Monday, January 13, 2014

School Administrators On The Take? I Wonder...



I always believed books were sacred and almost never toss them in the trash.  When I have books I don't want, I try to find someone who wants them.  This is why, when I heard what a certain AP did with school books, I was very upset.

This administrator decided five year old books, books used to teach very low functioning students were no longer needed. Without consulting any of the teachers that could possibly using these books, this AP ordered them to be thrown away.  (Pictured above is the dumpster withe the books.). One of the teachers was upset.  The teacher wanted to use them in a reading class.  At the very least, the teacher wanted the books to be donated to another school.  The AP insisted it was not permissible to send books to another facility, but I know the math department has done that for years so while I don't really know the legality of the situation, I find it hard to believe books cannot be shared, especially within the DOE and the especially in the same school district.  I do believe tossing DOE materials is against the rules.  I remember book rooms stuffed with books that had not been used for 20 years because the school was not permitted to trash them.  (Hopefully this administrator will be audited and have to explain what happened to these books.)

The reading program replacing these books in an online program.  Licenses must be purchased for each student and not every student needing it has access to the program.  It is possible these kids won't have any reading this semester.

My gut feeling (I have no real evidence, so no accusation) is that someone is making big $$$ by tossing books in favor of purchasing a program like this.  The AP in charge cares nothing about education students.  The principal who is allowing this is just as corrupt.  I don't understand how the school system has come to this.  How people who went into education to help kids have turned into people who don't give a damn about them, to people who only care about the dollar.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Our school was told it was permissible if they were stamped "discarded". And kids who could use the extra practice would love those books.

Very sad when administrators cannot find a creative way to use these books or even ask teachers if they can use them.

Anonymous said...

if that is the case, the joke is on the person/AP who wants the books thrown out. From what I have been seeing and reading on Chancellor Farina, there will be changes in place.. and I think administrators better halt on certain Bloomberg functions before jumping head first..


http://www.wnyc.org/story/interview-farina-says-some-charters-should-pay-rent/

Ms. Tsouris said...

I can't believe at the energizer bunny would allow such devastation and throw thousands of dollars' worth of workbooks and textbooks out like that. However, it doesn't shock me. A friend who taught English for over 22 years in a local middle school had the same situation a few years ago. Her principal hired a company from New Jersey to dispose of a wonderful anthology she'd used for all those years; the books full of literature were replaced by awful dumbed down Columbia Reading and Writing Program "leveled" books. Centuries of classic literature, short stories, poems, and essays were replaced by regurgitated crap. Her heart was broken, and I was very upset to hear about this educational crime.

Anonymous said...

When I was in Packemin in the Business Ed. department we swapped books with other schools all the time. And before that, in Dead Peesident HS we did the same thing.

To toss out educational materials without finding out if someone else could use them is a sin

Rita

Anonymous said...

Not only were these materials tossed in the trash but this AP had students perform her dirty work, sending a very bad message to students and their education!

You can't replace everything with computer programs!