the article by diana bosetti begins with a disgruntled former teacher, tonina johnson, accusing her ex-principal, robert williams, of forcing her out of her job after her second year of teaching because she dared to speak up against a training at the UCLA conference center in lake arrowhead. it goes on to document some of the expenses LBUSD has paid for such trainings, while in the midst of a budget crisis, up until april 2008. it's not a flattering picture, to say the least, and bob williams takes the brunt of the criticism.
the interesting part for me is that i know bob... well, kind of... (probably not well enough to call him bob, but he's an acquaintance of my mom's, and we've met several times. she worked with him at monroe, before he was promoted to principal at lincoln.) he seems like a nice guy, and my mom, as well as my teacher friends at lincoln, have corroborated this. that's why the claims made in the article seem a bit odd.
it's clear from the story that tonina was overwhelmed by her new position. as any inexperienced, emergency-credentialed teacher (as i was) can attest, the first few years are tough, and any time spent outside the classroom can seem like wasted time that should be spent getting experience in the classroom. unfortunately, the first few years are chock-full of training--days spent away from your classroom and your students. i remember feeling very frustrated having to go to these all-day trainings (EEEI, open court, math, etc.) when i thought i was getting better training in my classroom with my actual students. so i feel her pain.
the part that bothered me the most though was the council members who hid under their desks when confronted by ms. bosetti about these necessary training expenditures. teachers need to be treated as professionals, and if that means paying for a training at a conference outside of town or a hotel in downtown, then so be it. give us the respect we are due! (and don't run and hide when you're asked about it, jon meyer, you sad sack!) team-building and professional development are of paramount importance to our district's mission of "every student, every day."
at least mary stanton, vp of the school board, didn't duck the questions and was openly supportive:
exactly.Stanton further asserts that there are benefits to holding retreats out of the area, suggesting that if they were held locally school employees might go AWOL and sneak home.
“If we hold these conferences across town, it doesn’t work because they can just leave,” she says. “Part of the problem with these schools is that the staff doesn’t talk to each other. They do not communicate, which is one of the reasons their school is in the place [underachieving] that it is. The superintendent believes very strongly in team building and that it leads to better communication between teachers, and I support him.” (emphasis added)
