A letter from a concerned parent

Steve,
I just wanted to apologize for not following up with you about the EverydayMath research. I attended the EM parent night at Cass a couple weeks ago, andlistened to Ms. Abler talk about how exciting the program was, and they talked aboutall the games etc. To be honest, I guess I have made my mind up, that I thinkit's just a disservice to the kids of Livonia that the program has been implementedmerely to align with the MEAP (which from what I have read, is not exactly settingthe bar very high). Some of the information Ms. Abler shared seemed to contradict whatour son's teacher and especially one of our daughter's previous teacher's impressions of the program were. My son's teacher plans to supplement the math with "traditional" concepts (something that Ms Abler said would not be taking place, because it is important for the success of the program to teach from the box). Our daughter's previous teacher thought the EM program was horrible for student learning, and told us that the "good teachers" that were older and experienced would see through this, and supplement the teaching with traditional concepts so that kids didn't fall too far behind, while she expected that younger inexperienced teachers would simply teach right from the box (and her feeling was that EM would leave them unprepared for higher math). It was also obvious that the parents that attended had absolutely no idea (besides that there would be games and the kids would have FUN) what the EM program was. It is also clear that thepresentation was merely a PR move as what most of the LPS presentations are... I feltthat I had completely wasted my time attending it. At any rate, the decision has been made, and we cannot afford privateschool (or our kids would already be enrolled due to the LI debacle) so I will justplan on spending a great deal of time teaching math to my kids. (I wasn't a bigfan of the connected math program either, so I have already been helping my daughterwith math all along. I don't think any research you could provide me wouldchange my mind at this point, so I won't waste your time with this any longer. Butplease know that I greatly appreciate your offer to get together to discuss.
NEW TOPIC (sorry this is long, I just couldn't stop typing) I also wanted to share with you my thoughts about last night's meetingregarding the security system that is 99.9% certain to be implemented in the nearfuture regardless of cost based upon the overwhelming support of the sheeple onthe BOE (you excluded of course). As usual, you asked the importantquestions, and I completely agree with all of your points. It is a "false" sense ofsecurity (like a car alarm)... If someone wants to do something horrible, they are just going to do it. A camera is going to just make it easier to identify the person after thefact, but won't make kids any "safer". Just cause "other neighboring districts" have it,doesn't mean that their kids are safer than ours. I thought we were in a budgetcrisis? (Oops, I meant FUNDING crisis <- sarcasm) We can't spend money on solar parking lights that might save us tons of $$$ over the long-haul, but we can spend hundreds of thousands on cameras and security cards, etc. just so that wecan watch to see when someone isn't at their desk and call their cell phone torazz them.... hmmmm. (I thought that was a very awkward way of supporting theneed for this especially from a person getting paid a 6-figure salary. andLessard sounded like he was running for President with his theatrical "kids safetyis worth every penny, no matter how much it costs...". I am more concerned about my kid’s safety walking to a bus stop than aboutthe possibility of a whacko bringing a gun into school. (And how would thesecameras, locking doors etc. prevent a student from bringing in a bomb or gun/knifeto school???) The LI eliminated the crossing guards, safetys program, etc. Since the LI, our kids walk to a bus stop that is on the opposite side of a verybusy street. Cars are parked all alongside this road (from Stevenson kids), there are nostop signs anymore, so my kids simply would have had to cross whenever there isa break in traffic. The posted speed limit is 25, but cars routinely blow byour house between 30-40 mph (especially since the stop sign down the street waseliminated this year). Is this a "safe" situation for kids, standing out therewaiting for a bus?
We moved to Livonia specifically to attend Marshall school, we are maybe 8 houses away from the school (same distance as their bus stop is now). Mykids IMHO would have been safer to walk to school, than to cross the busystreet, or have to stand outside waiting for a bus, that may or may not be on time....It's off-topic, but my daughter's bus was over 25 minutes late to Riley lastweek. I don't bother complaining about this stuff anymore, because it is no use. Wouldn't it be almost as effective to install "fake" cameras at all entrydoors etc. hallways etc. as a deterrent? Lock all the doors during class time exceptthe front door (umm that would be free). Who are we "protecting" the kids from? Strangers? Strangers would see the cameras and assume they were real and recording. Maybe that would deter them from doing something wrong, or maybe not. Parents? Parent's would likely be recognized and welcomed inside by staff,the camera would not be of any help here, if they wanted in, they have everyright to be inside... To me, no difference here than a LPS teacher snapping one day and bringing a gun or bomb into the building. A security system cannot protectkids from these people. I understand the money is burning a hole in Lessard (and therest of the BOE's collective pockets), but I just wish it could somehow bechanneled into something more worthwhile. I'll tell you what, I got to the point (before you came on board) where Ithought I couldn't possibly stomach to watch another BOE meeting on TV, because Iwould get so darn upset and frustrated. I mean, just yesterday was anotherexample of Freeman babbling on and on, with no point (hey, maybe that's what I'mdoing.... sorry), asking absolutely stupid questions.... Lessard is an oxygen-thiefif there ever was one. And Mr. Oke appears to be the quintessential "yes" man. I can'tbelieve the spins these (and most all of the administrators and especiallyLevesque) puts on things... I like how Liepa is already spinning the student count numbers..."looks like they are coming in right where we expected... " and "we are graduating 1500 students, but only 1000 kindergartners coming in...." ...As I yell at the TV, " what the heck does that have to do with anything??" But Idigress.... I don't know how you manage to not strangle any of these people at these meetings. My hat's off to ya, and I am so thankful for the job you aredoing. I will keep an eye on your blog (I am a frequent lurker in LivoniaNeighbors.com). While we may be on opposite sides of the EM issue, I find that the other 99.9% ofthe time, you are practically voicing all the concerns/questions I have regarding what is going on with the district and the decisions being made. Which means either we both have common sense and logical thought processes, or we are both equally brain-damaged. Either way, it's sure great to have someone on our side. I've wasted enough of your time (again). I just felt I needed to provideyou some feedback, and to let you know despite all the opposition you face on theboard, that there are people watching that really appreciate your taking on thedifficult task of fighting for what is right. I only wish that there were more people likeyou on the board, then we could really make some positive changes to the district.