Cleaning out the closet

Here's a bunch of stuff that's been swirling around my mind for the last month or two.

That's not blood in the water.

It appears that poop pumper Peter's Rockmore floating cesspool may be returning. First came this blog post, which I shared on Facebook. Now, this article confirms the earlier blog post.

Noyes doesn't sound reformed. He's now downplaying the earlier incident, which cost him a cool 300k (not including the lawyers). His statement, from the article:

"The restaurant was never charged with anything," said owner Peter Noyes, further explaining that the charges were brought solely against the Hannah Glover.

Looking back at the original press release from the US Attorney, it included the following:  "During some summers, the company allowed the sewage holding tank aboard the Rockmore intermittently to overflow, such that raw, untreated sewage spilled into Salem Harbor." Officials from both Salem and Marblehead  appeared to back this claim up. So while his statement above may be technically accurate, it's at least somewhat deceptive, and ignores the DA's claim. He was accused of allowing the Rockmore to leak poop into the harbor, but those charges weren't brought because he agreed to the plea deal. Convenient.

A lack of transparency, and care for the environment, isn't new for Noyes, as you can read here.

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Things we can learn from Lawrence ... yes, Lawrence.

As part of the Lawrence school turnaround plan, six Lawrence school principals have been informed that they will not be asked back for next school year. Additionally, a large number of tenured teachers are being forced out. The state is running Lawrence's turnaround, and having that outside voice is probably helpful. The state doesn't care about stepping on toes, and isn't mired in the local politics of payback. They are aggressively weeding out those that don't contribute enough. This includes telling the local teacher's union what's going to happen. It was my understanding that one of the "benefits" of having a level four school, was greater autonomy for the district to make unilateral decisions that normally need to be collectively bargained. We don't seem to have the stomach for that here, if today's Salem News article is to be believed.

I hate rewarding failure. It just seems unfair. That's not to say that I think teachers deserve all of the blame. There's plenty of that to go around, and I'm sure many parents need to accept a share. I know administrators and the school committee need to accept their slice. (Don't hold your breath.) But we're talking about this because our schools have failed. We paid our teachers to do the job. They haven't, whatever obstacles they face. Now they want to be rewarded for failing grades? Have you no shame, Joyce Harrington? Have you no balls (figuratively, of course), Kim Driscoll?

Another thing that the state is doing really well in Lawrence is involving the leadership of successful charter schools. Here in Salem, some in local leadership choose to demonize them, rather than learn from them. The Lawrence plan goes the other way, actually asking the leaderships of several successful charter schools to take over running several of the Lawrence public schools. Over Brendan Walsh's dead body will we see our own very successful charter school taking over a Salem school. Click that link and see how much more successful Salem Academy Charter School has been with similar students.

I laughed at Willy Scamtigua when he asked the state to takeover the Lawrence schools. What a failure to lead! Maybe it's not such a bad idea. We don't seem willing to discuss whether or not principals need to be removed. At least not out loud. Several people have whispered to me that the middle school's failings start at the head. Nobody wants to say it out loud, but the words "dinosaur" and "backward-thinking" have been used in private. I've asked around, and can't find any parents looking to sing the praises of our middle school principal. But again, we don't seem to have the stomach to address the real lack of leadership that appears (according to the DESE) to be pervasive around here. I haven't had any personal experience with Ms. Manning. I see her actively involved and attending and participating in school committee meetings, but can a really diverse population with seemingly one opinion be wrong? I'll add that I did witness an exchange between Manning and several of her teachers after one school committee meeting, and it appeared that there was real affection there, both ways. That may not help kids learn.

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Terrible timing, Dr. Walsh

Speaking of Dr. Walsh, he must have the worst timing on Earth. Two weeks ago, he wrote a letter to the editor chastising Salem CyberSpace director Linda Saris for not giving the school committee credit for everything going on in the Salem schools. The following day came word that the Attorney General reached a settlement with the city regarding malfeasance in the schools around bidding and purchasing.

Somehow, I'm guessing that if the state had taken over our schools, like Lawrence, that Paul L'Hereux would be looking for a new job today. Wasting tens or hundreds of thousands of our dollars must just be all in a days work here.

Saris, by the way, is actively getting her hands dirty truly helping the toughest cases in our district. Dr. Walsh might want to try that. (Yeah, I know, he did his time. Save the belly-aching.)

Strangely, Dr. Walsh, who as a school committee member, claims responsibility for all that goes on in the Salem schools, has not stepped forward to accept responsibility for allowing these misdeeds. The article about this includes a great picture or Walsh, smiling with the whistleblower, who detailed the allegations in his resignation, which Walsh moved to accept when it came before the school committee. Oops.

The Snooze article back when Mr. Sheehan resigned failed to delve into the contents of the resignation letter, and included quotes from Cameron about Mr. Sheehan leaving due to timing on his pension, and Walsh lauding him for being a pleasure to be around. He was similarly congratulatory of Cameron when he left. Is he really this clueless?

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Election Shenanigans


State senate election season is in full swing, and with it comes plenty of insanity. Read any Patch articles recently? If so, you've probably read plenty of comments from commenters who all seem to have a very similar message. The phrases "evil Kim Driscoll," "phoney baloney Joanie Lovely" and yelling and screaming about "the gay agenda" appear over and over, as if they were written by one person... The names used don't have any other local web presence at all, not even white pages listings. They claim to support Ed Carroll (who supports gay marriage) for state senate, at least on Salem Patch. I recall one of them, while writing on Peabody Patch, proclaiming support for a different candidate. The person behind the people claims to have plenty of inside election knowledge, and even wrote the following:

Janet Marino-Johnson
2:15 pm on Sunday, August 19, 2012
LOVELY CAMPAIGN IN BIG TROUBLE! She is going to be hit next week with multiple Ethics & Campaign violation for ILLEGALY mailing absentee ballots to people this week and demanding they vote for her because " I expect a low turnout and really need your help!" That is not how absentee ballots are to be distributed-- a clear violation of state and federal law! Plus just read on Peabody Patch a group of Lovely volunteers are jumping ship and supporting Edward Carroll because of way too much interferance from the arrogant Kim Driscoll her aide Jason Silva--accusing them of Nazi like tactics on her own volunteers! Vote Edward Carroll State Senate like me!

Patch removed it, probably due to its patent insanity/libel, but you can see the cached version here.

Someone with one of these campaigns has way too much time on their hands. Somebody should let them know that we don't go to the Interwebs to have our minds changed. We go there to spout when they're already made up. The fellowship of the miserable is a terrible predictor of elections. Look at Tom Furey for proof.

The central question for Joan Lovely in this election is, "How do I get people in Salem to go vote in the primary?" I've asked around, and haven't really heard a compelling answer yet. If she can't come up with one, it will be a sad day for team Lovely on September 6. The tactic alleged above may be her best shot. And yes, the primary this year is on September 6, a Thursday, during a holiday (and for some, back to school) week. That should help turnout.

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Tom Watkins leaving, Paul Prevey repeat?

City Purchasing Agent Tom Watkins is leaving for a job in Andover. I'll be interested to see if Paul Prevey pulls another sit in on the next appointment. Watkins stayed "acting" for quite a while because Prevey refused to allow a confirmation vote, in an apparent power struggle with the mayor. He demanded copies of the resumes of all who applied, and refused to go to the city HR office to review them. It was an odd move from the normally pretty level-headed councilor, who never really explained his position to satisfaction. I'll be interested to see if there is a repeat with the next purchasing appointment. If not, it will make me wonder about the first instance even more.

Andover must think Watkins is qualified. They've made him their Director of Purchasing. Of course, that news came out the day before news of the Salem schools purchasing/bidding fiasco. Related? Good question. I'll admit I know very little about how much carryover there is in purchasing between the city and the schools. They sound unrelated, but the timing was curious, and Sheehan specifically mentioned the fact that there was a new city purchasing agent (Watkins) in place when he came to town, and that the purchasing agent had to sign off on all requisitions as well. Maybe Watkins got out while he could.

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SESD oversight

Sleep well at night, everyone. City engineer Dave Knowlton is Salem's lone representative/oversight on the the South Essex Sewerage District. We only send them almost 7 million dollars of tax money a year. For a little more info on that board, check this out, the only blog post that I've been threatened with litigation over (yet). I think Dave Knowlton spends most of his life dealing with complaints about all manners of city life and construction around. I'm sure he's not finding too much time to dig into the spending at SESD.

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Blaney Pier

It's interesting to see that construction has finally started on the Blaney Pier extension. I say finally, because it was originally slated to start back in early November, and be completed by now. I'm still not sure that it was wise to go forward with this phase while the neighboring power plant site is up in the air. They have a ready made dock for the type of large ship we're looking to attract.

Interesting paths to KIKS

I've always found the search terms that lead people to this site to be fascinating.

Here's a sampling from the last week:

keep it klassy Salem (times a hundred or so)

shirley walker

rockmore co

salem ferry

mary ellen manning resign (say what?)

Salem Patch asleep at the switch (still sad Aubry removed that wackadoodle blog post)

Paul Pierce gang sign (??? several of these)

Darek Barcikowski wife (oh really?)

shirley walker salem (X4)

jefferson at salem station 40b

sesd Salem

south essex sewer district

salem en graffiti

christian day salem ma

salem ma charter commission

klassy salem (X20)

derby lofts salem ma

judge richard mori

sesd Salem ma

eve knows topsy curvey

ward 2 social club

janine matho

dr stephen russell, salem ma, employment history

11 gardner st salem police

bridge street salem ma construction

mike blatty (X2)

hanna glover boat

salem + assistant superintendent

linda stark salem ma (no idea)

school committee salary salem ma

Annie Skerry

point and salem and issues

f*ck p*ssy salem mass now (what? also, there were no * in the actual search)

christian day warlock fake

linda cappuccio facebook

slow down for allie bad drivers (sad but true)

Peter noyes rockmore

tyler lagatta

"joan lovely" "barbara anderson"

monique gonyea

aubry bracco

peter noyes marblehead

So yeah, that's the last week. Whole lotta random.

ELL students shafted in our schools

The agenda for tonight's school committee meeting includes a presentation on ELL sheltered immersion by the assistant superintendent. Since ELL students will be discussed, let's review what the DESE said about our English language learners and the sheltered immersion program.

On English Language Arts:

"the biggest gaps (-12.7 in both cases) were for the limited English proficient (LEP) and formerly limited English proficient (FLEP) subgroups. Limited English proficient students, also known as English language learners (ELLs), demonstrated the lowest CPI of any of these subgroups at 47.1 points; the special education subgroup demonstrated the next lowest CPI at 62.8 points."

And on math:

"The largest differences in CPIs are shown in the -17.9 point differential for formerly limited English proficient (FLEP) students and  -14.8 point differential for limited English proficient (LEP) students, also known as English language learners (ELLs). The ELL subgroup had  the lowest CPI of any of these subgroups at 41.4 points, and the special education subgroup the next lowest at 50.1 points."

It's important to note that these comparisons are not our ELL students, against the rest of our students. They are our ELL students, against the ELL students in the rest of the state, including several districts that look like ours. We should, because of our large ELL population, be better at instructing these students than many other cities and towns, but apparently we're worse.

More DESE:

"In summary, seven of these eight district subgroups demonstrated lower performance than the state subgroup in both ELA and mathematics, as measured by CPI. Considering both performance and growth, the subgroups that raise the most concern are English language learners and students who were formerly English language learners."

Perhaps most disturbing, was the attitude displayed to DESE by some of our educators.

"According to staff interviewed, there is some latent resentment about current students being different from what Salem students were historically, and some staff have low expectations for students, especially ELLs, while other staff are “very committed.” The ownership of all students in the district was said to be “very uneven.” 

They continue:

At the time of the review, there was no administrator with a specialty in ELL in charge of the
ELL program, which includes 11.2 percent of Salem students.  Rather, two full-time teachers
shared the coordination duties K-12. In 2010 the achievement of English language learners
(ELLs), the lowest-performing subgroup, was 12.7 CPI points lower in ELA than state ELLs’
and 14.8 CPI points lower in math (see Tables 2 and 3 in the Student Performance section
above). These were the largest gaps with state counterparts for any subgroup except for the
formerly ELL subgroup.

On the subject of math:

Several teachers in two different focus groups noted that  ELL students have difficulty with
Everyday Math and  Connected Math (textbooks) because these programs have so much verbal content. Likewise, an administrator said in an interview that Everyday Math is “embedded in language,” which results in more  challenges to ELL students. When asked if the district was planning to review the selection of this program, since the number of students whose first language is not English (FLNE students) and ELL students in the district is substantial, and has been during the seven years since its adoption, the teachers said that they did not know of any such plan but that they were sure that the district would listen to them. There is, however, research that indicates that mathematics programs that require a high degree of literacy can actually help students increase verbal as well as mathematical skills—if they are taught well. 

Their overall conclusion on curriculum includes the following:

Salem’s curriculum does not  serve the needs of its diverse student population, particularly since there is minimal evidence of curriculum and models of instruction that are directed toward the subgroups  that are most in need, i.e., ELL students  and students receiving special education services

Let's see if that is addressed tonight, or if we continue talking about cosmetic bullshit like uniforms and calendars.

Lest you think I'm too harsh on the school committee, and I am harsh, read this.

The Salem Public Schools do not have the administrative capacity to effectively guide, supervise, and evaluate the staff to implement reform and improvement initiatives. There is too little communication between the central office and principals, principals reported having too little time to supervise teachers, and the numerous paraprofessionals are not evaluated.
The school committee reported that their goals for the superintendent did not include a goal or goals that held him accountable for student achievement. Interviews with central office leaders indicated hesitancy at holding principals accountable for student achievement. In turn, principals reported that the difficult conversations about student achievement were not part of the discussions in their supervision and evaluation of teachers.

Let me repeat that key finding. "The school committee reported that their goals for the superintendent did not include a goal or goals that held him accountable for student achievement."

What else is there? Show me a school system where students don't achieve, and I'll show you one where there is no demand that they achieve. That's Salem, folks. Heck, here, apparently many of our "educators" expect them to fail. How much effort do you think that those particular teachers are giving?

The agenda item for tonight is a presentation on sheltered immersion. So what did the DESE say about that?

Review team members inquired  in focus groups  about the level of professional development
available to fulfill some of the ongoing curricular and instructional needs in the district. Some teachers said, and others agreed, that there was training for new programs, such as Superkids and FASTT Math. Other staff members stated that there was very little training at that time in sheltered English immersion (SEI) to support teachers working with ELL students, and that in many cases, even when initial training was given, there had been little if any follow-up support. District staff members lack cohesive strategies for teaching regular education as well as ELL and special education students beyond flexible grouping, regrouping, and pull-out in small groups. One administrator said that the district lacks  “cognitive clarity,” meaning knowing what to do and why.

They later added this:

Classroom observations conducted by review team members revealed minimal use of sheltered
English immersion (SEI) strategies to support ELL and other students’ learning. The use of a
literacy-based elementary mathematics program without adequate and consistent classroom
supports and intervention procedures means that many students may not be able to realize their
potential to learn mathematics and may not be able to accurately demonstrate what they know,
can do, and understand in mathematics. 

And then this:

However, other opportunities to seek and use meaningful data are missed. For example, principals do not conduct systematic walkthroughs to gather information, either to identify strengths and weaknesses in teaching and learning or to monitor what are said to be district instructional priorities such as differentiated instruction or sheltered English immersion (SEI) strategies. As a result, though they are said to be priorities, these strategies were infrequently observed at high levels of practice during classroom observations by review team members.                                  

But really, the crux of our problems may have been captured in the section on student support.

In interviews, district administrators and school staff could not clearly articulate what the district
was doing in relation to the low performance of ELLs and students receiving special education
services. They did make reference to programs, but it was unclear how these programs were
working together to improve student performance. There appeared to be a prevailing assumption that the analysis of MCAS scores would lead to improvements in subgroups.  Review team members were told in interviews that teachers were “differentiating instruction” but interviewees could not explain how this approach was specifically addressing the needs of diverse learners. Interviewees also noted that capacity to differentiate instruction was weak in the district. Classroom observations revealed little evidence of differentiation or sheltered English immersion (SEI) instruction.

Another theme that emerged from interviews with district administrators and school staff was
that some appeared to be resigned to the school district not having the capacity to address the
problems of ELLs and their families and other families. Many interviewees attributed lagging
test scores to the effects of limited English proficiency, poverty and its accompanying problems,
and mobility and attendance issues. According to some interviewees, the community has found it difficult to adjust to its changing population, particularly the increase in residents who speak
other languages; cultural issues are not addressed in the schools; and some administrators and
staff do not have high expectations for students, especially ELLs. One effect of a lack of a clear
vision in how to serve diverse students and their families is the eroding belief and conviction
among some school staff that the district can successfully address the academic, emotional, and
social needs of all students. This effect was apparent in interviews with school staff who
appeared overwhelmed with the needs of students.  Unless a vision of how to serve diverse
students and their families is developed and the resignation of staff who do not now see a way to improve these students’ achievement is addressed, it will be difficult to bring about the
improvement.

Our educators don't believe our kids can succeed, and they don't even know what we're doing to try to help them. Who did they interview? Dr. Walsh?

The DESE made several recommendations in their report. They included these around student support:

Student Support
9. The district should evaluate its existing support programs and services and use those evaluations to address supports for students in its new strategic plan, including supports for English language learners, students receiving special education services, and students from diverse backgrounds. It should consider whether strategies related to school climate and family involvement should be included.
10. The district should consider a systemwide focus on a “full service school model” as a way to support the learning and achievement of diverse learners, especially ELLs, and to bolster the impact of promising programs already operating in the district.
11. The district’s new professional development plan should prioritize training in the instructional models (Like SEI) currently in use and the district should provide  follow-up support to ensure that practices are institutionalized.

In short. We're failing our ELL students through a lack of organization, effort, knowledge, and caring (by some). DESE has instructed us on how to address some of those failings. It's results from those recommendations, as well as several others, that I'll be looking for tonight. Has training improved and become systemic? What new training programs are in place? What are the chances that I see any? Don't forget to tune in, this one is live on Channel 15, at 7:30.