To the Editor:
Ever since it became public several months that the School Administration changed the math curriculum without consulting the Board of Education and without disclosing to parents, I, like many, have been silently fuming. I have no child in the public schools any longer, but when they were, I was involved deeply in town government. This is not the way we do things in Fairfield. One of our strengths has always been the involvement of parents in their children's education.
I applaud Dawn Llewelyn and her group for trying to bring accountability. The Board should get behind this group and give their support. The Administration's excuse that they simply forgot to inform the Board and the public is a load of buffalo chips, obviously. Who are they fooling, besides themselves?
My observations:
1. Many students don't do well studying in groups. I never did. Give me a book and a quiet room, and I'm fine. But guess what -- the book isn't allowed to go to home, compounding the problem.
2. Group problem solving is only as good as the group you happen to be thrown into. If your group is marginal as far as math ability is concerned, you are left to flounder -- math is hard enough for some, and the teachers don't teach -- the curriculum is simply -- you figure it out.
3. Our best math teachers may not stick around, but rather leave for better districts. If their calling is truly teaching, why would they prefer to be mere monitors in their classroom?
4. Any program that suggests that one size fits all is doomed to failure. Some learn best with quietly with a book, some learn best visually, some learn best in a group, etc. Our past curriculum as I recall it allowed for individual students to excel based on their talents.
To the Board of Education: I ask you to take control of this fiasco. You should have shut down this program months ago when the parents discovered what was happening in the classrooms. Make sure students are in an environment of learning, direct teachers to teach, and reach out to the parent groups to make sure they are satisfied. If it is advisable to introduce this method in the future, then you should study it, possibly reform it to your preferences, include the parents, and make sure the weakest student has a chance to benefit.
To the Board of Finance and RTM: I urge you to take away immediately the teacher retirement slush fund that arrives every year -- find out the average savings from teacher retirements over the past several years, and cut that number from the budget. There has to be a consequence. The parents are not wrong.
Ellery Plotkin
and hijackers (students who take over) So what happens to the student who is shy and less confident in their abilities to contribute? How does a teacher know if all members of the group have learned the lesson correctly? What about different personalities clashing?
R. Ludlowe, how about we worry about the leadership skills AFTER we have taught them the foundation for their education? There has to be a balance. We cannot forsake their education for "leadership skills". We must respect everyone's different learning style so everyone can learn to their full potential. There must be another way to teach or encourage group work without sacrificing their education.
Typically a hitchhiker is a student who doesn't care. I think teachers are too busy to worry about how to deal with and perhaps discipline conflicts due to social interactions in a group and make sure the lesson is being learned. Let's learn the basics without putting more pressure on our kids to "get along"
Tests, pop quizzes and homework are markedly more difficult and the possibility of failing a class is no longer a concept but can become a reality faster than you may now believe. Beyond a letter grade, failure to understand a concept can have a lasting impact that can jeopardize a child’s success the following semester or the following year. Standardized tests are no longer just a letter you get in the mail. They are a direct indication of your child’s future opportunities beyond high school. So, yes middle and high school parents have expressed concern because there is cause to be concerned. Until you walk in their shoes. . .
>>Mr. Plotkin, I googled your name and what do I find? YOU ARE THE CHAIRMAN OF FAIRFIELD'S DEMOCRATIC PARTY! Try to concentrate on the arguments that people make instead attacking the person. If you had taken a course on logic during your non-existent education, you would be aware of this principle. >>The democrats should be very proud to have an anarchist as their head. Only with a twisted mind like yours, can someone draw such a conclusion. >>You advocate a government that forces the will of an angry, mainly stinking rich, vocal group of parents on the rest of us? AS CHAIRMAN OF THE DEMOCRATIC TOWN COMMITTEE, I assume you are in favor of mobs of the filthy rich forcing our will on YOUR first selectman? You are filthy, but not rich. >>Do you doubt that we can find 50 angry people to scream for anything in this town? I am sure we can find at least 10 such angry people in the stinking trailer you call a house.
Ellery Plotkin
Thank you--all you are saying anf you are Correct is that the Education system needs to be More Transparent, honest aand answer to the needs and ability to pay of the Community. They (the System) needs to STOP playing the Fairfield "Pamered,,prosperous, Paranoid Parents" for every tax dollar they can get. The Key word is Accountability !!!!!! Thank you(because we do NOT need to keep paying and paying) for poor preformance!!!!!!
We need to put our trust in the people whose job it is to make these decisions. Shame on the administration for their mistakes-- I and sure they learned their lesson on this one. I know several parents of children in this algebra program who are doing just fine. All that we hear us how bad it is. Who's to say what the real outcome is when all you hear is the rhetoric from both sides?
PS I'm only 13
Have A Great Day (And Continue to Pay And Pay !!!)