Re: a humane administrator

["L. Cirincione" <lindac15@MINDSPRING.COM>]

jherdzik@eriesd.iu5.org <jherdzik@eriesd.iu5.org>
This is the email address for the school board.
Eric - Thanks for sending this!
Linda
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Crump" <ecrump@INTERVERSITY.ORG>
To: <ARN-L@LISTS.CUA.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2002 9:37 AM
Subject: a humane administrator


> Here's a school administrator who *gets it*. Teachers are human beings who
> need time to play and learn. Teachers who are happy and healthy are better
> teachers. They might even (gasp) treat their students more
> humanely. Reminds me of a quote:
>
> "Only a school that is hospitable to adult learning can be a good place
> for students to learn."
> --Roland Barth, Improving Schools from Within (46)
>
> But an Erie, PA school principal, Jerry Mifsud, made the grave mistake of
> *acting* on that idea, and he's catching hell. People are suggesting the
> in-service day described below was a frivolous waste of taxpayer money.
>
> The assumption seems to be that other schools, where teachers were in
> meetings all day, being re-bureaucratized, their noses to the grindstone,
> taxpayer money was better spent. Of course, when you keep teachers' noses
> to the grindstone, what you get is teachers with stress headaches, high
> blood pressure, and ground-up noses. If *I* was a taxpayer in Erie, that's
> the last thing I'd want to do to the people teaching my children!
>
> I suggest that all of us who think Mifsud showed courage by treating his
> teachers humanely should write to the Erie, PA newspaper and school board
> and show some support for Mifsud.
>
> Central High School
> 3325 Cherry Street
> Erie, PA 16508
>
> The School District of the City of Erie
> James E. Barker, Superintendent
> 148 W. 21st Street
> Erie, PA 16502
>
> School Board page:
> http://esd.iu5.org/homelinks/board.htm
>
> Erie Times-News
> http://www.goerie.com
> letters@timesnews.com
> (put 'Letter to the Editor' in the subject line)
>
> --Eric Crump
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> Officials question in-school spa during teacher in-service day
> February 21, 2002 Posted: 8:47 AM EST (1347 GMT)
>
> Makeovers, basketball, scuba diving, lowfat cooking lessons and yoga --
> that's how teachers at a high school spent their work day. And they got
> paid for it.
>
> Now school board members, district administrators and parents are asking
> why teachers at Erie's Central High School used an in-service day,
> normally set aside for teachers to get organized and discuss school
> business, for an in-house spa.
>
> Principal Jerry Mifsud said it was a wellness day and a way to get rid of
> winter blues.
>
> "Our staff does a tremendous job on a day-to-day basis. People don't
> realize the stress -- in the past six months we have had three teachers
> have heart attacks," Mifsud said.
>
> But teachers at other schools spent the day in administrative meetings and
> discussed curriculum.
>
> more @
> http://fyi.cnn.com/2002/fyi/teachers.ednews/02/21/club.ed.ap/index.html
>
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