Sunday, August 15, 2010

Another "final" comment on the failed school levy

[The following was submitted via email. It seems fair to post given the time the author put into it. This will be the last post on the levy unless there are further developments.]

Has anyone thought to ask the students how it makes THEM feel to know the Greenville community they live in will not step up and do its civic duty to support the school they attend, refuses to allow them the necessary facilities to not only provide them with a current and up-to-date education, but meet their physical and safety needs?

What concerns me the most about this issue is the bad taste it leaves in the mouths of our students as they struggle their way through our school district. As a high school teacher, I hear their final comments, and it hurts my heart. Our best and brightest students, the ones who SHOULD be the future of this community, can hardly wait to leave... and never come back. For so many, the last place on Earth they want to live, work and raise a family is here. With this in mind, I highly commend the few individuals who have gotten a degree and come home to live and work... but there are so few of them.

So, who are the vast majority of the ones who will remain and be the future citizens of Greenville? The ones who don't have the means and cannot leave because they didn't finish school, were unsuccessful and don't have the grades to further their education and/or were discipline problems and in the court system before they left the Junior High and they have nowhere else to go. They have no future to speak of, so they will stay here.

Too many of our students are not PROUD to say they go to Greenville City Schools. I believe our district is now the only one in Darke county to not get a new building, and we are the County Seat! We should be the jewel of the county, not the laughing stock. Even though there are some outstanding programs here, some even garnering national recognition, most people judge a book by its cover... and GCS's cover is tattered and torn and quite literally falling apart.

How can we expect students who are ashamed to find the motivation to buckle down, work hard and excel in spite of the deficiencies of our facilities?

How can we expect these beautiful minds to overlook the uncomfortable, crowded, outdated, unsafe buildings, to see beyond the lack of modern equipment, to forgive the teacher whose large class size doesn't allow him/her to provide enough individualized attention and try their best anyway?

If the people of the community cannot not see past their own pockets and look down the road into the future of Greenville, then how can we expect the students to look past their immediate surroundings and not give up?

How do we, if not improve, at least maintain, the quality of the citizenship of Greenville?

If our best students feel unappreciated and unsupported, how can we expect them to return after college and live here?

Why isn't anyone concerned about what the students think and how they feel?

20 comments:

  1. Funny. I know my fair share of Greenville students and how do they think/feel, you ask? They said they hope this is the end of it because the levy NEEDED to fail! Teachers crying about what they DON'T have and not putting to use what they DO have! Say there needs to be an attitude adjustment from the school board and school employees and levy supporters who think they are ENTITLED to a new school instead of worrying about the students who are there right now and teaching them.

    Perhaps you should have listened to the "dumbest and most dimwitted" instead of just the "best and brightest." They want to leave Greenville, too! Not because of not having a school or not having people that support their schools, it is because that is the attitude of young adults graduating! You want to get away from your parents! You want to move where there is something to do on the weekend besides The Triangle. You want to move where you can take on new challenges instead of besting the people in your hometown that you've bested all your life. It isn't about a levy, and anyone who says otherwise is fooling him/herself. It isn't a problem localized to the top 10% of a class. It isn't a problem at all! It is "baby bird escaping the nest" and nothing more.

    Apparently posting commentary completely off-base and jilted towards one view without considering the true facts of the situation shouldn't come as a surprise, though, should it?

    But hey, at least I enlightened some people to the facts. Then again, I probably didn't because even those supporting the levy know this to be the truth. They just don't like it. They just dab a bit too much makeup on it and hope people won't notice it is there.

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  2. It seems that people that voted for the levy are concern about the message that was sent to the students by people that voted against the levy. To these people I ask, what message do you think you are sending to the the students. For example, when you say we need nice schools like all the other schools in the county. What message is this sending. For someone to be sucessful and to learn, you need to have all the nice materials things because substance means nothing. I would hope the students would look with an open mind in understanding why this levy failed. Understand how a poor economy effects a community and what really needs to be done to improve the situation. Realize how important you continue your education and that you, and only you can put the limits on how much you learn. No matter of the situation, overlook the people that say you can't improve yourself. Yes, the people that voted against the levy did deprive the students all the nice bells and whistles. I just hope all the negative comments from the people that voted for the levy hasn't destroyed the will of the students to learn.

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  3. Good comment, ask the students, most of them understand the family's money situations. They're up on the future of the economics in this country. They hear parents talk about how much their medical coverage went up and how much more it's going to increase in 2011. Actually, they're getting smarter about finances. They know first hand how much of the budget is waisted and how we the parents are lied to all the time.

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  4. i'm sick and tired of hearing about a new school,that we dont need.like i need my property taxes to go up! and like i really care,i don't and won't,cause i dont have any kids.so why should i be pentilized!!!
    SHUT UP AND MOVE ON,YOU PEOPLE!!

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  5. Great attitude "who cares"! That will teach our kids how to contribute to society. Yes, I'm being sarcastic. You shut up!

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  6. whocares-

    @#$% you.

    Worthless piece of @#$%.

    [message edited slightly by dj]

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  7. Its people like "whocares" that make our community the way it is. Those people are truely worthless! But thats ok, because karma is a b***h and someday they will need help for something and someone will say to them....who cares!!

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  8. Wow, it's difficult to read the hate between people on these comments. We need a school, But we need much much more. We need to come to our senses.

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  9. It sounds like your school system needs to wake up. When I come here I hear about this school thing all the time. Does'nt the people here realize just how the bad economy is? Leave Greenville and take a look. Sounds like school system wants to keep up with the Jones. What kind of example is that for your students? From what I recall the downfall of this area started back in the 80's when your city council turned away a mall, Miller Brewery, and Lilly Corp. Mall to Piqua, Miller to Trenton and Lilly to Indiana. I believe you all should look at the whole picture and realize the money is not here like it used to be and won't be back. I'll check with you in a couple of months. Good luck and do what you can to get Obama out of office, then maybe Greenville will grow,

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  10. As I am very involved with a lot of the younger people...yes it saddens me to hear them say 'they can't wait to get out of Greenville'.
    When I moved here 13 years ago, this was an awesome place. I was talked in to moving here because of the great school district, the thriving businesses and the great community. Wow....what 13 years has done to this place....It truly SADDENS me.

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  11. Interesting that the allegory of "the baby bird escaping the nest" was used in support of graduates leaving and never coming back. If one follows through with that thought, that same baby bird, once mature, will RETURN to its original breeding grounds to nest and raise its own young.

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  12. I believe students graduate from Greenville and move away simple because there is no jobs. No decent paying jobs in the past few yrs. I graduated from Greenville and still live here but must commute to Dayton for my job. So its understandable why graduates move away- they have bills that need paid so they are smart enough to go where there are good paying jobs. And please don't say if we get a new school jobs will come to town-all the surrounding towns do indeed have the new schools but no new businesses have sought to invest in their community yet. Also what I don't understand is 50 states have elections and choose a new president of the US in 24 hrs. yet we in Greenville have had to wait nearly 2 wks to find out the result of a one question ballot-can someone please explain why the extra time was needed? Tomorrow is the big day-can't wait to see the "final" result of the votes!

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  13. 13 years ago it was a great school district? Really? Rose-colored glasses, I assure you, or else you just told everyone that the upkeep of buildings basically "stopped" in the past 13 years, which isn't a strong endorsement of GCS.

    13 years ago students wanted out of Greenville, too. I think if you go in search of graduates around Greenville from the class of 1997, it won't be much different from those in the classes of 2002 or 2007 (just to use 5 year intervals). In fact, I would guess MORE from the class of 2007 are in town because of the terrible economy! Go to college, can't find a job, come back home and live with the parents.

    Honestly, some of the comments I read are TERRIBLE for "wearing the blinders."

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  14. My children graduated from GHS, I worked for the school too! The truth as I see it 15 years made a big difference.
    1. People got too busy in there lives, not as many parents helping anymore /or showing up to help.
    2. Jobs started disappering in Greenville, parents had to find work else where.
    3. Leaders made more decisions without out asking!
    4. My area in the school, employees changed, from team work/ caring about there fellow, to me and how much more I can make with working less!
    5. I could keep going, but I won't BECAUSE these points also- Is the State of the current lives in the United States!!

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  15. I still want to know if the last vote was in favor by 70 votes would the provisonal votes still be there? Still sounds sneaky

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  16. Better watch out for a Sidney situation! Find a "lost" vote to tie a levy, then find another "lost" vote to win a levy. Then when it goes to the ballot again, it gets OBLITERATED!

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  17. come on DJ dont we have other things to talk about in greenville .dont beat the dead horse..

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  18. TO: whocares
    August 15, 2010 5:41 PM
    Idiot
    August 15, 2010 5:56 PM
    icares
    August 15, 2010 5:59 PM
    Anonymous
    August 15, 2010 6:19 PM
    You all make us look bad when you misspell Penalized (pentilized!!!). The other three of you read his comment and obviously didn’t notice so you’re no better!!

    BTW, I agree, Stop beating a dead horse!! Or maybe this horse will be revived with a few mysterious votes!! Stay Tuned

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  19. "How can we expect students who are ashamed to find the motivation to buckle down, work hard and excel in spite of the deficiencies of our facilities?

    How can we expect these beautiful minds to overlook the uncomfortable, crowded, outdated, unsafe buildings, to see beyond the lack of modern equipment, to forgive the teacher whose large class size doesn't allow him/her to provide enough individualized attention and try their best anyway?"

    How vain, in the past kids that were presented a challenge would have rose up and overcame it.
    Now? they are being taught to be defeatist's, how sad.
    I can see this being a non-stop excuse for poor performance in the schools.

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