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FreeSpeech for 9-05-07Tue, 09/04/2007 - 3:59pm
By: The Citizen
Do any other middle school parents, preferably of eighth grade students, have as big a problem with the new math program as we do at our middle school? It’s been brought to our attention that the focus is no longer about having a teacher teach the students step by step, but rather to put the students in a “collaborative” group to allow them to figure out the answer to math problems as a group. It appears the teachers have been trained to present this new method of teaching to students, and are told that it will be more meaningful to the students to work together on a problem and come up with the solution, rather than have a teacher lead them. I have a huge problem with this. For starters our eighth grade students have been the guinea pigs of this new math program since its conception. For two years they did not even have a textbook to accompany the course. Secondly, it is my feeling that a lot of students have struggled with this program and are already behind in their math skills. They truly have not been given the proper tools to have a solid basis in math. And now they are put in groups to work through problems with little direction from the teacher until “after” they have attempted. My child says their group will just “sit there” when they cannot come up with an answer. It is also unfair to the more advanced student to have to “carry” the other students in the group. I’d like to hear from others on their views. I guess the CRCT test scores are speaking for themselves – it’s obvious something is not working. - - - - - - - - - - Yep, I’m a Booth Middle School parent listening with astonishment at my child’s math teacher telling me at the open house that she does not teach math. The journey through Fayette County’s math program has been amazing. My child’s first grade teacher informs us that getting the correct answer does not matter. Just that the child understand the concept of adding. By third grade my child’s teacher tells me not worry when my child stresses out and cannot do Minute Math problems; the students have all the time they need on the regular test. The summer before sixth grade I’m paying an elementary teacher $200 to teach my child math concepts they did not get to in fifth grade and needed for sixth grade. In sixth grade, I’m told not to worry that there is no text book, the teacher have a lot of hand-outs. So Fayette County SAT scores went down. Go figure. - - - - - - - - - - My feedback is in response to John Thompson’s article about Fayette SAT scores in the Aug. 29, 2007 paper. I object to Mr. Thompson’s reference that demographics paints the picture as to why Fayette’s scores dropped. I compare his article to a community rumor where no one has the facts, but word spreads nevertheless. Mr. Thompson didn’t give us all the facts. I’d like to know who are the minorities he refers to. Give me the breakout of the “demographics” and the respective SAT scores. Just maybe the drop has nothing to do with minorities. Just maybe the drop has to do more with the quality of teachers at the schools mentioned. Let’s compare the qualifications of teachers at schools with lower SATs to those with higher SATs. Where did the children attend middle and elementary school of those schools with lower SAT scores? What number of people took the SATs? How many are minorities? And what are those demographics? I contend there is a long chain of events that can cause lower SAT scores. Which is the most accurate? Your inference suggests the cause is minorities bringing down SAT scores in Fayette County. Your article is a half-baked story, like a rumor. Next time try to be informative for your audience. By the way, what was your SAT score, Mr. Thompson? - - - - - - - - - - If the latest SAT scores don’t prove where the demographics of this county have gone, then you truly are looking through “rose-colored glasses.” Those are sold in Clayton County, aren’t they? Statistics do not lie; only naive people in denial do. - - - - - - - - - - Nice going, Fayette County Board of Education. They snuck one in on us again, folks: the new school calendar for 2008-2009. Only 5,000 families got to weigh in on their opinions. How many families have students in our school system? I could be wrong but didn’t the FCBOE website state that questionnaires regarding parental input on the new calendar would be sent home at the beginning of this school year? I didn’t get any; did you? Of course, since the opinion poll was on the website during the summer when everyone was on vacation, how many people really did get to see it to express their opinions? Does the Board of Ed really care what we want? Ms. Wenzel states in a recent news article that many people had requested school to begin after Labor Day. So why then, can’t the Board of Ed figure out how to do that? She states it’s not possible to finish the first semester before Christmas. Where is is written that we need to finish before Christmas? Maybe the students would like to use the Christmas break as additional study time. I think it’s about time the FCBOE looks to another city/state that has a workable school calendar and follow suit. Why re-invent the wheel every year? Quit changing our school calendar year to year. Find a calendar that works, and leave it alone. - - - - - - - - - - Excuses are being used in Fayette County schools for our low SAT scores, and our children’s poor education. Saying that the scores are low due to minority participation is bunk. There are more non-minority low scores when the quantity is compared to minority numbers. Percentage wise, yes, there are more minority low scores, but that isn’t what drags down the learning; our teaching and administration does that. I notice where our education superintendent in Georgia has begun working for a presidential candidate, I would think for a shot at the USA Secretary of Education; however, I think that should be someone who doesn’t use excuses for Georgia’s failure, but someone who has a magnificent educational program for which they are responsible. - - - - - - - - - - I would like to respond to the recent comments that teachers do not make enough money. First, let me say that I have worked for a local school system for over 23 years. I would like for all of you not to just think about a teacher’s pay, but the total compensation package that teachers receive. Teachers of course have the summers off. They also are off two weeks at Christmas and have a week off at spring break. Then they also receive various other national holidays, and they accumulate sick days. They have comprehensive health, dental, vision and life insurance plans. Most times they have their choice among several different insurance companies and plans. Any deductions for these and other benefits are taken out of their checks pre-tax. They also have the Teacher’s Retirement Plan. After 30 years of service, a teacher will receive 60 percent of their salary based on the average of their two highest years of pay. Also, they will continue to keep their health benefits and receive a yearly 3 percent cost of living increase while retired. Teachers who were hired before the late 1980s do not pay any Social Security taxes. How do I know? Because in my 23 years, I have never had a deduction on my check for Social Security. Unfortunately for newer teachers, the laws were changed. In the school system I work for, a newly graduated 22-year-old teacher with no advanced degree will begin their career with a yearly salary of $35,000. The pay scale tops out at $79,000 yearly for a teacher with 30 years of experience and advanced degrees. Let’s also not forget that teachers have received a pay increase from the state and or county every year. I believe most teachers do deserve more for a difficult, sometimes thankless, job. However, when debating salaries, let’s look at the total compensation package. After all, it is your tax money and you deserve to see everything that your money pays for. Remember, the government runs the school system and the government will always claim that it needs more of your tax money. - - - - - - - - - - I frankly did not care at all about Tyrone and Barry Amos at all, until two things happened. First, the increase in crime in Tyrone (which they will not ever be able to handle) and, second, Tyrone’s lust to provide more sewer for already identified favored developers. Why? Is it a shady deal? Who knows and who cares? The point is that Tyrone and Fairburn almost seem like they are partners in “Riverdale South” turning Ga. Highway 74 into a crime-infested, traffic-snarled, curb-cut nightmare. Don’t they have the same lawyer in both towns? Again, I don’t care except for the effect that it will have on Fayette and Hwy. 74. With Tyrone and Fairburn that close to a high-speed interstate, the crime will make the Pavilion look like a day care center. I always supported my good friend Annie McMenamin who publicly opposed giving sewer to Tyrone because she knew of the risks and of Tyrone and Amos’ incompetence. Annie said, when Amos and Tyrone asked PTC to tap on to sewer, “Not on my watch.” - - - - - - - - - - Now that all candidates have qualified, and have talked in glowing general terms about how good they’re going to be elected, let’s hear them speak about the most important specific needs for Tyrone. It’s not a new library, Shamrock Park or recreation. When someone is injured, the first priority is to stop the bleeding, then start the healing. To stop the bleeding you have to get rid of those who are causing it. Numbers 1-5 have caused the bleeding. 1. Fire Barry Amos and Valerie Fowler. Everyone understands the problems here. 2. Don’t support Michael Smola for mayor. 3. Get rid of all Barry’s boys and girls on the Planning Commission. 4. Don’t vote for a planning commission member for council. 5. Hire a new town attorney who won’t make legal opinions that are contradictory. To start the healing: 6. Repeal Ordinance #454 that took away property uses. 7. Codify zoning ordinances and regulations. (Not one single elected or appointed official, much less any citizen, knows or can know Tyrone’s zoning laws because the laws have never been organized in a single book. The ordinances are an unbelievable messy shame. Never in the 30-year history of zoning in Tyrone have all the laws and amendments been totally published. Only Barry’s and Brad Sears’ interpretation.) 8. Pass an ordinance that requires the government itself, when it proposes a zoning change or amendment, to post signs on affected properties and send certified notice to the property owner. 9. Pass a resolution to put legal zoning ads in The Citizen newspaper. Legal ads in the Fayette Daily News is sent only to 300 subscribers in Tyrone. 10. Insure that the zoning map on public display be signed by the mayor with all ordinances and amendments listed and dated as required by the Ga. Zoning Procedures Act. Our representatives need to learn our laws, have a quick reference book and then follow them. Don’t be dependent on a town manager or an attorney. Don’t make citizens have to hire a lawyer and sue to get the government to follow its own laws. Now let’s hear the candidates tell us where they stand on these important issues specifically. If you are one of the 300-plus who have signed the petition at Tyrone Tire you don’t want to vote for anyone who won’t support these 10 items. - - - - - - - - - - In response to the unhappy concert attendee: Get over it. I don’t know who your so-called “blithering idiot” in the Gold section is. I am, however, tired of the blithering idiot who keeps complaining in the Free Speech section about someone standing up in front of them. Just how many concerts have you attended in your lifetime? I’m quite sure no one was asked to sit down at Woodstock or Lollapalooza. You bought tickets to a concert, for cryin’ out loud! If you don’t like it, buy better tickets. Other than crowd control, seats have no use at a concert anyway. Stand up! Have fun! Dance if you’re sure you won’t hurt yourself. That’s pretty much the point of the whole thing, if you hadn’t noticed. If you can’t handle it, stay home, or better yet, go to a movie. Tell everyone in the row in front of you, they can’t get up to go to the bathroom or go buy snacks. Jeesh! - - - - - - - - - - We moved here (PTC) 25 years ago. Those of you who are short-timers, all I can say is those were the days. Days when you knew everyone when you went shopping, or at church, and at any school events. Things were so homey, for lack of a better word. I left PTC 15 years ago to pursue my career. I had the foresight to keep my home, because I knew that someday I would return and retire here. What a mistake. I returned July of 2006 [to] property values, growing taxes, a city government that is accountable to their own well-being, and empire-building within the different city departments. I returned thinking my home, which was one of my investments toward retirement, should have appreciated two times more than it did. People in the stores, whether they are other shoppers or store employees, are so rude or really don’t care. There is not the feeling of being in Peachtree City anymore. I will in future letters give you my opinion on what I see the problems are. With my 40 years of management experience, working for an owner meant profit and productivity was the measurement of whether you kept your job or not. What is going on here is whose butt will be protected, not the taxpayer who pays your salary. This goes from the top of the ladder to the last rung of the ladder. - - - - - - - - - - This police station disaster makes me mad as H-E-double-hockey-sticks! Who’s responsible for this mess? Brown told us it was a crooked deal and Bobby Lenox said he was lying. We need to file a civil lawsuit to recoup our million dollars. Get the city’s attorney working on this. - - - - - - - - - - What is the general policy about code enforcement in PTC? I’m only referring to places of business concerning their safety practices, and items concerning private homes and lots. As I just drive through neighborhoods, I see cars parked on the grass, trailers in the driveway, etc. Some perpetually and some just most of the time. Many fire exit lights and jammed escape aisles are incorrect in some businesses. I guess my question is this: are regular drives and visits made, or is it upon complaint only? Someone is missing a lot if regular drives and visits are done. - - - - - - - - - - A man calls the Fayette [County government’s] Stonewall Complex and hears the receptionist answer: “Hello, Fayette County, how may I direct your call?” The man asks, “May I please speak with County Attorney William McNally?” Receptionist: “I’m sorry, Mr. McNally is no longer with Fayette County.” Man: “Thank you” (and then he hangs up). He calls back again to the same receptionist and again asks for attorney McNally. The receptionist recognizes the voice, hesitates and, containing her frustration, she says “Mr. McNally is not here anymore. The commission voted for a change.” The man thanks the receptionist and they both hang up. The man calls back again: “May I please speak with attorney McNally?” This time the receptionist loses her temper: “Mister, I have already told you twice that he is no longer here. Can’t you get it through your head that the commission fired McNally?” The man responds: “Oh, I understood you the first time and the second time. I just called back because I like the way it sounds.” - - - - - - - - - - I cannot believe that we have to continue to look at the junkyard at the corner of Ga. Highway 54 and Jeff Davis Drive. It is a disgrace. The dump couldn’t look as bad. What makes the governing body of Fayetteville think that anyone would want to move here and look at this everyday? No one could possibly use the junk that is on the sidewalk on Hwy. 54. I pass there every morning and I am appalled. This has gone on so long that you have created a monster. Someone needs to take a good hard look at this mess and stop wearing rose-colored glasses. - - - - - - - - - - When I first moved to Fayette County in the early 1980s there was a quaint little junk store on a downtown Fayetteville corner. Today Jordan Salvage is an eyesore with used junk strewn all over a giant lot that fronts on three streets. I know homeowners that were written up by the [county] marshal for having building materials on their property, so I do not understand how this has been allowed to continue. I have heard Jordan is grandfathered. Does that mean he does not have to abide by current laws regarding junk that is visible from three downtown streets? It makes me wonder who this guy knows or who he knows something incriminating about that allows this junk store to remain a fixture in our town. It would be nice to be able to walk around downtown shopping. This property is ripe for redevelopment into something that improves the downtown area and attracts new businesses. Jordan Salvage is a clear case for eminent domain. What is it going to take to get rid of this junk store? - - - - - - - - - - To the Free Speecher regarding the use of G-D. The use of G-D in writing when referring to The Almighty is out of respect for the Holiness of G-D and it is considered disrespectful to include the “O” when writing out His name in English. This comes from a written and oral tradition of well over 5,000 years, which far surpasses the Apostolic interpretations. Its use is widespread the world over and is not limited to New York or New Jersey. In fact, people also write that in AZ, CA, FL, TX, IL, MA and, believe it or not, wise-guy, right here in good old (boy) ATL, GA. - - - - - - - - - - Why isn’t anyone at the school county level overseeing what goes on with middle school football in Fayette County? We have a huge team at our middle school and yet the coaches only practice with half of the team. One group of boys get to scrimmage for 40 minutes while the other group get to be on the field about three minutes. At our school, we pay $100 for each boy to play football, averaging roughly $9,000 supporting the football program. Yet, the players are not given equal opportunity to scrimmage, not even 50 percent of the time. The athletic director informed everyone that their child might not get to play in games, but that each player will be given the opportunity to have the chance to play by participating in practice where they will be evaluated. Well, how in the world can they be evaluated, if they are not scrimmaging and just sitting on the sidelines for 40 minutes? When the second group finally gets on the field to scrimmage, it’s three minutes before the coach calls for a water break and then puts the first group back on the field. The second group gets to sit out yet once again. Don’t think we as parents don’t see what is happening. Why not just have tryouts for the amount of players you are willing to play on the team instead of carrying an extra 15-20 children who won’t see any playing time? Is it because of the amount of revenue the school would lose by cutting players? That would amount to possibly $3000 to $4000 at our school. I think our school athletic programs and financing of these programs need to be seriously evaluated. Here’s another one for you: How about paying $700 for a seventh grader to be a cheerleader? That’s another story. - - - - - - - - - - My family and I used to love going to [a restaurant] in Tyrone to play trivia on Tuesday nights, but not anymore. The bar area is as rowdy and obnoxious as I have seen. There are a few individuals in there who are loud, vulgar and inappropriate for a family restaurant. We have complained to the female manager on a number of occasions but nothing has been done. Guess we will have to find a new place to play that is a little more family-oriented. - - - - - - - - - - If you live in Peachtree City, you know that we don’t have an abundance of restaurants serving breakfast. This Sunday, we decided to give [a restaurant] a try, as they recently added breakfast to their menu. As we were seated in a nearly empty restaurant, we certainly expected fast service. To the contrary, we waited more than 30 minutes for food, which arrived cold. Never in my life have I experienced such poor service. Our waitress had a serious attitude problem and blamed everything on the “large party” that was seated immediately after us (the large party included 12 soccer players). We weren’t expecting five-star service, but we spent more than an hour in the restaurant, and only 10 minutes was spent eating our cold and lousy food. Breakfast food is not cuisine; if you can’t prepare eggs and toast, you shouldn’t be in the restaurant business. The other 50 minutes was spent waiting for the food, and then after we ate, waiting forever for the bill. If you want to blame a “large party” for slow food prep, I can accept that, but the poor service was the fault of the lackluster waitress. Not even a smile as she finally handed us our bill that took 20 minutes to find and bring to the table. If [the restaurant] wants to get into the breakfast market, they need a kitchen staff able to serve an entire restaurant, not just one table at a time, and they need to hire servers who know what they’re doing. I guess we’ll have to continue the hunt for a decent breakfast place, or it might be time to surrender the search and make our own eggs and bacon after church on Sundays. It seems this is the only way to insure hot food and timely service. - - - - - - - - - - Now that Michael Vick has pleaded guilty to the charges against him, we hear pundits far and wide saying that Mr. Vick needs to get his life back. Horse apples! He is neither a victim nor a hero. What should concern everyone, most especially parents of impressionable children and teenagers, is the character of the person. He has demonstrated his lack of integrity and inability to be truthful to the Atlanta Falcons, the National Football League, the fans, and the public in general. How can you trust someone who has so thoroughly destroyed his reputation and has tarnished the image of his teammates and his employer, all through his own actions? I applaud Dick’s Sporting Goods for simply putting all of their Michael Vick paraphernalia outside on the sidewalk for anyone to have, free of charge. The statement is clear. They have written Mr. Vick off and want to make no money in association with him. Kudos also go to Nike for deciding to not sell 250,000 of his jerseys. It is a courageous decision made by both corporations. Other public entities could take a lesson. America needs to take a long, close look at its sports heroes who now make up a portion of the college and professional level teams. It is all about the money and the power. The biggest loser in all of this is the fan base. All the while, our teachers, police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and other service personnel are paid salaries so low that they often have to take on an additional job to pay the bills. These are the people that our whole society depends upon to function properly. - - - - - - - - - - Yes, abortion is a moral issue. Sadly, your moral compass seems to be solely driven by your religious views. It is the individual woman’s choice, silly. It is her body, it is her choice, period. Albeit, it is not an easy or by any stretch happy choice, but nonetheless, her choice. - - - - - - - - - - To the “anti-choice” person who said, “One of those kids could have been a legitimate candidate for president”: That “kid” could have just as easily been a legitimate serial murderer as well. login to post comments
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