Teaching is the only profession where those engaged in the profession are asked to pack up their belongings every summer and wait to see where they will work in the coming months.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013, begins the new school year with little to no positive changes for students and a great many administrative changes for staff.

According to a recent communique from Superintendent Vargas, the Rochester City School District is a “Focus” district and “We have many Priority schools that are required to demonstrate positive results quickly through school improvement plans. That makes it essential that we have Principals and supervisors with the expertise, experience and energy to drive change in their school communities.”

Dr. Vargas continues to state, “With those needs in mind, I have made changes in the way our School Chiefs are aligned to support Principals and schools.”

These changes in administrative staff, individuals who rarely enter the classroom, are expected to trickle down to the students and somehow are expected to positively impact student learning.

Superintendent Vargas’ plan, “To help drive the improvements, we have recruited a handful of school leaders from outside the District.”

With the exception of Rodney Moore who, according to the district, “Brings Nearly 20 Years’ Experience As a Teacher And Administrator, With a Focus on Middle School Students . . .” the others hired previously worked for the district.

There is no mention of hiring more teachers to lower the teacher:student ratio in the classroom, no mention of hiring more paraprofessionals to lower the adult:student ratio.

And, while staff members are given the administrative “line-up”, many teachers and paraprofessionals, who work directly with our children, still have no assignments for September while others will have to report to new schools, set up their classrooms, and become acclimated to a new environment and a new administration.

This “shuffling of the deck” response to the failure of our current system of education has never and will never work. This is the “Status quo” that continues to support failure.

Our children deserve real change that will focus on ensuring their educational success.

Join the Movement to Save Our Children!