Link to Original Story

REPUBLICAN United States

momof2 wrote:
How about the positives that the teachers who drive in are choosing to work in Cairo. Despite salaries WELL below other places. I drive and there are times I leave quickly after school but I come to events,and give every parent my cell number. They can call any time. There is no way to look at any district and assign blame in one place. I hope the posters and readers do go to the board meeting and fight for the reading program. And beyond that ask what can be done on an ongoing basis to help the children of this community. Read cat tracks and take advantage of all the information presented there.

I'm sorry but CAT tracks is one man's opinion. He hates Cairo Schools and when he was teaching he said the last 12 years he quit teaching. So that was 12 years wasted but he got paid.

Just sayin
Homewood, IL

Thursday REPUBLICAN wrote:
I'm sorry but CAT tracks is one man's opinion. He hates Cairo Schools and when he was teaching he said the last 12 years he quit teaching. So that was 12 years wasted but he got paid.

Ron Newell
Cairo, IL

To: REPUBLICAN

(Which if you are who I think you are...you ain't. But, hey...that's what people who hide behind an alias do...try to mislead, in their identity and what they say.)

In my prior post, I said that I would not debate those hiding in the bushes behind an alias...and I won't.

However, since you choose to make statements about my intentions or actions without having a clue as to what I am thinking, I shall correct your ass-umptions.

Item #1...about CAT Tracks being one man's opinion. You are correct (but 1 out of 3 ain't good!) The opinions expressed on CAT Tracks ARE mine and mine alone...and I sign my name to 'em, unlike others who shall remain nameless. I would point out that I present FACTS to back up those opinions...providing official school district documents to support my assertions.

Item #2...that I hate Cairo schools. ABSOLUTELY WRONG! I owe Cairo schools everything I have or ever will have. I attended Cairo schools as a child...getting the education that allowed me to be a teacher. I worked for 39 years in the system (ALL 39 years, not 27, but more about that below.) So Cairo schools (with an assist from SIU) provided me with the income to be a productive tax-paying citizen. Hell...I even met the love of my life at Cairo High School. So...contrary to your assertion, I LOVE CAIRO SCHOOLS. It is why I still care what happens to them.

Item #3: As for your assertion about me - that I "quit teaching" for the final 12 years - once again...WRONG. In the real estate business, they say "location, location, location" is everything. Your assertion needs "context, context, context". I NEVER quit teaching...an assertion on my part that every-other-year EXCELLENT evaluations by several different CHS administrators would support...if you were interested in FACTS rather than innuendo or slander/libel. (It's like the person a few years back who "papered" area cars with my retirement edition of CAT Tracks to try to prove that I was a racist...that I hated black children. It backfired when the casual reader saw that my comments were clearly about ALL children, black and white or other. That false accusation - like this one - revealed more about the accuser than the accused.) In my old age, I don't remember all of my epistles and gospels verbatim, but I NEVER QUIT TEACHING. The various superintendents and school boards pressured Cairo High School teachers to lower expectations, pressured Cairo High School teachers to pass students who had not met course requirements, pressured Cairo High School teachers to reward highly capable but apathetic children with a diploma. Quit? Yeah, I QUIT FIGHTING "CITY HALL". I (and other teachers...to this day) did the best we could with both hands tied behind our backs, stripped of any means of enforcement. And, trust me on this...that's a helluva lot harder teaching job than what it was during my first 27 years!

So, in conclusion...Mr. Republican, I DO NOT HATE CAIRO SCHOOLS. I hate what the administration of Cairo School District Number One has done to the school system I continue to love with all my heart.

We are now reaping what years of enabling, take-care-of-family-and-friends superintendents and school board members have sown.