Daily Pilot
July 29, 2010
Show us more about school board candidates
I have questions about the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Education election campaign:
(1) Should the candidates spend as much as $40,000 on the race?
(2) Shouldn't the position be as was intended: non-partisan?
(3) Would it be possible for the Daily Pilot to publish question-and-answer interviews with the candidates on a weekly basis, starting in September, to allow the voters to try to understand the district's issues and the candidate's positions?
Also, because being a school board member requires that you know and understand an enormous amount of material, wouldn't it be a perfect idea for each board member to have at least one intern? A deal for the intern(s) could be struck with professors at local colleges/universities giving them credit for the semester/year. Great summaries for the board members and great experience for the students. Good idea?
Just asking.
Sandy Asper
ABOUT TEACHERS...
Not too long ago it was THE WEEK OF THE TEACHER, and all the teachers received sweets, luncheons, nice notes, and in the case of the elementary teachers, hugs, sweet cards, and appreciation from some of their little students.
That week a teacher took a little boy into her room who was afraid to go out because someone called him names. She ate her lunch with him...for the rest of the week.
That week a teacher brought some clothes to school to give to a family that couldn't afford much, and her student needed new clothes.
That week a PE teacher bought new shoes for a student who couldn't afford "cool shoes".
That week a teacher stayed for two and a half hours to help a kid with homework that he didn't understand.
That week a hundred teachers listened to hundreds of parents talk about their children and their problems.
That week a teacher sat at her desk and cried about one of her students. That week a teacher was told that he had lost his job.
And that was only that week....THE WEEK OF THE TEACHER.
More Than Half Of Teachers Report Buying Hungry Students Food With Their Own Money
We often hear about U.S. teachers being paid poorly for all the work they do to educate children. But did you know that 63 percent of teachers report buying food for the classroom each month with their own money? That's just one statistic from a report put out by Share Our Strength, which surveyed teachers across the country about hunger in America's classrooms.
You can download the full Teachers report and learn more surprising facts about hungry kids and the teachers trying to help them at the Share Our Strength site.
Share Our Strength also interviewed two teachers in New York City about their personal experiences with students who have come to depend on them for enough food to get them through the day.
WHY HASN'T NMUSD ASKED???
Sandra Asper
1553 Miramar Dr.
Newport Beach, CA 92661
Letter to the Editor
Daily Pilot/Mailbag
1375 Sunflower Ave.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Dear Editor:
The Newport Beach Fire Department provides CERT Training (Community Emergency Response Team) free to all residents. The training is intense, interesting, and important for our various communities. Perhaps more importantly, it’s essential for the eleven schools in Newport (Costa Mesa’s Fire Department provides CERT training for Costa Mesa). The training will be specific for each school, and won’t cost the district $400,000 as it will be free. Did I mention that it’s free? The CERT trainers are ready and want to provide this training for the schools. Why hasn’t NMUSD asked?
Sandy Asper
1553 Miramar Dr.
Newport Beach, CA 92661
949-673-8735
CHECK OUT KRISTIN COLE SELLERS' ILLUSTRATIONS
(click on the picture)
http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/projectdetail.sfly?fid=f5056b5863df89be&sid=0AbsmTFq5ZuGLDTA
CHECK OUT MARY DOROTHY ASPER'S ILLUSTRATIONS
(click on the picture)
http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=9e09be61562eaee4&sid=0AbsmTFq5ZuGLC9g
LETTER TO A PRINCIPAL FROM A "BAD" TEACHER
Dear Principal Weiner,
I just had to tell you thanks for making my years in Anywhere Middle School so enjoyable and in many ways so surprising. I really thought that in that first year that you were named principal (after 1/2 year of teaching) that you were really going to be tough, and that scared me. When you introduced all those programs that the district loved, I was worried! But happily, as it turns out, you had no intention of actually doing anything but looking good to the school board and the administration. I didn't do one of them, and after about 6 months no one else did either. I didn't do "Charms", or "Bold" or "Loveable" and never really understood what they all meant.
I didn't care. I simply went on doing what I usually did. I was absent every Friday and sometimes Monday (but gratefully, you were too...getting your faux doctorate, and taking trips paid for by the district to NYC to recruit teachers, when our district was letting teachers go). I showed many movies...some were R-rated and worse, but it didn't matter because all the other teachers gave me the worst kids, whose parents wouldn't care.
I was supposed to teach math I think, and somewhere in the room, there were some old math books, but I wasn't ever sure where they were. I gave some homework out of an old English book that I found. No one ever did it, and I wouldn't have known what to do with it anyway. When grades were due, I flipped coins and gave A's to almost everyone, and yeah, I occasionally had a little sip of something too.
But that's not the point Dr. Weiner (that Dr. seems to be important in this district). The point is that I had a great 20 years with you...although I'm not clear what you look like, as I almost never saw you on campus, and you never came in my room.
I was stunned about you not coming in my room after almost every teacher in the school begged you to, and once in a while even some parent who's kid got in my class by mistake, begged you to get rid of me. Once in a February, all the teachers even signed a petition to fire me. And then again every year for the next 10-15 years, petitions were signed, Superintendents were written to, (but as we all know, superintendents come and go and they never seem to leave notes about anything in the past), and once you even sent me an email....I didn't read it.
But nothing ever happened. You successfully avoided even coming down my hall, let alone to my classroom. Did you know where it was?
I just kept right on doing what I was doing and really not caring and frankly after the first year with you, I knew that I had nothing to fear, because you were as lazy as I was, but you were just better at looking good.
So Dr. Wiener, thank you so much for those excellent years of avoidance and denial by you. I've got to say that I WAS SURPRISED to hear you interviewed for the LA Times complaining about how hard it was to get rid of BAD teachers, but then again, you were always good at lying.
Just email....
sasper@aol.com
and I will send you a book ASAP.
All I ask is that:
1. You use it
2. If you like it, tell someone and refer them to www.sandyasper.com
http://badge.facebook.com/badge/561969357.781.1165703921.png
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