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Thread: Makeyenko & his school board does it again

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    Makeyenko & his school board does it again

    At the August 4, 2011 Special Meeting, School Board appoints Kathleen Joyce, wife of David Joyce (newest board member) & Courtney Daley, friends & family to pernament 10 month Teacher Aide positions. Told you so. Teacher aide positions are highly overstaffed in this district. This board has decided that it is more important to get their spouses and friends jobs then to educate your children. We lose teachers and replace them with teacher aides!!!!. How in the wide wide world of sports does Makeyenko possibly think that this will improve the districts dismal ranking of the 2nd worst school district in Erie County? This type of stupidity is the precise reason that our children are failing. Decisions like this dooms our childrens future. This board does not have our children's best interest as their first and only priority and needs to be replaced. The taxpayers of Lackawanna voted down the school budget so John Makeyenko couldn't waste our hard earned dollars. What pure arrogance on their part.

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    I so agree with you, it is a shame that there are that many teacher's aides in the district,most of them are just walking around with their Tim Horton's cups. I do understand aides in Pre - k and maybe even a couple for Special Ed, but with the amount the actual teachers are receiving in salary and benefits, why are so many aides needed?

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    Quote Originally Posted by twiggy View Post
    I so agree with you, it is a shame that there are that many teacher's aides in the district,most of them are just walking around with their Tim Horton's cups. I do understand aides in Pre - k and maybe even a couple for Special Ed, but with the amount the actual teachers are receiving in salary and benefits, why are so many aides needed?
    The majority are not needed, these are patronage jobs.

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    Post Teacher Aides are important

    Teacher Aides are needed because many people have not parented their children. I recommend you, as a parent, sit in on your child's classroom for a day. In this day, the way society is, there should be 2 adults present in the classroom. I live near a school, and if you could hear the language and nastiness from these kids you would understand.

    I remember sitting in on my child's class one day 10 years ago. I saw a young girl that slept because her mother kept her up the night before fighting with the boyfriend. I saw a young boy that actually pummeled the teacher with closed fists so badly that the police had to come. I saw children that couldn't print their names. Some couldn't read their book when it was their turn. This teacher tried and tried, and a few children kept interupting the class with their foul mouths that they couldn't keep shut. The age of these children...4th grade...At the end of the day when I was leaving some children came to me and thanked me for coming. The sleeping child asked me if she could come live with me.

    My child went to a Catholic School the next day.

    School Administrators need to demand better from the parents. They also need to be on top of problems.
    Is every classroom like this, not always but many days. Talk to a teacher, listen to her stories.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Daisey Mae View Post
    Teacher Aides are needed because many people have not parented their children. I recommend you, as a parent, sit in on your child's classroom for a day. In this day, the way society is, there should be 2 adults present in the classroom. I live near a school, and if you could hear the language and nastiness from these kids you would understand.

    I remember sitting in on my child's class one day 10 years ago. I saw a young girl that slept because her mother kept her up the night before fighting with the boyfriend. I saw a young boy that actually pummeled the teacher with closed fists so badly that the police had to come. I saw children that couldn't print their names. Some couldn't read their book when it was their turn. This teacher tried and tried, and a few children kept interupting the class with their foul mouths that they couldn't keep shut. The age of these children...4th grade...At the end of the day when I was leaving some children came to me and thanked me for coming. The sleeping child asked me if she could come live with me.

    My child went to a Catholic School the next day.

    School Administrators need to demand better from the parents. They also need to be on top of problems.
    Is every classroom like this, not always but many days. Talk to a teacher, listen to her stories.
    Daisey Mae you brought me to tears. Let see after I thought it over I said what is wrong with this picture. So a teachers aide would have prevented the problems in that class. I don't think so. The problem there stems from the teacher not being able to control a couple of 9 year olds. Your solution is to dump into the class a macho Teacher aide to whip those kids into shape. I don't think that aide exists here maybe at Wende Correctional. Please don't tell me that you would have a problem dealing with a 9 year old. Many children do have problems, always have. Many bring their problems to school. We have resources for the troubled children such as, Social Workers, the Nurse, the Principal, the Guidance Councelor, child protection, PINS program, police, Special Ed, parent teacher/meetings and probably others that I don't know. Utilize the services that we already paid for.

    So your solution is to put two adults in a classroom. Nice try. Who pays for it, the taxpayer? If we need security to deal with the 9 year old we are in trouble. We do need teacher aides, they play an important role with some students that require special needs. But really do they all have to be political connected? I'll give you a short list, just of board members wives, Motyka, Miller, Chudzik, Joyce, Siuta and McNamara. There could others that I don't know. All the aides are political appointments and its has been going on forever. At an average cost of $26,000 per year with benefits for just 10 month of employment, for approximately 38 teacher aides. You do the math. Once they are hired they are there until they retire because of the their union. Nice huh, and you foot the bill even though many residents send their children to Catholic Schools (which is just another unofficial tax burden). I include myself here sending with my three going through the Catholic School System and then on to college. My children wouldn't even consider Lackawanna as a place to live and raise a family here primarily because of the schools. Knowing that they eventually would have to send their children to private schools. Back then it cost me eight thousand per year to send them to private school and I still had to pay my school taxes. I would have liked to have that money for other things but it was a decision that had to be made.

    With enrollment down because of the Charter School this board of fools chose to hire 2 more aides both politically connected at the taxpayers expenses. Shame on the board of fools.

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    David Joyce's Wife Gets Job

    In a Special Meeting the board of fools nominated and hired David Joyce's wife to the position of Teacher Aide. What a suprise! Seems that this is the only reason that Mr. Joyce ran for school board. After reviewing the minutes of the fools board the name of Mrs. Joyce was brought up numerous times for a positions that she didn't want. She wanted the 10 month Teachers Aide position with benefits. Mrs. Joyce's vote went 6 to 0. After they nominated an another candidate Elizabeth Krakowski which the fools board voted 3 to 3 defeating this candidate. The board nominated Ms Daley which is another Family and Friend. Vote was 6 to 0. What a bunch of morons. Again the Fools Board went behind closed doors without of the public knowing.

    Just another pathetic job done by Board President John M. and another Board Member gets his spouse a job. To Mr. Joyce...I guess you can resign now your work is done.

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    I wonder who said this first??? Hmmm.... Like I said previously Joyce is a nice guy who wanted to get his wife the grand prize a teacher's aides job. That's it. What really needs to happen in the city is a state take over of the school district and a ban on the following:

    1) Board President Makeyenko and his side kick Dave Stan should be banned for life from any school, school job, school activity and school board position. This would be the greatest thing ever to happen to the children of the school district!!!! But unfortunately this is just a dream it'll never happen or will it?

    2) No City of Lackawanna Employee should be a school board member this means ANY employee especially LACKAWANNA POLICE OFFICERS or Former Lackawanna Police officers for that matter.

    3) No current board members should be allowed to hire any sitting board members family members in the school district. That means no wife,daughter, brother,sister,aunt uncle, mom, dad, cousins who whoever else they may be because only then will they actually serve the people they are supposed to represent the kids. Every application should come in blind with no name to chose the most qualified candidate to help the CHILDREN. Unfortunately that'll never happen either.

    4)Anyone doing racist or degratory things to other employees should be FIRED immediately regardless who he or she is connected to. Plain and simple. That would be who......Lackawanna1 you can answer that I know!
    Last edited by mnb811; September 3rd, 2011 at 11:10 AM.

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    Maybe, if the teacher feels he or she needs an aide, the salary and benefits should be deducted from the teachers salary. I would imagine that there would be a lot less teachers aides in the district. Like I posted before, I do think that some aides are needed,(some special ed classes and preK), but 38 of them in one district ?

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    The kids are a lot worse in Lackawanna though.LMAO. With school board members like J........gee I wonder ......oh never mind......

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    Post Reply to .....

    I am not savey with this reply stuff and copy/paste so here is my best!


    stated---
    Daisey Mae you brought me to tears. Let see after I thought it over I said what is wrong with this picture. So a teachers aide would have prevented the problems in that class. I don't think so. The problem there stems from the teacher not being able to control a couple of 9 year olds. Your solution is to dump into the class a macho Teacher aide to whip those kids into shape. I don't think that aide exists here maybe at Wende Correctional. Please don't tell me that you would have a problem dealing with a 9 year old. Many children do have problems, always have. Many bring their problems to school. We have resources for the troubled children such as, Social Workers, the Nurse, the Principal, the Guidance Councelor, child protection, PINS program, police, Special Ed, parent teacher/meetings and probably others that I don't know. Utilize the services that we already paid for.

    reply---
    No Macho Correction Guard Needed (maybe would be a help!) The issues of children out of control begins at home. (that was my initial point trying to make) I will tell you that I and also yourself, would have a problem controlling some of these 9 year olds. (hate to say it) There are some that need all the resouces named, but then try to use the resources. (they look good on paper) Another question--we pay for the services, so why aren't they being taken advantage of?

    stated---
    So your solution is to put two adults in a classroom. Nice try. Who pays for it, the taxpayer? If we need security to deal with the 9 year old we are in trouble. We do need teacher aides, they play an important role with some students that require special needs. But really do they all have to be political connected? I'll give you a short list, just of board members wives, Motyka, Miller, Chudzik, Joyce, Siuta and McNamara. There could others that I don't know. All the aides are political appointments and its has been going on forever. At an average cost of $26,000 per year with benefits for just 10 month of employment, for approximately 38 teacher aides. You do the math. Once they are hired they are there until they retire because of the their union. Nice huh, and you foot the bill even though many residents send their children to Catholic Schools (which is just another unofficial tax burden). I include myself here sending with my three going through the Catholic School System and then on to college. My children wouldn't even consider Lackawanna as a place to live and raise a family here primarily because of the schools. Knowing that they eventually would have to send their children to private schools. Back then it cost me eight thousand per year to send them to private school and I still had to pay my school taxes. I would have liked to have that money for other things but it was a decision that had to be made.

    reply---
    I made a statement saying that in today's society there should be 2 adults in the classroom. I agree totally with that. The reason stands that our society has allowed the children to run everything. If a teacher were to touch a student (lets say take the child by the shoulder and move him to another direction) the teacher will be sued and lose the job. Having another adult places another set of eyes and ears there.

    stated---
    With enrollment down because of the Charter School this board of fools chose to hire 2 more aides both politically connected at the taxpayers expenses. Shame on the board of fools.

    reply---
    These job hirings should be conducted by resumes and qualifications.

    MY Reply to this issue---
    Perhaps we could go back to the day when children had respect for their teachers. This is a bit much to ask, since first, families need to have respect within the household. So again it all starts at home. Since it isn't starting with respect at home, the classroom is being overtaken by disrespectful brats that their parents aren't any better.
    These postions could be filled by parents, who have children in the classrooms, volunteering a few days a week. (like it used to be "back in the day") Another thought is I bet the Wende Corrections Guys wouldn't mind walking the halls as a part time moonlighting job for $50 a day, visiting the classrooms and helping a teacher who might need it. (as long as thats what was being done, not sitting around drinking coffee and visiting)
    None of these postions should be "placed" to a board members wife or family member. AND none of these positions should be anything but part time, minimum wage, no benefits, no union, seasonal work.

    Another though---maybe the charter school has competent people running it, and they demand respect from the children and parents>>>perhaps city schools could take a lesson from them.

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    Daisey Mae I agree with you on most of your points. The problem in LA is the lack of leadership. We have a board with no vision and leadership or educational qualifications to lead a district. The Board consists of 3 police officers, a male stripper/mechanic (president of the Board), a retired school teacher, secretary and a waitress. These are the people that are entrusted to lead our children into the future. They have shown no vision for our children. The only thing that they excel at is hiring of the Family and Friends.

    Our Superintendent is here to pad his retirement. He is a puppet for the Board of Education. His primary job should be to focus his staff to delivery top notch education for the children. Which he has failed to dao at this point. He has not driven the vision of excellence to his staff which is apparent. Who should be held accountable? When we spend over $20,000 per student in Lackawanna and have the second highest payroll in Erie County our results should be better, not second from the bottom. It is not about the money. Money will not correct the problems we need an attitude change. We need an environment that demands excellence from our students and that begins at the top.

    We need principals that hold their staff accountable for success. They need to work with teachers that are struggling. They need to build the staff that can delivery the vision and mission of the school district. They need to determine if a child needs help and deliver the services.

    We need teachers that care. Work with the students and parents and deliver results. Not all teachers are able to work in our environment. They need to honest with themselves. Tenure has driven some of our staff to not deliver their very best. It is just human nature. The teacher should know what the districts expectations are and have the resources to succeed. I am not sure that happens.

    Teacher aides need to do their jobs to support the students. We need changes in the union work rules. The aide should not determine what he or she does. They are just a tools.

    We need a real Human Resource department that interviews and hires and remove that from the Board. This department job would be to work with the Principals to evaluate the staff and recommend programs that can improve performance of the teachers. The HR department will be evaluated on staff performance. If that should fail, replace the HR person.

    Maybe the most important part is developing a real Teacher Parent Program who only purpose is to maximize the childrens experience at school. Parents should be allowed to express their pleasure or displeasure with a teacher. Parents need to understand from day one that the school is not there as baby sitting service for their children.

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    Quote Originally Posted by getalife123 View Post
    Daisey Mae I agree with you on most of your points. The problem in LA is the lack of leadership. We have a board with no vision and leadership or educational qualifications to lead a district. The Board consists of 3 police officers, a male stripper/mechanic (president of the Board), a retired school teacher, secretary and a waitress. These are the people that are entrusted to lead our children into the future. They have shown no vision for our children. The only thing that they excel at is hiring of the Family and Friends.

    Our Superintendent is here to pad his retirement. He is a puppet for the Board of Education. His primary job should be to focus his staff to delivery top notch education for the children. Which he has failed to dao at this point. He has not driven the vision of excellence to his staff which is apparent. Who should be held accountable? When we spend over $20,000 per student in Lackawanna and have the second highest payroll in Erie County our results should be better, not second from the bottom. It is not about the money. Money will not correct the problems we need an attitude change. We need an environment that demands excellence from our students and that begins at the top.

    We need principals that hold their staff accountable for success. They need to work with teachers that are struggling. They need to build the staff that can delivery the vision and mission of the school district. They need to determine if a child needs help and deliver the services.

    We need teachers that care. Work with the students and parents and deliver results. Not all teachers are able to work in our environment. They need to honest with themselves. Tenure has driven some of our staff to not deliver their very best. It is just human nature. The teacher should know what the districts expectations are and have the resources to succeed. I am not sure that happens.

    Teacher aides need to do their jobs to support the students. We need changes in the union work rules. The aide should not determine what he or she does. They are just a tools.

    We need a real Human Resource department that interviews and hires and remove that from the Board. This department job would be to work with the Principals to evaluate the staff and recommend programs that can improve performance of the teachers. The HR department will be evaluated on staff performance. If that should fail, replace the HR person.

    Maybe the most important part is developing a real Teacher Parent Program who only purpose is to maximize the childrens experience at school. Parents should be allowed to express their pleasure or displeasure with a teacher. Parents need to understand from day one that the school is not there as baby sitting service for their children.
    Lets play count the lies:
    #1- there is ONE police officer on the board
    Last edited by youcangohome; September 4th, 2011 at 05:39 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by getalife123 View Post
    Daisey Mae you brought me to tears. Let see after I thought it over I said what is wrong with this picture. So a teachers aide would have prevented the problems in that class. I don't think so. The problem there stems from the teacher not being able to control a couple of 9 year olds. Your solution is to dump into the class a macho Teacher aide to whip those kids into shape. I don't think that aide exists here maybe at Wende Correctional. Please don't tell me that you would have a problem dealing with a 9 year old. Many children do have problems, always have. Many bring their problems to school. We have resources for the troubled children such as, Social Workers, the Nurse, the Principal, the Guidance Councelor, child protection, PINS program, police, Special Ed, parent teacher/meetings and probably others that I don't know. Utilize the services that we already paid So your solution is to put two adults in a classroom. Nice try. Who pays for it, the taxpayer? If we need security to deal with the 9 year old we are in trouble. We do need teacher aides, they play an important role with some students that require special needs. But really do they all have to be political connected? I'll give you a short list, just of board members wives, Motyka, Miller, Chudzik, Joyce, Siuta and McNamara. There could others that I don't know. All the aides are political appointments and its has been going on forever. At an average cost of $26,000 per year with benefits for just 10 month of employment, for approximately 38 teacher aides. You do the math. Once they are hired they are there until they retire because of the their union. Nice huh, and you foot the bill even though many residents send their children to Catholic Schools (which is just another unofficial tax burden). I include myself here sending with my three going through the Catholic School System and then on to college. My children wouldn't even consider Lackawanna as a place to live and raise a family here primarily because of the schools. Knowing that they eventually would have to send their children to private schools. Back then it cost me eight thousand per year to send them to private school and I still had to pay my school taxes. I would have liked to have that money for other things but it was a decision that had to be made.

    With enrollment down because of the Charter School this board of fools chose to hire 2 more aides both politically connected at the taxpayers expenses. Shame on the board of fools.
    #2- district records show 28 teacher aides, not 38.

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    Quote Originally Posted by getalife123 View Post
    The majority are not needed, these are patronage jobs.
    #3- Teacher aides are MANDATED by NYS. They have to pass test and be certified.

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    Miller, Joyce, Moytaka, work or have worked for the Lackawanna Police Department.

    Teacher Aides DON'T have to be certified. Tearcher Assistants do. Aide are no longer require to take a test.

    Teacher Salary Info (NATIONAL RECORDS) states there are are 32 paid aides plus the 2 new hires. Sorry I included the retirees which were not replaced and one termination.

    Cost is well over one million dollars for politcal hires with salary and bennies.

    We far exceed the mandate. I never said that TA should not be in the classroom. I said the TA that we have are ALL political hires. You are going to tell me that they are the best that were available at the time they were hired. Your dreaming.

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