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Making a Difference

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School Bus & Children
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My Goals

Education

PROTECT OUR SCHOOLS

Teach Less Better!

The beauty of teaching a group of students to read music, is the immediate feed back you receive from your students.  You can see and hear immediately who is getting it, and who is not.  So how do you fix it?  You go over and over the material until everyone gets it.  Then you move on. 

This isn’t quite as easy for classroom teachers when it comes to teaching reading.  47% of Farmington students have below average literacy scores! 

I remember a time in my career when it was announced that China surpassed the US in education.  Suddenly everybody raised the bar!  The 12th grade curriculum was moved to 11th grade...etc. right down to start reading in kindergarten.  Textbooks became thicker as teachers were pressured to teach more. 

This is the wrong way to improve education!! It is like telling me, my orchestra sounds terrible!  You need to play harder music!!! 

I had the pleasure of hosting a group of teachers from Japan in my home.  They were here to study practices in American education.  When I inquired about their practices to improve education, they said they are constantly working to make their textbooks thinner.  TEACH LESS BETTER!  That is exactly the opposite of what we are doing in the United States. 

:  I have been a substitute teacher in Walled Lake, West Bloomfield, and Farmington schools since I retired from West Bloomfield.  Our Schools do a very good job of keeping buildings and classrooms locked and secure.  It is evident from the recent incidents that this alone is not enough.  Many High schools have police officers in the building.  But that isn’t always possible.  So, what is the next best thing?  We need someone in every building that has a key or access to locked rooms that can get there quickly and has the training and ability to stop an active shooter.  This could be a security guard, a principal, administrator, counselor, or even a teacher. 

  1. FPS Board Mission – Proposed For the well-being of our students, FPS will deliver Excellence in Education. The FPS Board is responsible for achieving aggressive education outcomes in Math, Reading, Writing and Science that are required so each student, to the extent of their abilities, has a chance to become a productive member of our society as we know it and can reasonably expect it to be.

Goals include:

  • Reduce the percent of Students Below Grade Level from current levels Math 51% and Reading 41% by half each of the next 5 years.

  • Self-expression is a critical skill. All students will be at Grade Level in Writing and Speaking skills, clear goals will be established for those with English as a Second Language.

  • American Civics teaching will include the Nation’s darkest mistakes and its greatest successes. We will focus on the strengths of the Democratic Republic form of government that has allowed the US Constitution to prevail for more than 250 years which is longer than any form of government in mankind’s history.

  • Western Civilization will again be taught from the prospective it has morphed and evolved to develop a society more capable than others of providing a peaceful and productive society even if it does not do so at all times.

  • Spend Budget wisely on student learning, student security, student individual well-being, after school programs and summer programs

  • Note that ‘to improve’ is not a goal!

 

  1. Board must be responsible for education performance of the District

  • Kids must read

  • Kids must comprehend

  • Kids must be able to express themselves verbally and in writing

  • Kids must understand math concepts and be capable in the four basic functions

 

  1. Notes

  • Four Pillars = Curriculum, People, Finances and Facilities

  • We Are Done, not going along anymore!

  • Moral Compass is broken

  • Better Way Forward

  • Common Sense Solutions

  • Diversity of Thought

  • Rights demand responsibility

  • Continuum: Learn to Read => Read to Learn => Learn to Earn

  • Teach How to think, not What to think

 

  1. Board Issues

    • Excellence in education

    • Safe Schools

    • Financial accountability

    • Curriculum accountability

    • Non-essential subjects, priorities

    • Math Reading Writing, Science and Self-Expression

 

  1. Issues in the schools

    • Attendance

    • Poverty

    • Mobility

    • Gifted and talented

    • Special Education

    • Social Emotional Learning

 

 

  1. Non-Issues at FPS

    • Pronouns, names – parents don’t know

    • Books

    • Elementary School Gender Studies

    • CRT is not in curriculum,

      1. Review of Lesson Plans needed

      2. DEI: Asst. Supt. Reduced to Director level

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