Only 4 parents oppose Investigations

Yep. That’s what Superintendent Waltz said . Only 4 parents oppose Investigations so the school system doesn’t have to do anything.

A school board member was heard stating that the county had spent too much money to dump Investigations.

A local school administrator was heard commenting regarding Investigations that when our children get to middle school, “at least they’ll all be stupid together”.

I’m not sure how many of you who are opposed to Investigations are still active, but this message is for you. If you are and if you’d still like for your children to be taught math with a traditional text that allows you children to learn the standard algorithms and supports practice and repetition of skills to the point of automaticity, then it’s time to step up and do more.

We only need 5. School board members who support our cause that is.

I don’t think the school board will vote to dump Investigations outright unless test scores really tank – and even then I doubt they’d make a change. We’ve spent too much money to just dump the program.

But I do think we might be able to get enough support for the school board to authorize school administration to develop an alternate instructional track, one which is based on the old SFAW texts. Those texts are still available and pulling them out of storage wouldn’t cost a thing – in fact it would save money because of reduced purchases of Investigations materials.

I think there are 2, possibly 3 board members who will never be swayed, but the others just might support choice if enough of us demand it.

See, with the small handful of parents who have been speaking out, the school board pretty much thinks we’re wasting their time.  They have no intention of acting unless more of us show up and speak out. If 1500 signatures on a petition won’t sway them, 4 parents taking for a sum total of 12 minutes every other week clearly won’t.

And the school system is just playing semantic games by claiming that the program is balanced and that teachers are allowed to supplement because we all know that the program isn’t balanced and that little has changed.

Here’s the thing. Developing an alternate track takes time. They’d have to send out a survey to gauge interest and explain why an alternate track was even being considered. They’d have to review the old textbook and see where it needed to be beefed up, how the lessons should be paced, what assessments should be given and when. All of that planning would take time – a couple of months at a minimum. Meanwhile the clock for early order discount period for Investigations materials would be ticking so every week the school board puts off voting for choice is another two weeks of planning
time lost.

If we want the school board to task the school system with developing an alternate track then we need to push them to act now. Not in the Spring, not after Christmas, NOW. But a handful of us asking for this at school board meetings won’t be able to make the school board budge – we need you.

We need a major show of support for an alternate track. If you don’t want to speak then go with a friend or neighbor who is willing to speak and stand beside them as they speak. If the thought of going to a school board meeting has you sick to your stomach then send an email to your board representative, the Superintendent, and Chairman Johns letting them know that you want the schools to provide an alternate instructional track for your child.

If we can’t do this then we might as just let the school system have it’s way – to quote our unnamed school administrator, “at least they’ll all be stupid together”.