summer we had over 100 teachers working on developing the program for all levels." I know that those of us who helped write the Curriculum Frameworks (because they paid us and there were not many summer school jobs) wrote what we were told, in the lesson plan framework that was dictated, with the embedded assessments and benchmarks already in place. We only chose textbook lessons and curriculum to fit what was already set up on the pacing chart. My friends at the district office worked incredibly long hours to meet impossible deadlines. They still receive e-mails from Hernandez at all hours of the day and night. Supt. Johnson had to specify that H could not e-mail them on Sunday, so he stops at 11:59 on Saturday night and resumes at 12:01 on Monday morning. I don't see that his statement about the "100 teachers working on developing the program" is accurate at all. They did what they were told in order to keep their jobs. In fact, district level employees often apologized to teachers during the mandatory training, explaining that the Curriculum Frameworks were a work in progress and had changed a lot between the first trainings in June and those that took place in August.

Thank you parents for your support! If the pressure continues to be applied, perhaps soon we'll see the wonderful news that Mr. Hernandez will take his ideas elsewhere.

My students are already burnt out on testing and it is only week 6! How can I motivate them to do well on the FCAT in March if they are already shutting down now?!?!?!? It is madness! I dread going to work. The moral is beyond pathetic and his "coaches" offer no support at all. This is my 10th year teaching and all I think about is leaving the field. If this does not end, PBC schools will be losing a teacher with a Masters in June and I know I am not alone.

Hernandez wants the teachers to keep the kids tests, not the embedded assessments but the regular tests I give my students, and put them in student folders. I want my students to have their tests as a study guide since so they can go over their test at home and learn from their mistakes. The so call "Bell ringers" problem of the day are below my students ability level and would be a waste of their time. They also have nothing to do with the course I am teaching since I am teaching advanced math to my students.

Hernandez has to go. He lies when he says the embedded assessments test the curriculum. It is another test that relates to FCAT. If you child is doing an advanced class the questions have nothing to do with the course they are taking.

Seriously---read Teri Pinney's "The Missing Heart: Chronicles of an Educator." A FL high school assistant principal turns away from questionable practices she cannot condone and gives up a blossoming career in education because of it. This book is being read across the country by people who want to know what is actually taking place in our schools to boost test scores at the expense of the joy of learning and the passion of teaching!

I went into teaching with the hopes of instilling a love of learning in my students; the same love of learning my teachers instilled in me. Instead, all I see in the faces of my students is fear, stress, and frustration. The same look can be found across the school in the faces of each teacher. Teachers are stressed to the breaking point. This should not and cannot continue. Our voices are not being heard. If this does not change soon, PBC will lose many amazing teachers. This program is not working! Children are not just numbers and teachers are not robots. Mr. Hernandez, please listen to what your teachers are saying!

I am an elementary teacher in palm beach county. I want to make sure that we aren't ONLY focusing on the Embedded Assessments, but also the Departmentalization of Elementary students. I lose valuable teaching time due to switching classes (I would say it averages to 20 minutes a day). While I have a HUGE problem with the E.A.'s and Framework, I also think adding the change to Departmentalization makes it even worse. One of these new programs MAY have been manageable, however when you put all 3 in place at once, with little to no training and ability to prepare, well, that is a recipe for DISASTER...

I posted a message earlier in a different section, but I shall do so again, because I wanted to make sure parents who frequent this site see what I'm writing. I'm sure that some may be aware of some issues, and some may not.

I am not a classroom teacher, but I work in the classroom everyday. To avoid retaliation, I will keep my title, name, and duties to myself. If they find out who I am, my job is gone. However, please let it suffice to say that I'm on the inside of this because I am in the classrooms with the kids and teachers everyday, and what is happening to basically everyone involved is a nightmare.

First, the obvious initial victims are the teachers. Every day I see them with a new barrage of paperwork. They are required to attend endless meetings which have no point really, other than Hernandez and his oligarchy have demanded them. It is one more worthless endeavor that subtracts from instruction time. These Learning Team Meetings (LTMs) are supposed to be meetings where they discuss enhancement techniques to improve teaching effectiveness. There are LTMs that are school wide roughly every two weeks, and then smaller-group LTMs mandated by grade level and/or subject. I know from personal contact with teachers both at mine and at other schools that teachers are harassed and intimidated at these meetings. Usually a presenter -- a principal, a facilitator, or another person in authority lectures while Asst. Principals and other administrative staff "police" the room and stalk around the teachers to make sure they're paying attention and shoveling all of the bureaucratic b.s. as fast as they can. These meetings are always with an emphasis on the scores and corresponding data. In addition to that, they are being lied to. Principals and administrative personnel inform the teachers that Curriculum "suggestions" from Hernandez are simply suggestions, meaning options; but this isn't true. A teacher will run into punitive action for opting not to follow it. The P.R. says one thing to avoid legal trouble...and what's happening is essentially harassment, with an unspoken threat of disciplinary action. Administration at individual schools are playing under the radar, and my honest guess is that those mind games against the teachers are coming down from the new Reich at 3300 Forest Hill Boulevard.

Issue #2 that teachers are facing, especially in ESE: many are being made to walk a fine line between following the mandated Frameworks, and making sure the IEP mandates (the IEP being a federal document for an individual student education plan) are met. Sometimes they are in contradiction. If teachers are being forced to do this, they are doing it under duress. (ex: a student in one grade who performs two or three grades below, but is made to do frameworks on their chronological age grade level). Someone needs to investigate and make sure these students needs are being met. I suspect that this new curriculum may be violating the law. I'm no legal expert, but I know that every other law, rule, or mandate is always subordinate to federal. Just food for thought.

Issue #3: health problems stemming from the unreasonable rigor and strain. I have personally witnessed and talked to various members of faculty who have experienced the following: shortness of breath, panic attacks, unreasonably high blood pressure, inability to eat, and one person leaving unexpectedly to the hospital bec of chest pain. This is REALLY happening...this is what Hernandez and Johnson are doing to this county's teachers. I guess they aren't going to be satisfied until they drop...I guess dead teachers don't require a paycheck, and it becomes an effective way for them to trim their budget.

Issue #4: unfair treatment based on demographics -- both to faculty AND students. Put simply, teachers in this District are judged by WHERE they work, and not HOW they teach. Might (money) makes right. The teachers who work in low-income schools catch even more stress because their kids are already at a economical disadvantage and lag behind the students in wealthier communities. It's always been this way in this District, but it's especially noticeable now that all kids are going to be held to Hernandez's new self-established standard. You'll notice Hernandez and Johnson haven't made any P.R. pitches to schools in Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, Pahokee, or Belle Glade yet to placate and soothe those parents and members of faculty. Isn't that strange? Could it be because they know that many of these parents don't have the clout that those of Boca and Wellington do, and therefore don't matter?

This administration has no problem intimidating and holding the hammer over teachers' heads, and they're doing so. They are using the current economic situation and people's financial difficulties to force them into compliance. An incredible number of teachers WANT to quit. NOBODY is willing to come out and speak out about what's happening, but somebody has to. I, in good conscience, cannot sit back and watch decent people who are there to educate and nurture your children be hammered into the ground.

This thrust of all of this is how it effects your children. The main and obvious harm is the fact that all of this stress is creating an incredible amount of teacher apathy. Most teachers I've talked to and heard from have lost any interest or desire to teach...they show up and spend 8 hours on site each day so they can get their paycheck and feed their family and then get the hell away until they're due back the next morning. They're past giving a damn. It's written on their faces, in the tired way they walk, at the resigned and low voices in which they address their classes. And the frightening thing is, if teachers are bullied and threatened until they lose interest in teaching, who is left to care about the kids and their progress? Certainly not the administration. They're only concerned about the test scores and the resulting monies that will go into their pockets from Washington and Tallahassee. Your children, at least the ones I work with, simply turn away from the lessons and into misbehavior because they're frustrated. One child I actually heard saying in the hall today, crying: "I can't understand this work, and everybody thinks I'm stupid." I pitied this little boy and it made me think about the high school kids who are supposed to be taking college placement tests pretty soon. How will Frameworks shine its glory when the college entrance folks get their scores?

Parents, YOU are the only ones who can do anything about this. The School District has enough financial and intimdiation clout to force its teachers into silence and enforced bureaucratic slavery. Those who speak up are harassed or terminated. The kids don't know how to fight back. It's truly up to you. I'm appealing to you with very strong emotion to take whatever action is necessary. Use your voices, use your persistence, use your money and influence (if you have it, for we all know how this country works), and get legal professionals on your side to take Hernandez's bureaucracy apart. You should contact the Florida Dept. of Education and make sure Hernandez is following the law, and go for his jugular if he isn't. Contact the members of the School Board of Palm Beach County and be vocal and let them know their handling of Hernandez and this situation will determine who gets voted out and who stays! Make sure you hold Johnson and Hernandez accountable, and demand proof of their successful Frameworks curriculum when FCAT scores are published next summer. The numbers don't lie (at least, not until the wrong people get hold of them.) Thanks for reading this. I just figured some parents might like to have a glimpse of the real inside right now. My conscience has been at me for a week now to get this out. Last thing: rumor around the District has it that Arthur Johnson is looking for another position, and is grooming Hernandez to become the new superintendent...how does that sit with you?

Sincerely,

Fed Up

The board meeting is scripted, just like lesson plans.

I think everyone would agree that testing, assessing, quizzing, call it what you
will, is necessary. Race, gender or socioeconomics should not play a role in
testing, how it's done or how frequent it is. My complaint is that all the
embeddedd assessments are FCAT, FCAT, FCAT. I teach high school math and not
one single question on those assessments comes from my curriculum. I might be
teaching graphing linear equations, but the questions on the embedded assessment
are about converting gallons to ounces. So whether you teach at an A school or
an F school, whether you have honors kids, AP kids, or regular kids in class or
at home, is it necessary to test them on FCAT material all year? In the past,
plenty of time was spent on FCAT related material. Maybe our school board
should be questioning the state about the validity of the FCAT. Shouldn't we
have en exit test for HS that suggests that they are ready to be productive
members of society. After all, doesn't the SAT test whether they are ready for
college? I don't believe that the FCAT proves whether they have mastered enough
to graduate from HS. The 10th grade math FCAT has a lot of Geometry on it.
Some students do not take Geometry until the 11th grade. How does this make
sense?

I haven't come across one teacher this year who is happy to be back at school.

Now I have to worry about different teams coming into my classroom and judging
me on whether I have my board configured correctly. Who are these people?
teachers, like me, who have aspirations of being principals, so they take these
positions to improve their standing in the district. How is it that they can
evaluate me when they have no additional training than I do? Some of them have
far less teaching experience than I do, like Jeffrey Hernandez.

And as for the teachers working over the summer on this project....they got
paid, and who would turn down extra pay in this economy?

Teachers are stressed beyond belief...working harder than ever to make sense of
this disjointed curriculum frameworks. (science is really absurd) Teaching used
to be very enjoyable...now it is just a burden. I am sorry to have to say
that...the kids are the ones who lose out!

Did you know that many schools are having to overhaul their master schedules after the first quarter due to the recommendations of the instructional review teams? If 'they' think your schedule should be set up so that same grade/same subject teachers have the same planning, the entire master schedule is being changed to accomodate. These MASSIVE changes affect EVERY student not to mention every teacher! This could mean your child will have ALL NEW TEACHERS!

I am a teacher of two decades. Let me speak to another problem this disaster Hernandez shoved down our throats causes. Lets say it takes an average third grade class 15 minutes to fully transition from teacher A to B and 15 minutes back again. That is 30 minutes a day, 150 minutes a week, and an amazing 3900 minutes a year just transitioning! That is the same as 11 full school days a year just in transition! So much for good use of time.

All that I can sincerely say after 30 years of teaching (and a Master's Degree) is that I am completely overwhelmed!!!!!!! There are not enough hours in a week's worth of days to even begin to READ all that crap on Learning Village, not to speak of USING any of it. For the first time in my life I HATE GOING TO WORK thanks to this.......

BECAUSE THIS SITE IS EQUAL OPPORTUNITY... I AM POSTING THIS LETTER FROM AN ANONYMOUS PARENT WHO HAS ASKED TO BE CALLED JOHN SMITH. I ALSO HAVE A REPLY FOR HIM/HER POSTED BELOW HIS LETTER.

9-27-09 This all sounds like a lot of hysteria. First we had hysteria over the FCAT, which we somehow got over. Now we have hysteria over the Hernandez proposals. The reaction of teachers is "reactionary". The system is not fine the way it is. Children fall behind without their teachers noticing it, and they are assigned remedial programs that are not needed, instead of the ones that are needed. This happened to my son. The FCAT needs to be de-emphasized, and better quality teaching is needed, in which text books are used, and worksheets to show what subjects or concepts on which more work by each student is needed. Right now, your child can be deprived of a textbook if teachers "choose" not to use the adopted District Standard Textbook. The books should be used. Hysteria is not a proper response to a new proposal. Intelligent responses are needed, in which the program is implemented and then evaluated after two semesters of use. I am not opposed to the Hernandez experiment. Let's give it a try, since student performance needs a jumpstart district wide. If it has flaws, such as overwork imposed on teachers, this will come out in monitoring its impact on teachers. Hernandez does have monitors in classrooms to see if teachers are following the new techniques. The teacher monitors should also be told to evaluate the effectiveness of the new plan, and its impact on teachers and students, and report their findings to Art Johnson. This is how any new program is "vetted": it is given a chance, and measured for its effectiveness and impacts on participants, and then tweaked to take out what does not work and what truly overburdens teachers and parents. Then the program is modified to remove the problems, and it improves. Please, let's use the scientific method here, and identify what needs to be changed in the program. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!!!

John Smith

Please direct answers specifically to John Smith.

Dear Mr. John Smith,

While I do understand your sentiment and it does have some logical backing... I respectfully have to point out some gaps I see with your suggestion. I've worked at major corporations as a project manager for years. One of the biggest things that is emphasized when launching a new product is testing, testing, and more testing... and I don't mean testing the kids of course... I mean testing the program. If you are going to launch a new curriculum or program or product, you have to have a user trial first.

You take a small volunteer sampling of the "target customers" or in this case children, and you let them try the program for a semester or two and see how it works. Target the audience most in need of the program or product... as in a school that is under performing. Take measurable documentation of how the program does and then present the metrics as proof of success before launching it full scale. There is a business saying that goes "You can't manage what you can't measure."

Where are the metrics showing this program has been tested and proven successful before launching it on thousands of teachers and parents? Where is the proof of defect management and documentation of the tweaks and corrections all programs need when initially created. (Nothing starts perfect.) What are the KPIs (Key performance indicators) used to measure the success of the program? What are the benchmark measurements for which we are shooting for? Does 5% improvement indicate success? 10%? 20%? What is the goal?

You see... as parents and teachers in this cause... we are not knocking the program in its entirety... but rather stating we think it was done too hastily without enough careful preparation and thought that should go into something as critical as our future Presidents, School Board Members, Governors, Teachers, and Voters. While I feel very strongly for our teachers as they endure this... I feel worse for our children who are missing out on critical learning time and learning to dislike school instead of learning to love to learn.

-Eryka Lefrak aka WebGirl

I am a teacher and a parent. I teach elementary school and I have one child in middle school and one in high school. In addition, to my concerns about Embedded Assessments, departmentalization in Elementary School, and the pacing of the current curriculum I have the following concerns:

We are being forced to implement a curriculum and assessments that have not been tested! The school that I work in is an A school. We also made AYP. This new curriculum is too easy for our students. We have always taught and set expectations higher than the state or district requires. However, with the demands and time constraints of this new curriculum, there is no time left to enrich or challenge students.

The embedded assessments are flawed. They should have been tested before being implemented. Luckily for our students, the principal decided not to include these in the grades.

If this continues the way it is we will see hundreds of excellent teachers leaving the district. The only ones that will want to stay are the ones that don't care. Because it is easier to just print out a lesson plan that to really get to know your students and create lesson plans that meet their needs.

I could go on and on. The bottom line is that this way of teaching is wrong for children. I wonder if the district's plan is to close the achievement gap between our high achievers and our low achievers by holding back those children at the top.

I support your efforts all the way. For our kids sake I hope that change is made.

Sincerely,

Anonymous Teacher (afraid of being called in to the Principal's office)

My child is an 8th grader in Wellington and until last week was taking Algebra I. I have asked for my child to be put into pre-Algebra. This was a hard decision as my child was a straight A math student until this year. My child is ranked 11 out of 22 kids in his Algebra I class. He has a B boarder line C. This is extremely concerning as it means a large number of the kids are failing. The problem is the result of the pacing the school board now requires. As a substitute teacher I am fully aware that some areas of math are harder than others, this is why a set pace does not work. Most children stumble over the same areas in math so teachers know where they need to slow down to re-teach the concepts and the teachers know where they can speed up to make up time. This new system does not allow for this. Algebra I is the building block for most future math. If the teacher is not permitted to re-teach the concepts until the children understand, then the children will be lost for the remainder of the year since math builds upon itself. It is also sad when my child tells me about the amount of time that is lost administering the embedded assessments; especially when the teacher does not have time to do anything with the results. The teacher is not afforded the necessary time to re-teach the material when it is found on the embedded assessment the majority of the students have failed to understand the concept. Now my child tells me how he will go to school starting this week and sleep through math; he knows it is too easy, however the teacher in the harder math do not have time to actually teach for comprehension. I already pay for a tutor once a week and cannot afford to hire one to teach him on a daily basis to make up for the lack of teaching in the classroom.

Anonymous Parent

In 22 years in Palm Beach County, I have never seen anything like the dictatorship and injustice we are doing to students, teachers and the staff in Palm Beach County. Mr. Hernandez, in true political form, claims we "don't understand" as he ad his cronies waiver back and forth from saying one thing to claiming that's not what they said or meant. He and Dr. Johnson, hand picked several principals and teachers to promote their program and sing their praises to the board, yet dismissed the 200 teachers as a "small sampling". Yes, the sampling were the CTA representatives of teachers who speak and represent the rest of us. Many others were afraid to come for fear of the consequences that could result. I work with many teachers all over the county and in many different schools and I hear the same concerns and frustration from Boca to Jupiter and from WPB to the Glades. I have never seen so many teachers in tears on a daily basis. I was around when we had "Unified Curriculum" and following a scope and sequence is not necessarily a bad thing. Good teachers have always done so if they are teaching the Sunshine State Standards. The way this one jumps around and doesn't allow flexibility for student needs or mastery is not sound teaching. Assessing students to determine their needs is also a great thing, but not when you are testing more than you are teaching,and have no time to teach the curriculum, let alone, work on areas of student needs, and are forced to shut down technology, computer labs and other programs to do so. Some of the suggested lessons are requiring science teachers to go out and purchase, out of their own pocket, a tremendous amount of items to enable them to teach. Some are totally ridiculous- for example, a kindergarten lesson on shapes suggested teachers bring in an old appliance and have the children use a phillips head screw driver and take it apart to identify shapes..another had the class walk out to the parking lot to look for shapes.. The moral is so poor that I fear we will lose many excellent teachers. It is not about the work or the amount of time. I have a masters degree and National Board Certification in Education and as many others feel, this is about poor practices, unsound educational strategies and not doing what is best for children. THANK YOU PARENTS FOR HELPING. It is time for Palm Beach County School Board and Dr. Johnson to listen and act.

"Another nameless teacher"

I would like to thank all the parents and students who are standing up to Hernandez, Johnson, and the school board! Knowing that we have your support makes going to work easier each day because it hasn't been exactly joyful these past few months. They say the average lifespan of a teacher's career is 5 years. I always wondered how thy was possible. Now I am in my fourth year teaching understand it all too well! My enthusiasm drains out of me more and more each day. I know Hernandez won't last but with everyone's efforts hopefully we can get him out of here more quickly. I will wear my orange ribbon every day! Thank you again and please share this as a post.

-Anonymous Teacher Post

As a teacher in PBC I would like to thank you for putting up this site. I am so grateful for parents who support teachers. This year has been horrendous! I sometimes wonder how I go to work each day...I love to teach...but right now I am trying to figure out how I can find something else to do! TEACHING TO A TEST IS NOT TEACHING. This curriculum is so boring we will lose students very quickly. This really makes me sad. Embedded Assessments are a joke...I am so frustrated I really can not express myself as I would like... THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ALL THE SUPPORT! I can speak for all teachers in saying that we are forever in your debt!

-Frustrated Teacher

I teach biology, and the scope we have is so rushed that students don't have time to understand the material. I keep saying it's "mile wide, inch deep". It's basically a new lesson/section every day. We've never had to go so fast through the scope. All my suggestions and comments to the science secondary curriculum developer go without comment. The district isn't listening to us teachers at all. Hernandez might as well select his "chosen ones" and have them stream distance learning from the Taj Mahal, and just tell us to turn on the projectors so the chosen ones can teach in his preferred method.

-Anonymous Biology Teacher

I am an elementary teacher in PBC and have been teaching for 15 years. Departmentalization has been implemented in the middle and high school for generations because the children are developmentally ready for it. Now when a majority of parents are divorced, young children are bouncing around from house to house. They left their sweater at Dads house, their binder at Mom's. School was their safe place, their constant. They had their desk, where they could keep their supplies. They had their teacher who would be there to provide a stable learning environment. Now, they switch classrooms 2 or 3 times, leaving their pencil in one classroom, their sweater in the next. If they forget their homework or textbook for homework, they cant return to get it. Life at school is now putting them in a chaotic tail spin. So far to date, the typical 5th grader has taken 3 diagnostic tests( reading, math, and science), the SRI test (reading inventory test on computer), 1 Palm Beach Writes writing prompt, and 5 embedded assessments ( reading, math, science, social studies, and writing). Next week they are scheduled for 2 more
embedded assessments. In between we are supposed to teach the lesson plans that are listed on the frameworks. Are you kidding me? Half the lessons jump all around in the text book and provide little or no continuity. Parents and children are confused about what to study....Hell...I am confused. Last year we were scheduled to use the computer lab twice a week where the kids could work on FCAT explorer, BrainPop, Riverdeep, Harcourt Math, Touch typing, or research projects. This is no longer happening. The only time we can go to the computer lab is to take the embedded assessments.
I am surprised that the ESE parents haven't screamed yet. Embedded assessments are assigned in 50 minute blocks to all classes at our school. Children with IEP's that state additional time for testing are only half way through the test when the time slot has ended and we have to leave. This is in violation of their IEP-a legal binding document. Since the students are now mainstreamed in an inclusion model there is no taking into account for testing modifications. I have not even mentioned teacher generated tests. We have to test the children on the information taught so we can get grades for the report card. These tests have to be interspersed between all of the embedded tests to avoid overlapping.
There is little if any time to teach anymore. Then, you have to list your I can statements and benchmarks on the board, put up your word walls, and hang student work so that when the team comes through ( and they have twice already) they can check their little clipboards. Aren't I under enough stress already. Seriously! Mr. Hernandez ($180,000 salary) and the team he brought with him ($130,00+ salary) need to go back to where they came from. If this system is so great, why did it fail in Miami? Why did they let such a wonderful man like Mr. Hernandez go? Board members need to listen up. Four of them are up for reelection next year. If they can't wake up and smell the coffee, I am sure we
can find new people who can.

Save our Schools....
Stressed out Teacher
Name Withheld to avoid retribution.

First let me say thank you to all the parents and students who do understand and support the teachers. Second, if I thought for one minute this was a good thing for students I would have no problem sucking it up and doing it, however, I see the confusion on my students faces and feel their stress when trying to take the embedded assessments. I really believe they are not learning a single thing this year and it causes me terrific stress. Parents, understand we are not upset by the amount of work, we are upset because we are hurting your children and you trust us with them. Don't let your child loose a whole year for a "vision". Don't just target Hernandez and Johnson, let the school board know
"we will not go gentle into that good night."

-Anonymous Teacher Post

Please keep up the fight and get rid of Hernandez and his absurd ideas! I do not know of one teacher at my school that is in favor of what is going on in our schools this year. we have kids complaining daily about the amount of testing. They are more confused than ever because as teachers they are forcing us to teach things that do not make sense to us. I promise you we are trying to do what we are told, we are not opposed to change, but these changes are ridiculous. We are in a no win situation. If scores go up-Hernandez was right. If scores go down-teachers were not doing what they were told. We can't speak out because then we are bringing attention to ourselves and our school. Rumors are rampant of teachers who have spoken out and have been called into their principal's office to be reprimanded. I personally do not put too much stock in rumors but do believe there is a little bit of truth to be found in them. Parents are complaining that we count embedded assessments as grades. We have to count them, otherwise students will not take them seriously, score poorly and as a result, the teacher will be flagged as not "teaching the benchmarks". We are told to give computer tests by mid October with not enough computers to test students with not to mention a program that often takes 20 minutes just to have students log on. Let me explain something to Mr. Hernandez who has never taught above the elementary school level...students do not sit patiently while waiting for technology for 20+ minutes nor will they continue to put any effort into these tests because they are over tested!!! They are kids and they will start to rebel. They will start to tune out and we will be in an even worse predicament then we are already in.

Please be our voices, while we can not speak.

Sincerely,
Your Child's Teacher

I have been a teacher in PB County for 23 years, and I have never been so unhappy! I am actually afraid to sign my name because rumor has it that Mr. Hernandez will personally visit classrooms of those who complain. I don't want to bring trouble to my school.

At PB County, the new motto is, apparently, "If there's a test, we're taking it." You may not be aware of some of the other required tests - at least at the high school level - in addition to the Embedded Assessments. As a 9th grade English teacher, I have now spent one day each on the computer-generated SRI test, the first Palm Beach Writes, and the Embedded Assessment. I have also spent two days on the SSS test. Today, I learned that my students will have to take another computer-generated test next week - FAIR. This test was originally going to be given to students in intensive reading classes who scored Level 1 or 2 on the reading portion of the FCAT; however, now the Level 3 students have to be tested as well. That means I will taking students in my honors level classes to the lab to take another reading test. I have now lost one day/week of instruction due to testing, and that does not include the additional days spent going over the results of some of these tests. This is ridiculous!

In addition, we learned today that our white boards are supposed to be set up in some kind of identical fashion. I'm starting to feel as if we are a "Stepford" county where individualization is a bad, bad word.

The teachers at my school are aware of the work that you are doing to support us, and we really appreciate our involved parents. Please keep up the fight!

Good Morning,

I'm a teacher in PBC and would like to echo all the others in saying we are stressed out, over worked and very unhappy. I find it laughable that the district chose 7 people to speak to the board about how happy they are with the changes when over 200 unhappy teachers showed up at CTA on Tuesday. Here's an interesting fact... of the 7, one was a principal (principals are on annual contract. She could be fired for not agreeing.) Another was a reading coach (they were put in place by Hernandez, she's a puppet) I can honestly tell you, my school has been in an uproar. When the "instructional review" team came in
aka Hernandez's minions, they went through our desks, disrupted our classes and couldn't give one ounce of feedback to us. How are we supposed to keep teaching and keep the kids on task when 10 people come in like the SWAT team in the middle of class? Every person at the district either begins or ends every statement with "according to Mr. Hernandez or per Mr. Hernandez or Mr. Hernandez thinks." You can almost see his hand puppetting their mouths. He sends emails in the middle of the night, on weekends and all summers long. The best part about being a teacher was having summers off. However, if you didn't check your email this past summer, you were in for a rude awakening come August. There were trainings and teacher boot camps and principal boot camps and so many other things with the word "mandatory" attached to them. I'm sorry, last time I
checked, I was on a 188 day contract. Let me give you an example of my lessons from last year to this year. In a 50 min period, I could... go over the warm up, answer questions about last nights homework, teach a new lesson, work with the students and send them on their way. I never taught to the FCAT. I just taught and my students did well, 94% were at or above grade level. This year... must go over warm up because it's on the embedded assessment, I do, we do, you do lesson, plus secondary benchmarks,, which have nothing to do with my lesson and give the students some kind of meaningful wrap up at the end.

Give me a break. Jeffrey Hernandez couldn't come in and do this and I have more classroom experience than he does. All these changes affect the teachers, why not ask the teachers what they think?

-Anonymous Teacher Post

As in introduction to departmentalization, I attended a meeting at
Addison Mizner this past June hosted by Jeffery Hernandez, in hopes of gathering
statistics on how A rated schools benefited by this framework. During the
meeting Mr. Hernandez was not informative or prepared with hard statistics to
support this upcoming change to our school/children’s education methodology. He
was unable to site statistics on similar schools’ success – so we have no
measurement for risk-reward. I had hoped to gather more data on the success of
schools at the A level post transition, but he referenced a metaphor with salad20
and lots of ingredients to a constantly improving meal/education system.
Deflecting the question with flowery metaphors, like a true politician. I
believe all attendees left the meeting realizing he was not interested in our
feedback and was there only to provide standard operating policy from the board
– and to provide his professional background and the districts goals as a whole.

His comments outside the CTA office this week further reinforce, in my view,
that Mr. Hernandez represents another layer of bureaucracy from our residents in
the Taj Mahal. Are the vocal parents and teachers just as he stated, "a
sampling of all the parents and teachers"? It will take a county wide effort
to know for sure.

He and the other newly hired need to be replaced by quality teachers assigned to
the classroom. Keep writing the board and letting them know your want less
wasteful unproven spending of our hard earned dollars and more money for the
super stars in the district, our teachers.

- David A. Kelly

I would like to voice not only what was in the letter but the fact that all this testing is not only a bad thing but is putting tremendous pressure on our children. My daughter throws and fit and tells me she hates school. She is only 8. I am a single parent who must work and this is not acceptable to me and something MUST be done to correct this new curriculum immediately.

-Linda Taylor

My daughters have always done well but this year seems to be a struggle. They have to carry their books around more often because they change classes so much. When they get a test back there is no information on what was wrong, just the score. The teachers can no longer help our kids because they went from one class of 20-25 kids to over 60 because of the "new way" of doing things. My wife and I stay in Palm beach county because of the schools but we will rethink it because it is not cheap to live here and the schools are heading down the same endless path.

Thanks,
Dennis Fletcher

As a teacher I am now being told I can not return tests to students to keep, but I have to put them in student folders to save.

-Anonymous Teacher Post

As a teacher of 24 years in this district, I have never seen one person cause so much stress and disruption to the educational process. All teachers can handle change, but only change that makes sense. It seems the most important thing that will turn me into a good teacher is the way my desks are arranged and if I have a good bulletin board. If we're pushing differentiated instruction, how can everyone be in the same place on the same day??

-Anonymous Teacher Post

After over a month of school my son still has not seen a single grade and has no idea how he is doing. He is a fifth grader who is used to doing well and obviously measuring his success with grades along the way. I am informed of all the new changes and have spoken to several teachers who have no idea how they are supposed to give out grades with nothing to grade. If grades are going to be subjective I absolutely expect my son to receive straight A's if he is doing well enough. This has been a ridiculous year so far. I would love to help in any way I can.

Sincerely,

Mandy Rawlik

The fact that my daughter is an ESE student at Park Vista High School, she does not learn like other students do and they are now treating her like the rest of the students. Her IEP can not be followed if they are teaching with the new curriculum. She is no longer getting the education she deserves and she is being LEFT BEHIND!!!!Thank you for letting me voice my opinion!

Sincerely,

Stacy L. Gutner