Insulting piece in Newsweek

[proud2BlibKansan]

by Jonathan Alter

Just unbelievable. What happened to cause this assumption that senior teachers are the problem and the young inexperienced (and cheaper!) teachers are going to save our kids from a bad education?

When I began teaching 30 years ago I was taught - by my principal, no less - that when I had a question or a problem, I should go to a senior experienced colleague before I came to her. She told me that the older teachers were indeed wiser, knew the kids better and could share practical solutions and strategies with me. I remember looking up to the senior teachers and hoping that one day I could be as confident and as competent as they were.

This piece makes me very sad. Jonathan Alter, the experienced senior teachers who taught you are weeping today. I suspect they are also somewhat embarrassed.

How disappointing. Rigid “last hired, first fired” rules are a disaster for schoolchildren. They mean that across the country, teachers of the year will be pink-slipped simply because they are young. Yep—some of our very best teachers will be driven out of the profession. Meanwhile, older, incompetent teachers will be kept on. That’s unconscionable. We now know that having a bad teacher two or three years in a row in the early grades all but dooms disadvantaged children.

I didn't realize that across the country, teachers of the year are always the young inexperienced ones. Learn something new every day! I guess I can now assume that my colleague who was our teacher of the year last year was not nearly as competent as the young teacher across the hall who wasn't even nominated. Should I suggest she give her prize back?

With a little imagination, there’s a grand compromise available: money to prevent layoffs in exchange for a requirement that seniority no longer be the only factor in determining layoffs (it could continue to be one of four or five factors). But according to an administration source, this was apparently considered and rejected by the president without any serious effort to determine if it could win enough Republican votes in the Senate. (White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel disputes this account.) It would take action to change collective bargaining agreements in some state legislatures, but this was true of portions of Race to the Top and proved to be a surmountable barrier.

Yep, many of our state legislatures waltzed right over those collective bargaining agreements this past session. Unions, who needs em when you have elected officials who have proven the "barriers" they erect are surmountable?

The brutal truth is that teachers’ unions don’t care much about protecting young, great teachers (often union members, but less influential ones) who will get laid off soon. Instead, the unions and their lackeys in Congress and state legislatures will go down fighting for older teachers, even if they’re lemons of the year.

Because young non-tenured teachers are NEVER lemons. I guess you don't get to be a lemon until you've taught for 20 years? Or should we lower that? :eyes:

[Warpy]

1. You're right, and Alter is completely wrong about this

While more effort should be made to retain any young teacher who has enough on the ball to have won awards right out of the starting gate, most of them aren't that great and have years ahead of them before they'll be as competent as the old timers.

Younger people always tend to hate unions because of seniority rules, which seem really harsh when the economy turns sour. However, when they get older and look around them and see all the non union people getting fired simply because they are over 50, they start to change their tunes.

Alter should be ashamed of himself for that broad brush of his.

[tinymontgomery]

2. Teacher of the year

at our HS had 28 years in, time to kick him to the curb.

[tinymontgomery]

3. Teacher of the year

at our HS had 28 years in, time to kick him to the curb.

[daleanime]

4. How have we become so....

anti-unions in this nation?

[tinymontgomery]

5. What they should look at are

the young principals, three years in the classroom then moving up the admin ladder because they suddenly know more then you. I mean they wrote a bunch of papers and listened to a bunch of professors and now ruin teachers careers.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. OMG I know one of those!

The sad thing is she was an excellent teacher. But her administrative skills are a bit immature. :)

[DJ13]

7. The PTB have decided to treat education as just another business

They start by trying to reduce overhead, which usually means finding cause to terminate those with the higher salaries, which also happen to be those near pension age.

Alter isnt a liberal, he's a suckup to power, so his writing an article about this is right up his alley.

[RC]

9. Sounds like the health insurance companies in this country.

[femmocrat]

8. If we substituted the word "journalist" for teacher.....

wonder if Mr. Alter would have a different opinion!

And why does he assume that older = incompetent? He is just spouting nonsense about something he knows nothing about.

[Smarmie Doofus]

10. Another public school expert via elite private prep schools:

>>>>Alter graduated from Phillips Academy in 1975 <1> and Harvard University in 1979.>>>>

Wiki also says he lives in Montclair, NJ. Doesn't say whether Jonathan's kids attend public or private school.


I'm always curious as to how school "reformers" come by their interest in public school issues. So often there is no experiential connection.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. And as a graduate of an elite private school I cringe at this slam

Full disclosure - I was a faculty brat from a solid middle class family. So I had literally nothing in common with 99% of my classmates. When school was out we literally went our separate ways.

I think this all has more to do with personal political ideology than education or the type of school we all attended. I was raised in a solid Democratic family and didn't know any republicans until I went to the elite private school. I was stunned by their beliefs when I was 14 and I am still stunned in my mid 50s. They were selfish and hateful when Nixon was president while we were in high school and they are still selfish and hateful today.

But there were a surprising number of good liberals in that school too. They have largely gone on to serve their community in productive ways, while some of the rabid right wingers (and Nixon defenders) have risen to positions of power in the local and state GOP.

Most of our teachers were good liberals who taught us to use our gifts to give back to our community. Some of my fondest memories of my schooling are the times when our teachers told us how fortunate we were and impressed upon us the importance of giving back. It was while I was a student in that elite private school that I decided I not only wanted to teach but I wanted to teach in urban schools.

So I don't blame the school for the beliefs or actions of its grads. And I know for a fact they had an excellent education. If any of them are determined to destroy public education, that would be a result of the political values of their family and upbringing, not their school.

[Smarmie Doofus]

14. Cringe not. I'm not blaming the 'elite private schools' either.

>>>>So I don't blame the school for the beliefs or actions of its grads.>>>>

But I take you seriously on education issues because you've been in the ( public school) trenches for thirty years. NOT because you attended elite private schools.

What's problematic is : private school products with ABSOLUTELY NO REAL WORLD CONNECTION ( as an adult; as a child) TO PUBLIC EDUCATION ( Ok, they *may* pay school taxes, but that's it.) analyzing public school structure and function... AND expecting to be taken seriously.

Messers Obama, Duncan and Alter are undoubtedly bright. They ( Obama and Alter, anyway) are occasionally brilliant. (BTW, Alter has a KILLER column in the 6-28/7-5 Newsweek Double Issue on deregulation). And I don't pretend to understand their motives fully so I'll refrain from questioning them.

BUT...nothing any of them has written or said on the subject of public school "reform" betrays the slightest hint of any first hand personal experience ( as a provider; as a consumer) with public education.

I'm suggesting their lack of experience with public education can account for the flimsiness of their analysis and the general lack of understanding that is betrayed by their "solutions'.

I'm not suggesting that elite private schools are systematically cranking out robber barons and their apologists.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. We are mostly in agreement

Although elite private schools do crank out a few robber barons now and again. :)

An interesting note - the guy who is the president of one of the 'evil' large banks here was a classmate. He's one of the kindest people I have ever known and also is a very good Democrat. :)

[knitter4democracy]

12. He ignored a ton of evidence to write that dreck.

We lose the vast majority of teachers in the first three years, not due to layoffs or the unions but because they can't hack it or leave for financial reasons. Those who stay in get better, as studies have shown that it takes at least three years to make a good teacher. So, it sounds like he had a friend get laid off and wrote an entire piece on that, while ignoring all the evidence to the contrary.

I was nominated for teaching awards my first year, sure, but that doesn't mean I won any. I'm a much better teacher today than I was then, let me tell ya, and I took nine years off to be a stay-at-home mom. This guy's an idiot if he thinks first year teacher is better than a 15 year veteran.

[Reader Rabbit]

13. When it comes to RIF-ing, are there any industries...

...that don't do it on a last hired—first fired basis? I can't think of any off the top of my head. So why the double standard for teachers?

Completely aside from the ass-headed assumption that new teachers are vastly superior to those with experience, of course.

[Starry Messenger]

16. The older teachers are a threat to the phony reform

They have the smarts and the institutional memories to know that what is going on now is a right-wing wet dream. I'm surprised they haven't pulled out the old "commie" accusations too. That used to work to get rid of the rabble-rousers.

[donco6]

17. Ughhhh - "Teacher of the Year"

Gawd.

After 15 years of watching my schools nominate and select "teachers of the year", I have to say we'd all be far better off without this ridiculous exercise. And *this* is what they're using as a guideline for a quality teacher? Horrors.

[adnelson60087]

18. I won my Teacher of the Year at 14 years in, back in 2007.

And you know what? I am often treated by a lot of junior teachers as if I know nothing about my profession, or what works for kids. I think what we're seeing is a "us vs. them" mentality fostered by the Obama-droids and anti-Union forces. This thing might get very nasty before its all said and done.

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. I want it to get nasty

That will wake up our colleagues who have been too busy watching American Idol to pay attention to the politics of this business. This could be a nasty situation with a silver lining.

[Catshrink]

20. I had that experience two years ago.

I was so happy when that teacher decided to leave - I guess he figured he'd saved the world after one year of teaching and needed to find his next stage to strut upon. Actually, I think he was canned - he took a student to lunch in his car which is absolutely forbidden unless it is a family friend, etc. (another teacher was fired a few years ago for the same thing). He couldn't get over the "I want to be their friend" mentality. I could go on but I'd rather forget.

How to balance the energy and enthusiasm with the need for collegiality and collaboration? I don't know the answer to that. We have had other young teachers who were terrific in every way so it isn't just an age/generational thing.