Rio del Mar school moves to top of the class

Ah hem.

The one little nugget.

Teach in English. Have students be fluent in English.
Not waste resources teaching to students who don't speak english, and are transient anyway.

test scores climb to an acceptable level.

High for this state anyway.

Harry -

Your name seems very appropriate, by the way..

Do you have a plan for all the destitute families who have been victims of economic terrorism implemented by the shadows of extreme capitalism? If we compare numbers, the number of Mexican people who migrated to this country before policies like NAFTA and Plan Puebla-Panamá were shoved down their throats (now even the conservative government of Felipe Calderon wants to revisit the agricultural aspect of NAFTA) are minute compared to post-1994.

It's easy to lay blame on poor people for all your woes (boo-hoo, poor you), but have you truly analyzed the root of the problem?

Didn't think so..

Thank you.

Should I/we pay for these liberal policies. No.
Because I and my fathers before me built this fine nation and those to the south and other areas of the world did not, should we pay?
How do I blame the poor? Not at all. Should we pay for civilizations/countries whose policy is that corruption, lawlessness and laziness? No.

Why should I work my arse off only to give my earnings to those that are lazy here and abroad?

Mexico has resources. They should pay for their own poor. Isn't the worlds richest man Mexican and lives in Mexico?

Should Driscolls/McCormicks have their own school for their employees legal or not. Absolutly! Why should their business drain our resourses? I dont even like strawberries.

Now there is a plan

I am glad they pointed out in the article that the socio-economic level of the families is a huge advantage. If you compare the teachers at all the PVUSD schools, you would probably find similar characteristics as far as dedication and expertise. But the thing that gives Rio its advantage is that extra help from fundraising to just helping out in the classroom. I wish that fact was highlighted more in the media when it comes time to talk about "low performing" schools. My students are all English Language Learners and I have no extra help from families, but they are making great progress in learning English and I use their first language to help them achieve more English, because I don't want them "left behind." However, this is probably not going to be reflected in the CST scores because the CST is biased and only ONE measure of learning. My point is for all non-education-world folks to remember that each teacher and his/her class of 20-34 works extremely hard to educate our kids, regardless of the state test results.

Watsonville Teacher wrote:

I am glad they pointed out in the article that the socio-economic level of the families is a huge advantage. If you compare the teachers at all the PVUSD schools, you would probably find similar characteristics as far as dedication and expertise. But the thing that gives Rio its advantage is that extra help from fundraising to just helping out in the classroom. I wish that fact was highlighted more in the media when it comes time to talk about "low performing" schools. My students are all English Language Learners and I have no extra help from families, but they are making great progress in learning English and I use their first language to help them achieve more English, because I don't want them "left behind." However, this is probably not going to be reflected in the CST scores because the CST is biased and only ONE measure of learning. My point is for all non-education-world folks to remember that each teacher and his/her class of 20-34 works extremely hard to educate our kids, regardless of the state test results.

Why should it be your job to teach them English?
Shouldn't the burden be on the parents of those kids to send them to a private school to learn English or the employers of the parents of those kids to pay for the English transition? If I moved to France my kid better speak French if he wanted to go to public school. Why won't the parents help you as they do at Rio? There is always some excuse when it comes to low test scores. Rio is not at an advantage. You are all on the same system and on the same page. Low performing is low performing no matter how you slice it. Is there no high performing schools in Mexico? The parents in Mexico do not help out with fundraising? As you and I know these illegal aliens are sending billions of dollars back to their country. Not our country! But their country outside our borders. Why don't they spend it here to help our economy or fund raise at their childrens school? Why they are not fundraising is because they dont have too. You are teaching their kids English...FOR FREE!!! How do they afford the travel to Mexico every Christmas? For six weeks. Not buying it. I wish I could take off that much time but I just paid thousands in prop taxes a few days ago and next week, ouch. I can't afford to take six weeks off. Vacation, ha!

I think you need to close the door a bit and have an English Proficiency Test prior to admitting students. That would help you a lot.
After all...this is the USA.

I'm sorry? Did you learn in another language at school? Did you not read books in English and study grammar? Didn't you learn about verbs and sentence structure? Did you analyze text and author's meaning and learn new vocabulary? Did you take spelling tests? How exactly did you learn to read? What do you think happens in schools? Perhaps you need to visit an actual school. That is what I mean by teaching English. Did you learn about literal versus figurative meanings? Do you know about opinion versus fact? This is all part of learning about our language structure. I am very well educated and went to private school. I'm teaching things in public school that I learned in private school, so I'm not sure what your point is, except to show your bigoted ignorance.

If my kid took French in school I would not be able to help them as I do not speak the language. The same thing happens when second language kids get home from school. THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN their parents are not proficient in english, so the cannot help their children.

No need to rant on and on about this or that, just stating the facts.

I used to live in Watsonville. My daughter is going to be attending kindergarten this fall and my wife and I made it our mission to work our butts off to get out of that town and away from its 'awful' schools..(as per the parents of actual students at the elementary school). We now live in Rio and have not looked back. It was a joy to read this article and know we made the right decision.

I was in bilingual education in the PVUSD. I found that if you say everything in English, & then say everything in Spanish there is half as much material covered. It just takes too much time. I also felt very bad for the recent immigrants we had from Asia who were expected to learn Spanish & English but got no help in their native languages. Rio Del Mar succeeds because it gets away from the lack of value that Latin American culture places in education. Unfortunately the less Latinos in a school the higher the test scores. This is not because these people aren't as smart as everyone else, the families just don't think that education is important. Any PVUSD teacher will tell you that getting Latino parents to show up for back to school night is impossible. Even if a free bus is sent to their homes they will not get on the bus to come. However they will attend Catholic service. I am not saying this is right or wrong... It is just the way it is. I applaud the teachers in the PVUSD working hard. It is a tough thankless job and slowly you can change things.

Just for the record Harry,

Poor white kids score close to as low on math and english tests as poor latino or black kids. Ususally poor families use less academic language and read less at home. So let's get off the idea that brown people who speak a different language than you are somehow deficient learners. Poverty is usually the main issue, not race, culture or ethnicity.

Also, many of my migrant students have lived more complex and challenging lives than most people on this board and probably "know" more about how this complex world works than most of us. Most could write novels or films about their lives, having overcome such challenges.

Harry, it seems you don't mind the migrants, you just don't want to pay your taxes. Well, why don't you start lobbying to stop funding prisons as well as schools. They cost more, are less effective and shouldn't the parents be held responsible anyway? I got it! Each parent should use their rugged individualsitic American spirit to build their own personal prisons in their nicely fenced, privately owned backyards, in case any of their children murder or rape someone, the state won't have to raise your TAXES to keep you safe. GEEZ Harry, your'e a genius!

Please...

Way to go Harry Merkin. Finally, someone who speaks the truth, what we all feel but dont have the balls to say.

Harry Merkin for President!

How do the mexicans take 6 week vacations at Christmas?!?
It must be nice.
I wish we lived in a democracy where prop 187 was enforced.

Rio Del Mar Elem is the ONLY school in the PVUSD that is NOT a feeder school for Watsonville students.
Why is that?
And is it any surprise to peole that this school is doing so well without the migrant workers children or Latino students from Watsonville?
Test scores are off the chart.
Give them some Wats kids and test the school next year....they will bring them down like they do the other Aptos schools.
:(

"Rio its advantage is that extra help from fundraising to just helping out in the classroom"

And who do think is funraising and helping out in the class rooms? The parents! Why do you call this an advantage? Do the children of other schools have no parents? Why can't they volunteer and fundraise like the rest of us?

Harry Merkin wrote:

Thank you.
Should I/we pay for these liberal policies. No.
Because I and my fathers before me built this fine nation and those to the south and other areas of the world did not, should we pay?
How do I blame the poor? Not at all. Should we pay for civilizations/countries whose policy is that corruption, lawlessness and laziness? No.
Why should I work my arse off only to give my earnings to those that are lazy here and abroad?
Mexico has resources. They should pay for their own poor. Isn't the worlds richest man Mexican and lives in Mexico?
Should Driscolls/McCormicks have their own school for their employees legal or not. Absolutly! Why should their business drain our resourses? I dont even like strawberries.
Now there is a plan

Well said Harry!!!

I hate strawberries too!

I bought a bird feeder. I hung

it on my back porch and filled

it with seed. What a beauty of

a bird feeder it is, as I filled it

lovingly with seed. Within a

week we had hundreds of birds

taking advantage of the

continuous flow of free and

easily accessible food.

But then the birds started

building nests in the boards

of the patio, above the table,

and next to the barbecue.

Then came the poop. It was

everywhere: on the patio tile,

the chairs, the table .

everywhere!

Then some of the birds

turned mean. They would

dive bomb me and try to

peck me even though I had

fed them out of my own

pocket.

And others birds were

boisterous and loud. They

sat on the feeder and

squawked and screamed at

all hours of the day and night

and demanded that I fill it

when it got low on food.

After a while, I couldn't even

sit on my own back porch

anymore. So I took down the

bird feeder and in three days

the birds were gone. I cleaned

up their mess and took down

the many nests they had built

all over the patio.

Soon, the back yard was like

it used to be.... quiet, serene

and no one demanding their

rights to a free meal.

Now let's see.

Our government gives out

free food, subsidized housing,

free medical care, and free

education and allows anyone

born here to be an automatic

citizen.

Then the illegals came by the

tens of thousands. Suddenly

our taxes went up to pay for

free services; small apartments

are housing 5 families; you

have to wait 6 hours to be seen

by an emergency room doctor;

your child's 2nd grade class is

behind other schools because

over half the class doesn't speak

English.

Corn Flakes now come in a

bilingual box; I have to

'press one' to hear my bank

talk to me in English, and

people waving flags other

than 'Old Glory' are

squawking and screaming

in the streets, demanding

more rights and free liberties.

Just my opinion, but maybe

it's time for the government

to take down the bird feeder.

"Just a thought"

Brilliantly said!!!

Watsonville teacher wrote:

I'm sorry? Did you learn in another language at school? Did you not read books in English and study grammar? Didn't you learn about verbs and sentence structure? Did you analyze text and author's meaning and learn new vocabulary? Did you take spelling tests? How exactly did you learn to read? What do you think happens in schools? Perhaps you need to visit an actual school. That is what I mean by teaching English. Did you learn about literal versus figurative meanings? Do you know about opinion versus fact? This is all part of learning about our language structure. I am very well educated and went to private school. I'm teaching things in public school that I learned in private school, so I'm not sure what your point is, except to show your bigoted ignorance.

Now, now. Bigoted? No. I am someone who wants to help all our kids. You hold on to your precious broken down system like there is no other way it can possibly be. Fact is over the hill the Asian immigrants that come here score very, very high. The Asian immigrants have hurdles to overcome as well. Learning English being one of them. Their values of education are a priority and they get it. You all do not get it. The Liberal Forced Diversity Proponents do not get it either. How about forcing the parents to help out and have a fundraiser or two. They sure are giving money to their church every Sunday and sending money back to...Mexico for example. No, the fund raising parental assistance excuse does not pan out either.

The Cupertino schools are not teaching in Mandarin or Cantonese or Farsi or Italian. They teach in English. Why? The children either bust their butts and learn English or fail. A lot of their parents barely speak the English language, yet!!!! Their scores are some of the highest in the nation. How can that be? They have fundraisers and bake sales and have parents who support the school because???? Education is a priority to these people. To integrate into the American Society and succeed is to be educated in English and be American.
Why do you only cater to the Spanish speaking migrant farm worker? Illegal at that! You do not want to help them. You want to keep them down. Down on their knees picking strawberries. That is your Liberal Forced Diversity Agenda.

Answer your questions
Another Language- French in Pre School and Spanish as an elective. Then I learned Farsi (girls)(a lot of Persian came here in the early 80's and they tried really hard to become American, I admired that). Then Swedish (Swedish bikini team, had to know what they were talking about). By learning their language I could communicate and socialize in their culture. On my dime. Not the publics.

Study English? Sure did. They also taught us only in English. This is the United States. I was not very good at it though as you can tell, grammatically that is.

My point is why are we teaching primarily in Spanish in the South County? Why do we stand for the low-test scores that you and the south county always crank out? Why is the Charter School Alianza scored one of the worst... in the nation? They actually attempted to lure my kids and I to go to their school. Ah- hem... super low test scores while boasting a "immersion program".
So I am going to send my child to Alianza so he can either
A- get a job a Kings Paint selling paint in Spanglish
or
B- teaching English to poor kids in Honduras (admirable) so they can get a job at an all- inclusive.

No. Alianza does not cut it. At all!

So great job Rio Del Mar and PCS.
They rise above the Liberal Forced Diversity noise and get what needs to be done... A Great Education!

P.S. I will be running for public office. Locally and Soon.

Thanks Harry, for not engaging the "teacher" that is obviously taking this article personally, choosing to attack you - not the issue. His/her privileged education seems to have left him/her with a skewed perception of society, needing to be thanked and not scrutinized.
Like George Jefferson, my family will be moving out of Watsonville before our children attend public school. It's not just the poor education; it's the whole culture of entitlement that is bad. The school wants to give the children better crutches, but not take the crutches away. The only way the parents at PVUSD will participate in school is if they HAVE to. If the children are not allowed to attend unless they speak English; if they are failed because they do not speak English AND if they parents' welfare checks are suspended unless their children attend school - THEN there might be a change. Otherwise - look out because the future is bleak for the kids out here. They will resent the parents and teachers for wasting the precious time of their youth and not preparing them for a bright and well-rounded future.

PS
I am a Proud, Patriotic, First-Generation American, English-Speaking, Trilingual, Professional, Latina, Mom... and grateful to be in the US of A.

Another PV Teacher wrote:

Just for the record Harry,
Poor white kids score close to as low on math and english tests as poor latino or black kids. Ususally poor families use less academic language and read less at home. So let's get off the idea that brown people who speak a different language than you are somehow deficient learners. Poverty is usually the main issue, not race, culture or ethnicity.
Also, many of my migrant students have lived more complex and challenging lives than most people on this board and probably "know" more about how this complex world works than most of us. Most could write novels or films about their lives, having overcome such challenges.
Harry, it seems you don't mind the migrants, you just don't want to pay your taxes. Well, why don't you start lobbying to stop funding prisons as well as schools. They cost more, are less effective and shouldn't the parents be held responsible anyway? I got it! Each parent should use their rugged individualsitic American spirit to build their own personal prisons in their nicely fenced, privately owned backyards, in case any of their children murder or rape someone, the state won't have to raise your TAXES to keep you safe. GEEZ Harry, your'e a genius!
Please...

Thank you (genius).
The thing is... I DO PAY TAXES. A lot of taxes. Do I like it? Who likes paying taxes? But... it is the law and I pay.
Migrants. Not a problem if they are legal. As a legal citizen you can do what ever you want to do. If you aspire to be a migrant farm worker then way to go, you made it.

I would never say do not fund schools! I say more funding! Education is very important. But... if the teachers and school systems who can not even meet the minimum standards why should they still be able to stay in business. Arnold is correct in holding back money for those who can not get the job done. I feel sorry for Rio Del Mar that it has to be in the same school system and because the South County Schools can not get it done why should the "Gem" of the System get pulled down as well? But they are out fund raising to make sure they have the tools to teach their children.
Poverty is not the main issue or is it race or ethnicity. It is culture. The illegal alien culture that is from Mexico and other Latin American Countries are the ones who brought down your system. Not Mexicans. And the Left Wing Forced Diversity Proponents are the ones who let it happen (Andy Shapiro). Driscolls and McCormick’s (and others) are also the ones who stand by and watch it happen. Do not blame me for calling a spade a spade.
I did not let this happen. Not being from here I am disgusted on how the system works here. Nobody has the "cojones" to do what needs to be done.

By the way... I work hard on my nicely fenced, privately owned backyard. The easy way for me to landscape my yard would be to hire those who stand in front of home depot but I took down MY bird feeder. I will sweat, work hard and most of all I will not be a hypocrite.

Harry Merkin... coming soon to represent you!