Bless –  Curse

Better – Worse 

Martinize – Martenize

The following is a report from Whistleblower “Concerned ELL Teacher”:

Dear District Deeds:

We are approaching the end of the first year with the district’s ”Martenized” ELST model.

Before the dismantling of the successful ELST program there were 111 committed, knowledgeable and highly trained teachers who worked directly with students, parents and teachers at individual sites.

In the 2014 – 15 school year that number had been cut to around 50. Some schools were left with no ELSTs while  others lost their  ELST’s after CELDT testing was completed.

When we thought it couldn’t get worse the “Martenization” went one step further and decided to take ELSTs from the sites and make them “Area ELSTs” without any concrete plan of action.

In fact, the “Area Plan” was still being constructed as this school year began and remains a work in progress. This removal from the sites was done without any input from stakeholders, including the principals who were then tasked with delegating the EL responsibilities to site staff who had no experience.

With the ELSTs spread thinly across clusters, the once highly functioning program is disjointed. What is occurring in one area may not be occurring in all areas. This is not equitable nor equal.

 

The negative repercussions of ELST “Martenization” has had devastating results.

• Prior to the change, ELSTs  had monthly professional development, this has not been the case this year. These monthly meetings served to share information about compliance, best practices and foster a collegiality among the ELSTs.

• There was some attrition and the ELST’s who were hired to replace those lost through attrition were not necessarily teachers who had a great deal of specialized experience working with Els but rather hired because of the nepotism that plagues this district.

• Given that many of the top OLA staff had been pushed out, these new inexperienced ELSTs did not receive the intensive training that was the norm in years past, in fact the remaining ELSTs were expected to train these fledgeling ELST’s while also performing their required duties.

• The work of ELST’s was always focused on the students. After compliance duties were completed, ELSTs were expected to work directly with students on improving their language skills. This was especially invaluable for students who entered during the year without any prior exposure to English. It was the work that most ELST’s enjoyed the most; but that was then. Now even though the LCAP states that “ELSTs work closely with EL students,” ELSTs are being dissuaded from working directly with students in any instructional capacity.

• They (the remaining ELST’s) are heavily involved in monitoring their progress and “encouraging” them to work towards reclassification. This focus on reclassification and monitoring is not for the benefit of the students but is data driven.

• ELST’s are having to prove their worth by showing how much students are improving, even though students are NOT receiving the same degree of support that they had in the past.

The ELST’s main duty, other than the monitoring component, seems to be delivering staff development, which also is disjointed and not occurring at all schools with the same fidelity. Again, not an improvement.

This school year the district received around 3 million dollars in Title III funds that is specifically designated to supplement the education of English Learners. As it continues to cut EL programs, which it is, where is that money being spent?

Thank you!

“Concerned ELL Teacher”

District Deeds wonders:

At the beginning of this school year, back on September 4, 2015, District Deeds published another report from “Concerned ELL Teacher” titled: WHISTLEBLOWER – ELL Update from “Concerned ELL Teacher”: “ELs Are AGAIN Being Robbed!!!”

In our response to the Report by “Concerned ELL Teacher” we asked the following question:

How can Supt. Cindy Marten justify the HORRIBLE transformation in support of EL students and Families in the past year? – District Deeds 9/5/15

Through this devastating report from the front lines of EL Student Support, the answer to that question is now clear:

SDUSD Supt. Cindy Marten simply CANNOT justify the HORRIBLE EL SUPPORT TRANSFORMATION because MARTEN DOES NOT HAVE THE MANAGEMENT CREDENTIALS OR CAPACITY TO DEPLOY IT EFFICIENTLY OR EFFECTIVELY! – District Deeds – 4/14/16

By setting back EL Students for nearly TWO SCHOOL YEARS, the situation is GETTING WORSE with Cindy Marten completely mismanaging 3 MILLION DOLLARS of Title 3 funds!

As we have asked SDUSD Stakeholders for the last 2 years….

What amount of Blunders, Obvious Incompetence, Educational Malfeasance, Punitive Leadership and Physical/Mental/Psychological Damage to Students, Teachers, Staff, Police, Parents Stakeholders and Taxpayers will it take for SDUSD Superintendent Cindy Marten TO RESIGN FROM OFFICE OR BE FIRED?

IT IS TIME FOR MARTEN TO RESIGN BEFORE ANYONE ELSE IS HURT!

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Please click the following link to sign the Petition:

RELEASE ALL THE LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL ALTERCATION VIDEOS NOW!

If anything of the recent events nationally by violence between the police and the community has been learned, NO Justice can be served by covering up the video.

DISTRICT DEEDS URGES THE SUPPORT OF ALL SDUSD STAKEHOLDERS FOR THE RELEASE OF ALL THE VIDEOS NOW!!!

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IF YOU ARE TIRED OF THE COVER UPS AND LIES BY SUPT. CINDY MARTEN… 

Please Click the Link Below and sign the Petition Today and READ the COMMENTS to Support the REMOVAL of Marten by SDUSD Stakeholders!

 

FIRE San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cindy Marten Immediately!

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