Teacher Empowerment

Note: This is an ad that ran on August 1st



ATTENTION TEACHERS
As we enter the last week of this campaign I would like to ask every teacher in Choctaw County to reflect upon the issues facing our schools and each candidate’s specific plan to address those issues before you decide who to vote for. Once you get in that booth it’s between you and your conscience. I know you care about our schools. I hope you care enough to find out what each candidate’s position is. You may find that most candidates don’t really have a position on anything of substance. One candidate’s primary position seems to be that he’ll “dress appropriately.” Another’s is that he “loves the children.” I can promise you that I also love our children. As far as dressing appropriately, I’ll continue wear whatever my wife lays out for me. Beyond that, however, I’ve also stated specifically, and in great detail what I see as the problems facing our schools and what I’d do to fix them. It’s all available for your consideration at http://bobmamrak.blogspot.com. Now, I’d like to address two more things.
TEACHER EMPOWERMENT
In my 20 years as a Choctaw County classroom teacher my morale experienced many high and low points. Most highs took place when everyone got out of my way and let me design and deliver quality, creative lessons that my kids enjoyed and learned from. The lows invariably came when an administrator treated me like a hired hand, ordering me to do this, that, or the other thing when my experience and training told me it was a waste of time (or worse yet, bad instructional practice). In the past few years our morale has often been challenged when we see inexperienced, less qualified personnel promoted because they were somebody’s friend or relative.
I promise you, as superintendent, I will put a stop to this nonsense. I pledge to empower teachers to be directly involved in hiring, curriculum, and instructional decisions. Furthermore, I will see to it that teachers no longer have to work the gate, ticket booths, etc. at extracurricular activities unless they volunteer and are paid for their time. Other districts have long since stopped this practice in order to treat their teachers as professionals and not hired hands. You may be unaware that the ticket sale money made at athletic (often thousands of dollars) and other events are part of the activity fund that an administrator can spend at his discretion. Districts that respect their teachers as professionals pay teachers or parents who have volunteered out of those gate receipts.
OPEN, TRANSPARENT DECISION MAKING
I also pledge to you that as superintendent I will keep nothing secret from teachers or parents. The week of March 12th through the 18th was National Sunshine Week in America. Sunshine Week’s name comes from the “sunshine laws” each state in our nation has enacted to insure that local and state government bodies keep their meetings and records open to the public. To kick the week off the Clarion Ledger ran a series of editorials, one of which said, “If you're a parent, you need to know the decisions and policies of school boards that affect your children's education. Concerned parents too often, however, are shut out of the decision-making process in Mississippi.”
Ironically, the same week the Choctaw Chronicle ran this headline on the front page: “School board meets behind locked doors.” The article stated that, “The board met for three hours in the county office while citizens tried to enter the meeting. The citizens were told that there was no meeting in progress. So the question remains why were the doors locked while a public meeting was being conducted?” Why indeed. While it is true that public bodies may go into “executive session” to discuss certain issues defined by Mississippi’s Open Meeting Act, the law enumerates specific procedures that must be followed before going into “executive sessions.” My concern is not just that the law seems to have been ignored in regard to the meeting in question, but as the Clarion Ledger pointed out, parents “need to know the decisions and policies of school boards that affect your children's education.”
Secrecy in our school district is not confined to meetings. This January our district received a report from the JBHM Education Group entitled, Organization and Performance Evaluation of Choctaw County Schools. This 51-page document reportedly cost taxpayers around $25,000. I’ve been told by parents who have requested a copy that none were available for them. What’s even more disturbing is that when copies of the report were distributed to school administrators seven pages had already been removed. According to the report’s Table of Contents those pages contain evaluations for each of our schools’ principals. Surely parents have a right to know what kind of job those entrusted with their children’s futures are doing. According to Mississippi’s Public Records Act taxpayers have a right to see that report. I don’t know about you, but if I can’t see the whole report I’d like my share of the $25,000 back.
As superintendent I will never conceal information or a decision making process that pertains to the running of our schools. If you are supporting other candidates, ask them if they are willing to pledge the same. If they’re not, I hope you’ll have the good sense to look for another candidate. It is time for the public to take back our public schools. Progress requires change. Vote for Bob Mamrak.