Left In Lowell

Mr. O’Neill: Stop the Madness!

by Mimi at 7:52 am.

Enough is enough! We all know that the editor of the Sun has a agenda and uses the thin veil of journalism to reward the sycophants and punish the rest. But the paper’s focus on the Lowell schools system borders on obsession. So I was not surprised by an editorial that appeared in yesterday’s paper. Athough the editorials for March 19th and 21st are available on their web site; the one for the 20th is not. Someone was kind enough to send me their e-edition.

This particular editorial is just another selective beating up of certain elements of the Lowell schools. But I was surprised how sloppy it was. You would think that someone would have checked the facts before they went to press but when your motivation is spite, you rush to judgment.

The Sun editorial reads in part:

And, thanks to [Paul] Georges [President of the United Teachers of Lowell] — and the School Department’s inept record-keeping
and/or lack of interest — teachers can take Mondays and Fridays off routinely without being disciplined. If they are reprimanded, who knows? The
School Department takes care of its own — no dirty laundry unless the local newspaper finds out. But here’s the rub. On Thursday, Dec. 18, 11 teachers at Greenhalge School called in sick. The school has 24 classrooms. Do you think the kids’ educations were served while the teachers were on the lam? Did the principal discipline anyone? Is the Greenhalge School on the state’s underperforming list?

On the lam? Well guess what? LiL has been told that only two teachers called in sick that day; the rest each donated a day’s sick leave to a colleague who is seriously ill and had used up all of their own sick time. The facts are getting in the way of the editor’s campaign so let’s skew the facts.

The editor of the Sun wants to be top dog in this city and he has a publisher whose motivation is the bottom line. We all blame him but the Sun Publisher and President is equally culpable. By the way, if the Sun really cared about Lowell public school children, they would not have been on the band wagon to drive Dr. Karla Brooks- Baehr out of town. Oh yeah, I forgot she did not socialize enough, so go she must.

Somehow I do not think Friday’s editorial is going to be an award winner.

[Filed under Media] [link]

22 Responses to “Mr. O’Neill: Stop the Madness!”

waittilnextyr Says:
March 21st, 2009 at 9:35 am
This editorial and the true facts should be sent to those who gave out the prior award. May make them re-consider their foolish judgment.
walking the halls Says:
March 21st, 2009 at 9:50 am
Mimi: You are wasting your time. Campanini must have pictures of O’Neil in compromising positions since he does little to control his clearly blatant political agenda. All the while the reporters trying to do their job are beaten down doing his bidding on behalf of his political friends. Now we hear of a Labor Department investigation of the Sun. Let’s face it the newspaper business is tough enough without the craziness that has become the Lowell Sun. In any other business this guy (these guys) would be fired.
Kim Says:
March 21st, 2009 at 9:21 pm
What messy reporting on the Greenhalge. They should offer an apology. I believe this had to be approved for the teachers to donate sick time. I know everyone argues over the amount of time off that city employees receive in sick time but the people I know do not have short term disabilty. So these great teachers donate their time and then they get a poorly written Sun article in return?
wolf Says:
March 21st, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Worse than poorly written. Malicious.
MillCityGuy09 Says:
March 22nd, 2009 at 3:36 pm
I would love to see the Globe or the Herald do a story on this.. but Campy through the wringer that like that [edited] deserves!

[Edit: I’m as outraged as the rest of you, but please, keep it fairly clean. –Lynne]
anonymous Says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:37 am
I would guess that no one who has commented so far has a student in the Lowell Public Schools. As a parent, I have found that teacher absences have a significant negative impact on my children’s learning. Regarding the Greenhalge, here is what is missing: the kids have a substitute teacher for months at a time when teachers are out months at a time. This happened to my child last year in 7th grade. His social studies teacher was out several months. He basically learned NOTHING in that class that year. Sometimes, when teachers have professional training or other meetings, they are actually IN school but not in the classroom. Can you imagine how disruptive it is for a child’s learning experience to have so many teacher absences???

Even worse, in my opinion, is that the students are held to a much higer standard regarding attendance than are the teachers!!!! If students don’t meet required attendance, they are either retained, or, if over age 16,they can be kicked out of school! Students are REQUIRED to have an attendance note FROM A DOCTOR even if they are out with a cold!!! In the high school, if they are absent more than six times a semester, without a doctor’s note, they lose ALL THEIR CREDITS EVEN IF THEY ARE PASSING THE CLASS!!!! So, of course this discriminates against those students whose parents work and cannot take time off to get them to the doctor’s.

Although I was very unhappy with the editorial about Jackie, let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. IF students are held accountable for their attendance, why not teachers??? In my opinion, EVERY parent should get a report card every semester ON THE TEACHER - how many days they were actually in the classroom compared to number of days the students are required to be in school. This is a very big problem in the schools and besides all of us paying $1,000,000 for substitute teachers, it has a huge detrimental effect on our kids.
K-R-S Says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:23 am
ANonymous has a great point as it points to a larger issue, staff absenteeism can be a problem. I’ve been pondering for several months putting my girls into public schools next year and quite frankly, one of my reservations is what Anon describes above. If their teacher doesn’t care to be in the class room, then why should my child?
What got lost in Campi’s ed. piece, is the fact that the unions have negotiated great contracts for their employees and every year, more money has to come out of programming to meet payroll.
Elizabeth Says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Anonymous,
Do you think if a teacher is out sick with cancer or a long term heath problem, they should be fired? What do you propose here they do? Most times a highly qualified teacher is hired in that teacher’s absence. Sadly, in your case that did not happen. Getting highly qualified teachers mid-year is not an easy task, be it in public or private schools. Did you complain to the principal about the teacher? I think the above situation could just as easily have occured in a suburb, or even in a private school. Lowell is not unique to these problems.
As far as the absent notes are concerned, the school deptartment’s policy is for the parent to write a note simply stating that their child was absent. If the absences are excessive, then yes, you are asked to get a doctor’s note. Being out 6 times a semester (marking term) is extreme given the weekend, holidays etc. I personally wouldn’t allow my child to be absent that much. Given the attendance problems that the high school has with that many students, I don’t think getting a doctor’s note, is that big of a deal.
Lynne Says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:52 pm
I’m with Elizabeth. So, a teacher can’t have a major surgery or birth a kid? They never should be out long term to deal with family issues or anything? Just screw ‘em, they should stick it out!

In my junior year of HS, my math teacher (whom I had last period) was seriously absent, especially in the second half of the day, and we had a succession of subs which taught badly, often, the regular teacher would have to unteach what the sub tried to teach us. It was horrid, and I did very poorly in that class.

However, said teacher was dealing with a severely ill mother who ended up dying around Christmas, and then his seriously ill father, who died near the end of the school year. Now, did my academics suffer because of this? Absolutely. Do I blame this teacher? No. He had a real need to get his parents to dr’s appointments, deal with end of life issues. We happened to be the last period of the day and so therefore were even worse off than maybe his other classes. In the private sector, an understanding boss would let you out early (even if it happened frequently, for dealing with serious family issues) in order to deal with a situation like this, and maybe he would ask you work late other days to make up for it.

Teachers, however, cannot do this. The classes are scheduled of course, and can’t be moved for such circumstances. In the case of the math teacher in question, he probably had an exemplary record before and afterwards (certainly I learned fairly OK when he was able to teach us). So, you want to talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater…looks like that’s exactly what you’re aiming to do, “anonymous.”

Before I judge your child’s teacher, I would want to know the circumstances around her absence. End of story. It’s all well and good to get your outrage on over one bad circumstance, but it’s not a true picture of if there is a real problem or how big the problem is.
joe from Lowell Says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Intentional or not, the Anonymous post above is distracting from a pretty important point that shouldn’t be lost: the editorial staff of the Lowell Sun seems to consist of catacomb-dwelling, soulless things that haven’t know light, decency, or love for several millennia.

LiL has been told that only two teachers called in sick that day; the rest each donated a day’s sick leave to a colleague who is seriously ill and had used up all of their own sick time.

That is bloody horrible that the Lowell Sun slandered the teachers at the Greenhalge School like that. Somebody should be run out of town of a rail.

What a miserable, corrupt, cruel, ignorant shell of human that writer must be. There needs to be an apology, or that paper needs to close its doors.
Mimi Says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Joe, thanks for making my point; that editorial’s motivation was not based on what is best for the Lowell Public School System.

I guess someone at the museum came to their senses because they did apologize, sort of:

Superintendent’s Letter-to-the-Editor
Marigold Says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 7:02 pm
That’s no apology. That’s another cheap shot.
anonymous Says:
March 24th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Why is it all or nothing? That is, if I care about my child’s education it means that I have no concern for a sick teacher? Why is it, if a teacher has a problem the kids (and parents) should just put up with it? IS there no creative solution to this? For example, instead of bringing in a sub when a teacher is going to be out for a long time, move that class in with other classes for that subject. While it is not great to have a huge class, it is better than the kids learning nothing. Put the substitute in to help out the seasoned teacher.

And, what about a large number of teacher absences that aren’t consecutive but still have a really bad impact on a child’s learning. Is it ok for a teacher to be absent a lot and still take days off for professional development? (why not do it in the summer?) Does it matter at all that the students are held to a much higher standard than the teachers? And Elizabeth, you are so wrong about the attendance code. It is section 4.2 in the high school handbook - look it up. Here is what happens, though, is that some privelged students get away with parent notes while other kids do not. You also have a privilged life if you think it is so easy for all students to be in school for 6 days each semester. You have so much sympathy for a teacher who needs to take care of an ailing relative - but what about the kids who need to take care of ailing grandparents and siblings while their parents work? Why is it that only some people count? And who said it is only a problem in Lowell? (although of the two public school systems my children have attended, Lowell is much worse with teacher absences). Can’t we try to relate to kids whose parents notes are excluded, who can’t get to the doctors, who have to stay home to take care of sick family members?
Mimi, even if the initial point was that the editorial wasn’t motivated about helping kids (I agree!), it still has a grain of truth.
Lynne Says:
March 24th, 2009 at 11:34 am
“Why is it all or nothing?” Well, that’s certainly the impression you left with your comment, yeah.

“move that class in with other classes for that subject” - uuuh, no. I doubt it’s any better an idea to flood the other teachers’ class(es) with them - just as disruptive, and now you’re worsening the learning experience of the entire group. You can’t double a classroom, certainly, and even breaking that class into thirds (if there are three different classes to send them to) would be stupid, especially given the trend of classroom sizes these days. A long-term sub IS the creative solution, and yes, that can be hit or miss. What do you want the school administrators to do, conjure a qualified sub out of thin air?

OK, so what is the (real) statistic on teacher absences? The editorial in question was a dumb one that cited wrong numbers, so it’s not a good measure, is it? Yes, if there’s someone who’s taking too many absences it should obviously be addressed in some manner, but what would you suggest that be? If the teacher has true health problems contributing to the absences, the solution is to get them a sub, what else do you *think* it would be?

If someone is just taking days off with no good excuse of *course* that’s something serious, but I want to know exactly how bad of a problem it really is before I scream and yell about it and allow it to affect the policies of the School Committee and Superintendent. I prefer reality-based assessment to making people feel warm and fuzzy because they pitched a fit.

You also missed Elizabeth’s point completely.
Eleanor Rigby Says:
March 24th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Annon….”a grain of truth”? That’s what we’re reduced to expecting from our daily paper? “A grain of truth”?

In reading the editorial writer’s ‘apology’ he/she seemed to me blaming the school department for not analyzing the numbers for the newspaper thus leading the editorial writer astray!

I am really really hoping that MediaNews decides to sell the Sun, how long can a paper with under 45k circulation and a bad website last under it’s current ownership/management?
anonymous Says:
March 24th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
First, why do you assume the kids are disruptive and that having an experienced teacher with a substitute will create an even more disruptive classroom?

Why should one classroom suffer for months and learn nothing? There were 18 kids in the class. What is so horrible about a class size of 36, if the alternative is having 18 kids learn nothing? Do you think that all classes in Lowell are too large and all classrooms have disruptive students? Of course those problems exist and where they exist, let’s change it. But it certainly isn’t the norm. How many times have you heard of a long term substitute that can replace an experienced teacher? I have had 3 kids go through the public schools and, that has never happened. I wouldn’t call your idea stupid, as you did mine, because all ideas need to be considered when attempting to solve a problem, in my opinion. Whether you chose to believe it or not, teacher absences are a problem that impacts a student’s learning.
And, I certainly did understand Elizabeth. It is a relevant and significant issue that lower income kids have a harder time with absences because of the challenges they face that other kids don’t.

Doesn’t anyone think that students have as many good excuses as teachers when it comes to absences? Should they be held to a higher standard?
Jake Says:
March 24th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
I don’t think kids have anywhere near the amount of good excuses an adult has to be absent. What too much to do in the sand box that week? C’mon. Most children have little to no responsibility of any kind. Especially at the Greenhalge ELEMENTARY School.

Kids’ job IS (and should only be) school and their parent’s job is to get them there. If you can’t do that for your kids, children and family services needs to be involved. I’d say kids have a lot fewer major health problems by and large than adults too.

Please tell me you are kidding.
Kim Says:
March 24th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Anon,
I attended Tewksbury High and had a math teacher pass away suddenly. I was in Advanced placement math classes and the sub should have been teaching 4th grade math. We taught her a lesson or 2! The issue you speak of is not a Lowell issue.

KRS,
Take the plunge! I have been very critical of the Lowell School system and I now feel that we are in a much better position than most of the suburbs and all of the parochial schools. My sister is a Williams Grad, Teach for America Alum, and Winchester, MA school teacher and was not at all impressed by the Parochial School curriculum (begged me to get out) and she is impressed with the Lowell public schools after attending several classes here in the city and seeing what they are being taught. My children are at the JG Pyne and it is wonderful there! My daughter’s teacher has missed a whopping 2 school days this year. My daughter is excited to go to school every single day and we never had that happen in the Parochial School. I love that she loves Lowell School’s each and every day!
K-R-S Says:
March 25th, 2009 at 8:35 am
Thanks for the feedback Kim. It is a tough decision! Am glad you’re children love their school.
Marigold Says:
March 25th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Kim, I don’t think you’re trying to be mean but it sounds as if you would have preferred that your teacher die in the summer out of consideration to the smart kids. As for the substitute: do you expect highly-trained AP ready math teachers to be waiting in the wings to substitute for $65-$100 per day?
Kim Says:
March 25th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Marigold my point was that it happens in every town and that you can not blame the teachers or the management. I think the teachers have been getting bashed for taking off time that they have coming to them and they use good discretion. Someone said that subs were a problem in the Lowell school system and my point was that it is a problem everywhere for teachers to be out of the class but it can not be avoided.
tom Says:
March 31st, 2009 at 9:29 am
Thank god for Campanini and the sun.

March 21, 2009

Mr. O’Neill: Stop the Madness!

22 Responses to “Mr. O’Neill: Stop the Madness!”

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