Parent Accuses Wawasee of 'Dumbing Down' Students by Training Teachers
Posted
Jordan Fouts-
SYRACUSE – Parents and taxpayers hotly criticized Tuesday the corporation's decision to trade half an hour of instruction each week for staff development.
As an experiment this semester to find time for teachers to collaborate and hone their skills, Wawasee schools each start half an hour later on Wednesdays. Board members agreed on “SMART Start” days in May and will reevaluate the program after the semester ends.
“You should call them 'dumb down' Wednesdays instead of 'smart start,'” Todd Hammer, father of an elementary school student, told the board during their regular meeting. He said he understands the issue stems from state requirements and limitations, but demanded the delayed days stop immediately “so we can give our students the education we pay for, and that they deserve.”
Hammer said the half-hour delay cheats students out of class time, dumbs them down with its irregular schedule, and “disrupts the economic structure of the community.” “The economy and structure of this community does not revolve around teachers,” Hammer said. “You're sacrificing my son's education.”
Three other residents questioned the delay, suggesting teachers come in earlier or stay later instead.
Speaking over occasional interruptions from Hammer, board members defended the decision as the best solution to the need for teachers to keep up with changing state standards. Teachers already come in earlier than the start time, they said, and many stay late to supervise extracurricular activities.
Joy Goshert, director of curriculum, said the corporation lost the ability under new state rules to “bank” extra class time and spend it on staff development, and that the new solution evolved from staff input and from seeing what other districts do.
“Our teachers are at school 30 to 40 minutes before the start time, so this gives them an hour of development time,” she said. “It's very organized time – it's not come in, sit and drink coffee time. That's not at all what it is.”
Nor is the time used to share information that could just as easily be e-mailed to everyone, board members added, also pointing out that students can still be dropped off at the regular start time and be supervised.
Bob Cockburn, corporation data technician, later gave an example of a Wednesday talk among teachers he lead, where they pored over state test results from the past three years and discussed the trends.
“It was exciting. I'm still excited... I'm impressed with how the teachers were looking at the data and using the data,” he said. “I'm a firm believer in SMART Start Wednesday and I think it's the best thing we could do.”
Goshert noted that the practice before this semester was to use substitutes in class so teachers could have the extra time to collaborate. Traci Henn, former substitute and parent of two students, said she was called in almost daily and that she doesn't consider it a good solution.
“Pulling teachers out is worse for my student than to have a late start Wednesdays,” she said. “There are parents in this community who support it.”
Board President Mike Wilson, who said his wife also substituted constantly, agreed that the late start is a better alternative.
“We had the same questions, but we thought it would be to the benefit of the children, not the detriment,” he said. “We have no reason to do otherwise.”
Schools Superintendent Tom Edington expressed disappointment with the form the criticism took and thanked teachers for the long days they put in.
“We're an A-ranked district right now and it's because of our teachers who work hard,” he said. “I'm disappointed that you would use a word right now like 'dumb down Wednesday.'”
