ManofSteel

  1. "I want to see if they can do better than Gary was doing," she said. "I want my kids to get the same thing that white kids get in other areas ..."

    Why does there have to be a racial spin on what is happening in the city of Gary and the rest of the region? Right now there are African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Indian, and white students receiving quality educations in Griffith, Crown Point, Lake Central, Hebron, Valparaiso, Portage, etc.

    Edison Learning will only provide so much for Roosevelt High School. The rest of Gary needs to provide the rest which is far from happening. You want what the so-called "white kids" have then move to Crown Point. Segregation in schools ended nearly 60 years ago.

    It is too bad Northwest Indiana is the way it is. We live in a great area that is far too scarred with racism it hurts.
    August 15, 2012 11:11 pm on First day of school across the region
  2. Earlier this week I commented on older teachers and the poor position they seem to be leaving the profession in. To be clear, I agree with teacher evaluation and other stipulations on the teaching profession. I see the positive in that administrators will finally have to earn the money they make in ensuring the staff is a quality one and not just their buddy-system ... (example ... Tony Bartolomeo hired by his former co-worker in Robin Tobias and Kevin Enright hired by his former co-worker / buddy Chip Pettit) I could go on and on.

    This is just ridiculous. I know teachers in Hammond and they have been dealing with a lot in the past few years only to have a union leader apparently "milking" the system. Education is a kosher deal if you are in administration.

    The principal of Boone Grove is making $90,000.00. The principal of North Judson-San Pierre High School (in the middle of nowhere) is making $90,000.00. The principal of Hobart High School is making $86-87,000? Somewhere in there. Yet a new teacher coming in will like be at $34,000 (if not less) and barely make it to $50,000.00 over the lifetime of their teaching career.
    August 15, 2012 12:29 am on State audit questions payment to Hammond teachers union president
  3. Merit pay is the states answer to rising salaries for teachers. If the new system stays in place for the next ten years the state will save millions because teachers won't see raises every year and if they do it will only be based on "merit". Raises are no longer sustainable long term and teachers will receive some of that "merit pay" in the form of a stipend. The rest will be added to their pay. A new teacher entering the profession at $34,000 a year will probably take their entire career just to get to $50,000 while principals of schools like Boone Grove High School and North Judson High School make $90,000 easy. More and more teachers will work 2nd jobs during the school year just to make ends meet limiting their effectiveness in the classroom even more. I believe "merit pay" will have negative long term effects and scores won't improve by much.

    You have to applaud teacher evaluations and the state for reigning in teacher salaries. I am a young teacher ANGRY that older teachers in the unions have taken advantage of the system and was never willing to budge. Teachers need to be paid fairly and evaluated regularly and lousy old teachers need to be let go and not protected when good, young teachers are kicked out. So while I don't like the idea of merit pay, I do like the idea that maybe now teachers will be treated fairly by the public and that it won't be our fault when things aren't going well in the schools because with the new system ... bad teachers will be let go and quality teachers and programs will be left to stay. How would you answer to the fact that despite all of the sweeping changes ... nothing changes?

    The debate rages on ...
    August 12, 2012 12:27 am on Indiana overhauls education
  4. J Bird - You have proven to be old and out of touch. Perhaps you would be content if schools were in one room schoolhouses and kids wrote on chalkboard tablets with no paper. Just give it up. You have NO IDEA what it takes to run a school, work with state budgets, and help provide funds for extracurricular activities that have proven time and time again to be beneficial for kids. Spare us your uneducated babble!
    August 06, 2012 10:43 am on GUEST COMMENTARY: Reduced state support, tax caps present budget building challenges
  5. Schools do spend money on athletics for all the right reasons you are mentioning. Plus, football spending is high but it helps out the entire athletic department as a whole because of the revenue it generates.
    August 06, 2012 10:21 am on GUEST COMMENTARY: Reduced state support, tax caps present budget building challenges
  6. Dave - businesses can grow revenue when the economy improves. Schools suffer from the "trickle down" effect. You are comparing apples and oranges. When 7th graders start making a profit for the work they produce then we can talk.
    August 06, 2012 10:20 am on GUEST COMMENTARY: Reduced state support, tax caps present budget building challenges
  7. THANK YOU! You are absolutely correct about Crown Point schools! I worked there and was let go as a result of the $300 million dollar cut in education spending in 2010 and a year later Crown Point passed a referendum. How was that spent? They depleted departments in the high school while still spending money on teachers with more than 20 years experience. They created positions for Dewes, Ciochina, and Marcinek and enacted the "good ole boy" club by hiring Pettit as principal (CP's golden boy) and Enright (head coach of football). Costs run high in Crown Point and admins are cashing in ... especially on property tax dollars.
    August 06, 2012 10:18 am on GUEST COMMENTARY: Reduced state support, tax caps present budget building challenges
  8. It sounds like the superintendent is really shaking things up in Lowell. Who goes from a kosher deal in the front office to principal in Gary? Probably somebody with a rift in leadership. Especially when it was released that Richie went for the Superintendent job at Lowell. I wonder if these changes are good?
    August 04, 2012 10:32 pm on Tri-Creek educator takes job at helm of Wirt-Emerson Visual and Performing Arts Academy
  9. Seriously J Bird ... you must have been picked on in middle school because this is the second time today you've used that line. I think it is time for some new material.

    Middle school is an important step. You can't just go from elementary to high school. Also, eliminating the middle schools would create a greater havoc. Let's just close the three middle schools feeding into Lake Central and put them all in high school.

    If you are going to make suggestions then be smart about them.
    July 05, 2012 9:56 am on Hammond teacher union president looking at ways to bring back teachers
  10. Now this is just awesome! Way to go Times giving more credit to amazing female athletes in the region!
    July 01, 2012 1:34 am on Commenters additions to our Top 40 most influential region female athletes
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