Comments on: Guest Column: The dismantling of public education in Rockford http://rockrivertimes.com/2011/02/16/guest-column-the-dismantling-of-public-education-in-rockford/ The Rock River Times - THE VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1993 Fri, 24 May 2013 02:20:13 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Tom Wickenberg http://rockrivertimes.com/2011/02/16/guest-column-the-dismantling-of-public-education-in-rockford/comment-page-1/#comment-2074 Tom Wickenberg Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:18:58 +0000 http://rockrivertimes.com/?p=28979#comment-2074 And NO I'm not running! And NO I’m not running!

]]> By: Tom Wickenberg http://rockrivertimes.com/2011/02/16/guest-column-the-dismantling-of-public-education-in-rockford/comment-page-1/#comment-2073 Tom Wickenberg Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:14:25 +0000 http://rockrivertimes.com/?p=28979#comment-2073 Is it too late to run for the upcoming school board elections? Is it too late to run for the upcoming school board elections?

]]> By: kitty http://rockrivertimes.com/2011/02/16/guest-column-the-dismantling-of-public-education-in-rockford/comment-page-1/#comment-2070 kitty Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:06:16 +0000 http://rockrivertimes.com/?p=28979#comment-2070 Mr. Stocker, excellent letter. Part of the problems in this school district is that only 20% of the Rockford population is college educated. The remaining 80% don't understand what is going on nor how to stop it. When you get people in power such as Sheffield and her cronies, this populace has no concept of checking into the Broad system or the shenanigans of Sheffield and Bingham in their past positions in school districts. They BELIEVE what they are told. Most of our populace feels that because she is a woman of color she would NEVER throw them under the bus. Sad, but true. Mr. Stocker, excellent letter. Part of the problems in this school district is that only 20% of the Rockford population is college educated. The remaining 80% don’t understand what is going on nor how to stop it. When you get people in power such as Sheffield and her cronies, this populace has no concept of checking into the Broad system or the shenanigans of Sheffield and Bingham in their past positions in school districts.
They BELIEVE what they are told. Most of our populace feels that because she is a woman of color she would NEVER throw them under the bus. Sad, but true.

]]> By: VeryModest http://rockrivertimes.com/2011/02/16/guest-column-the-dismantling-of-public-education-in-rockford/comment-page-1/#comment-2069 VeryModest Thu, 17 Feb 2011 06:15:44 +0000 http://rockrivertimes.com/?p=28979#comment-2069 Thank you David for writing this so eloquently. You have hit the nail on the head on many different issues that are confronting us in the Rockford District. Teachers and building level administrators are very afraid to speak up, even to people that they have known and been friends with for years but are now working downtown. Trust is out the window. Doug, looks like she is done playing with you and has now started her bullying tactics on you to get you to shut up. Please don't allow her to do this. We need a very strong voice of reason out there speaking for those of us that can not. It is more than evident that you care very much about what is going on and what is going to happen to the Rockford School District under Sheffield's watch. We need many more voices out there who can speak for those that have been silenced. I don't know of any teachers, staff members, building level administrators that are will to put their job and their lively hood on the line to stand up to Sheffield. I know for myself that I could not put my job on the line. I love my job and I love working with the kids. That is why I became a teacher. Now I only wish they'd let me actually teach. Thank you David for writing this so eloquently. You have hit the nail on the head on many different issues that are confronting us in the Rockford District. Teachers and building level administrators are very afraid to speak up, even to people that they have known and been friends with for years but are now working downtown. Trust is out the window.

Doug, looks like she is done playing with you and has now started her bullying tactics on you to get you to shut up. Please don’t allow her to do this. We need a very strong voice of reason out there speaking for those of us that can not. It is more than evident that you care very much about what is going on and what is going to happen to the Rockford School District under Sheffield’s watch.

We need many more voices out there who can speak for those that have been silenced. I don’t know of any teachers, staff members, building level administrators that are will to put their job and their lively hood on the line to stand up to Sheffield. I know for myself that I could not put my job on the line. I love my job and I love working with the kids. That is why I became a teacher. Now I only wish they’d let me actually teach.

]]> By: Doug Clayburg http://rockrivertimes.com/2011/02/16/guest-column-the-dismantling-of-public-education-in-rockford/comment-page-1/#comment-2064 Doug Clayburg Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:42:54 +0000 http://rockrivertimes.com/?p=28979#comment-2064 Dr. Lavonne Sheffield superintendent of Rockford’s public schools confronted me after the last school board meeting and said, “Stop trying to associate me with privatization of our school district, I am not for privatization”. I had spoken at the meeting but not about privatization. Dr. Sheffield’s statement caught me off guard. Had I been prepared, I would have asked our superintendent, what do you stand for? 4 of the 8 initial members of her exclusive budget committee are on the Rockford Charter School Initiative, including the chairman, and another affiliated with Zion Development. CICS Patriots website claims Zion Development “was a key player” in bringing that charter school to Rockford. According to the Illinois Charter School Developer’s Handbook, “Finding a suitable school facility will probably be one of the most challenging tasks” a new charter school will face. Her budget committee’s proposal recommends closing several Rockford schools, removing that obstacle. Dr. Sheffield is adamant that she is not privatization. I don't know if charter schools would be a bad thing for Rockford, but anything of value is worth discussing openly instead of behind closed doors. Considering Dr. Sheffield is one of the Broad Foundation’s inaugural 2002 superintendent class, perhaps our superintendent protests too much. Doug Clayburg www.edcationunited.net Dr. Lavonne Sheffield superintendent of Rockford’s public schools confronted me after the last school board meeting and said, “Stop trying to associate me with privatization of our school district, I am not for privatization”.

I had spoken at the meeting but not about privatization. Dr. Sheffield’s statement caught me off guard. Had I been prepared, I would have asked our superintendent, what do you stand for?

4 of the 8 initial members of her exclusive budget committee are on the Rockford Charter School Initiative, including the chairman, and another affiliated with Zion Development. CICS Patriots website claims Zion Development “was a key player” in bringing that charter school to Rockford. According to the Illinois Charter School Developer’s Handbook, “Finding a suitable school facility will probably be one of the most challenging tasks” a new charter school will face. Her budget committee’s proposal recommends closing several Rockford schools, removing that obstacle.

Dr. Sheffield is adamant that she is not privatization. I don’t know if charter schools would be a bad thing for Rockford, but anything of value is worth discussing openly instead of behind closed doors.

Considering Dr. Sheffield is one of the Broad Foundation’s inaugural 2002 superintendent class, perhaps our superintendent protests too much.

Doug Clayburg
http://www.edcationunited.net

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