Bongo thinks Dr. Burkey is worth every dime he is paid by District 158 and then some. Bongo especially likes it when Dr. Burkey puts Larry Snow in his place when he tries in vain to do things that are not in the best interest of students. Dr. Burkey did this very well at the March 20 Board of Education meeting during the discussion of fees for summer school.
You may remember that Bongo wrote a blog entry recently about Snow’s attempt earlier in March to raise the fees for summer school but felt that a certain “demographic” of students requiring ELL (English Language Learners) services couldn’t afford to pay more than $20 for summer school… In the words of one Bongo reader, “It sort of was like, the reading kids are the Americans, and they can afford to pay more, but those who can't speak English can't afford anything. It was unsettling, to say the least...”
Well Snow was at it again at the BOE meeting and said $20 was too low for summer school, but he was only interested in raising the fee for the elementary reading program. Bongo wonders this: If $20 is too low for summer school, why wouldn’t he want the fee raised across the board? And when did summer school become a money-maker rather than a service to help every child possible? Oh yeah, this is the same guy who also wanted to skim profits off the top of Jump Rope For Heart…
Of course, Aileen Seedorf was the only other board member to go along with Snow’s attempt to more than double the cost of the summer reading program. Anyway, Dr. Burkey shut Snow up in short order with the following comment:
“Student achievement is our #1 goal and the biggest component of student achievement is reading. There's nothing we can do to help our students more than to improve elementary reading."
How can you argue that? Well, you can’t. And Snow sat there like a child who had just been scolded.
1 comment:
While it is true that Dr. Burkey straightened out the facts relative to the discussion, I wouldn't say he "put Mr. Snow in his place." It wouldn't be appropriate for any superintendent to put a board member in his place, not even one who works against the best interests of the
district. Mr. Snow said there was no budget for summer school and told the board to be careful how it spends its money. Dr. Burkey pointed out, as you accurately quoted, there is a budget and the proposal was well within that budget and the money was being used according to the priorities of the board. How could Mr. Snow or anyone argue with that? By voting against it as he and Ms. Seedorf did.
If a child can't read, how can he learn? Kudos to the rest of the board and Dr. Burkey for doing everything in their power to make certain kids
can read!
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