NHPS Curriculum Chief Heading To New Britain

Besides Ed Joyner, I doubt any tears will be shed. Bringing her to New Haven was a huge mistake made by Carol Birks. Bringing her back was a collosal waste of taxpayer money. She created Esser teachers which in fact creates a 2- tiered system for teachers. Esser coaches had to give up their sick time and seniority. The science coordinator and the professional development director were told they could be supervised by someone other than Velazquez even though she supervised their predecessor. Why is she taking a lateral move to one of the few districts as dysfunctional as New Haven. At any rate, this is a boon for NHPS.

The problems run deeper than one person. The BOE, Mayor, and Superintendent all signed off on the curriculum. And the problems run deeper than the curriculum itself.

The primary role of local government is to provide quality education and public safety. Elicker has failed on both and gets an F in both subjects.

I'm sad to see her go. I worked with her on a couple different projects and I found her to be extremely knowledgeable and straightforward- and it was clear she kept the best interests of the kids at the forefront of all she said and did.

In regards to the ESSR coaches/teachers, those positions had to be two/three-year contracts or else we would've ended up back where we were three years ago- with a bunch of staff we couldn't fund. HR made the decision the coaches couldn't keep their sick time.

I got the feeling that she wasn't being supported (e.g., allowing the Science & PD heads to be supervised by someone else); and that may have been a factor in her leaving. And maybe New Britain doesn't have as many assistant superintendents as we do- so the move may not be exactly lateral.

So let’s see if they fill her spot with someone on Tracey’s team and eliminate the position that person once had. If not crying poor at the upcoming teacher negations will not look good optically.

Constant changes in curriculm is systemic, which is a primary problem with education nationwide. Stick with what works instead of buying the latest curriculum gimmick that comes down the pike. Stick with who is qualified to do the job instead of hiring imposters who have no interest in anything but a pay check and a way for their Master's degrees to be paid for. Some college grads, who have barely set foot in a classroom are given 6-figure principalships, work 2-3 years and leave education. Ever hear of "Teach for America"? Politics, money and bureacracy take precedence. Bringing in racist Lucy Calkins' balanced literacy debacle to make her rich and deliberately leave black children behind was their latest destructive decision. What teachers want is always ignored. Phonics works. Comprehension works. Calkins' does not focus on phonics adequately, even though she has revised her approach after destroying millions in the process. Did not take a scholar to recognize that but she was allowed to "rule", anyway. If there is no strong foundation in the early grades, schools will always fail children. The learner will never catch up. Reading AND math require literate learners. How can a child pass a 3rd grade math test that he/she cannot read? A 17% literacy rate will prevail. Children must know how to read before kindergarten. PERIOD. Some enter schools not writing or recognizing letters in their own names. Tragic. Inexcusable...entrance placement tests must be administered upon registration. If the registrant is not at the required level, they must be given instruction to prepare them before admission. If the home cannot prepare them, churches, community centers, libraries, family members, education centers must. Simple solution. Promotion by age and not ability must be eliminated. Another gross error. Miseducation is the law of the land. Children's needs are the last to be considered. Holistically, the entire system needs to be scrapped...it is decayed to the core...

new haven teacher: Thank you. I prefer not to open the "waldorflibrary" article library link you provided. My data is the proof of the tens of thousands of students my colleagues and I directly, and indirectly, taught through the years, the teachers I trained and parents I counseled over decades. We all used the same tried-and-true approach that even my "uneducated" late mother-in-law, (and mothers like her), used when her children were pre-school age in the 1940's. They were a grade level ahead in each grade throughout high school. Your definition of reading may be different from mine. Basic word recognition, name recognition, environmental words such as "stop", "go", "walk", simple 1-2 letter sight words such as "is", "me", "at"," I", must be part of an entering kindergartener's reading mastery because they can be. By the way, Marva Collins is a shero of mine...again, whatever works, use it and keep it. We must raise our standards and expectations.