Speak Out 4/2/16

R-1 District's

censored forum

I wish someone would explain the point in having an "open, public forum" when there is an established committee to censor the questions that the public wants to ask. Another "sugar coat" performance by our school. In other words, you can ask what you want as long as it won't embarrass us and we can answer it so we will look good. "If it makes us look bad, then the committee will not let you ask it." Censoring an open public forum is a perfect example of an oxymoron.

The DAR stated that the purpose of the committee was to keep the questions on focus. I think anything pertaining to the school should be on focus -- whether it be the over budget on a second football field, mouse poop on the food, the great soccer fiasco, where should more emphasis be put -- academics or sports, or why should the taxpayers support the upkeep on two footbal fields when we never have had, nor ever will have, two home games at the same time? Don't these topics pertain directly to the school? After all, it is the taxpayers of the district that supports these things. I totally agree that a meeting of this nature needs to be kept orderly and peaceful. But why not let the public ask what they want as long as it pertains to any topic involving any phase of the school operations?

Our school is known for putting on an effective "dog and pony" show. A censored, open, public forum is a joke. but our whole school system is becoming a joke. the only way things will change is to get a complete set of new board members and hope that the mentality of the present board doesn't rub off on them.

Teacher blasts

R-1 discipline

I am a teacher at a Poplar Bluff school. I do not want my identity known because this letter goes against the establishment and when you do that you don't stay in your job for long. I want to comment on a letter you recently printed comparing Poplar Bluff School to Neelyville. I don't have a clue what Neelyville does, or doesn't do, because I've never been there. But the person that wrote that letter knows exactly what goes on in Poplar Bluff schools.

Not every student mis-uses the Mac Books, but the majority tend to do so. It is a never ending battle to keep students from watching videos. When I am not looking, or giving individual help to a student, the majority of others are looking at something they shouldn't. When you get in a position to see the screens, a push of a button hides what they are doing. Turn, or walk away, and a push of a button and they are back on the video. Mac Books are the worse mistake this school ever made. I should be teaching or helping individual students, NOT policing Mac Books.

As for cellphones, 90 percent of the students that walk into my class have a cellphone in their hands and ear buds in their ears. You tell them to put them away and guess what? They can't hear you! I thought our policy was no cellphones, but it is not being followed. Our administration needs to get really tough but they are afraid of "stepping on the wrong person's freedoms". No guts.

I also agree with that article that eating and drinking sodas in class is a problem and distraction from the educational process. It is hard for me to stop it when so many others approve it.

In my years of teaching here, I have seen the learning process go down hill fast. I know that not everyone agrees with me but our test scores reflect that something needs to change.

I like my job, enjoy the students, but we have become way to liberal in our education process. Controlling discipline takes too much of my time away from the teaching process. You send them to the office, but nothing changes. If you had their attention, like I should, and didn't have to deal with discipline issues so much, I could teach better and hopefully raise their test scores.

Some drastic changes need to be made in our school system. And everyone needs to work together to enforce discipline. The students should not be in control -- but they are and they know it. Every day, I feel more like a puppet with my strings being jerked. I went to college, took student loan and studied to become a teacher. Don't I have the right to enjoy my work?

Get family off of

board, teaching

Yes, I would like to know what is happening in our schools today. We have too many family members working in our school systems who are more interested in taking care of their family members than protecting our children. It is a crime for child to bully another child, but it is okay for a teacher to bully a child. All they do is reprimand him and let it go on. I thought our schools were about our kids and not about our teachers. I am very disappointed in some of our schools in this area because I see more and more of it all the time. We need to get the family members out of the schools and off of the school board and get our schools back to where they need to be more concerned about our students than our teachers.

No respect in

Poplar Bluff

Poplar Bluff is one of the strangest places I have ever seen. People here have no respect for anyone or anything. Drug deals on Main St. in broad daylight, drag racing from American Furniture out past Break Time, pick any stop sign in town and watch 25 cars go through it and you probably won't see more than two stop, the city can't make people clean up trashed out houses, and judging from your police record in the paper, when someone does get caught they don't bother to show up for court. Bad plan, folks.