TJUSD - Educational Disaster Zone

[twister]

The school had a really smart guy who was the financial officer just a couple years ago. I recall seeing him give a presentation and it was really good. The guy seemed really intelligent. What happened to him? If they replaced him with an unqualified person, then why didn't they look a little harder for someone who is qualified? Something doesn't seem quite right. The district pays pretty well and so why can't they get someone who knows what they're doing? Or is it that they don't want someone who knows what they're doing? You know, someone who will follow the law and make sure there isn't any funny business going on behind the scenes?

These are some good questions and I'd like to know if there are any good answers to these questions, although I suspect not.

[cloud]

Curious how many parents in Trona are being notified that their child is in a classroom with an unqualified teacher. Sierra Sands just sent out these notices which are required by law.

Do the notices go out to just the parents of kids who are in classrooms with unqualified teachers or do all parents get a list of all the teachers who are unqualified? What I've heard is that the teachers for FIRST, SECOND, FOURTH, and FIFTH grades are currently unqualified. Also the K-12 Coordinator is not fully credentialed. I've heard some vague claims about teachers at the high school, but it sounds like over half of the teachers at the elementary are not qualified and some of them are far from qualified.

So the info I have is that the two teachers who retired were hired during the 1980s. Both were fed up with Dr. Airhead and the moronic school board is what I was told. The second grade teacher (who not only had a credential to teach elementary school, but also had a reading specialist certification) took a job with Sierra Sands and the fifth grade teacher took a job with the charter school in Ridgecrest. It would be in the best interest of students to commute to Ridgecrest if at all possible. A bus should be provided for those who would like to do so. It's criminal what the idiots in charge have done to the schools in Trona during the past couple years!

This is horrible! Is anything being done about it? Why are people putting up with this?

[wildrose]

I like the bus idea, but it would drain away the smartest kids. A school is only as good as it's students and if you take away the smartest kids, you are left with a lower overall level of intelligence. That's why some private schools do so well. They drain away the talent from public schools. If we use IQ as a way of measuring intelligence, a school where the average IQ of the student body is 105 will have a very different atmosphere than a school where the average IQ is 95. It will be like night and day. In the school with the higher average IQ there will be much fewer disciplinary problems, there will be more student engagement, and obviously academic achievement will be much, much greater. It doesn't matter what kind of curriculum is used. School spirit or a sense of community doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how good the teachers are at doing their job. The most important factor by far when it comes to the success of a school is the average IQ of the clientele. It's that simple.

[tronagirl]

While visiting a friend this week her sixth-grade child (I won't say son or daughter since the teacher is known to retaliate against students she doesn't like) told us a story about something that happened at school in the classroom. It was a funny story and I won't give any details since this teacher can be quite vindictive, but at the end of the story this child referred to the teacher as a "total c*nt" to which my friend (the child's mother) said "yeah, she's a total bitch." My friend and her child went on to share some funny stories about other things this teacher has done so far this school year. It's amazing that such people are allowed to teach, but the funniest bit came when her child said, "I'm pretty sure that her and Ms. Y***** dyke out all the time." My friend laughed and affirmed that this is the rumor going around town. Ms. Y is the K-12 coordinator and it is widely known that most people on the school staff can't stand her and that the lady is absurdly unqualified, but that she is liked by members of the school board and the useless stupid-intendent. Only in Trona can such things happen!

[camel]

tronagirl: Some teachers earn the respect of their students and some teachers earn their contempt. I don't know anything about this particular teacher (or the K-12 coordinator), but from the sound of things the educational profession would be better off without them. The school board is obviously a problem too. Trona has always had a reputation for being kind of out there, but things have gotten much worse in the last couple years.

[twister]

Everything I've heard confirms that the K-12 Coordinator does not have a valid teaching credential. There are other "teachers" on the staff that also don't have valid teaching credentials. I've also heard that the person mentioned in the two previous posts was not able to pass the arithmetic part of the competency test all teachers take until her fifth try. We have absolute dunces teaching kids in Trona! That may also be what is keeping the K-12 Coordinator from becoming properly credentialed. The last thing we need is dumb people teaching our kids! This is pure insanity and to make matters worse four experienced and highly qualified teachers left the district as a result of the "superintendent's" utter and complete incompetence! Despite this the morons on the school board gave the idiot a raise. Talk about a waste of taxpayer money!

[rainbow]

Everything I've heard confirms that the K-12 Coordinator does not have a valid teaching credential. There are other "teachers" on the staff that also don't have valid teaching credentials. I've also heard that the person mentioned in the two previous posts was not able to pass the arithmetic part of the competency test all teachers take until her fifth try. We have absolute dunces teaching kids in Trona! That may also be what is keeping the K-12 Coordinator from becoming properly credentialed. The last thing we need is dumb people teaching our kids! This is pure insanity and to make matters worse four experienced and highly qualified teachers left the district as a result of the "superintendent's" utter and complete incompetence! Despite this the morons on the school board gave the idiot a raise. Talk about a waste of taxpayer money!

You can't expect intelligent people to stick around if things are being run by nincompoops. When they made the dumbest person on the staff the K-12 Coordinator, that was a pretty clear indication that the people running things are complete morons. I have family with kids in the school and they are extremely dissatisfied with what's going on there. I recall that Obama had a program called Race To The Top. Obviously in Trona it's a Race To The Bottom!

[Coyote]

You can't expect intelligent people to stick around if things are being run by nincompoops. Posted by Rainbow.

It just gets worse- each and every day. They are going to give $100 gift cards to adult employees as prizes for Halloween dress up and/or door decorating contest. But no room in budget for classroom materials. It is ridiculous.

Students and their education come last in Trona. Everyday it becomes more evident.

[twister]

Coyote: It sounds like another scheme to give more taxpayer money away to friends and family of the school board to me.

[Coyote]

Twister: You are probably right, so sad and wrong. I heard recently of particular bonuses for certain people as well.

Tronagirl: I’m dismayed by a sixth grade student referring to a teacher says “known to retaliate against students she doesn’t like” and is “vindictive.”

Things the school does have money for: gaming chairs and new partition walls for admin office.