Having worked with Fred Ortiz for many years, I can attest that his loss will adversely affect both teachers and students. Without his technological expertise and support, teachers will not have the time or resources to craft the engaging and critical-thinking lessons and activities that we were able to do with Fred's help. When it comes to the decisions this district is making, if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. But based on the last BoE elections, way too many are simply not paying attention. Thank you for your continued efforts to shed light on d65.
Thanks for this deep dive into the doings in District 65. You keep finding important information that I, for one, would never have the patience to ferret out on my own.
In my experience, when administrators come up with lofty slogans about “Re-imagining,” “envisioning” (looking at you, Mayor Biss), or (in the 1990s and first decade of this century) Northwestern’s use of “excellence” as a buzzword, it’s a way to avoid the boring work of solving specific, difficult problems, while appearing to engage in transformative long-range planning. In short, a license to B.S. the public. Sorry to be so cynical. Still waiting to be proven wrong, which would be delightful. But not holding my breath.
It looks like BS as usual with those "new" re-image positions. I do not see how the district is saving any money with all these new job postings! The district needs to close out the Deputy Superintendent's position which is costing the district over $200K per year. The population/ enrollment cannot justify having this position.
I couldn't agree more. It is a disgrace that the district is keeping this position. I have neither seen nor heard any updates from the Deputy Superintendent in months. What does this role do exactly?
Tom - is this something worth looking into? It is a lot of money and I'm not sure what the benefit of keeping this position is.
It's important to remember job eliminations do not mean layoffs, they only mean the individual who is in that position could be moved to another vacancy or bump someone who has less seniority. My guess is the CREATE65 team all have tenure/seniority and they have been moved to other positions in the district e.g. teaching, support, administration. And the Director of CREATE65 just took a position in Lagrange... the dominos keep falling.
I think that there will be more changes as teachers leave or are shuffled about the district. Teachers won’t know until the very end of the year as to their assignments for next year. Also Bessie Rhodes is looking to recruit a large number of positions, undoubtedly left free because of the looming closure.
Having worked with Fred Ortiz for many years, I can attest that his loss will adversely affect both teachers and students. Without his technological expertise and support, teachers will not have the time or resources to craft the engaging and critical-thinking lessons and activities that we were able to do with Fred's help. When it comes to the decisions this district is making, if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. But based on the last BoE elections, way too many are simply not paying attention. Thank you for your continued efforts to shed light on d65.
Thanks for this deep dive into the doings in District 65. You keep finding important information that I, for one, would never have the patience to ferret out on my own.
In my experience, when administrators come up with lofty slogans about “Re-imagining,” “envisioning” (looking at you, Mayor Biss), or (in the 1990s and first decade of this century) Northwestern’s use of “excellence” as a buzzword, it’s a way to avoid the boring work of solving specific, difficult problems, while appearing to engage in transformative long-range planning. In short, a license to B.S. the public. Sorry to be so cynical. Still waiting to be proven wrong, which would be delightful. But not holding my breath.
I grew up in the Detroit area and the word we always used there was "renaissance"
I really appreciate that someone goes thru all this stuff trying to explain what's going on.
It looks like BS as usual with those "new" re-image positions. I do not see how the district is saving any money with all these new job postings! The district needs to close out the Deputy Superintendent's position which is costing the district over $200K per year. The population/ enrollment cannot justify having this position.
I couldn't agree more. It is a disgrace that the district is keeping this position. I have neither seen nor heard any updates from the Deputy Superintendent in months. What does this role do exactly?
Tom - is this something worth looking into? It is a lot of money and I'm not sure what the benefit of keeping this position is.
-Concerned Citizen
Horton riding high. DeKalb just gave him a contract extension!!?!??
https://ocgnews.com/dekalb-board-of-education-approves-contract-extension-for-superintendent-devon-horton-through-june-2027/
It's good to be king
It's important to remember job eliminations do not mean layoffs, they only mean the individual who is in that position could be moved to another vacancy or bump someone who has less seniority. My guess is the CREATE65 team all have tenure/seniority and they have been moved to other positions in the district e.g. teaching, support, administration. And the Director of CREATE65 just took a position in Lagrange... the dominos keep falling.
Thanks for this, I am writing a post mortem on create65 now and was wondering if she was still employed
I think that there will be more changes as teachers leave or are shuffled about the district. Teachers won’t know until the very end of the year as to their assignments for next year. Also Bessie Rhodes is looking to recruit a large number of positions, undoubtedly left free because of the looming closure.