TTMW Issue #70
* Re: SDSD In addition to J. Stein's assessment of working conditions in Deaf Education, here is some more food for thought. The following is taken in part from a story run in a March 25th issue of Deaf Today (http://www.deaftoday.com/news/archives/004273.html): "Tad Perry, the executive director of the South Dakota School for the Deaf's Board of Regents, made the following statements about Dr. Jon Green, the then-Superintendent of SDSD: 'The regents support Green.' Perry then added, 'He has done a wonderful job. The academic program has improved in the nine years he has been there,' Perry said. 'The physical plant is better than when he inherited it. There were ongoing issues in the residence hall program. He took the initiative and restructured that into a model residence hall program. He has done a fabulous job of doing the core mission.'" A few months after those statements were complied, that selfsame Board of Regents granted Dr. Green a sabbatical leave and Maureen Schloss took over. ( http://www.sdbor.edu/publications/PressReleases/2004/documents/081304SDSDchanges.pdf ). Think on it; a Board of Regents finds their Superintendent so competent, the first thing they do after publicly declaring so much support is send him off on a sabbatical and replace him with an interim administrator. What are we to make of this contradiction? And this occurs in the age of unbreakable unions, limited funding for state schools, prevalent ignorance and hostility toward Deaf Culture? Even more remarkable is the swiftness of transformation in this particular situation, which is not often found in mainstream instigations. There are important lessons to be learned from SDSD. One, as J. Stein stated, the game is changing now, and administrators are indeed increasingly being forced to answer to the public. Two, effective, organized protest overcomes everything, including excuses. Spitfire
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