Favoritism Alleged By Parents Cda School Board Chairman Accused Of Unfair Treatment

Some parents are complaining that the school board chairman is playing favorites among factions in the Coeur d’Alene School District.

Chairman Ken Burchell arranged for the citizens group Parents for Academic Excellence to present a 40-minute critique of the district’s reading program Monday night over the protests of three other board members.

Their attempt to take the group off the agenda prompted Burchell to accuse them of “outrageous, disgusting and contradictory behavior.” Board member Jane Curtis also wanted to hear the lengthy presentation.

On Tuesday, some parents were making similar statements about Burchell.

“I was appalled by his behavior,” said parent Mary ThorburnHenry. She and Carole Lindsay believe their viewpoints have been stifled by Burchell in the past.

At Monday night’s meeting, the chairman was reluctant to give Lindsay time to rebut statements made by Parents for Academic Excellence, which wants a return to a systematic, phonics-based reading program.

“There are some glaring inconsistencies with the process of how the agenda items are put together,” Lindsay said Tuesday. Parents for Academic Excellence has the ear of the chairman, she said.

“We feel we’re not getting fair and impartial treatment,” she said.

For instance, when she requested last spring to be placed on the school board agenda for a presentation on complaint procedures, Burchell did not allow it, she said.

Burchell said Tuesday he did not recall the request from Lindsay.

“Sour grapes is what it is, because I disagree with their warm-fuzzy educational philosophy,” he said.

Burchell endorsed the call by Parents for Academic Excellence to adopt the direct teaching method districtwide. The method involves teacher-led instruction that relies heavily on repetition, drills and rote memorization.

The method has been used successfully to teach math in some Ramsey Elementary classes.

“If it was up to me, we’d use direct method across the board,” Burchell said.

“But there is some partisanship toward affective teaching - warm-fuzzy teaching methods.”

The group also called for the systematic teaching of phonics, citing studies that denounce the whole language philosophy of teaching reading.

Whole language emphasizes comprehension and content over the individual parts of language. Burchell agrees with the parent group that whole language has been a “resounding failure.”

“We have to admit that it isn’t much use for us,” he said.

Although Simone Kincaid, a member of Parents for Academic Excellence, said the presentation was meant to encourage the district to return to phonics, administrators said they were not prepared for the onslaught of criticism.

“We were not there to revoke whole language,” Kincaid explained Tuesday.

“The tone of this is because of the frustration we have felt from being ignored…. We want balance back in the school district. It’s been so one-sided.”

Elementary education coordinator Hazel Bauman asked for time at a future meeting to clear up what she said were inaccuracies in the citizens’ presentation.

The district uses a variety of strategies, including phonics, to teach reading, she said.

, DataTimes