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Baldwin
Rochester, mn
Posted on 11/2/2009 at 6:23:05 PM
The NAACP would do more good if they preached to the Aquarius club gun fire crowd. Wanna be gangsters commiting crimes are becoming Rochester’s new epidemic.
easterner
Rochester, MN
Posted on 11/2/2009 at 6:41:50 PM
Dallemand needs to “get in the game,” but it is good to hear that those IN the game (e.g., teachers) have the RIGHT to complain.
okfine
Rochester, MN
Posted on 11/2/2009 at 6:47:48 PM
Who has ever seen our superintendent roll up his sleeves and try to help that one child? I don’t know of any teachers who have seen him take his suit coat off when he makes his random brief appearances in classrooms. I take it the speaker was using this poor example as a figure of speech?
puppygog
rochester, mn
Posted on 11/2/2009 at 8:52:00 PM
I would like to see someone do something about the shootings and murders in rochester. The last one was two black men who killed a white man but not a word was mentioned about bias then. Lets make sure we look both ways if we plan to do this.
susieq78
rochester, mn
Posted on 11/2/2009 at 9:03:33 PM
NAACP: I hope you keep trying to get your point across to Rochester. And the Post Bulletin is a perfect place to start, as you may notice by some of the comments on other articles. Thanks for getting to the reality of some of these issues.
Othelmo__
Rochester, MN
Posted on 11/2/2009 at 9:06:52 PM
“And the Post Bulletin is a perfect place to start”
If it matters to the leftist intelligentsia, it matters to the P-B.
AverageJo
e
Anywhere, US
Posted on 11/2/2009 at 10:11:06 PM
I applaud Mr. Mack’s impassioned call for agitation. Why? Because for the most part his agitation efforts will be levied upon transient newcomers doing harm to transient newcomers.
I was also glad to see Mack acknowledge in an oh so subtle way that the Superintendent may get an A for effort. But his personal achievement gap running 535 leaves much room for improvement and a collective life ring.
easterner
Rochester, MN
Posted on 11/2/2009 at 10:52:16 PM
Ahh, there’s effort. And then there is effective effort. If this is his best, then we need someone else who can be effective. Effort notwithstanding.
CodeMonke
y
Rochester, MN
Posted on 11/3/2009 at 7:38:26 AM
“He is but one man,” Mack said. “He is trying to do the best he can.”
I’m sorry, substantially more is expected of a leader.
The only “game” going on is the one being run on the entire community.
Pirate77
Rochester, MN
Posted on 11/3/2009 at 8:09:38 AM
Baldwin, I wonder if Aquarius is where the old Westfire club, or gang, has relocated.
I’m a parent of a child in ISD 535. My sleeves and my wife’s sleeves are rolled up to support a teacher who has to cope with every bit of mismanagement that originates with Dallemand and his inner circle.
MichaelRe
sman
Rochester, MN
Posted on 11/3/2009 at 4:56:37 PM
I wonder how the NAACP would respond to the choice of supporting Dr. Dallemand OR closing the achievement gap? The majority on the school board made two decisions when they hired Dr. Dallemand that each doomed his efforts.
First, they changed the direction of the school district with no discussion or input from the public, parents or staff. Closing the achievement gap had been a goal for years, but now changed in a moment from A priority to THE priority. The flawed process that left the community out of this major decision alienated many. To this day, a lot of people don’t agree that it should take precedence over all other district efforts.
Dr. Dallemand from the beginning talked about Efficacy as a main tool for bringing change. This approach utilized blame and guilt to persuade staff that they must do things differently. Blame and guilt engender anger and resentment that lead to resistance and failure.
No matter who was hired under these circumstances, she/he would have little chance to succeed.
So, now what? We’re halfway through a five year plan that took off and left much of the community behind. A discussion about modifying it has started. Let’s put some significant effort into that process and include a lot of people to enlist public support for a broad array of concerns.
Dr. Dallemand has not changed his leadership style despite feedback from the public, staff and school board. Do we have wait for him to leave, as superintendents tend to do after a few years? Or is there some way we can demand that Efficacy and intimidation be dropped? There must be someone out there who has the wisdom to move beyond racial guilt and blaming to a process of mutual respect and problem solving.
