I actually had a good experience with 311…once. Neighbor decided to create his own driveway in a public parking spot (painted it yellow, created a curb cut). Yeah, not taking away a parking spot from the rest of the block. I reported it and it was gone within a week.

Aw you’re so nice! Same to you! ✌️ 🦃

So nice of you to say! So glad people see through the BS put out there by articles like this

100 percent. I’m fortunate enough to have worked only in schools where admin actually care about what’s best for students and not what’s coming down from above. So I’ve been teaching phonics to kids who need it. I taught middle school for 10 years and you honestly wouldn’t believe the transformation in their reading ability and confidence when you actually teach them what they need to know. Granted I am a sped teacher so I have a little bit of wiggle room in what I’m allowed to teach, as I’m supposed to address IEP goals.

Review of basic skills can be woven into lessons throughout the entire school year. Just because they were doing this one lesson on a day in November doesn’t mean that’s what they’re doing all day, every day. Students who are far behind need regular exposure to the basics, especially at this age when the ability to absorb things like a sponge is waning.

As far as your second question goes, I could be wrong but I read it as they were being assigned extremely abridged summaries of classic novels. This may or may not be appropriate; with zero context, we have no idea. They could have been assigned to a class of students with disabilities (or again, students who are severely behind in reading level) and in which case, would be a good way of exposing those students to the classics without expecting them to read text they physically can’t. I don’t think this is the norm. This is one situation, and again, we have zero context.

This is the only meaningful takeaway from this “article”

That parent (who does not have children at Murrow) who can’t believe that 11th graders might be reading on a third-grade level…she needs to spend some time in a school because there are plenty who need it.

The Post is pure public education-hating trash. They are attempting to write about scaffolding like anyone claimed it to be a magical cure-all. I implore these “journalists” to try substitute teaching for a week. For students who are way behind in reading level, progress is a slow process. There are many, many students who come into high school reading at primary grade levels or worse. Should we drop War and Peace in front of them and expect miracles? Or try to get them to read at a somewhat proficient level before they graduate so that they can be productive in society? This is what comes from years and years of not teaching basics in phonics and comprehension and teaching to the balanced literacy crap instead.