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MDL (print only) welcomes Madison Central's new superintendent Vince Schaefer back to the county. Schaefer is a 1965 graduate of the old Franklin High School. He superintended in Viborg, Madelia (MN), Luverne (MN), and most recently Beresford before taking on the challenge of our fair district. Of his somewhat familiar stomping grounds, Schaefer says quite kindly, "I liked the progressive attitude that the area has, not only the schools but the entire community."
Let's hope the progressive attitude doesn't infect him so much that he progresses right along with many of our past faculty to better-paying jobs in Minnesota. We've seen a fair amount of administrator turnover in recent years, and a majority of those departing administrators have headed for better-paying jobs outside our state. HS Principal Dennis Germann went to Minnesota. Superintendent John Sweet -- Minnesota. HS Principal Rebecca Stapert -- Montana. MS Principal Keith Roskens -- Missouri.
Our coaches have been expressing the same progressive attitude. Two of our head coaches -- track coach Jerome Garry and girls' basketball coach Chris Shaffer -- are both headed for Minnesota. Garry is following his wife, who got a really good job in Rochester. Shaffer is leaving for a middle-school language arts position in Marshall [Dan Holsworth, "Shaffer Leaves Madison for Marshall," MDL, 2007.06.20].
Is the money really that much better in Minnesota? Marshall's average teacher salary for AY2005-06 was $38,809, ranking 343 out of 486 schools listed, compared to Madison's $36,193. The SD chart I'm looking at doesn't make clear if that's 05-06 or 06-07, but that's 16th highest in SD out of 134 districts listed. But some back-of-the-envelope calculations that say when you factor in the comparative cost of living indexes (quarter 4, 2006) of 97.5 for MN and 87 for SD, Shaffer would come out $2000 to the good by staying in Madison. (Looking at statewide 04-05 average salaries of $46,906 for MN and $34,040 for SD, Minnesota teachers still come out way ahead, ranking 8th in the nation for cost-of-living-adjusted pay. On the same scale, South Dakota ranks 44th. Again, I welcome better economists than the Madville Times' own Division of Statistical Tinkering to analyze those numbers.)
Two and a half thousand dollars might not make up for the expense of moving and the higher cost of living in Marshall. But for Shaffer, trading Madison for Marshall may not just be a matter of money. Shaffer himself says that he's moving for his kids. "My wife and I were intrigued by what Marshall had to offer us and our children.... I have liked my coaching and teaching here a lot. B ut my wife and I felt that our children needed a change" [Holsworth].
Was Shaffer talking about Marshall offering his kids a bigger gym? Not according to comments he made in a KJAM interview a few days ago. A friend of mine tuned in for the coaches corner program on our flagship local broadcaster and heard Shaffer say Marshall offers more arts opportunities for his kids. (Yes, I'm reporting this very secondhand -- I welcome clarifications and corrections from more regular KJAM listeners than myself.) You can compare Marshall's list of activities with Madison's and see if you agree with Shaffer's assessment.
Obviously, Minnesota doesn't draw everyone out of South Dakota. Our new superintendent himself has visited the land of milk and honey and the DFL and come back to his homeland. And the Madville Times is never leaving, no matter how much Minnesota might offer an ambitious math teacher and debate coach. But in the competition for the best teachers, administrators, and other professionals, South Dakota can't count on irrational attachments to old homesteads and other intangibles. Our schools and state have to offer more opportunities, more arts, and more money.
While we await (foment?) the revolution, the Madville Times welcomes the new Schaefer and offers its hope that he can get inspire more of our progessive teachers and coaches to stay here instead of progressing to the brighter lights, bigger pay, and perceived broader opportunities of out-of-state school districts. Maybe project #1 for Supt. Schaefer can be a restoration of funding for music at MHS....
Drinking Liberally Update (11/15/2024)
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In Politics: Nationally: The Election is over and the wrong side won. I
have nothing to contribute to the barrels of ink being used by Pundits to
explain a...
2 days ago
Dude... you don't have to get second-hand info... drop me an e-mail and I can send you a copy!
ReplyDeleteI do not know this for a fact, but am suspicious that Mr. Shaffer also had some other reasons for leaving. I was absolutely amazed that this man was an English teacher (my offspring did have him as a teacher for at least one class), and if your ever witnessed his coaching style....
ReplyDeleteLet's just say, those girls did not deserve to be treated like that.
So anon, why is it when I talked to some of the players they admitted they cried after learning Shaffer was leaving?
ReplyDeleteWas Shaffer a tough coach? Absolutely. But you also probably saw him just in the games and not in practice. Granted there were some that didn't like his style, but I also saw a very patient, caring individual who wanted the best for his girls...
You know, some of my best teachers were the ones that were hard on me, even if I thought they were ay-holes at the time. But I also know that they were the folks that continually pushed me, never letting me settle for my best. And if they had to chew me out a bit because I needed it, so be it.
But I also think that if they didn't care, they wouldn't have pushed me like they did. So what if Shaffer wasn't a milquetoast? He reminds me of some of my toughest, and best teachers. And I think MHS is all the poorer for losing him.
Coach Shaffer was a soft-hearted person, who came to Madison after several successful years coaching and teaching in Ellendale, North Dakota. Is he Old Style? Sure! Was he loud? Oh yeah! Did he care? More than any of his most-recent players and parents will ever know. After coming to Madison, taking his girls to State his first two years, he inherited a group of girls who didn't practice in the off-season, listened to their negative parents more than their coach and were basically, lazy and uncoachable. He knew that, but tried to push them anyway because he saw their potential. There are some very good athletes in his program. If you ever spoke to Mr. Shaffer in person, he was soft-hearted and really cared about helping his girls find their untapped talent. We've become a society that is more interested in "coddling" our young, rather than "leading" or "coaching" our youth toward achievable goals. Our fear of allowing our children to experience failure or any other negative emotion has outgrown our need to teach children how to seek success and learn how to lose gracefully. Shaffer wasn't yelling at the girls, he was yelling out his frustration of what they could have become with some work and cooperation from their parents who spearheaded his demise.
ReplyDeleteTo anon:
ReplyDeleteYou insinuate that Mr. Shaffer was not a good English teacher. Three of my four kids had Mr. Shaffer as a teacher and I have no complaints, I thought that he did a good job. Now if you want to talk about teacher with questionable competance, look not farther than Geome Garry. Ask your Siblings what they thought of him as a chemistry instructor.
Now your comments about Coach Shaffer. From your post I suspect that you are more into self-esteem that results, it is OK to flunk a spelling test as long as you feel good about yourself. Well an attitude like that has no place at the varsity level of competition, and that is why Coach Shaffer coached like he did. One of my daughters had the privilege of starting for Mr. Shaffer his first two years hear, and played in the State Tournament 2 years in a row. What is the difference between those athletes and the athletes he has had lately? One word "ATTITUDE". Some not all of the athletes he has had the last two years are uncoachable. I can not tell you the number of times last year that with the clock ticking down at the end of any quarter or the game, a time out was called to set a play for a last second shot. Most of the time we would not get off a shot because either the girls forgot the play or they were going to run the play they wanted. I can give you literally hundreds more examples but space probably does not allow. Who wouldn't throw up their hands at this kind of play?
I agree with the comment about Mr. Garry. My kids had him too, and I heard nothing good from them and many others about his teaching ability. One of my kids was behind many others in college as a result of his classes, and my kid had a lot harder time in the chemistry classes there as a result. He had to have the basics as he went into medicine, but he did catch up.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there is no proof unless we go back and look at all the semester grades, and we didn't pursue it because my kid didn't want to at the time, my kid's grade was actually lowered one grade in chemistry. When my kid asked why, Mr. Garry told him it was because he quit the sports team!
My question is, when so many people know a teacher is not very good, what can they do? Don't say go to the school board, because nothing would happen there. Administration would do nothing either if a teacher has tenure.
"My question is, when so many people know a teacher is not very good, what can they do? Don't say go to the school board, because nothing would happen there. Administration would do nothing either if a teacher has tenure."
ReplyDeleteMy nine years of teaching in South Dakota's public schools taught me that "tenure" is a sham. The only additional job protection a teacher with tenure gets is that at contract renewal time, a school board must show "just cause" if it chooses not to renew a tenured teacher's contract (see SDCL 13-43-6.1). The board can nonrenew first-, second-, or third-year teachers for any reason, with no explanation or justification. The board can still fire any teacher, tenured or not, at any time for just cause. A nonrenewed tenured teacher is entitled to a hearing before the board to argue against the nonrenewal (SDCL 13-43-6.2). A nonrenewed tenured teacher or any terminated teacher can challenge that board action in circuit court, assuming the teacher has the time and money to hire a lawyer and slug it out at that level. And even there, the courts hesitate to reverse the decisions of elected bodies like school boards unless there's a clear violation of statute or due process.
Most teachers don't want to fight that fight, though. Practically speaking, the board or the superintendent can go to a teacher and say, "We're probably going to nonrenew/terminate you, so maybe you'd like to resign and avoid the hassle." I don't have numbers on this, but I know a lot of teachers who aren't willing to risk their finances and professional reputations fighting big (and eventually public) battles, so given that choice, 4 out of 5 teachers will resign.
Simply put, if a school board wants to remove a teacher, even a tenured one, it can find reason to do so, and most of the time, there won't be a fight.
By the way, the Madville Times appreciates this frank discussion of school issues. Madisonites need to have more open conversations like this.
ReplyDeleteThe Madville Times will not comment on the qualifications of any particular teacher for now and will remind commenters that they are responsible for the truth of their own comments about specific individuals. Specifically, if Chris Shaffer or Jerome Garry come looking for someone to sue over defamatory comments, the Madville Times will not be held legally liable... and (check with your lawyers) neither will any commenters, as long as their comments are truthful or as long as they can show the comments were not malicious.
You talk about coming around full circle... The new super's wife, who is now the special education director at Dell Rapids, was my second grade teacher back in Dells, almost 25 years ago!
ReplyDeleteWalt Disney was right... It's a Small World after all!