According to the East Valley Tribune, all schools in Cave Creek Unified have finally returned to all EXCELLING under the Arizona Department of Education AZ Learns Legacy Labels.
The news was not so good on the new A-F letter grade labels where Desert Sun Academy and Sonoran Trails Middle school were graded with a B.
As we have stated before, these labels are a low bar and in no way represent the levels where we want and need our students to perform at. We all know how poorly Arizona does in comparison with the rest of the US, so being the best in Arizona does not prove much. One of the Cave Creek Unified board members said it best…
“We can no longer pride ourselves on our performance in the past nor can we count on state standards to be accurate judges of our future performance…We should be looking nationally and globally to find the standards we should set…If we set our expectations higher than what Arizona thinks is acceptable, we can better equip our students for the future and better prepare them for the world beyond Cave Creek. We will fly by standards that we currently use in Arizona”
- Mark Warren, Cave Creek Unified Governing Board Member
Now if the district would only rise up to meet Mr. Warren’s challenge, the community would have something we could all be proud of.
You sound very much like Linda Bentley the CCUSD school hater and the person responsible for the only negative comment in the election guide.
ReplyDeleteWhile Mark Warren's "sound bite" sounds good,but he is the same buy that voted to keep Dr. Burdick and her team of leaders that have led us all down this road. I wish the Board and the Adminstration team would stop talking...and start doing. You will NEVER need to "keep teachers" when children keep leaving. Wrong message at the wrong time.
ReplyDeleteProperly fund your schools.
ReplyDeleteThe district is giving the best education for the dollars they have.
I think it is remarkable that after so many budget cuts which definitely impacted the classrooms via size and indirectly performance, they are on the uphill swing again.
I think the kids do deserve the stellar education that many of you want. But, some of you are completely unrealistic to think that they will get it without more teachers, money to keep curriculum updated, and smaller class sizes. And, please do not put ridiculous info out that shows that class size does not equate to performance. Have had my kids in both situations and smaller classes are far superior learning environments to large. In fact, I bet that some of you who complain on here and who do send your kids to charters and other districts specifically look at class size when you evaluate other schools.
Smaller classrooms are better. We should support and properly fund our community schools. It's disgraceful to watch special programs (art, music, physical education, foreign language, etc.) be placed on the hit-list for cuts. Those who don't have kids or place them elsewhere should consider their investment: home values are affected by school district ratings--that should matter. That said, when I started my child at a CCUSD elementary last year, we were excited. By the end of the year, we couldn't run faster to get out of it if our lives depended on it. The overall experience was awful. Many of the teachers and staff were snippy, as if they were doing us a favor for being there. Bullying was rampant with no firm correction in sight. The instruction and materials quality was lacking, not to mention disorganized. But we couldn't blame them for an inability to provide adequate materials or a gifted teacher because the budget didn't allow. How was it though that the budget allowed for brand new digital signage in front of the school? Gosh, we couldn't blame poor instruction/organization on a crowed classroom...but how is it then not one of my elementary classrooms (back in the day) had less than 30 kids in it, yet we were all able to learn and produce excelling scores. The overall problem stems from the dumbing down of education, misappropriation of money (shame on the CCUSD governing board), loss of expectations and a traditional strict environment (society has become more about trying not to hurt people's feelings--which is also why public education has been dumbed down), and an inherent poor morale among teachers & staff. CCUSD used to soar...now its just sore. CCUSD is not excelling, they've just lowered their expectations (along with many other districts) to make their performance look better. I'm glad we left it. So is my child. One year at CCUSD left my kid a mess, now things are right back on track where they should be--and much happier too. I'm am sorry about one thing--not leaving the district MUCH SOONER! It doesn't change the fact that we still need to contribute to what will enhance our community, and we should all continue to help the kids that are trying to make it in CCUSD. They do deserve stellar education, as all kids do. I will vote yes for the budget increase, but I can only hope that THIS time those in charge of managing it will MANAGE IT PROPERLY and make it go towards what benefits the KIDS directly. Stricter laws governing the actions of CCUSD board members need to be put into place. There's ancient & very wise reasoning we should all remember when trusting a "board" to do the right thing with our money (in this case, that's supposed to be for our kids): Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Who shall watch the watchers themselves?)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about your child's experience. There is no question that the bullying became an issue when aides were cut several years ago due to a lack of funds.
ReplyDeleteAs to whether the spending of the board is out of line with education performance, perhaps the fact that the district is number four in the state according to the new grading system shows that it is not. Does that mean that there isn't room for growth and that the schools shouldn't strive to be better? Absolutely not. But, that and strict auditing laws in the state are good evidence that the board is not mismanaging money.
I am a parent of two CCUSD children and cannot consciously approve the new budget override. If you study the current budget you will see many out of line expenditures that can be cut and reallocated to more beneficial areas. The propaganda cites the increase in class sizes and the declination of property values as detriments to our community should the override not pass. Have these people looked around the area lately? Property values are already at an all time low and approving the budget ovveride isn't going to solve that problem. What we need are teachers who want to teach-not for the money and benefits-but for the simple satisfaction of educating the youth of our future. Unfortunately the current economy has forced all of us to tighten our belts and find creative ways to save - CCUSD shouldn't be an exception.
ReplyDeleteThe excelling label comes from the state not from the district. To say that CCUSD lowered their expectations to make their performance look better doesn't make sense. The state sets the expectations not the district.
ReplyDelete8:08, where is the striving? There is no evidence of it despite the pleadings from parents like myself. Nobody asked for World Languages, they were shoved down our throats by the HTES principal thanks to the PTO who funded her vacation to China. Elementray students speaking Mandarin is a nice parlor trick but this is not where the district needs to put its resources.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how world languages is a parlor trick. It might just give your child an advantage in getting a job someday. In a world where many long time major industries are becoming obsolete due to innovations in technology and a globalization of business, your kids will need all of the advantages they can get.
ReplyDeleteAs to whether it should be done at an elementary level, why would you wait if that is when the brain is the most receptive to learning a language?
A lot of you complain that education is substandard in Arizona when compared to other states (true). Allow yourselves to have a district that is ahead of the curve on something (languages). The fact that they are number 4 in the state should be evidence enough that they do strive to be good. Let's see if they can get to number 1 with proper funding. Now that would be something to strive for.
If you believe that being number 4 in Arizona is evidence that the CCUSD is striving to be good, then your children are getting exactly the education they deserve based on your beliefs.
ReplyDeleteGood luck trying to get into a selective college when they graduate from Cactus Shadows. Hope they enjoy NAU.
Dear Oct.11, 8:57am. You are comparing apples to oranges when you look at the "number 4". How hard is it to rank when you NO title schools and have an entire 7 schools. Sorry, but to hang a hat on that report is flawed.
ReplyDeleteOct 24 - My kids do not go to CCUSD anymore. They are in a very well regarded east coast district now where homeowners pay huge property taxes. I am comparing their CCUSD education with the education they get on the east coast. There is a difference, mostly in the amount of electives offered and clubs available. There is a difference in class size. But, in terms of teacher quality and curriculum not as much as you would think. They got a great education at CCUSD and while their are possible inconsistencies between CCUSD schools that might account for some of your negativity, I knew many more happy parents than unhappy parents who had their kids in the district.
ReplyDeleteOct. 24 @ 8:28am - My daughter graduated from CSHS and was accepted to every college she applied to in state & out. What do you consider a "selective" college? That sounds a little elitest.
ReplyDelete