Consolidation= good or bad

[nwi stater]

Well sport fans, is bigger better???? What has happen to all the really good rivialies? How many good to great players are missed because too many tried out for the same team. How many kids have fallen through the cracks because theres just to many kids in a class. School pride??? How do teachers keep track of their kids when there are so many??? I teach pe at two elementary schools and see about 1,000 kids and for the life of me I just can't remember names of them all. And some have names you couldn't begin to say.

What do you think???:verysad:

[LoyalAlum]

Well sport fans, is bigger better???? What has happen to all the really good rivialies? How many good to great players are missed because too many tried out for the same team. How many kids have fallen through the cracks because theres just to many kids in a class. School pride??? How do teachers keep track of their kids when there are so many??? I teach pe at two elementary schools and see about 1,000 kids and for the life of me I just can't remember names of them all. And some have names you couldn't begin to say.

What do you think???:verysad:

Bad. I teach at a relatively small, relatively inner-city middle school with 450 students grades 6-8. We know our kids and they love it here. So do we. Wouldn't trade it for the world.

Start asking teachers what's best for students. That will fix education.

[4Q_iu]

is the goal to create dozens of Ben Davis', Center Groves, Castles, etc, etc

OR is it to shutter the Medoras, Canneltons, New Harmonys, Eminences...

There is a balance; HS graduating class of at least 100, no more than 200.

[nwi stater]

Here in Portage we hsve about 660 seniors. How to fix education????? Smaller schools=more opportunies

[SycamoreFan317]

What type of consolidation are we talking about, one where everybody is put in to one building or where the students are kept in local buildings and the administration is reduced from two to one?

[Eleven]

What type of consolidation are we talking about, one where everybody is put in to one building or where the students are kept in local buildings and the administration is reduced from two to one?

Is one of those better than the other?

[nwi stater]

Everyone loses in both ways

[SycamoreFan317]

Is one of those better than the other?

I think it depends on the community. Personally, I would rather combine the administrations and leave the kids in local buildings. Examples of such a arrangement is Eastern Shelby School District which is made up of Morristown and Waldron another would be Lapel-Frankton. It gives more students a opportunity to participate and reduces the administrative cost. I am a firm believer that when you take away a school from a community nothing positive will come of it for that community.

[Eleven]

I think it depends on the community. Personally, I would rather combine the administrations and leave the kids in local buildings. Examples of such a arrangement is Eastern Shelby School District which is made up of Morristown and Waldron another would be Lapel-Frankton. It gives more students a opportunity to participate and reduces the administrative cost. I am a firm believer that when you take away a school from a community nothing positive will come of it for that community.

I just don't see how you save all that much money with the scenario you are talking about?
How many administrators does it reduce?
If the "vice principals", etc. are taking on more responsibility because of the "Part Time" boss they have... wouldn't you have to pay more for those people?

Double Sports costs, Bus Routes, Energy costs, Maintenance costs, etc..

[dr. bucket]

Bad. I teach at a relatively small, relatively inner-city middle school with 450 students grades 6-8. We know our kids and they love it here. So do we. Wouldn't trade it for the world.

Start asking teachers what's best for students. That will fix education.

I'd only bother asking the good ones; i'd figure out how to get rid of the rest

[dr. bucket]

is the goal to create dozens of Ben Davis', Center Groves, Castles, etc, etc

OR is it to shutter the Medoras, Canneltons, New Harmonys, Eminences...

There is a balance; HS graduating class of at least 100, no more than 200.

wouldn't that require $'s

[sycamore51]

Consolidation is usually a good thing. It gives kids more opportunities and reduces cost. When it gets bad is when you start having classes of 35+ and transportation times of 1 hour+

[Fiji Bill 72]

I was in Huntington when the consolidation took place at the end of my sophomore year, 1966. I love a large high school. However, as a teacher, a high school of 600-1000 is much better. You get to know the students. And now with on-line classes offered, students in smaller schools can have the same academic experiences of the larger schools. High schools like Carmel and Ben Davis will never split. They love the success of their athletic programs.

[LoyalAlum]

I'd only bother asking the good ones; i'd figure out how to get rid of the rest

The vast majority are good/great/spectacular. Schools have a way of weeding out the bad ones, or at least minimizing them until they leave on their own or are moved elsewhere.

I'm a die hard Republican, but they way many Republicans vilify public schools and teachers without knowing what the heck they are talking about is enough to make me second guess party affiliation sometimes.

[Syc70]

LoyalAlum,

I agrre 100% with you! 40 years in education only to be ridiculed and denegrated by my own party, not anymore. I can't see myself as a Democrat, but the Republican party abandoned me for the far right-wing, I did not abandon them. I spent 39 of the 40 years in 2 smaller schools and absolutely loved it. We are a 5-Star school, Best Buy School, top ISTEP, & SAT scores, goood athletic success, good community support, good arts and music, etc. Uncle Mitch and Tony Baloney do not look at that only how much money they could save. Consolidating even administrations would be fighting words in this community.

[SycamoreFan317]

There is no blanket answer for this question it is a community by community situation.

[dr. bucket]

The vast majority are good/great/spectacular. Schools have a way of weeding out the bad ones, or at least minimizing them until they leave on their own or are moved elsewhere.

I'm a die hard Republican, but they way many Republicans vilify public schools and teachers without knowing what the heck they are talking about is enough to make me second guess party affiliation sometimes.

after i end tenure and get rid of the poor teachers, we abolish the istep and other such politically driven measures and get about the task again of teaching kids how to think instead of pass a test. it's time to start challenging kids and demanding things of them.

[4Q_iu]

wouldn't that require $'s

Nothing is free.

High Schools the size of small liberal arts colleges are rife with problems;

Micro PUBLC schools are a drain of resources; while Indiana is still a rural state; I'm hard-pressed to think of ANY county where there is a logistical requirement to maintain a school as small as Medora, New Harmony, etc

[Syc70]

Dr. Bucket

Once you get rid of all the "bad" teachers, who are you going to replace them with? More specifically how are you going to entice anyone to replace them for low pay, unrealstic expectations, and" know it all " people who have all of the answers and none of the information criticizing constantly what they do. I suspect their are "bad" people in whatever field you are in as well but I do not hear you calling for their heads.

[SycamoreFan317]

Why don't you hear anybody talk about the bad administrators? There are a lot of administrators that could not teach a lick.

[SycamoreBlue3209]

I'm a die hard Republican, but they way many Republicans vilify public schools and teachers without knowing what the heck they are talking about is enough to make me second guess party affiliation sometimes.

You're a Republican and a school teacher??! LOL. It is hard to find a professor here at State that is not a "100% liberal. PoSci107 has not been much fun with this guy.

[Syc70]

I kthink you would find most teachers in Indiana are Republicans, or at least were until the Republican party decided to declare open season on teachers and make them the scapegoat for most of society's problems that as legislators they cannot rectify or control.

[Derek]

I've heard from some family members and coworkers that went through the consolidation mid high school that things were much better with the previous setup, pre north and south. I understand this question is broader based than TH though. My co-worker said he hated the transition from Gerstmeyer to North. Said Gerstmeyer was more of a family atmosphere and hated his senior year at North, felt like a number, not an individual.

From my experience at THS (class of 99) i would say the social aspects were good, no matter what group you fell into there were many kids with like interests. But from an educational standpoint it lacked. I believe had I attended a smaller school my adhd might have been diagnosed sooner than it was and not just considered academic laziness. Once I was diagnosed and began my medication my life completely changed, i could actually concentrate on subjects and tasks that needed to be done that i didnt have interest in. In high school it was a batte if I wasnt interested, day dream constantly, even if i really tried to focus it was impossible. Something my parents couldnt even understand how i could excel in AP History, Psych, and English, but Math and Science were like a foreign language no matter how hard i tried. I often wonder through the years how many kids like me just were written off as lazy. And im not blaming the teachers, at south, my teachers were great, they tried hard. Its just when you have 35-40 kids six times a day its hard to develop relationships where you really get to know the kids.

There were some teachers I got to know really well through sports that knew me well and could tell when something was wrong. Pat Rady Sr., Pat Rady Jr., Mike Saylor, Jim Mann, Dave Heath, and Mrs Goebel were all great influences in my life and still maintain and interest in my life and whats going on. Im thankful for that.

[bigsportsfan]

I kthink you would find most teachers in Indiana are Republicans, or at least were until the Republican party decided to declare open season on teachers and make them the scapegoat for most of society's problems that as legislators they cannot rectify or control.

Where did this data come from? I am a teacher and my political affiliation has nothing to do with it. (And I am not a member of either major party.)