Hello Sheila,
 -> I happen to believe that schools act in a cocoon, separate
 -> from reality much of the time
 SK> It might be interesting to hear you elaborate on the reasons for
 SK> this belief.
Here are some incidents from just this week (understand that
this is a definite pattern).....
School was cancelled for reasons of weather (good idea with
the icy roads).  Virtually every worker in every profession of
every industry was expected to be at work in our region.
These are the people that pay Wisconsin level property taxes
(about 70% to education...$1350/yr on a 50,000 house).  Those in
education, who regularly complain about lack of prep/free time,
are not only not expected to arrive for work, but are
incredulous when I've dared bring up the topic.  School
districts should view these days as opportunities for bonus
inservice, staff group projects and any number of meaningful
activities.
I participated in a committee meeting dealing with tech issues
for the district.  The staff members in charge of the meeting
scheduled it on the one night that our city has a city-wide
winter outdoor celebration, pioneer parade, etc.  They were
oblivious to the community calendar and activities.  The
meeting was billed as a dinner work meeting, beginning at
5:30.  The committee has 24 members and 18 showed up.  School
staff had two 10" pizzas delivered with warm sodas!  This last
point sounds petty, but it demonstrates the "rectal-ocular"
mind set of these people.  They then proudly announced the
purchase of 8 more Macs at $2200 per.  I decided I couldn't
take any more (I'm not a troublemaker and step very carefully
as my wife is an administrator in a neighboring district).
After the meeting I showed the tech staff a news article
showing that Apple now only had 3% of the personal computer
market, over half of those sold went into schools, half of the
balance were sold to people with school-ties who felt
compelled to use the platform that their school used.  When I
asked where these students were ever going to run into another
Mac in their lifetime, the responses were absolutely inane and
focused more on "the teachers are accustomed to the Macs and
there'd be hell to pay if we tried to change".
Anyway...you get the idea.  The world of paranoid
administrators, rectum protectem underlings and teachers that
have no real focus on their public image just keep
perpetuating a system that seems more and more detached from
reality.  I'm involved enough in these things to understand
some of the forces that drive things in current day school
districts.  More community involvement (which Village
Partnership style projects nurture) will help to bridge some
of these gaps.  I've touched on enough things to easily
require a book to properly discuss, much less an echo message!
 I truly care about what is happening to our students and the
 increasingly important role that schools play in their
 ultimate success as adults.  I hope my rambling can be
 accepted in the proper spirit that it is offered.  I have
 chosen to not sit on the sidelines and second guess others,
 but rather, to get involved and work for positive changes and
 to keep the good of the students in focus.
Regards,
-=Craig=-
craigclu@bigfoot.com
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