Happy Hallmark Holiday

So hopefully everyone bought their significant others diamonds, roses, and BMW's because as the advertising world tells us, that is the ONLY way she will love you. Blah.

Anyways now for a little local news.

Currently the situation at MCHS is interesting to say the least. The school system got a new Superintendent this year, and one of his biggest directives has been to bring down Michigan City's notoriously high expulsion rates. His theory is that every child deserves an education. The problem is the kids have begun to realize that there are no punishments (or very muted ones) for their actions right now. The staff as MCHS has been told that expulsions are a last resort, and they are treating it like that. So this has made the school's enviornment closer to that of the state prison instead of a high school. Teachers have no control of their classrooms or the hallways. There have been more than few really scary moments that I won't go into.

The teachers union actually has sent a few formal protests to the school board, that have all been basically ignored, except for some soundbytes. Finally the union voted by about 90-10% to state a work to rules action. Now teachers are only doing what is specifically spelled out in their contracts. They show up at 7:15am and leave at 2:25 pm. They are doing no volunteer work as they usually would. They are not monitoring the hallways unless they are paid to do so. They are not taking any work home to grade or to prepare lesson plans. All work is done at the school.

The worst part is that the one who are really suffering are the kids. Many after school activities are being cancelled because teachers who usually give their freetime are not allowed to per the union. Kids are not allowed to stay after school to make up a test because there is no one there to do it with. Kids aren't getting their papers back in a timely manner, because the only time the teachers can grade is at school during their preparation periods.

Hopefully this gets settled soon. I understand what the Super is saying when he saids "all kids deserve an education". The problem is that some kids are unteachable. And right now these few kids are costing the great majority of students their full educational experiences. Not only with the classroom disruptions and the general lack of safety, but with the cancellation of social events that go towards forming an adult as much as a high school education. There has got to be a balance there somewhere.