Northwest Indiana Discussion

Can't wait to read Tiger1's next school board meeting report.....

From here

"Schools chief nets contract extension

BY CARMEN McCOLLUM
Friday, December 12, 2008

HAMMOND The School Board showed its pleasure with the School City of Hammond superintendent Thursday night by unanimously approving a raise and extending his contract by four years."

I am glad to see that the Hammond School board ignores the opinions of ne'er do wells like Tiger1 and continues to do the job that they were elected to do. Dr. Watkins has done a very good job in leading the School city in it's ambitious program to consolidate and improve the schools in Hammond.

Jesus Sparks; quit sniffing the burnt insulation, it's affecting your cognitive abilities.

So you approve a salary increase at the time when the city itself is cutting its budget?

Why can't he keep his job and not get a salary increase?

Because he has skills and experience that will allow him to go elsewhere and be paid even more. Superintendents willing to run urban school districts are in demand and are well compensated. If Dr. Watkins were to leave, finding a talented replacement would cost the school city far more than the 2% raise they gave him.

If his "skills and experience" are wanted elsewhere he should be free to pursue other opportunities. I don't see other school districts beating down the door to hire him based on the results he has produced in Hammond. My kids buddy mentioned 4 different fights at Gavit today, one of which was pretty severe, cops were involved.

Maybe its his results in Hammond that are the reason no other school system is trying to lure him away

The superintendent has absolutely no control over the type of students that enroll in any school. I attended what is considered a good public school system and there were fights there. It's part of growing up. Didn't the school you attended have fights?

Mike, when I went to Hammond High, fights were very rare. Unfortunately, rare now is the days when there are NOT any fights in the Hammond Schools. They are totally out of control. Teachers are now crowd control/babysitters/zoo keepers. They are supposed to be EDUCATORS !
Having Police patrol the halls of the schools back then, was unheard of and unnecessary. Now, several officers are assigned to each middle and high school. NEVER did you previously hear of a Teacher getting beat up by students. Now, it happens several times a year, but unless you have a kid in the schools, chances are you will never hear about it.

As for Watkins, he should have been shelved when the Wallace School scandal broke. Instead, his associations and ineptness warranted him an additional 4 year contract. DISGUSTING.

Yep must be nice to reward bad ISTEP scores with payraises

And sorry sparks, those scores are unacceptable, even if they showed some improvement, other area's went down, that is bad

Yet how does the school board respond? Hey great job buddy, here's a payraise


Would you be against tying his raises to ISTEP results Sparks?

Then do "him" a favor and let him go! I don't see that he's been very good for us.

Hey Sparks, don't go away before answering my question


Would you be for tying any payraises against the ISTEP scores?

Why should I bother to respond to you? You have already convinced yourself that standardized test scores should be the sole determining factor in whether a community builds modern,well equipped schools to educate their children. Nothing that I write is going to change your opinion about that.

If a kid can't or doesn't want to learn that y=mx+b in the buildings we have a new building isn't going to change a kids ability or desire to learn. Sadly Hammond is populated to a large degree with families who don't place an education at the top of their list and for that the rest suffer. If new school buildings were a cure for the problem all we would need is brand new buildings in Gary, correct?

Say, speaking of proof. So what things can Watkins point at to show he's a valuable asset to us for the money we spend on him?