The Colony Courier-Leader (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 19, No. 43, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 7, 2000 Page: 6 of 50
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The Colony Courier-Leader
Thursday, December 7, 2000 — www.colonyleader.com
Opinions
6A
3 Guest Column
9
-
Texas teacher
certification tests
practicality
questionable
By LINDA SLEJKO
Teachers in the state of Texas
must not only gain a bachelor’s
degree and make acceptable marks
based on their performance as a stu-
dent teacher, but also pass the
EXCET (Examination for the
Certification of Educators in Texas)
tests.
The EXCET test contains two
parts. One portion is called profes-
sional development and the other
port ins the content specialization
test.
If a teacher fails to pass one or
more portions of the test with at
least 70 percent mastery, he or she
may work on a permit for one year.
However, after a year, if teachers do
not pass the test, they will not be cer-
tified and are either terminated or
demoted to substitute status —
regardless of their performance in
the classroom.
Many teachers are forced to live
without adequate benefits or com-
pensation due to severe “test pho-
bia” that has prevented them from
passing one or more sections of this
test. In this day of severe teachers
shortages, this policy seems absurd.
We desperately need high stan-
dards for educators, but if their per-
formance on the job id exceptional
and they have successfully complet-
ed their course work and gained the
appropriate degree, why should the
state deny them the right to teach?
Shouldn’t the real test for a teacher
be whether or not his or her stu-
dents are learning, growing and per-
forming well on academic mea-
sures?
I’m not proposing the test be
eliminated, but that other factors
such as job performance, principal
appraisals and student and parent
satisfaction surveys also be consid-
ered. one test cannot measure the
. multitude of characteristics, knowl-
edge and'skills a teacher must pos-
sess. how can you measure kind-
ness, compassion, organization, flex-
ibility, methodology and depth of
content in one pencil-and-paper test?
I assure you it can’t be done.
We must urge legislators and the
state board for educator certification
to make more common sense deci-
sions regarding the eligibility for
teacher certification.
We must begin to use multiple
measures that include performance
measures, in addition to the existing
pencil-and-paper tests to determine
whether or not a teacher is allowed
to teach our children.
The real test of a teacher should
be his or her performance in the
classroom with students — not
based on his or her ability to pass a
single pencil and paper test.
THEY’RE
FILMING
THE SEQUEL TO
‘GROUNDHOG
'ELECTION
DAY:
Wat’S The Difference
OECINONNAN w-
2000.
Home improvement projects
are a brainchild of Satan
That is the measure of a man? It
is a question that has plagued
philosophers and pundits for
centuries.
Well, if the answer
to what makes a man
is being able to suc-
cessfully complete
home improvement
projects, then I am a
dismal failure as a
man... a horrible
excuse, quite frankly.
Daren
Watkins
Letter to
The Editor
■
Switzer a
driving force
in community
Linda Slejko is principal at Floyd Elementary
School in Mesquite and is working on a doc-
toral program at Nova Southeastern
University. She announced the views
expressed are her own and do not necessar-
ily reflect those of this newspaper or of the
Mesquite Independent School District. She
can be reached at the school at 972-882-
7101.
Editorials
Punishment doesn't
fit crime in Lancaster
One size certainly doesn’t fit
all when school discipline is con-
cerned, but it is difficult to argue
the fact there’s something wrong
in Lancaster ISD when white stu-
dents who brought unloaded
shotguns onto school ground got
five-day suspensions and a black
student who brought a fake gun
to school was expelled all togeth-
er.
Could this be true? Does the
Lancaster school discipline poli-
cy concerning firearms at school
create a situation this unfair?
If so, something must change.
Discipline cases must be treat-
ed on case-by-case basis, but pun-
ishments must also fit the crime.
Those punishments must also be
unilateral... they cannot discrimi-
nate against race, color or creed.
Also, while school district
must not take any gun-related
infraction for granted, it’s also
important not to buy into the
notion that all students who bring
guns to school did so intentional-
ly.
There are extenuating circum-
stances in most cases that must
be dealt with quickly and serious-
I stand before the readers of this col-
umn and defeated individual. My house
has beaten me down.
These home-improvement projects are
coming straight off the drawing board of
Satan himself... they have to be.
Actually, I am being just a tad dramat-
ic. The fact of the matter is I get angry at
having to try my hand at home improve-
ment projects because I just suck at it.
Sorry, I just do.
My dad is a whiz at the stuff. He’s
constantly doing stuff around the house.
“Hey, dad. Want to sit down and watch
the game today?”
“Can’t do it son. I have to build an
inset bookcase in the rumpus room I
roughed in yesterday. Then, I got to run
the plumbing to that walk-in bathtub I
put in the master bathroom. After that, I
thought I’d go donate some time for
Habitat for Humanity and help them
build a house or two before dinner.”
Me? I can hardly run a vacuum clean-
er without screwing up something. I
always seem to run over something that
won’t get sucked up into the stupid bag.
Know what I’m talking about? There’s
that one little piece of something on the
carpet and it gets run over again and
again with the vacuum but just stays
there.
Heck, I’ve been known to pick up
whatever it is, inspect it, then throw it
back down on the floor to run over it
with the vacuum another couple of hun-
| dred times.
And, such as been the case with my
new home. There have been a myriad of
problems with it and everything I’ve
touched has resulted in a one-way ticket
to home improvement hell.
First of all, I realize that when people
buy older homes, they must expect a cer-
tain degree of things to go wrong. My
house was originally constructed in the
’70s, making it 30 years old.
Hey, I’ve known 30-year-old people
who have been addicted to crack, eat
nothing but junk food crud, smoke three
further investigation with the help of my
Fort Worth heating-and-air-man uncle, it
was discovered the fan motor was about
shot.
So, we replaced it and of course, like
anything else I try, it didn’t work. It only
partially worked and when my uncle and
I tried to fix it, I messed it up to the point
it won’t work at all.
It doesn’t sound like it, but 67 degrees
in the house is darn cold in the morning.
We’re all sleeping in the living room
because it’s too stinking cold in the bed-
rooms. The residual effect of all this is
that we had — notice I said had — a
beautiful, hand-crafted German cuckoo
clock in the living room. I went to turn
off the bird to keep from waking up the
baby and pulled the thing off the wall.
Oh, it’s broken badly. Of course, none
of this would have happened if I wasn’t
such a screw up at home improvement
projects.
And, plumbing ... don’t get me started.
packs of cigarettes a day, get no exercise The problem with plumbing projects is
and are either 50 pounds overweight or
suffering from anorexia or malnutrition
who have fewer physical problems than
this house.
I mean, for crying out loud, the
that the project never ends up working
like it says it should work in the pictures
on the back of the plumbing packages.
There’s always a bad angle or the
pipes are too short. Regardless of how
thing’s only 30 years old, but it’s a wreck, much stuff I buy at the hardware store to
I can’t remember a time in my life
when I’ve felt like a bigger failure as a
human being. Everything I’ve tried has
ended up taking more time and costing
more money than it should have.
For example, when we fired up the
furnace last month, we noticed a God-
awful noise coming from the fan. Upon
fix a plumbing project, it’s never enough.
I always have to go back two and three
times to buy stuff I need that I don’t have
... take it to the bank.
Someone asked me this week what I
would do if I hit the lottery jackpot.
Easy. I’d pay a bunch of people to
come in and fix my house stuff to keep
New high school needs a mascot... the Fighting Cones
Tt is very rare in any business, espe-
■ cially in journalism, to come up
with a sure thing. But lucky for me,
and my financial future, I have come
up with one.
It happened just the other day, dri-
ving my parents, in from Alabama for
the holidays, around the bustling city
of Frisco.
We toured Lebanon Road, drove up
and down Preston Road, turned down
FM 720, around Coit Road and down
121 near the mall. We made trips to
north Frisco, near 380, around the toll-
way and out near The Trails, and then
it hit me - rather, I hit it — road cones.
'Wherever you go throughout the
greater Frisco area, you see hundreds the opening of a new high school:
of them. And I thought to myself, what Frisco Centennial High School. And
LeAVE
A
MeSSAGE
Tim Reeves
L way and the band playing the fight
the district will not only see new
schools, with new names and hun-
dreds of students, but school con-
struction. The need for cones would
be tremendous.
Secure the contract with the district
and I would be on my way — but
there is still to do.
In 2003 the city of Frisco will see
ly.
Still, it is difficult to under-
stand why some Lancaster stu-
dents faced one punishment,
while another student who com-
mitted a reportedly less-serious
offense received something
much harsher.
a great business venture road cones what does a new school need, besides
would be. . a name? A mascot.
I could open my own little kiosk in The current Frisco High School has
the mall, selling cones, hard hats, the the mascot of the Fighting Coons. Try
reflective vests. To really give my new this on for size ... the Centennial
business venture a boost I would look Fighting Cones.
to the Frisco Independent School I can see it now.
District. The football team running out onto
With the recent bond issue passing, the field with road flares leading the
o
song. A cheering section of fans wear-
ing road cones on their head (get it —
“Coneheads”).
The football players would wear jer-
seys with reflective tape just to be able
to be seen at night.
The band would all have flashing
lights on their uniforms while the
color guard, instead of using flags,
would carry those “Stop/Slow” signs
used to stop traffic.
But for this all to happen like I
have envisioned, we must act quick-
ly. E-mail me your thoughts on the
new mascot for the high school —
the Fighting Cones.
Just think of the marketing materi-
als we would have — T-shirts, pens,
posters, water towers. It would be
great.
Trust me, this idea came com-
pletely without the aide of cough
medicine or any other assistance —
just my own detour from reality.
Tim Reeves can be reached at e-mail him at
editor@frisconews.com.
There are many volunteers in
our community, and to them we
extend our deepest gratitude.
Some volunteer occasionally
at a school, city or church func-
tion. Some volunteer regularly.
And then there are the champi-
ons of our community that vol-
unteer frequently, who, without
fail, are there volunteering to
make our city a greater place for
all of us to reside.
There is a name and a face
that few people know of in our
community but who has dili-
gently served The Colony for a
number of years, and if he were
not there, you would miss him.
He is the person who enables
citizens to have access to timely
city information and occasional-
ly entertainment via Cable
Channel Six — The Colony
Government TV (TCGTV).
This gentleman is Clark
Switzer. Switzer is a community
volunteer and has spent count-
less hours planning, taping, edit-
ing and televising weekly
TCGTV programming.
Switzer is the person respon-
sible for the weekly televising of
The Colony Council meetings,
Planning and Zoning meetings
and 4A and 4B Board meetings.
He is also responsible, along
with several other volunteers,
for the weekly TCHS football
games and Tommy Briggs Show
on TCGTV.
Additionally, Switzer worked
closely with staff and the instal-
lation crew to upgrade TCGTV
facilities in the new City Hall. He
has been a driving force behind
the continued high-quality facili-
ties and programming we have
come to expect from TCGTV.
Thank you, Clark Switzer, for
volunteering your time so that
we may remain at home at the
end of a long day to view live city
proceedings via TCGTV, Cable
Channel Six.
Lisa and Andy Leary
The Colony
Opinion Policy
The Colony Courier-Leader
encourages you to voice your
opinion on matters of interest
to you and other readers
through the Letters to the
Editor and In My Opinions
columns. All viewpoints are
welcome.
Submissions must be
signed and include your
address and daytime tele-
phone number for verifica-
tion. However, only the
author’s name and hometown
will be published. The Colony
Courier-Leader will not print
items suspected of containing
defamation, and it will not
publish items personally
attacking other individuals.
Name-calling will not be toler-
ated.
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Reeves, Tim. The Colony Courier-Leader (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 19, No. 43, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 7, 2000, newspaper, December 7, 2000; The Colony, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1621649/m1/6/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting The Colony Public Library.