• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Orleans Parish Struggles to Assign Classrooms

Posted on: Monday, 8 August 2005, 03:01 CDT

With about two weeks left before students return to New Orleans Public Schools Aug. 18, teachers should be decorating classrooms, tweaking lesson plans and gathering materials needed for the school year.

But nearly 200 teachers didn't even know where they would be teaching as of last week.

As long as teachers are unassigned, that's less time they have to prepare for the start of school and the more anxious they will be, said Joe DeRose, spokesman for United Teachers of New Orleans, a union representing 7,000 teachers, paraprofessionals and clerical workers. We know the district is going to (assign the teachers). It's not that it's not being done but it's so late in the game now.

Sajan George, managing director of Alvarez & Marsal, the New York firm handling NOPS money, and the school district's chief operating officer, said all teachers will be assigned by the second week of August.

But teachers are scheduled to return to work Aug. 11, a week before students return, which they say doesn't leave time to plan.

Portia Elly, a 24-year veteran of the school district, said the past few weeks have been stressful while she waits to hear where she will be assigned.

The middle-school teacher spent the last two years assisting other teachers with their science curriculum. This year, she knows she'll be back in the classroom but no one has told her which one.

My things are packed up because I haven't been in the classroom teaching for two years, said Elly. I have to get my classroom ready. Classroom readiness is not going in and dusting. You have to have your lesson plans, displays and bulletin boards. All of that has to be in place when you walk into your classroom. And to have that in place, you need to know what kind of room you have, how big it is, how many walls. I have no idea what my room looks like or even what my school looks like.

Helen Bazile, an eighth-grade math teacher at Edward Livingston Middle School, had to reapply to the school she's taught at for eight years after school reconfigurations.

She has yet to hear if she's returning to her school.

What people don't understand is we're going to hit the ground running as we usually do but we're going to be coming from behind, Bazile said. We're going to play catch-up before we even start. I don't know what school or what grade I'll be in. It's really frustrating.

It's hard to think about the things you can be doing right now and what you need to set up. It's a little bit difficult because when you plan, the lessons are geared toward an actual grade level, an actual subject and the number of students. I feel like I'm in limbo right now.

In a school district plagued with politicking, corruption and in- fighting among School Board members and administrators, officials worry about the impact on academics.

Those first few weeks are critical for teachers who are working on classroom management and setting the tone, said DeRose. There's a perception anyway that a lot of kids don't go to school on the first day. We want to make sure there's no confusion for these kids so they do come to school.

There are two elements to all of this. The practical, logistical concerns and then the academic impact of teachers not being able to plan and kids who are absent the first few weeks of school.

Teachers try very hard not to let politics at the central office and School Board level trickle down, said Carol Davis, president of the Baton Rouge-based Louisiana Association of Educators. Teachers try hard to be the buffer so students don't feel it. They need to be able to focus on the kids. They shouldn't have to be worried about their own well-being. But unfortunately in New Orleans, they have to be.

Unrest among teachers coincides with an overhaul of school district finances and Interim Superintendent Ora Watson's decision to close six schools and eliminate an undetermined number of jobs. Louisiana Superintendent of Education Cecil Picard said he hopes Alvarez & Marsal and Watson will be able to transition into the new school year.

We will continue to assist and support their efforts in any way necessary to ensure that the students of Orleans remain the top priority, said Picard.

With 10,000 school employees and more than 62,000 students, officials say they hope schools will open without any mishaps.

The first day is important. It sets the academic tone for the rest of the year, said George. But we're running against the clock. Our big emphasis is getting the schools ready for the first day of school. We're going to go to each school and room by room, from top to bottom to make sure they're ready.

(Copyright 2005 Dolan Media Newswires)

Source: New Orleans CityBusiness

More News in this Category