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Charlie Roy
West Peoria, IL
I work as an administrator of a Catholic High School in Central Illinois. I am a father to twin boys and the husband of Aimee. I also manage a commodity option fund for limited investors. I enjoy gardening and am interested in holistic theories of education and economics.
Recent Activity
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Charlie signed the petition | -
Charlie signed the petition | -
Charlie commented on the article |Always amazes me the default setting in schools with drug testing is to only test the involved students. Usually the involved students are not the ones with a drug issue. If schools really want to minimize the effects of drugs try maximizing the engagement of students. The kid involved in athletics, chess team, drama, and debate probably doesn't have the free time to get high. I've been at a private school who has had a mandatory drug test (hair sample w/ 90 day history) for ten years. What we find is the test gives the students a reason to say "No". BTW we don't expel students if they test positive. We do however mandate treatment and an education program. The program works to this regard. As the administrator who has to handle the positive tests it has been challenging and rewarding to see the positive effect a program can have. I'm not saying it is the end all be all but some of these programs do help protect students.
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Charlie commented on the article |This is all fine and dandy but let's take it for what it really is. A politician somewhere wants to garner support and what better way than to lead a pointless campaign against candy all in the name of really caring about kids. When will we stop treating the students and families we serve like they are collective idiots and need us to manage even their food choices? Would our time not be better spent actually making school a relevant engaging formative experience instead of an exercise in controlling the minute details of life? Worrying about he evil corn syrup empire and their lock on the souls of our children seems a little misguided.
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Charlie commented on the article |So if teacher autonomy is really the key to school reform why don't we start reforming schools based upon this principal. Throwing out national standards, limiting the power of school boards, and freeing up teachers and administrators to make their own policies and procedures might just lead to progress.
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Charlie commented on the article |So when the corporate based school reformers are finished traditional public school will be handed over to private for-profit firms. Rather tragic that we've allowed this group to become the champions of school reform - when they are anything but.
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Charlie commented on the article |@ Ira
If the focus of the course is actually on student learning then every effort should be made to make sure the student learns and completes the work. Better late than never I imagine.
What always strikes me as entertaining as a school administrator is handing out contracts for the next school year. I always give my teachers a week or so to turn them in.
Earlier in the year a certain teacher had flunked a student who had failed to turn in their paper before the semester deadline. The student later finished the paper and the teacher and I went round and round about whether the grade should be changed.
Back to contract time. Wouldn't you know it that teacher forgot to turn their contract in by the deadline. Being the smart ass that I am when they came to turn it in I informed them the position has been posted and they would have to reapply for having missed the deadline.
After their look of pure horror I explained my point. I don't think I'll have to worry about dealing with this teacher and late assignments again.
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Charlie commented on the article |Another great post. Thank you for your work and for pushing all of us to look at the often overlooked areas of school reform. Your commitment to child centered education is empowering.
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Charlie commented on the article |@ Ira
Great post and thanks for sharing. As an administrator the task of overhauling the system is often daunting. I appreciate the freedom I have in my private school system to be the crazy lunatic pushing for change. Looking at the history of how we've arrived at where we are in education is always fascinating. What I'm now curious about is where we should go especially at the secondary level? I understand we work in a broken system - what is the alternative? I've read Kohn "The Schools are Children Deserve" and see it as a starting point. Do you have any schools you could recommend that are doing something radically different? We have our own changes in mind link here: http://vision2012pnd.wikispaces.com/ . I'd love to see a list of schools that are making these changes a reality.
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Charlie commented on the article |@Shelly,
Thanks for blogging over the past few days. I've enjoyed your posts. I'll be sharing this one with all of our history teachers.
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