Public speaks out on charter school plan.Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard SPRINGFIELD - A deeply divided slate of speakers set the stage Monday for what may well be one of the toughest decisions for the Springfield School Board in recent years: Whether to say yes to sponsoring an outside charter school. Monday's public hearing came a week after what board members agreed was a compelling presentation from proponents of the Academy of Teaching and Learning, who hope to open the independent, K-12 public school at a yet-to-be-determined location in Springfield by next fall. The school would serve between 300 and 400 students, emphasizing multicultural and social justice education and offering a comprehensive extended-day program. Through a partnership with Pacific University, the school would bring in teachers-in-training, and build a culture of reciprocal teaching Reciprocal Teaching is a remedial reading instructional technique which applies a problem-solving heuristic to the process of reading comprehension, thereby promoting thinking while reading (Alfassi, 2004). and learning among staff and students. The proposal has been in the works for months, but the board had heard little feedback from employees, parents and other stakeholders Stakeholders All parties that have an interest, financial or otherwise, in a firm-stockholders, creditors, bondholders, employees, customers, management, the community, and the government. . They got an earful ear·ful n. 1. An abundant or excessive amount of something heard, such as talk or music. 2. Gossip, especially of an intimate or scandalous nature. 3. A scolding or reprimand. Monday, with 22 speakers nearly equally divided on whether to give the school a green light. Opposing the plan were representatives from the teachers' union and the administrators' association; the board received similar written testimony from the classified employees' union. Chief among their concerns is that the charter school would siphon siphon (sī`fən, –fŏn), tube through which a liquid is lifted over an elevation by the pressure of the atmosphere and is then emptied at a lower level. away students and the per-pupil state funds that accompany them, potentially forcing cuts in a district that's grappled with lean budgets for more than a decade. "Right now we have a really good selection of choices for students, and we're barely holding onto that now," said Terry Benge, a French teacher at Springfield High School Springfield High School may refer to:
Several teachers questioned whether the charter school, called ATL (Active Template Library) A set of software routines from Microsoft that provide the basic framework for creating ActiveX and COM objects. Stemming from the standard template library (STL) that comes with C++ compilers, ATL includes an object wizard that sets up , could do much for students that existing schools cannot. For example, they said, Springfield schools already offer a welcoming environment for students of diverse backgrounds and a strong emphasis on multiculturalism. "So much of what was presented in the proposal is already in place in our classrooms," said Judy Svoboda, president of the Springfield Education Association. Moffitt Elementary Principal Bill Davis For the artist, animator, creative director, see . For the baseball player, see .
"As of now, location and leadership are unknown," he said. But the board also heard ardent testimony favoring the plan from parents, educators and community members, including Elaine Hayes, who helps organize the district's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. She said she "fell in love" with ATL's mission when she heard about it. "I feel like it's an addition, it's another alternative, it's a choice and it will only add to the all the things that you all have been doing so beautifully for the last couple of years," she said. Roscoe Caron, a teacher at Kelly Middle School in Eugene, said collaboration by a team of like-minded teachers could have a profound impact on student learning, particularly for students of color not of the white race; - commonly meaning, esp. in the United States, of negro blood, pure or mixed. See also: Color . Design team members strove to reassure the board that they intend to collaborate, not compete, with other district schools, providing a rich opportunity for teacher training. Shadiin Garcia, assistant principal at Eugene's Jefferson Middle School Jefferson Middle School is a middle school located in Jefferson City, Tennessee. The middle school is home to the football team the Elks, which has won more conference champs than any other middle school in Tennessee. , said she believes the design team and the Springfield district share the same goal. "This is what I believe - I believe we're all here to work together to meet the needs of children, like my three sons," said Garcia, whose three children accompanied her to the meeting. In a work session later in the night, board members voiced both praise and skepticism. Laurie Adams said she worries employees could lose confidence in the board should it sign off on the charter, and needs to be convinced that ATL will bring something new to the table. SPRINGFIELD CHARTER PROPOSAL Academy of Teaching and Learning: Would serve 300 to 400 students in kindergarten through grade 12, with a focus on multicultural, multilingual and social justice education. To learn more, visit www.academyofteachingandlearning.com. Design team: Jose Luis Alonso, multicultural affairs coordinator at Sheldon High School Sheldon High School may refer to:
What's next: The board will vote on the proposal Jan. 8. |
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