Our story on Dr. Farley's first full year ... Anyone have any other thoughts?
From The Capistrano Dispatch, San Clemente Times and Dana Point Times
Superintendent Joe Farley’s first year seen as success
When Dr. Joseph Farley was hired to lead the Capistrano Unified School District, he was the seventh superintendent for the 52,000-student district in just four years.
That was a year ago. Now, by all accounts, the revolving door on the Superintendent’s Office at Capistrano Unified School District has not only been locked down, it’s been torn out.
Board meetings that once drew sheriff’s deputies as they degenerated into shouting matches have been replaced by cordial, professional sessions. In the past, crowds were so numerous school officials would only let in new attendees as others left, like a trendy nightclub, to comply with fire codes. Now, meetings are sparsely attended by PTA officials and those concerned with a particular issue.
In a district dominated by politics for years, another focus has emerged: On students and learning. And many are quick to give Farley much of the credit.
“Our recent past has not always been quite so smooth,” Tom Ressler, principal of San Juan Hills High School, told trustees in June. “This year it has been a really exciting time on our campus … because of this man who sits before us, Dr. Farley, weve actually been tasked with dealing with students and dealing with learning and dealing with teaching strategies…
“It’s been a very, very good year and we’re appreciative of Dr. Farley and the board for that.”
What is going on with the budget? The people at the OC Department of Education are saying CUSD was not given the trans they asked for...because of a big dollar gap in the budget.
Posted by: Wondering | July 22, 2011 at 07:16 PM
Another reason things are getting back to normal is the election of Pritchard, Hatton and Alpay and the removal of the divisive trustees and their backers. One more election to go and we are through with Beall and buddies forever!
Posted by: The new trustees get credit too | July 23, 2011 at 09:52 AM
What people? That's total BS and you know it. Wondering, that's malicious to post such a thing on a public forum, more crap with no proof. Rumor mongering, for what?
Just when I think a new low has been met, I see another.
Posted by: Capo Parent Too | July 23, 2011 at 11:29 PM
Same ol', same ol' Capo Parent. "Wondering" is just the same group of malcontents that tried (and succeeded to some degree) to take over our district and run it into the ground. Luckily a group of real supporters of CUSD and public education came in and got the true reform started with the new additions to the board. This post is just another tidbit to try to stir the pot by talking about "people at the OCDE" which of course do not exist. Yes, this is a new low but I choose to ignore them. They lost the election and it is a very hard thing for them to accept.
Posted by: Save CUSD | July 24, 2011 at 07:38 AM
I must be too bored on my summer break if I'm reading and commenting...
In the full article, the president of the PTSA is quoted as saying "For the first time in a long time, we’ve had a chance to talk about classroom instruction..." Maybe the PTSA spent all their time with the politics and personnel of the governing board, but we teachers NEVER stopped talking about classroom instruction.
The "crisis" in the district that caused "rebuilding" was a crisis of leadership. There was never a time that the instructional programs or staff needed rebuilding.
While the boardroom may have been full of animated citizens, most teachers were quietly going about the business of educating students. Some of those students now attend Harvard, Yale, MIT, and every other outstanding college in the country. API and CST scores rose consistently at most, if not all, schools.
Teachers NEVER stopped teaching. Our focus was ALWAYS the curriculum. We never stopped talking about standards and best practices. We never stopped writing common assessments and we never stopped analysing the results to improve instruction.
While this blog was daily filled with some pretty nasty fingerpointing, Peggy Baerst and the staff at Kinoshita took her 90% minority and second language school OUT of program improvement status. They met there AYP and target API scores. That doesn't happen unless teachers are putting forth great effort, collaborating, and maintaining their focus. Well done over there!
Stories like Kinoshita's were overshadowed. There are dozens if not hundreds of successes over the past several years. The level of education provided by most teachers in CAPOUSD has been excellent.
Teachers NEVER stopped teaching. Critics will point to the strike and call me out. I concede that point. But over these past several years, the majority of teachers have quietly worked hard to prepare students while enduring a tidal wave of public bashing.
Dr. Farley has been great. I met him and I like him. But education happens in the classroom and through all the nonsense, the teachers of the district never needed rebuilding.
Posted by: Jake Schwartzberg | July 24, 2011 at 09:22 AM
Jake - your post is great and I agree that the teachers never stopped teaching and always put that first. However, I must note that the PTA organization was never a part of the "politics" happening in the board room. They were however in the board room because they are all about education and learning and that is what the president alluded to. For once what is happening in the board room is about education, classrooms and students which is what PTA has always put first - "Every child - one voice". The current superintendent still must deal with "politics" and unfortunately the remaining 2 trustees still try to keep the “politics” of their group in the forefront (i.e. in the newspapers) but Farley is out in the schools and classrooms talking about education and learning and he actually supports the efforts of PTA in the schools and classrooms. Remember “Bobbi”?
Thank you to you and to all of the teachers and staff that have always been putting education first - that is what made this district great in the first place.
Posted by: Welcome Back Kotter | July 24, 2011 at 01:07 PM
Is anyone else concerned about Farley bringing all his cronies in?
Posted by: curious | July 24, 2011 at 01:32 PM
Why should we be concerned? Farley seems to have CUSD's best interests at heart. We welcome his choices unless he proves otherwise. The two "cronies" (wrong use of English) appear to be quite qualified. We shall wait and see next year.....
Posted by: Relax | July 24, 2011 at 05:54 PM
I agree Relax. Most of the recent appointments have been "internal" choices so if he knows of 2 candidates that were stand outs in his old district and the interview committee agrees, why not?
Posted by: Save CUSD | July 24, 2011 at 05:56 PM
On top of that, we have lost so many excellent administrators over the last seven years from all of the garbage that went down. They all went to nearby districts. Bringing in a few leaders from outside the district is a good thing.
Posted by: Rhetorick | July 25, 2011 at 07:04 AM