Is MCPS and public school systems engaging in child abuse with their teacher hiring policies and tenure

Child abuse? that is a heavy accuation, however, it may just be true.

Here is an example.

A 5th grade class was talking about making paper out of alternative solutions to making paper rather than just using wood. The little boy wanted to participate in the discussion and suggested using dryer lint.

Instead of the teacher praising the student for engaging in the conversation she considered the idea stupid and pointless and berated him in front of his classmates for coming up with such an idea. The teacher publicly humiliated him and embarrassed him. Note: Probably the reason the student brought up the idea is that at that time there were paper making kits for children that suggested using lint from dryers!

First, was the idea pointless or was it actually forward thinking and courageous of him of bringing up the idea? Isn't talking things out in the corporate boardroom how ideas are created and then actualized in a product that makes millions of dollars? Most likely this happens everyday in America. Granted, this is on a big scale but starting young is advantageous to out of the box thinking, right!

Secondly, why is this teacher still teaching? His mother complained to the principal and to the Curriculum administrator.  Another parent contacted the Human Resources administrator. Neither of these administrators were willing to step in and  help out. (The names of the administration positions are approximate - they may have "Director" in the titles.)

msw is not privy to the exact conversations of the parents with the Curriculum administrator, however, msw talked to the HR administrator after a meeting. He explained that the protocol of submitting a complaint against a teacher begins with talking to the principal. This protocol, in msw's opinion, is not the appropriate method of taking care of a bad teacher. For instance, msw was not getting along with the principal - she was not a popular principal. (Which is another topic to tackle - how to remove unprincipled and incompetent principals!) The principal was the last person msw was about to talk to about this teacher that THE PRINCIPAL hired! Yes, msw was told that is the principal is the person who hires the teachers. (I've since been told there is another method to teacher hiring).
So...the complaint by msw against this abhorrent teacher was dropped.

Two parents at least and probably more went as high as the MCPS administration and were met with unsatisfactory results when complaining about a very bad teacher that they considered harmful to children - thus the child abuse phrase in the title. And - nothing could be done in one case and in the other the protocol was an obstacle (perhaps on purpose).

Another aspect to this post is that this teacher who only had about 14 to 15 students due to her unpopularity, came from another MCPS school. The parents at the other school adamantly demanded that she not return to that school. That in itself needed to be the end of this teacher's teaching career for MCPS! NO! Wait. MCPS has an avenue by way a unpopular teacher can transfer to another school. At the moment msw cannot remember the exact term, however, it has the words, "Facilitated" and "Transfer". Perhaps it was  "MCPS Facilitated Transfer for Teachers".  Anyway, this is another aspect to the child abuse moniker for the concept of not being able to get rid of bad teachers.

And of course, there is always tenure. Tenure is when a teacher has been teaching for a certain amount of years and then because of the time issue with a district this teacher literally cannot be fired or at least it is very very difficult! We have thousands of teachers throughout our country that should not be teaching just because they have tenure. And they are getting good pay to boot.

The above explanation by msw is most likely just one of many more in the MCPS school system. As one can see it is very difficult to get rid of a bad teacher - and Missoula children have been suffering and likely are still suffering.

Missoulian article on expanding the International Baccalaruate program to Washington (msw Rattlesnake-Washington) Middle School!!

https://missoulian.com/news/local/washington-middle-school-works-toward-international-baccalaureate-status/article_3ab42330-8f63-587f-9d7a-10f76e872bf6.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1

See the link above for the Missoulians article on the International Baccalaureate program slated to be implemented at Washington Middle School (which remember really needs to be renamed Rattlesnake-Washington Middle School due to the closure of Rattlesnake Middle School in 2004 and then sending those students to WMS).

Superintendent Alex Apostle had the plan to implement the IB program at all levels of education in Missoula. (told to me personally as part of his plans for MCPS).

There are some sources that give a less than stellar view of the IB program.

One is  - IB Unraveled by Debra Niwa
Another is the YouTube video by Debra Niwa
Also see the YouTube video about IB titled, "The International Baccalaureate Program Unraveled".


Here is the link for the YouTube video -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrCNrk-ZTjE

Is the International Baccalaureate Progam really good for children in Missoula and at MIssoula International School? The pit bull topic rages on and on...

Missoula School Watchdog was going through some newspapers the other day. Msw noticed an article that was missed when reading the daily newspaper at an earlier date.

The newspaper highlighted in this blog post is the April 4th, 2019 edition of the Missoulian, Missoula's daily newspaper.

On the editorial page is a guest column by a 14 year old. This 14 year old is a student at the private International Baccalaureate Spanish immersion school, Missoula International School and is in 8th grade. (See the sister blog of msw www.prescottschoolmissoula.blogspot.com for the corruption by Missoula County Public Schools in regard to the lease of the public school Prescott School to the private school Missoula International School)

The student, Camille Sherill, wrote a guest column as noted above titled "Help dogs with unfair reps".

The title is actually misleading in msw's view. The wording "unfair reps" does not really address the jist of the column. What the column is highlighting is pit bulls. There is no pit bull words in the title. This is really the newspapers doing, not the writers, however, msw thought that it is worth noting, because as mentioned above, the article escaped notice for many days.

Due to time constraints, msw at this time, cannot go into as much depth as wished. To make a long story short, the guest column by the student reveals a huge lack of information about the threat of pit bulls in our society. The student mentioned the city of Bozeman as it relates to pit bulls and does not even mention that fairly recently a woman was killed by a pit bull in Bozeman! How can one doing a guest column not mention this huge story?

Additionally, the MIS IB student did not look into pit bull information sites on the web such as www.dogsbite.org and it's FB page. Almost everyday or it seems like at least once a week or so msw gets a FB post about someone getting killed and/or maimed by a pit bull(s).

She, the writer, also most likely did not read the book by J. Thomas Beasley titled, "Misunderstood Nanny Dogs?" The book explains the history of pit bulls and how dangerous they are and gives so many statistics that after one reads the book one cannot reach any other conclusion that pit bulls are really not for use as an everyday pet.

The fact that this student's teachers and the school, Missoula International School, accepted this work without proper study and research speaks to the legitimacy of the private school. Would a parent really want their child not to be challenged in a very important community project paper? Would a school really want this reputation, that of not expecting it's students to back up their writing assignments?

Missoula School Watchdog is a pit bull attack survivor, and ironically this attack took place just blocks from Prescott School, the school which MIS is leasing. msw has always considered that if a child that attended MIS or any child in the neighborhood for that matter had been attacked rather than this adult the outcome could have been a death or even more tragic.

Does someone from MIS need to be attacked by a pit bull for the dangerousness of  pit bulls to sink in to students at MIS or indeed for others? I only wish it does not.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out - Superintendent Thane

Don't let the door hit you on the way out - Superintendent Thane.

Superintendent Mark Thane, and others, described himself as the "hometown superintendent". In trying to make this post short let's ask one simple question. Just exactly what did Mark Thane do that was so good for his hometown of Missoula? 

Did he work to re-establish a neighborhood school system that had been so badly desecrated by past superintendents and Missoula County Public Schools Trustees?

Did he work to lower administrative costs throughout the school district?

Did he work to eliminate the UN sponsored International Baccalaureate Program that has taken such a foothold in Missoula County Public Schools so much so that some schools are entirely IB. /Did he do what the nearby CoeurdA'lene, Id. school district and eliminate the IB program?

Did he work on transparency in all school related business, such a on the MCPS website and in conversations on radio programs and at civic events?

Did he seek to include the public in all open houses throughout the district when each school had finished it's renovation using the expensive bond funds? Etc. Etc.

No, no. and no....  Mark Thane,
Missoula hometown boy and now man, did not do a thing for his hometown in a positive manner.

Again, don't let the door hit you, Mr. Thane, on the way out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK6PQsSqkaY



Above is a YouTube video on the origins of the saying:
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out".  Interesting. Maybe we need to use it more when a government official leaves, especially when they leave Missoula County Public Schools (for the most part MCPS officials are really not on board with the Missoula people).

Voices of Montana "It's All About Schools" Legislative News

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">On Today&#39;s Show, It&#39;s All About Schools! <br>Safety, Funding, Report Cards, and the what transpired during the Legislative Process that could have an Impact on Public Education. Tune into your local station between 9:00 and 10:00, we look forward to taking your questions live.</p>&mdash; Voices of Montana (@VoicesofMT) <a href="https://twitter.com/VoicesofMT/status/1121406765004988416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Link to visit info on Voices of Montana radio show and education news.

Brand new Missoula elementary school ready for students

KPAX footage on the new Jeanette Rankin School up Miller Creek School

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJmd0XG8j8A

This link will connect you to a You Tube video of Jill Valley from KPAX TV reporting on the new school up Miller Creek - the Jeanette Rankin School.

Bond elections protocol questions in 2015 for MCPS

https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fravallirepublic.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Farticle_402d6ad8-44c9-545f-870b-32f56b759e6a.html%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook%26utm_campaign%3Duser-share

Click on the link above to read about questionable MCPS bond protocol information on election night in 2015.

http://www.ruraledu.org/user_uploads/file/Dollars_and_Sense.pdf

msw is posting this great website/study that goes into much detail about the validity of small schools, thus neighborhood schools. http://www.ruraledu.org/user_uploads/file/Dollars_and_Sense.pdf

Former closed Rattlesnake Middle School principal hired to be the next MCPS superintendent taking the place of current supt. Mark Thane

https://missoulian.com/news/local/bozeman-superintendent-rob-watson-named-new-mcps-superintendent/article_31ddbaba-126b-53e0-91c9-c566ef56a7ae.html#tracking-source=home-top-story


Please click on the above link to an article about Missoula County Public Schools newest superintendent, Rob Watson. Rob was actually a principal at Rattlesnake Middle School during the traumatic school closures in 2004. Some found it disappointing that Rob did not stick up for his school when under fire. Many did not, however, there were a few brave teachers and staff that did stick up for their school. After all, what is more important than a neighborhood school?!! It is one of top things that are so important for a child's success in school.

Nancy was right - since the closure/sale of Roosevelt School slant street children now have to cross one or two very busy streets to walk home from Paxson!!

Again, Nancy was right as was the hundreds of people that spoke up against the sale of Roosevelt School. Nancy's issue among many was that  the closure/sale of Roosevelt School would mean that the slant street children would  have to cross one or two very busy streets to walk home from Paxson!!

These words came back to me loud and clear last week when I was driving north on Brooks St. It was a Friday and the weather was just starting to warm up after a long and snowy winter. The light had just turned red so I was the first car at the stop light on Brooks and Mount St., a very busy intersection.

I saw a little girl waiting to cross the street. The light just turned red for me and green for her. I was struck that such a little girl had to walk in so much traffic. The crosswalk was on the other side of the street from where I stopped. To the left of me was a lane of traffic and across the street were two lanes of traffic going south - one in the left turning lane.

 Again, I was driving north on Brooks and was in the turning lane to go left on Mount. After the light turned green for me and I turned left  I rolled down the window and asked the little girl if she was going to school at Paxson and she said yes. I didn't want to bother her anymore but I just said something about the closure of Roosevelt and closed my window. Of course, she wouldn't have understood my reason for mentioning this and she may not have heard me. 

But the words of Nancy, a mother of two who lived in the Roosevelt School area reverberated in my mind just then. I remember how passionate she was (among others like I said) about the dangers and the problems of closing Roosevelt.. Nancy really cared about her children and other children being a teacher, a mother, a concerned citizen.

What I think: Each of the MCPS Trustees that voted to close and sell Roosevelt School need to take turns each day to drive the children from Paxson to their homes that lie situated across two very busy streets - something they would not have had to do if the school district didn't listen to and heed the wishes of St, Josephs School that fought to buy the school for their won children.

Note to readers:  This was written quite quickly and without much proofreading but it was written from the heart - a sad heart thinking of this situation caused by evil MCPS Trustees: Harrison, Hemphill, Rehbein, Bixler, and Toth with Superintendent Jim Clark, one of the most evil superintendents in the county.