Newsx Eventsx Directoryx Searchx AIDS & Health Infox Personal Websites of GLBT Oklahomansx Chat/Message Board
Mayor to exploit school crisis


Get on the list!
Enter your email address here to join GayOKC.com's
mailing list!

Oklahoma City Public Schools

Oklahoma State Department of Education

ACLU of Oklahoma

ACLU: American Civil Liberties Union

PFLAG: Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays

GLSEN: Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network

Lambda Legal

What do you think?
CLICK HERE
to post your opinion on GayOKC.com's Message Board!

 x

The following is an email from Joe Quigley
(Posted 5-7-03)

(5-6-03) At our faculty meeting today we got the details on the Mayor as substitute teacher.

   As did most other school districts in Oklahoma, the Oklahoma City Public Schools did away with hiring substitute teachers for pay in favor of relying on volunteers, or on teachers giving up their down time and planning periods to cover absent teachers' classes as a way of dealing with the budget crisis. Usually a substitute is called when a teacher has notified the office that he or she will be unable to come in, preferrably the night before but sometimes the morning of an absence, and a substitute is called. The subs have no choice in classes unless they are well known, have been relied on for a long time or have a specialty.
     When teachers cover for other teachers they learn of this change in their day when they show up for school that day.
    Substitutes rarely have a long period of planning and are assigned to whatever classes may come up.
    The Mayor is going to substitute on May 15. By then the seniors will have graduated and will be gone leaving those teachers with mostly or all senior classes to cover the classes of absent teachers. Along with this the last day for students is Monday, May 19, and as it is exam week and , to be honest, some students will simply not show up for various reasons,  there is very little need for substitutes.
    It has been arranged that the Mayor will be a substitute, not in a randomely occurring classroom, but in a chosen class. He will sub in a business technology class which is a room filled with computers at which students work mostly independently.
    This can only be solely for personal publicity, not for the good either of the students or the district. If the Mayor were truly volunteering to substitute teach he would have done what people like First Lady Henry and other volunteers did, substitute earlier in the year when there was a real need, and in the classrooms that came up as a result of a teacher absence, not a prearranged appearance. The Mayor should show up on May 15 willing to take over any available class, not have it arranged weeks in advance so students can be prepared for his arrival. He should experience the day just as any sub would with hall duty, eating in the teachers' cafeteria, and arriving without any fanfare or special treatment.The fact that he has a specialty class, at the end of the school year after seniors are gone and substitutes are not really needed is clear evidence that he does not want to actually help with the school crisis, but have the photo ops and the stories to tell about his volunteerism.
     His appearance has no purpose, will not help the budget crisis in any way, and will have no benefit to anyone but himself and his political aspirations.
Joe Quigley.

 

Previous postings from Joe Quigley:

 

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO FRONT PAGE

 

GayOKC.com COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2003 ROBERT D. ABIERA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (NO, THIS IS STILL NOT JOE QUIGLEY'S PERSONAL WEBSITE!)

Click Here!