I thought I made some bad decisions, but this guy has me beat. Stay focused.

So essentially Joe is telling teacher, mind your own business and just stick to teaching. How can we do this when we see he has more regard for building his entourage around him, pouring millions of dollars into his administrative staff and departments. What is wrong with this picture when we see he is moving millions, and millions of dollars to pay for bleachers and court resurfacing. I tell parents, YOU are needed to help us provide a quality education for your children with the best staff possible. Send your letters and emails to the school board, Kamenetz, the county council, and media to let them know you want and demand the best education for your children. Our county executive and superintendent say we have a high quality school system, but yet they are cutting it down at the classroom level instead of trimming the fat at the top. Teachers, yes, indeed stay focused and write ALL county elected officials including Kamenetz. Next year is indeed an election year and they must know how you want your hard earned tax dollars to go. Get involved parents. The board agenda is on the BCPS web page. Read them. continue to follow Liz Bowie and the other fine education reporters for the sun and it's blogs to hear the REAL truth. These are YOUR schools. Your children deserve the best education possible. Your child won't get it from those in the administrative offices. NO! They receive their foundation for life from you and the teachers in their classrooms. Yes teachers, DO indeed stay focused.

It sounds to me like Dr. Joe thinks we teachers are so unprofessional that we might just stop teaching, now that those all-so-important state tests are finished. Nice vote of confidence. "Stay focused" is something I gently say to my ADHD students to let them know they are drifting off task. Is that how Dr. Joe views us? At what point will he stop being rude and arrogant to the very people from whom he should want respect?

Thanks for the reminder Joe. I have a bit more time next week to write politicians about how you need to be removed from your post, without any buyout. That's my focus, because that will greatly improve the quality of education of students in Baltimore County.
Hopefully those investigating the more criminal aspects of your reign will also stay focused.

I am a "focused" teacher in the BCPS and i was highly insulted by Superintendent Joe Hairston's comment, "Stay Focused" on my pay stub right before our spring break and I was not the only teacher in my building to feel slighted and insulted by this comment. Instead of wishing his teachers a happy holiday or a nice spring break or thanking us for our hard work and efforts to prepare our students for the MSA, he delivers what amounts to a low blow and maybe an actual threat. Morale in our school and the other schools of BCPS is already low because of the 200 teachers who have been excessed and this demeaning comment only lowers our morale. However, it is just another example of how Joe Hairston is not a genuine leader.He is not a leader who inspires his teachers to follow by his example. This was evident two years ago when he took his bonus even though his teachers were denied a pay raise. It is evident when he allowed Barbara Dezmon to create the bogus AIM program and continue to pay her to work on that totoally useless program. It is clear when he wastes millions of dollars on textbooks that sit in boxes in our schools and that teachers don't need or use. It is evident when he hires a new deputy superintendent for $214,000 and then excesses 200 teachers. Teachers are the heart and soul of the schools and all good educational leaders know that smaller classes are best for students. In the BCPS the mantra is "what is best for kids" and it is not in the best interests of students to excess their teachers. So, Dr. Hairtson I will stay focused on doing what is best for the students of BCPS and that, in part, will be to do whatever I can to make the case that it is time for you to be excessed,.

"Stay focused"? Since this message appeared on all employee paychecks prior to the spring break, is this Superintendent Hairston's idea of a holiday greeting? Perhaps an inspirational plea for responsible vacation spending? Or maybe just a friendly reminder to concentrate on enjoying a well-deserved vacation?

Inspiring!

15 years in the county schools and I have never seen morale as low as it is right now. The feeling that the upper management is arrayed directly AGAINST teachers and students is pervasive, and now this. I agree with the other posters, stay focused on writing your elected officials and explaining that Dr. Hairston needs to go. Ms. Bowie, thank you for not letting go of this!

In its technical sense, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another. Studies from the US suggest that the quality of teachers is the single most important factor affecting student performance, and that countries which score highly on international tests have multiple policies in place to ensure that the teachers they employ are as effective as possible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education
Does anyone know what the studies from the US suggest about the quantity of highly-paid administrators and their influence on student performance?
Power is a measure of an entity's ability to control its environment, including the behavior of other entities. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_%28philosophy%29
Who do you think is laughing all the way to the bank?
In common usage, the word "tyrant" carries connotations of a harsh and cruel ruler who places his or her own interests or the interests of a small oligarchy over the best interests of the general population, which the tyrant governs or controls. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrant
Is it really for the good of the children?
Stay focused; follow the money.

And this is another example of why I am a FORMER BCPS teacher...

I hope that the Baltimore County Community gets focused on what is best for families and children. It is not the current leadership in BCPS. Barbara Dezmon continues to influence the system for her good...Joe Hairston continues to let her...People of quality are long gone and the very expensive positions have been left in the "care" of inept and tyrannical leaders. I cannot believe that Baltimore County citizens have allowed this to continue. Change is needed...Let's start with the removal of board members who have presided over the mess. Get rid of the appointment whose term is up in June and get a smart and ethical replacement who can turn things around. Wake up, elected officials. Your community is paying a price for the arrogant man leading the system.

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

nice article.Thanks for the information.

It's very hard to stay focused when you have been excessed and feel that all your efforts mean nothing to the powers that be.

I am in a position that was reduced by more than 50% countywide, yet was fully funded in the approved budget according to personnel. My question for months has been: So where are the 30 salaries that were cut-yet-in-the-budget-as-funded? Where were they "moved"? It certainly wasn't to restoring some of these lost instructional positions. I'll stay focused alright.

Stay focused? Is Baltimore County focused on Education for our youths? Please compare Baltimore City's new schools/Charter schools etc.... Parents given open Options for students to attend schools that have been transformed! What does Baltimore County offer? The old lottery system and if you hit the lottery you get a good education? Why isn't Dr. Hairston transforming our schools? Why are schools allowed to year after year not make AYP and this be accepatable? It is time for the parents of the Windsor Mill/Woodlawn area to stand together and demand better schools!