Did he bring Antero Pietela's book with him again ? Can't forget the crutch......

How soon we forget! The no bid contract and what was that name of his associates teaching approach.

I'm sure at that level the word accountability is defined.

I am sure that most people are NOT aware of the amount of money that is WASTED by BCPS each year. There are textbooks sitting unused in warehouses because of mis-communication; staff is NOT allowed to purchase needed items, such as textbooks, from venders who BCPS does NOT deal with ( for example: a science text that COULD have been bought for $28.00 per copy from vender "B" was NOT bought because BCPS had to buy them from vendor "A" for three times as much. There are curriculum that was purchased from an outside vendor sitting unused in warehouses. Why in the name of G-d would BCPS buy a curriculum, at a large sum I'm sure, and have it just sit in a warehouse? Why in the name of G-d would BCPS have to buy a curriculum at all when they have an Office of Curriculum as well as dozens of professionals who SHOULD be able to assess the educational needs/content/benchmarks etc. of a subject area and then create its OWN curriculum. Lastly, the board goes on a retreat yearly to meet-at a non-BCPS location..$$$spent on hotels, food and transportation...what's wrong with meeting at Greenwood? No $$ for teachers??

I'm sick of hearing all of this hand wringing about class sizes. When I graduated from grade school at a parochial school in Baltimore City in 1962 we had 63 students in each of 3 eigth grade classes. In high school, there were between 40-50 students in each class. We never had any problems leaning anything despite these large class sizes. Maybe it was because my parents and the parents of everyone in my class all had high expectations of them and all of the parents demonstrated a high degree of interest in our education. I was the first person in my father's and mother's family to graduate from high school and college.

The school system wastes a lot of money and throws away a lot for stuff never even opened. I had a friend who worked in maintenance for BCPS and he told us of all the stuff that was thrown away. Why not have an auction and make some money for the schools. The kids in school who are not in the top classes are the kids who suffer with larger classes. The teachers don't have time for the students and they never get there questions answered. I have a child in a gt class at Perry Hall High and the classes are so big the teacher doesn't have time for all her students and I here about it weekly. BCPS does not care about the kids just about their ranking. If you can't afford more teachers then get rid of the bad teachers and get some teachers who know what they are doing. The county is full of bad teachers. It is not just teachers it is administrators, athletic directors and coaches. I have 3 more years at BCPS and I am already counting down the days when I don't have to deal with them anymore.

Why not try and get rid of the bureaucrats that bloat the system., and oh yes, what about the exorbitant salary going to the new superintendent? Whatever happened to the simpler and way more efficient system we had in the fifties and sixties? The situation is absolutely appalling

There needs to be a top-to-bottom audit of every contract for textbooks and materials and an up-to-date inventory. We live in a competitive society. There is no justification, other than laziness, for not carefully scrutinizing and perhaps justifying long-standing contracts with particular vendors in these lean times. They should also examine each outside lease they hold for space and look closely at their vehicle inventory and maintenance.

A compelling argument could be made that the most unaccountable figure in Baltimore County government is the superintendent of public schools. The superintendent controls 50% of the entire tax collections of the county and basically can do whatever he wants. Hmmm.

I too had large classes in the 60's and I learned in spite of them. BUT I am an elementary school teacher in BCPS and proud parent of 2 graduates who completed college. Things have changed since the 60's when many moms were home to help with homework and volunteer in the schools. Even with my own children, there were fewer distractions for kids and more stay at home parents. Today's kids are raised on tv and video games so they do not learn to sit still and persevere by reading, playing games, or play with friends to learn conflict resolution skills. They learn to do things and get info in short bursts. So the large classes of the past were doable with kids who could sit still and pay attention. Today, it is not uncommon to have 50-75% of a class with serious attentional issues. Try putting 40 kids who can't pay attend with one teacher. I can give you anecdotal evidence of this. Teachers make a difference, textbooks and bureaucrats rarely do!

The themes of 12 years of articles about the BCPS are as follows: lack of transparency in decision making; wasteful spending; no coordination among the departments e.g. those who write curriculum and those who purchase curriculum; executive staff and salaries; an appointed board vs.an elected board. I add these examples of the continual rationale urging the public to support whatever decision is made by the board. Ex. 1."That, considering some of our fellow counties, is good," she( Barbara Burnopp) said. Ex. 2: "... David Uhlfelder quoted an article in The New York Times about school districts in Texas in which teachers were cleaning classrooms several times a week due to cutbacks in custodial staff." This adolescent rationale (Yeah, I got drunk at the party, I'm not as bad as Jon across the street!), is insulting. I can think of no worse school system than one that doesn't realize the same problems persist in 2012 that were present in 2000. My son graduated this spring from an out of state liberal arts college ranked in the top 20 in the nation. He said it best, "I went to private school for the first 8 years of my education and chose to go to a BCPS for H.S. to broaden my experience and take AP classes. I realized my freshman year in college that my time attending this well thought of BCPS high school was a 4 year break from education. My daughter graduates next week; I am glad to be done. Ann Isenhower

Just a couple of insights from an insider:
It's actually the top kids that suffer from large classes - gt classes are usually busting at the seams because extra staffing is used to teach the bottom kids to improve MSA scores. Top kids score well so the admin sets them as a low priority.

There is TONS of waste and surplus - unfortunately by law the system can't hold "yard sales" to recoup loses.

It's actually alot cheaper to purchase curriculum that has been field tested and validated. It costs a ton to pay teachers to write and revise curriculum. In addition, it is a SLOW Process. There is a detailed protocol in place now that requires two years to fully implement a new curriculum. More red tape and BS than you can imagine.

Paul is right - the super has a free ticket .

BCPS has gotten too big to effectively manage. It should be broken down into five areas NE, NW, Central, SE and SW. Each area has a very unique set of needs that aren't getting met with the current system.

All of the above bibkerring about grammar/spelling etc. is a waste of time as this is a forum; not a test. The two primary problems with ALL education are the over-all lack of respect for teachers and the accountability placed on teachers. American teachers get no respect from the average citizen. In other countries, teachers are viewed in the same light as doctors/laywers etc..The accountability issue places undue stress/pressure on our teachers. They are now evaluated (a large %) according to how well their students do on the standard tests that the kids have to take in order to graduate. A teacher can NOT go into Johnny's home and make him study/do homework/work on projects etc. Accountability is fine in industry; if you make a toaster and it doesn't work, then it is YOUR fault. If Johnny fails the MSA because he doe not give a damn and his parents can not control him-it's the teachers fault?

I think it is just great to be held accountable for student achievement. On Tuesday, I gave a test with 25 selected response questions (they used to be called multiple choice). I first handed out the scantron forms, you know, with the bubbles to fill in. Then I started handing out the tests and noted that 3 students had already finished bubbling in their answers! Before they even had the test! And I am to be evaluated on their test scores. It is a wonderful life...

It is just another example of that old attage" FLUNK NOW......AVOID THE JUNE RUSH".
I am really glad I am no longer teaching...I did sp. ed. and my last group had to take the MSA with accommodations...still an up hill battle...really not fair to use student performance/achievement to evaluate teachers...those teachers who have AP or GT classes kind of have a lead over those who do sp.ed or basic classes.