I learned a great deal about cyber-bullying this month when a local high school student started a fake “Steve Joel Twitter” account. My first reaction was feeling personally violated and angry that a student could use my picture and simply make up words – to send out under my name. My second reaction was seeking to learn more about the how’s and why’s of this type of social media. I quickly discovered that the Internet is a bastion of our right to free speech, and that the student who started the Fake Steve Joel Twitter account was officially within his rights. I also learned that he was the only one who could disable the site despite the fact that the material in the Tweets was highly inappropriate and potentially disruptive to our school environment.
Working with the school principal, I prepared for a meeting with the young man and his mom, knowing that I wanted to make the encounter a teaching and learning experience. Without question, I found that he was remorseful and willing to do anything to make it right. We agreed that he would spend much of his adult life crusading against cyber attacks that were hurtful to others by intervening on the side of decency. I felt good about the meeting, the consequences and the young man’s resulting attitude. These were valuable lessons learned: for the student, and for me.
Meanwhile, our school district continues to see the budget and state funding as a high priority in our work with the State Legislature. We feel we have made the case in Legislative hearings that funds for education should not be inequitably reduced for school districts that are growing – in both total student enrollment and changing demographics – as well as not inequitably reduced for school districts whose students perform on the high end of state and national assessments. We have our fingers crossed.
Another interesting recent debate in the State Legislature involved a proposal that would require students to stay in school until age 18 – and not be allowed to drop out of school at 16, even with parental permission. While I know that many educators are worried about having students in school who don’t want to be there, I think this bill has many positives as long as we can develop alternative pathways to a diploma. Forcing kids to continue attending school where they are unsuccessful won’t work. But what if we had expanded alternative schools or technical career centers with job internships? If we could develop some of these concepts, I believe we would engage more students in their learning thus making it more likely they will connect to their class work – and graduate.
Finally, we continue to progress toward developing a plan for replacing our Lincoln Public Schools District Office building as a result of the Memorial Day fire. We have continued to address community interest and answer community concerns, and are prepared to present the Lincoln Board of Education a proposed plan for 5901 O St. (for first reading) at the Board meeting scheduled for 8 a.m. Friday, March 9. Personally, I am ready to get this project moving so that I (and a host of others) can focus on the critical work ahead: hiring quality school district leaders, continuing to improve our teaching and learning, and developing broader and richer initiatives to improve our high school graduation rate.
