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San Diego Unified School District, San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cindy Marten, SDUSD Trustee Richard Barrera
Another week, another disastrous San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) educational outcome for students and families. There are promises from the SDUSD to begin on-site support for Special Education Students but no plan for anyone else and there has been no progress on the botched SDUSD website “facelift” gone horribly wrong. The total leadership incompetence, inexperience and corruption of Superintendent Marten, Trustee Tricky Dick Barrera and Trustee Empty Suit Evans continues.
This Sunday Reads highlights a article that focuses on educational advocacy and a recent Feedback from a SDUSD Teacher.
Provided below are the most SDUSD relevant excerpts from the article but we urge our readers to click on the title and read the full article for themselves.
BE WELL…TAKE COVID 19 PRECAUTIONS!
Where Kids Learn Isn’t Important. What They Learn Is
QUOTES FROM ARTICLE:
Last week, I was part of a conversation around creating equality and equity for Black students in the public school system. One message that was heavily floated in this forum was the need for more Black-run charter schools as a solution and an outlet to free our kids from the evils of the traditional system—and it irked the hell out of me.
WE MUST BE CAREFUL ABOUT HOW OUR PRIVILEGE AND PERSONAL AGENDAS ECHO THE SAME SENTIMENTS WE’VE HEARD FROM THE SYSTEM.
And…
Now, I don’t disagree with the notion that we need more schools independent of the oppressive system our kids are currently in, and I’m all for more Black leaders in schools. But at a time like this—when there’s so much against us and education is literally a matter of life and death—we have to be mindful of how our messaging can diminish self-determination instead of encouraging it. And we must be careful about how our privilege and personal agendas echo the same sentiments we’ve heard from the system. We must do this work with no strings attached and lead with the purpose of nation-building.
And…
With that said, I don’t think now is a good time to just be pushing charter schools when our focus needs to be on reimagining education for Black kids and parent empowerment.
I’ve been an advocate for school choice since forever. My petty spirit constantly dreams of a day when Black people snatch our kids out of the traditional system, but mainly to bankrupt the pockets of assholes who care more about profiting off our kids than the quality of their education.
Twitter Link: 2:31 PM · Mar 5, 2018
Citizen Ed @CitizenEdu
And…
That level of pissivity is sure to meet that of plantation owners who would no longer be able to get rich off the free and torturous labor of enslaved Black people if they were freed. I hope y’all connected those dots.
Anyway, even though the system at large is racist, some parents are good with the traditional school their child attends. And—bigger picture—abruptly removing our kids from schools without a backup plan or alternative options will be even more detrimental to their learning. So, we have to work to improve what we have or dismantle what’s blocking us from a liberated education until we’ve created the means to remove our kids from this system that doesn’t value them.
To start, a lot of us education advocates, activists, reformers, etc. need to turn our privilege down a lot of notches.
In our advocacy, we preach about wanting the best for parents and students and condemn anyone else who tries to tell them what to do and how. But in our so-called expertise, a sometimes false sense of stature, and all-out forgetting where we came from, we’re guilty of looking down on or trying to dictate parents’ decisions—similar to what the system does. It’s hypocritical and insulting to parents who really do know what’s best for their child and overall, it poisons the idea of true parent choice, while trying to push school choice.
A bullet under the aforementioned point—model doesn’t matter right now. As much as the public system is largely racist, there are some traditional schools doing well by Black kids—just the same as there are charter, private and homeschools getting the job done. What matters most is the quality and delivery of the education these models are offering.
And…
When those schools aren’t delivering a quality product—as a lot of them aren’t—that’s where we step in. And just like we’d complain about the customer service in a restaurant or at Walmart, it’s our job to do the same if these administrators, school leaders, teachers or staff in general have shitty practices when serving our kids.
And on the subject of who educates our kids—yes we want schools run by Black people, but we have to be careful about putting someone in a position of power and leadership and/or isolating them because of their skin color. What this means is, all Black educators aren’t up to par and all white educators aren’t incapable of teaching Black kids.
And…
So, let’s stop talking about where our kids are educated and prioritize how they’re educated—and by whom. And let’s stop telling parents where to send their kids. Black people are brilliant, resilient and often make a way seemingly out of no way—just like most of us advocates did in fighting to get to where we are.
Shift the focus to empowering them. Abandon politicizing education and let’s get to reimagining learning for our kids.
DISTRICT DEEDS SYNOPSIS AND COMMENTARY:
Reading through this insightful article we found one phrase that capsulizes the challenge that all education advocates must always remember in the midst of out advocacy:
WE MUST BE CAREFUL ABOUT HOW OUR PRIVILEGE AND PERSONAL AGENDAS ECHO THE SAME SENTIMENTS WE’VE HEARD FROM THE SYSTEM.
District Deeds tries on a continual basis, to assist SDUSD Stakeholders in making the education system equitable for ALL Students. We demand transparency and accountability from the SDUSD because that is the only way we know that ALL Students in ALL schools are receiving the full depth and breadth of equitable instruction mandated by law and by justice.
Sometimes our strident approach appears to minimize the effort of a majority of SDUSD Teachers, Principals, Staff and Volunteers that go to work at the SDUSD everyday trying to do the best job possible for the Students they serve.
For SDUSD Stakeholders…
How much District Deeds educational advocacy is TOO much?
This article along with the following feedback message we received from an SDUSD Teacher gave us a great opportunity to step back and check “our privilege and personal agenda” to be sure that that we DON”T “echo the same sentiments that we’ve heard from the system”:
Although I do not support superintendent Marten you have no idea what you are talking about when you discuss the hours that teachers are supposed to teach in regards to distance learning. I spent a minimum of 2 hours A-day just trying to contact students and parents asking them where their work was and notifying them of what work is missing. Do you realize how much planning and work goes into adding videos and lessons into an LMS? You have no idea what you are talking about. There has never been a regular 40 hour work week for teachers. It is a 24/7 job. I have plenty of things to share in regards to the wrongdoings of the district, but please do not simplify teachers jobs.
First we want to thank the Teacher that provided this feedback.
We also want the Feedback Teacher to know we realize that many times you are not appreciated for the extra time and dedication you put into your class every day by the District and the communities they serve.
As we have mentioned before, we have two brothers who were Teachers, the first in our family to earn a college education, and a sister in law who was a district level Special Education Speech Therapist so we understand the massive effort that many teachers expend to do the best for their Students.
The feedback centered on how we “have no idea what you are talking about when you discuss the hours that teachers are supposed to teach”
For the dedicated Teacher that wrote this feedback, and for ALL Teachers that feel the same, we want to apologize for somehow messaging that SDUSD teachers are NOT working hard every day to serve their Students. In exposing the Teacher CONTRACTUAL obligations the SDEA Teachers Union negotiated with the District it must have implied that we believed that ALL Teachers were taking a break. Obviously that is not true.
However the fact remains that for SDUSD Teachers, contractually, the following facts are true:
- Only 3 hours per day vs 5 hours per day of live teaching.
- Only 3 periods per day vs 5 periods per day of live teaching.
- No Teacher Evaluations.
We KNOW that the best Teachers feel that teaching is not just a job, it is a vocation. We have two brothers and a sister in law that embraced that concept through their collective 55 years of teaching. They were teachers, like many SDUSD Teachers, that took the extra time to assist the neediest Students and took money from their own pocket to pay for supplies, teaching aids and other support for their Students, their classroom and their school.
The Teacher providing the Feedback is obviously the same type of Teacher as our brothers. Just like our brothers, they have many colleagues that are equally dedicated to only the best for their Students regardless of the time, money and effort it takes.
We also know from our brothers that not all their colleagues came close to doing the same. We are sure that some colleagues of the Feedback Teacher reflect that same minimalist approach.
If in the Teacher contract signed by Supt. Cindy Marten, the Parent – Student -Community representative, only 3 hours of live teaching and 3 period per day is mandatory, some Teachers will stick to that.
With NO EVALUATIONS it is impossible for Principals to set any enforceable performance standards.
We also know from our business background that Contracts are the tools organizations create and enforce to set operational, financial and performance expectations.
If the contract says only 3 hours of live teaching and 3 periods per day is mandatory with the rest of the supports optional or fuzzy, some Teachers will stick to the least they have to do. No evaluations means no enforcement in a union or any other work environment and gives those minimalist Teachers a place to hide.
Remember that the 3 items listed above are just a part of the long list of current Sandimic (SDUSD Educational Epidemic) “strategies” that negatively impact SDUSD student education:
- ZERO SDUSD 2020/21 Reopening Plan Transparency and Community Collaboration
- ZERO Operational Budget Transparency used to hide TOTAL Operational Budget Mismanagement.
- ZERO Transparency of SDUSD performance BEFORE and DURING the Coronavirus Pandemic.
- ZERO Accountability for SDUSD LACK of performance since BEFORE and DURING the Coronavirus Pandemic.
- Phase 1 Educational Supports denied to tens of thousands of the most disadvantaged Students
- OPTIONAL Boot Camp Professional Development for Teachers – FAIL.
- Individualized “disadvantaged Student” supports with NO Equity Rules, Standards or Tracking.
- Every Cluster, School, Principal, Teacher and Student for themselves “custom” school site “strategy” by incompetent Supt. Marten creating gross inequities from classroom to classroom.
- Only 3 hours per day vs 5 hours per day of live teaching.
- Only 3 periods per day vs 5 periods per day of live teaching.
- No Teacher Evaluations.
- No Smarter Balanced tests in Math and English language arts.
- No California Science Test
- No Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP)
- Minimal California (ELPAC) for English learners
- Minimal California School Dashboard
We cannot and will not stop exposing the horribly corrupt and incompetent SDUSD Senior Management by Supt. Cindy Marten, Trustee Richard Barrera and their cronies that makes the job of every dedicated Teacher, Principal and Staff member much more difficult to provide a full and equitable education for ALL our Students.
We also will continue to insist on accountability and transparency from the SDUSD to not only prove the SDUSD is really doing the best job possible for our Students but also be sure ALL Stakeholders including Teachers are protected from Marten/Barerra operational, financial, and human resource corruption and mismanagement.
Meanwhile, now and in the future, we want to say to the Feedback Teacher and to all the other skilled and dedicated SDUSD Teachers/Principals/Staff that go above and beyond duty, contract and SDUSD Central Office Senior Leadership mismanagement every single day…
WE APPRECIATE YOU!
WE VALUE YOU!
WE THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK!
For any and all of our readers, you have two ways to let us know what you think.
You can give us Feedback – Link: FEEDBACK
You can also make Comments at the bottom of every post and page.
We look forward to your opinions!
Now for our Quote of the Week dedicated to the hardest working SDUSD employees that work every day to make our kids lives better:
I have had so much at heart. Defeated, not conquered; disappointed, not discouraged. I have but to be more energetic and more faithful in the difficult and painful vocation to which my life is devoted. – Dorothea Dix
#MARTENSGOTTAGO
#BARRERASGOTTAGO
#PAYNESGOTTAGO
#EVANSGOTTAGO
#BEISERSGOTTAGO
McQUARYSGOTTAGO
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IF
- Your family has been injured by the San Diego Unified School District, go to the District Deeds Complaint Forms page to find instructions to fight for your Civil Rights!
- 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!
District Deeds 