European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 7, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday november 1988 the stars and stripes Page 9 education news charges on finance Center denied Bidav Walczak education writer the head of the embattled  finance Center in Europe is denying charges that his staff refuses to answer phones treats teachers As second Das citizens and responds to teacher pay complaints Only when grievances pile up. The charn1 were made in the overseas education association s monthly newsletter Unity which is distributed to Union members throughout West Germany. An sea source said the organization distributes More than 5,000 copies of the newsletter. Col. Jerry heard who Heads the 266th theater finance Center in a Cimon West Germany rebutted the Union s charges in written responses provided to the Slars and Stripe Las week the remark that Teachen Are regarded As second Cess citizens does not apply to this office heard wrote. Neither do we pass the Bock for our prob  conceding that All the pay prob Lens have not been served. Heard wrote we Are now in the process of answering the backlog of  he predicted the backlog would be eliminated by mid december. The finance office has been the target of teacher pay complaints since september 1987, when hundreds of teachers went without at least one paycheck. Since then thousands of teacher pay complaints have surfaced. Union officials have accused finance officials of foot dragging in solving a backlog of pay inquiries which finance officials said numbered More than 4,600 last August and 4,400 in september. The newsletter is produced by Joyce Holland Ingrid Ahlberg Jan Pepelnjak and Carol Ahern sea s area directors in West Germany. The Art de about the Cen Ter titled Don t be deceived said the 2mth finance will not answer the phone this an phonies off the Hook strategy has been confirmed by eyewitnesses in sch Atzingen. Heard replied that his office a in let men not Schwerin gun and that the Center does not use any report asserts reforms place Strain on elementary children new York a pushing Elemen tary age children into rigorous study in the name of Reform is doing More harm than Good a report warns. Reforms aimed at making students More accountable and diligent May make sense for High schooners but often produce Only Short term gains when applied to younger children and May bum them out said the report released recently in Chicago at the annual convention of the Valiona Larsocia Tion of state boards of education the study right from the Start the report of the Nasbe task Force on Early childhood education urges states to encourage formation of Early childhood urls catering to the special developmental needs of children aged 4 to 8. The legitimate concern about the link Between our economic future and the Quality of schooling has fostered a competitive mentality for our educational Enterprise with unfortunate consequences for Early segments of schooling the report said. If education is seen As a contest that pits children against their Peers or a race against our foreign competitors we risk teaching very Young children the wrong academic tasks be fore they Are ready and we simulate fear sind pressure among  26-member task Force that produced the report was Ted by association president Richard Owens. It met throughout 1988, holding hearings and visiting schools in Atlanta Boston Chi Cago and san Francisco. This report May rattle the Bushes a Little but what we re saying absolutely makes sense Owens a member of the Georgia Board of education told the at Lanta Constitution. Preschool and Early school years arc crucial for children and their parents he said. Not everybody at this Lime 19ready to jump my Force into pre Kinder Garlen programs but i think Many of them Are looking in a Forward to the 55-Page report Owens said we heard disturbing Testi Mony about the harmful effects of in creased testing on Young children and about class sizes of 33 children in Kinder Garten programs. We were equally concerned about re ports of Tow salaries for Early childhood teachers staff turnover rates averaging 4d percent nationally in child care Cen ters and limited uneven Public funding for Early childhood  the report Lent fresh support to the grow ing chorus of concern Over increased standardized testing ability tracking and rigid academic demands on elementary school children in parts of the country. It echoed similar concerns raised during the past Yearby groups including the National association of elementary school principals and the National association for the education  the report did t single out any Stales or districts for criticism. But Georgia for exam ple requires Kinder partners to pass a lest to Advance to first Grade As does Minneapolis. Such "heavy-handed1 measures the report said represent an obsession with producing Short term trivial results rather than developing Long term intellectual and social  id one sense it said the stress on academics and standardized testing Means schools Are expecting Loo Little of Elemen Lary aged children because using More appropriate methods and materials Chil Dren can Deal with Richer and More sophisticated learning tasks than those dictated by work sheets and Drill and practice  research suggests that children in that age group learn Best by actively exploring their environment using hands on materials and building upon their Natu ral curiosity and desire to make sense of the world around them it said. The proposed special units for Chil Dren age 4-8 might be entirely separate from existing elementary schools or else schools could choose to designate a Sepa rate Early childhood unit director responsible to the school principal. Elementary schools also might set up a team of one or More Lead teachers such units the task Force said should  to Foster Strong Parent school partnerships coordinate its services with other Community agencies serving youngsters provide training and support for teachers and administrators and respect students cultural and linguistic diversity. Such phone answering  i firmly deny this allegation he wrote. The Union publication also urged its members to continue to file grievances about the finance Center s operations. These grievances plus numerous in inspector general complaints arc at least succeeding in drawing attention to the plight of individuals the article said. Bui heard argued that the grievance procedure was unnecessary. The encouragement by sea for grievances. As Sumes that we arc sitting around wailing for pressure. The honest truth is that we know where our problems Are of me hard at work improving things. Continuous beating by the sea Hie press and investigative agencies Only reiterate Vihani. We know and often exacerbate the  the finance Center handles the payroll for about 10,500 department of defense dependents schools employees including about 7,000 teachers in West Germany Belgium the Netherlands and Norway. Kids give f to 9 33 . Lunch period Marietta a. A some Stu dents at crowded Lassiter High school complain that Spaghetti fish hot dogs and pizza Are nol exactly what breakfast is supposed to be. But when you cat in at9 33 ., what else do you Call it because Only so Many of Lassiter s 2,100 students can i into the lunch room at one Lime that s when the first lunch period begins. -. "11 stints said Heather Harrison 17. When you gel up in the morning and cat breakfast when you. Go  you re full. And when you gel Home you pig  last year when the Cobb county school in the Atlanta metropolitan area had 2,500 students 500 Over capacity lunch slatted even earlier. We have improved joked the school s principal Doug Allen. We were serving at 9 13 . Now it s 9 33." from a nutritional standpoint there s nothing wrong with lunch for breakfast said food service assistant Joan Greaves. They re Given food groups that they need to give them Energy during the Day she said. However the students Don t appreciate that. / they should serve grits and pan cakes said Michel Ramsey 17, Allen said the school tried adding Brunch items last year but the Novelty wore off and students went Back off the fast food line. Three r s still educators Survey says Washington Cap teaching the three r s Reading riling and Ril hectic remains the most important goal for High school educators according to a sur vey released last week that also shows teachers increasingly Are concerned about gangs and crowded classrooms. Their has been a tremendous increase m concern about Basic skins and states an now testing like they never have before said Leonard p. Pellicer of the University of South Carolina who compiled the study for the National association of secondary school principals. Iri my own View americans in Gen eral feel the schools have not done Good enough Job in Basic skills to prepare their children to function As literate member of society Pellicer said. The report titled High school Lead ers and their schools Jimma Rizw the organization s 19s7 Survey of 1,225 High school principals and assistant principals in 1,544 schools. It is a. Follow up to Simi Lar surveys in 1965 and 1977. The study indicated that the lop three goals of school officials leaching Stu dents Basic skills hoping them develop positive self images and furthering intellect Lual inquiry and problem solving skills remained the same As in the 1977 Survey. Teaching Basic skills also was the lop priority in 1965, but thai year the secondhand Inird lop objectives wite respectively promoting dead Oppenl of moral and spiritual values and promoting an understanding of the american system. Today s High school principals also see a greater need to prepare american youth for a changing world a goal that was fourth in the latest Survey up from eighth in 1977. The other goats identified in the new Survey were in older promoting development of moral and spiritual values providing career planning and training in special entry level Job skills promoting understanding of the american value system teaching skills needed in a technological society teaching skills for family life promoting physical fitness and offering exposure to the Fine arts. When asked which of 27 condition would have an Impact on their schools in the next five years almost half 49 percent said gang activity would have a Strong influence followed by 39 percent who listed increases in Enro Vincnt Tod 37 percent who . This finding was a Surprise to Pellicer and the association s executive director Scott Thomson who noted that gang activity listed Well above drug use 17 per cent and alcohol abuse 20 percent the Only interpretation i can have on that is they might Sec the drug scene evolving into More of a gang scene Thomson said noting conversations with principals in Urban areas nol known for gang activity. -. Thomson said be also was surprised that despite slight salary increases m the last decade the overwhelming majority 89 percent of those questioned said they received the most Job satisfaction from their ability to help others. Asked to rate a list of skills and characteristics needed by teachers the administrators ranked the top five As competence in subject matter adjusting instruction to students interpersonal skills with students competence in meth ods and skill in developing positive Stu Dent self images. "