If you don't have to live in the Morris school district, you are better off. If you can leave the entire county, you're better off, but if you have to live in Otsego, try to live in either the Cooperstown or Oneonta school districts. Those schools aren't great either, but at least your child will stand a chance. Morris has an administrator and teacher problem. There is an overwhelming sense of entitlement and superiority amongst the admins/teachers. I have been appalled to hear many times both admins and teachers blame any problems in the school on the children not being smart enough and the parents being poor. The admins/teachers don't take responsibility AT ALL for the failures within the school, when in fact, they are the ones who perpetuate the problems.Bullying? I have witnessed teachers encourage children to bully, and I have witnessed teachers and admins who've seen the bullying happening and look the other way. They claim, "I had no idea" when it's pointed out. Are they dense or diabolical? There is no third choice.State assessment scores at this school are embarrassing. A school this size with the better-than-adequate funding they have, the better-than-adequate pay that many of the admins and teachers receive, and the extremely small class sizes that should easily allow for one-on-one assistance should be outperforming other schools in the state, but these "educators" can't seem to get their act together. I hear a lot from several of them about what the TEACHERS DESERVE, but I have yet to hear any of them state what the CHILDREN DESERVE.The culture of the school and by extension, the success of the students begins and ends with the admins and teachers. PERIOD. They are supposed to be role models of intellect and character. They are supposed to meet the children where they are and then BRING THEM FORWARD to where they need to be. Instead, these admins/teachers meet them where they are, make sure they keep them there or push them lower, and then blame them for being there.There is definitely poverty in this school district, but the worst of it is not the financial poverty of the students. The worst poverty is found in the collective group of admins and teachers. It's their poverty of intellect, their poverty of professionalism, their poverty of talent, their poverty of creativity, their poverty of compassion, their poverty of empathy, and their poverty of character. The children deserve better.
