tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post4988354304304637148..comments2024-03-15T05:45:01.402-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: NY Times: Texas not providing federally guaranteed education to disabled kids in TYCGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-10033133873249626412008-08-31T21:46:00.000-05:002008-08-31T21:46:00.000-05:00Who is responsible for the turn of events...Conser...Who is responsible for the turn of events...<BR/><BR/>Conservatorship...legislature/governor<BR/>Disbanding the board...legislature/governor<BR/>J. Kimbrough...governor<BR/>Ed Owens...governor<BR/>The pope...Whitmire/governor<BR/>Nedelkoff...governor<BR/><BR/>All of the current problems in TYC are directly related to the people listed above. not TYC staff.<BR/><BR/>If the legislative and executive branches of government were businesses the legislative branch would be bankrupt and the executive branch would be locked up. <BR/><BR/>Quite blaming tyc staff. You don't know anything about the dedicated staff of TYC. Staff who continue to do their job, faithfully, while central office bobbleheads yank the chain back and forth. Work endless 12 hour shifts. Have the policies by which they are supposed to do their jobs yanked around like yo yos leaving them unsure what if anything they can do to protect themselves and the youth in their care. TYC is no different than any other employment pool. You have those who don't carry their weight, but the vast majority work extremely hard, with limited resources (not a bloated budget at the institutional level). So rather than knowing what they are talking about 9:23 is talking out of their a@#.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-5760546580696413492008-08-31T21:37:00.000-05:002008-08-31T21:37:00.000-05:00I do not disagree that TYC is a chaotic place, but...I do not disagree that TYC is a chaotic place, but disagree that the agency is responsible. What other state agency has had 5 different leaders in a span of less than 2 years. Who is responsible for this? the governor and legislator. You should expect nothing but chaos from this situation. All Nedelkoff has been able to do is manage the inane policies of his predecessors. It will take the new ED two years to firmly establish a future path.<BR/><BR/>Dismantle Austin, not TYC.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-50167555624087442042008-08-20T22:20:00.000-05:002008-08-20T22:20:00.000-05:00Unfortunately, the "fry cook" is reflecting the at...Unfortunately, the "fry cook" is reflecting the attitude of most voters out there with regard to government employees. That's the ignorant audience Whitmire is playing to. Whitmire is not stupid - he's just completely amoral.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-49191116531855300472008-08-19T07:21:00.000-05:002008-08-19T07:21:00.000-05:009:23 is telling like it is! The truth and nothing ...9:23 is telling like it is! The truth and nothing but the truth.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-84947332632935274012008-08-14T22:24:00.000-05:002008-08-14T22:24:00.000-05:009:23,The taxpayers should not be frustrated with T...9:23,<BR/>The taxpayers should not be frustrated with TYC, they should be frustrated with the legislature and the governor.<BR/><BR/>They are the ones who pushed for conservatorship. <BR/><BR/>They are the ones who supported Kimbrough and the Pope. <BR/><BR/>They are the ones who for more than a year have completely ignored the recommendations of juvenile experts who came from across the country to put together recommendations for TYC. <BR/><BR/>They are the ones who refuse to work with, but would rather play politics with, our current administration (only 7 months by the way).<BR/><BR/>They have been driving this train into the ground. I wish everyone would see that they are doing it on purpose, sacrificing an agency and the youth in it.<BR/><BR/>Stop blaming TYC administrators for all of this. WHitmire needs to be held accountable for not knowing what the hell he is doing and the hell he has caused. <BR/><BR/>We really need to do a sweep of the legislators on the criminal justice committees and bring in some people who actually care about making Texas a safer place to live, not just their own political power and pocketbooks. <BR/><BR/>Now, the new administration is at fault for following through with the NextConConextions treatment program put together by the Pope. This is ridiculous. Youth will not be held accountable for their behavior. They will not even have to work on identifying their motivations for offending and their criminal offenses. The legislature really needs to wake up to what they have done by eliminating, rather than adjusting, the resocialization program. It really wasn't the program it was the method of assessment that was the problem. It would still be so easy to just modify an established program, bring back some sense of understanding for these youth who are now out of control, and slowly adjust the program. <BR/><BR/>Quit talking about Research Based Treatments TYC. Conextions is not research based and is really not even a treatment program. Just a bunch of groups with skills development. What a joke. You are going to have VOAs and sentenced offenders just sitting around for 2 to 3 years, learning skills, nothing more? please. what a joke. what a waste. come on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-52961130427533032652008-08-14T21:02:00.000-05:002008-08-14T21:02:00.000-05:00Austin, we have a problem - we are steadily losing...Austin, we have a problem - we are steadily losing control of our campuses!! PLEASE HELP!!1Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-14869696102394500122008-08-14T11:01:00.000-05:002008-08-14T11:01:00.000-05:00A big thank you to the Teachers and JCO’s who tire...A big thank you to the Teachers and JCO’s who tirelessly work to help our throw away kids. If you want control you need the Pope if you want out of control you have the libs stirring up trouble. Somewhere in between is the equilibrium need for success although the central office and our elected officials could never allow a win for TYC just by their very nature. <BR/>I pray y’all find a way to work within the boundaries you have been given. I pray that each of you can personally instill the understanding in your TYC kids that they need in order to respect you, in spite of the fact that the current climate of TYC is to hand over control to the offenders. Good luck and keep out of harms way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-33420449282820995132008-08-14T10:00:00.000-05:002008-08-14T10:00:00.000-05:009:23 is nothing more than a fry cook. Don't let th...9:23 is nothing more than a fry cook. Don't let the fry cook get under your skin.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-25779900224793720912008-08-13T21:08:00.000-05:002008-08-13T21:08:00.000-05:00Your right HELP is what we need. At Gainesville w...Your right HELP is what we need. At Gainesville we need it for sure.<BR/><BR/>Today, we had youths running all over campus, food-fighting in the chow hall, climbing on roofs, climbing in trees, fighting and being restrained in the hallways of the school house, screaming and yelling cuss words all over the place and our leaders telling us that they had it all under control. I sure hope it does not get out of control. I can't imagine what that will look like. A teacher even got their glasses broken. It's for sure a miracle that many people including youth and staff were not hurt. If someone doesnt' get control of the youth on this campus, someone is going to get hurt really bad and maybe even worst. And it might just be a lot of people. <BR/><BR/>We need your prayers. We're trying to make it the best we can but instead of taking control and getting the help we need, they just want to cover it up. Mr. Needlecoff, Mr. Walters, Mr. Bartush, where are all of you when we need you to come and see what is really going on here and how our leaders can't take care of the youth or the staff? This place is a bomb waiting to happen. This is getting serious and i'm afraid it's going to get even worst than it is right now if that is possibel.<BR/><BR/>I'll bet you didn't even know nothin about this did you?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-46210749382963773592008-08-13T20:56:00.000-05:002008-08-13T20:56:00.000-05:00What we need is HELP. We can and have educated ma...What we need is HELP. We can and have educated many youth in TYC but there are so many hurdles to overcome that it's nearly impossible. First, there are few that really want to learn at any given time. Since you can't do anything with those that don't want to learn discipline-wise today, you either ignore their antics or you send them down the hallway for a few minutes for a type of "time out" while you now spend your valuable time filling in whatever type of paperwork they want you to in order to report the misbehavior to people who simply don't give a darn anyway and can't hold them accountable if they wanted to. Be sure to tell the student that wanted to learn that you can't help him now because this required paperwork must be filled out and sent in pronto. All the while the JCO is sitting there doing nothing but sitting there. We have to correct, teach, fill in paperwork and as yet, I haven't figured out what the JCO job duties are because during education, they aren't doing anything unless it's calling them for latrine break. We've completely had our hands tied and there is no real recourse for those who misbehave. These children are going home when they are supposed to thanks to our dear legislators and that's that. And let me tell you, they full well know it and will tell you so. I can tell you one thing, you'll never be so humiliated as a teacher anywhere but TYC. The kids curse you, the JCO's for the most part despise you and sit and laugh when the students are out of control and won't help any and the administration badgers you every time they get a chance. You are still not to report things because if you do, you'll be retaliated against like nothing else but out of the other sides of their mouths, they tell you that it's policy that you must report things. It's a no win situation all the way around. These "children" curse you each and every time you dare to correct them and do it as loud as they can all the way down the hallway and nothing is really done about it. Never mind turning over the desks, throwing stuff all over the room, etc. and still they are back before you can fill out the paperwork. <BR/><BR/>Secondly, the poster above is correct. This is an Open Entry/Open Exit school. Students come and go each and every day and are;therefore, in all parts of the book. Why is that so hard for everyone on the outside to see? We can't start the course all over every day when a new student arrives. They are high school aged students who must be enrolled in high school courses despite being on about the 3rd to 5th grade level. Try that in Algebra or Geometry class. You don't know your multiplication facts but you have to enter in the middle of Alg. 1 because some genius somewhere said that we have to "teach" like the public school model that has been a total failure for the past century. Then, just what do we do when September comes around??? I guess we're to start back at the beginning of the book whether the students are finished or not. I guess without being here and seeing it in real action, one could just not fathom how it works. Are we putting out many rocket scientists. NO, but neither are many of the other "elementary schools" in Texas or any other state in this nation. We simply help the kids where they are and take them as far as we possibly can take them. I can tell you this. It was much easier in the public schools standing and "teaching" the same lesson to everyone in the classroom whether they were really prepared for it or not and then moving on whether they knew all the material or not all for the sake of keeping everyone in the same place and getting done with the book at the end of the school year. In TYC, we "uncover" material at the students pace, we don't "cover" material at the pace some PhD who hasn't taught "kids" in 20 years thinks we should. <BR/><BR/>All this for what? For those of us in the trenches, we all know this is how it MUST work in TYC. For all those outside who know everything about everything, a waste of breath since they can't comprehend until they put these shoes on (and they sure aren't going to do that). Why should they, they already know how it should work.<BR/><BR/>Heck, some of the legislators I've watched would fit right in. They throw their little tirades and tantrums much like these children and nothing happens to them either. They humiliate those who are actually trying to help and won't come to see how things really are inside these fences and basically bully everyone around and lie with the best of them. Some of them can't wait for more of these facilities to close so they can get those contract facilities going. I'll bet if someone dug deep enough, they are going to reap some of those $$$ benefits or someone they know well will. <BR/><BR/>I know this. I'm going back inside those fences again tomorrow and I'm going to try the best I can to help "kids" despite all the hurdles I'm going to face. Stand outside and throw rocks at us all you want, but we really do care about kids and want to help them. Quit fighting and try to help us help them. We can start by ensuring we have something that can be used as discipline so we can actually try to have school. There is never much learning taking place, no matter how we try, if there is not order and discipline. <BR/><BR/>Good night.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-58303560818323542992008-08-13T15:40:00.000-05:002008-08-13T15:40:00.000-05:008:24, your comments are 100% correct. It is possi...8:24, your comments are 100% correct. It is possible to have a few minutes of direct teaching on study skills that are not directly related to specific subject-chapter content, but the students need the one-on-one tutoring to make real progress. Thank you for making the case so clearly.<BR/><BR/>9:23, what is your real job that produces a real bensfit to the public? Every success that you have goes back to what you learned from a teacher. Who taught you to read and write? Who taught you math, science, social studies? How far would you have gotten without an education? The teachers, case workers, JCOs, and other staff work with the TYC youth in hopes that he or she will take his or her life in a new positive direction. We plant seeds in the youth. Some times we are lucky enough to see the seeds take root, grow, and bear fruit. Most of the time, the seeds are planted, but we know they are being transplanted back to the weed patch that sent them to TYC. Your comments offend me and every other dedicated and loyal TYC employee who does everything they can to make a difference. For over a year and a half, there has been a revolving door in Central Office. The management of TYC changes so fast it is hard to know who is in charge. Then within those management changes are all the policy changes. And lets not forget the lege and special agenda groups that are more interested in headlines than help. Yet amid all this confusion, the frontline employees continue to do the best we can for the youth and the agency. I would love to see how well you would function in the enviroment TYC has had since the beginning of 2007.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-43031086665507018972008-08-13T09:23:00.000-05:002008-08-13T09:23:00.000-05:008:17 the record of events in the Fix of TYC speaks...8:17 the record of events in the Fix of TYC speaks for itself; almost two years later and TYC has gotten worse not better. Just how much more of our tax money do you self proclaimed experts want to waste floundering around? I don’t need a job because I have a real job that produces a real product that benefits the public. I am not forced to rely on a government job that does no real good for society and is difficult to measure the performance of output. Government work is the new form of welfare! Look busy, have meetings, and get nothing done on a bloated budget. The lot of you at TYC can’t agree on anything and will never get anything positive accomplished. Tax payers and members of the Legislature are getting tired of the inability of TYC leadership to get problems corrected. If TYC were a business it would have gone bankrupt long ago! If you can’t get the job done at TYC then you might want to consider the fry cook job for yourself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-37328602882643509862008-08-13T08:24:00.000-05:002008-08-13T08:24:00.000-05:00Modules are the only way to teach in TYC and I wil...Modules are the only way to teach in TYC and I will tell you why. It's called "open enrollment". For those who don't know..that means the students come into the class all year long. We have no beginning of school or no ending. It just keeps rolling along. The students are all on a different places in the book and may even be in a different text book.When the student comes into the class, he is started on Chapter 1 or whatever the teacher needs to teacher him. When he finishes that ,he turns that module in and gets the next one...until he finishes the course or leaves TYC.The teacher gives him the help he needs to complete the course. As far as a "one on one" situation, this is the best way to teach at TYC. As a matter of fact, parents in the free PAY to have that situation...that call is "TUTORING"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-41752171637652446772008-08-13T08:17:00.000-05:002008-08-13T08:17:00.000-05:00Once again, it's all doom and gloom 1:44 a.m. You ...Once again, it's all doom and gloom 1:44 a.m. You just love to troll and churn the rumor. Get a life. Hey - the Whataburger down the road needs a fry cook? Think they might have a blog too?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-3399153654783723072008-08-13T01:44:00.000-05:002008-08-13T01:44:00.000-05:00TYC is such a confusing mess! People inside of an...TYC is such a confusing mess! People inside of and outside of TYC seems to have a very different perception of reality as it relates to TYC. All the king’s men and all the king’s experts could not put poor TYC back together again! RIP TYC and go softly into that long goodnight.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-12732409456474695472008-08-12T20:42:00.000-05:002008-08-12T20:42:00.000-05:00Grits, First of all, I resent the fact that you a...Grits,<BR/> First of all, I resent the fact that you are quoting the report but you are not totally on target with the facts. That is not like you... Let me try to clarify several things as a veteran teacher of TYC.<BR/> As for the "self-pace" curriculum. About 10-12 yrs ago all facilities were using a curriculum called API. It is self-paced modules. Teachers did sit at their desk and pass out the modules and every student was to complete them, and this did indeed include the ones that could not read. Finally after several years (many)the modules were disposed of and the teachers began "real" teaching again. This included lesson plans and direct teaching.<BR/> About this same time, TYC went ahead of Texas Public education and developed their own NCLB Research Based Reading program. Yep, this is true. I am addressing your statement about a nonreader teaching himself to read by reading...This reading program was developed and was a policy mandated program that was to be implemented in all facilities, and the curriculum was very structured and very individualized--which meant that classes were to be small. This was a developmental reading program for all students who truly read below a 6th grade level. However, with the turnover and atrition rate of educators, this program too became muddied. Principals wanted to use the remedial reading credits as free electives rather than have small individualized classes for the low readers.In their minds, it was a waste of an FTEs because the classes were to be small. What a shame, huh? Very few facilities adheared to the original mandate, and there was no accountability to the program. Today there are probably only about 3-4 facilities who really follow policy on this low level reading program. <BR/> In the meantime...this past May at the TYC statewide educators' conference in Corpus, the educators were asked to decide and vote on a systemwide curriculum to help standardize the curriculum, throughout the system and guess what won???? Yep, sadly--- API modules are making a comeback! Ten steps backwards. However, the reason for this decision was due to the horrific behavior in the classrooms and the impossible task of the teachers to even complete a direct teach. Now, this was done under the direction of Bob Contreras who is no longer Educ. Superintendent. So, I do not know if API is still in the works.<BR/> Now, let's talk about numbers. The state lege says they want a ratio of 1:12. Well, why does that does not happen in education? You have many classrooms with one teacher and 16-20 students. Go figure that one???? When they count education staff, they include the ones that never are in a classroom with the students such as the diags, counselors, etc., so it throws off the count.I guarantee that much more learning would take place in classes with a ratio of 1: 10 or 1:12. These are very tough students, especially now as we are removing the misdemeandor offenders and only keeping the very hard core. <BR/> Could teachers and teaching in TYC improve--you bet. We can always improve what we are doing. These are the toughest youth in the state, and they need the strongest teachers to meet their many and varied needs. However, in several instances the systems are in place already, there is just no accountability. <BR/> Interesting info don't you think? Funny that the report said nothing about any of this...Maybe it should be checked out????Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-33515687462273591272008-08-12T19:26:00.000-05:002008-08-12T19:26:00.000-05:00LD, ED, MH, none of that means functionally illite...LD, ED, MH, none of that means functionally illiterate.<BR/><BR/>But it might be one of the underlying reasons for the illiteracy or a current impediment for learning which should be considered in the learning process...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-12027400413043514372008-08-12T15:02:00.000-05:002008-08-12T15:02:00.000-05:00TYC prepared me for college at UT where I earned a...TYC prepared me for college at UT where I earned a BS in Electrical Engineering as well as advanced training throughout my career. The Gatesville State School for Boys in the mid 70’s was in crisis from outside interference just as much as TYC is now and the school time according to the culture of the day, 3 hours a day, was a tremendous waist. Coming into TYC as an A student in 8th grade the year before from a school not yet effected by desegregation and the principal of teaching on the level of the lowest common denominator, the diagnostic testing for our education level from the state boys perspective was nothing more than pretending to color in the right box on a multiple guess quiz. You whip through it so you could go outside and hang out with your homies. Hilltop School was beautiful in the spring and we would sit on the Texas rocks outside the building smoke cigarettes and wait for the bus. Anyway I went from an A student honor role to a retard in less than a week. As practiced in Gatesville back then, shortly after to our 17th birthday we did the same on the series of GED tests. We knew we would pass since the objective was to get a full day of work out of us and not have to mess with that school stuff. Yes we had to work then, these TYC kids today have it so easy in so many ways. I will say that in the spring of 1976 at Terrace School the course work for drivers education was taught. Must have been 50 of us in the old woodshop spending the 30 hours needed to complete the class. It was a joke but it was well attended. Simply pulling our driving records could show how effective that drivers ed program was. At least we had a license to drive that stolen car.<BR/><BR/>So how did TYC prepare me for a major in Electrical Engineering and college in general.<BR/>As a double E in the early years you have ta’s who have difficulty with the language, they know the stuff but can’t communicate, so its self pace basically. Later on the ta’s are the ones to go to because the professors won’t give you the time of day. If you complain, the professors would say if you can’t handle double e perhaps you should go to the business school. This was like the dorm man who would say if you’re not tough enough to be on this dorm then I can transfer you to the punk dorm. I have a list of these similarities that I complied relating to the psychological issues one would suffer in a TYC culture and how to reverse them for good. <BR/> <BR/>IMO the very culture at TYC teaches a kid to work a system, it doesn’t matter if it’s this cool new program or that cool new program, the cool new program was called deCon back in my day. To reach a goal you work a system. That goal could be the release from TYC or a Law degree or buying a home, whatever. There is a difference between working a system and playing a system and the kid needs to be guided in the difference or as many I would suppose left to figure that out for themselves like I had to. Based on this opinion I would theorize today’s TYC kids could slip right into atypical American large company with dysfunctional upper management and line supervisors doing the best they can to do their work all the while telling the people under them it’s all good. Empires and walruses Jim Collins of Good to Great fame might say.<BR/><BR/>Thank you TYC for your small but significant piece in my path that has helped me become a bad ass system engineer. <BR/>Sheldon tyc#47333Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-4605862471446998012008-08-12T13:19:00.000-05:002008-08-12T13:19:00.000-05:00Bill Bush: Glad you took "y'all come back" to hear...Bill Bush: Glad you took "y'all come back" to heart. Do you have a personal email address you want to post? I have a proposition I would like to suggest to you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-661469915521127082008-08-11T22:14:00.000-05:002008-08-11T22:14:00.000-05:009:39 you are well read and correct! It was all a ...9:39 you are well read and correct! It was all a A Modest Proposal......Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-54979221693837071862008-08-11T22:02:00.000-05:002008-08-11T22:02:00.000-05:00I Googled “Perry Addresses the Bilderberg Group” a...I Googled “Perry Addresses the Bilderberg Group” and it appears he did attend Bilderberg in Turkey last year. I am not sure I understand why that matters but it appears to be true. He must have been a flop there also since they didn’t invite him back this year. Maybe the Texas voters should not invite him back either. Hasn’t Perry picked a fine cast of Conservators for TYC? The buck stops with Perry, throw the bum out!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-3581554916265135752008-08-11T21:39:00.001-05:002008-08-11T21:39:00.001-05:00Grits - Have you never read Jonathan Swift's "A Mo...Grits - Have you never read Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal"? I think we may be getting some knock-offs here...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-54913288075475134072008-08-11T21:39:00.000-05:002008-08-11T21:39:00.000-05:00LD, ED, MH, non of that means functionally illiter...LD, ED, MH, non of that means functionally illiterate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-29445648827441157562008-08-11T21:38:00.000-05:002008-08-11T21:38:00.000-05:00the idea that the state of TYC education has anyth...the idea that the state of TYC education has anything to do with socialist ideas is quite preposterous. The current state of TYC is directly related to 13 years of right wing "compassionate conservatism". Remember that. Get tough policies in TYC are what have resulted in the current state of affairs. It is only the work of those damn liberals that brought out all the attention on TYC. Come on people. Get real. Why is it that Governor Perry's name still does not connect with the mess of TYC. I don't understand.<BR/><BR/>Delusional is right Grits.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-28755278295955070872008-08-11T20:34:00.000-05:002008-08-11T20:34:00.000-05:00Hey "Orange" dude...go back to your communist vill...Hey "Orange" dude...go back to your communist village! Hurry along now, Hitler is waiting for you!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com