Boston schools officials: We are not "firing" all teachers, just making them reapply.

[madfloridian]

I find this equally as bad as firing all the teachers in schools. It assumes the very worst of teachers, and it is not a good business model to encourage improvement. It doesn't make good sense business-wise, and it shows contempt for educators.

Dramatic shake-up planned at 12 Boston public schools

Staff at 6 must reapply; 5 principals to be removed

Boston school officials announced yesterday that staff at six schools will have to reapply for their jobs and five principals will be replaced after the schools were listed among nearly three dozen statewide that will probably be declared “underperforming’’ and subject to drastic change.

Overall, 12 Boston schools face being listed as underperforming, slightly more than a third of the 35 schools statewide. The list includes the Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Dorchester, long considered a barometer of Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s effectiveness in improving the city’s schools over the past 16 years. The state’s action was the first under a two-month-old law requiring dramatic changes to overhaul the state’s lowest-performing schools. Superintendents will have three years to turn around these schools or face a state takeover.

In announcing the shake-up, Superintendent Carol R. Johnson said the schools must have top-notch staffs to successfully turn them around. She emphasized that staff members are not being fired and that employees not rehired could find work at other district schools.

Sounds like Democratic Governor Deval Patrick is on board with this move. Sounds like the teachers' unions will fight it.

I hate to tell this to the unions, but I fear they are fighting a losing battle with our major Democratic leaders on board...including the president.

Johnson’s swift move drew the immediate ire of the teachers union, which accused her of trying to “evict’’ hard-working teachers and said it is exploring legal action.

But with the fate of 17,000 students at risk in the 35 targeted schools, state education officials said yesterday that radical change is imperative and needs to come swiftly. The students are overwhelmingly poor and of disadvantaged ethnic and racial groups.

“I’m worried about the kids,’’ Governor Deval Patrick said. “I’m worried about the kids being left behind. I’m worried about the kids getting the resources they need.’’

My personal note to the teachers who reapply and don't get rehired....please do not take it personally.

You are not being fired. Please remember that. You simply did not get the job you used to have. For whatever reason.

I doubt a sarcasm tag is needed.

Interestingly enough, the Academic Superintendent of that area was in February of this year selected to participate in the 2010 Broad Superintendents Academy.

Boston Public Schools (BPS) High School Academic Superintendent Irvin Scott has been selected to participate in the 2010 Broad Superintendents Academy

The Broad (rhymes with “road”) Superintendents Academy is a 10-month executive management training program run by The Broad Center to prepare prominent leaders from education, military, business, nonprofit and government sectors to lead urban public school systems. Mr. Scott was among 14 individuals from across the country selected for the 2010 cohort.

“This is an incredible opportunity for Mr. Scott and we congratulate him on his acceptance to this highly competitive program,” said Superintendent Carol R. Johnson. “Mr. Scott’s leadership over the past few years has been critical to the district’s efforts to increase rigor and support at the high school level, including expanding credit recovery programs, increasing Advanced Placement (AP) opportunities, offering online SAT preparation programs, and strengthening work with partner organizations to help ensure that all students gradate Boston Public Schools prepared for success in college and beyond.”

Mr. Scott currently oversees nearly 30 high schools and alternative schools in Boston Public Schools. He also co-chairs Harvard University’s Urban School Leaders’ Summer Institute. Earlier in his career, as a high school principal in Lancaster, Penn., Mr. Scott led a team of teachers and administrators to reform a 3,200 student high school into eight small learning communities and to develop a core curriculum for all students.

That is the program begun by Eli Broad (rhymes with "toad"). Here is more about it.

The Broad Residency. Control school districts by leadership programs..

"In school districts, Broad Residents report directly to the superintendent or a top cabinet member. In CMOs, Residents report directly to the CEO or chief operating officer. Residents are often tasked with leading major projects like opening new schools, leading budgeting processes, increasing operational efficiencies or improving human resources. Residents earn starting annual salaries of $85,000 to $95,000 and participate in a series of professional development sessions over the course of two years. At the conclusion of the two-year program, The Broad Residency expects that school districts and CMOs will hire Residents permanently in their current positions or promote them into more senior leadership posts.

Now in its eighth year, The Broad Residency has placed more than 173 Residents in more than 50 urban school districts and CMOs nationwide. Ninety-three percent of Broad Residency alumni still work in education and continue to positively impact student achievement as leaders in the education industry."

A reminder to the teachers in the 6 schools in Boston. You are not being "fired".

[readmoreoften]

1. What kind of national level planning does it take to pull off such coordinated douchbaggery?

This is coming from the top. For sure. Arne Duncan is a disgusting sac of human gristle.

[EFerrari]

13. Bingo. This really is Obama's Reagan Moment. n/t

[Nikki Stone1]

61. +1

.

[EFerrari]

120. But I need to add, I never see this as driven by Obama.

It's him operating in a context.

Maybe when Reagan was at his job of destroying this country, I was just too young to know that. Reagan was actually an evil individual which Obama is clearly not. For Reagan, it was his nature. In Obama's case, it's just the business you do at this moment in his context, imo. It's the kind of prioritizing that has been normalized for Democratic politicians since that old felon took office.

[roguevalley]

71. yeah, sub air traffic controllers for teachers.

[warm regards]

134. Mr. Duncan is shaking things up, isn't he?

[BunkerHill24]

2. Good News indeed, n/t

[Bluebear]

3. Will the be "rehired" at starting pay and seniority?

Has the White House sent their approval yet?

[wolfgangmo]

100. Two facts about teaching that most people don't know.

First, most new teachers quit and don't return to teaching in the first 5 years. More than 50% - that puts teaching up there with telemarketers in terms of turn over - great company we are keeping for the teachers of our children.

Second, once a teacher has been teaching for 5 years, even if they want to change jobs, they may not be able to afford to because NO district will hire anyone and pay for the experience that a more experienced teacher has. Even if you have 20 years of experience, they will only offer a maximum of 5 years experience in pay.

What conclusions can we draw from these 2 facts? Either you will quit or you will be stuck - either way, you are fucked. Welcome to teaching. Good luck.

[tonysam]

104. Not to mention pensions aren't portable so they can't just

quit and go to another state; they have to start over on their new pensions.

[Supersedeas]

145. There is more that you could add to this list--but I appreciate those two

[madfloridian]

4. "The students are overwhelmingly poor and of disadvantaged ethnic and racial groups."

Seems to me these areas are being targeted to have the faculties fired or "reapply".

I am having trouble with this.

[Hekate]

5. Our district in California does that every year for budgetary reasons, and has for ages.

The district gets to hem and haw over its budget, while teachers get ulcers trying to plan their OWN budgets, and wonder if they'll be able to support their families and pay their mortgages.

Brilliant system.

Hekate

[wolfgangmo]

102. There is thess myths that teachers;

A) cannot be fired - it's pretty easy - they don't call it firing - they call it "non-renewal".
B) have guarenteed jobs no matter how much they excel or suck at it - tenure is a thing of history - it does not exist in most places anymore.
C) they get summers off - except that they have to take college classes at their expense EVERY summer in order to keep their license.
D) they get paid tons of money - What can I say? Bwahahahahahahahahaha.
E) only work less than 6 hours a day - like doctors with patients, most work about 1 hour for every hour they are with students. I don't know a single teacher who doesn't take low paying extra contract assignments (often under threat of taking the assignment or getting "replaced" by a more "caring" teacher, and I don't know a single teacher who is only on the job only 6 hours a day.
F) they get paid 12 months for 8 / 9 month work. No numb nuts - they choose to delay payment during the year in order to budget their income amortized over a 12 month period.

I'm sure there are more. And many of you can add much better myths than these.

The bottome line here is that good teachers are leaving the profession and even more are deciding not to become teachers. Combine that along with the accelerating privatization of schools, we are seeing the opening waves of a huricane of the destruction of good free education in the US. This is just like what is happening to General Practice Doctors in the US. I forsee a time in 10 to 20 years when the majority of the population will not have access to a decent teacher or doctor.

[tonysam]

107. The "tenure" argument is the biggest lie out there. It isn't like college tenure at all.

In public education, all it means is teachers have a right to a hearing if they are dismissed, which, as yours truly can attest, is typically a joke hearing almost like a mock trial, where the district can do anything it wants, including committing perjury, forgery, bribery, the whole nine yards, while the teacher has his or her character assassinated. I wasn't allowed ANY witnesses on my behalf. That was to protect a stupid, incompetent principal who did NOT follow federal law as it pertains to FMLA. She didn't follow state administrative law as it pertains to teacher discipline, either. The hearing officer naturally ruled against me and the district kept this piece of human shit at the cost of over $100K a year in salary and benefits.

Fortunately, I am suing the district over the termination, although I can't file a complaint with the EEOC and DOL because of the statute of limitations. I can thank the "union" for providing me with so much information--NOT.

[NJmaverick]

6. In my working life I have always operated under the principle that the best way to keep your job

is to do a good job, produce results and make the organization/company want to keep you on. When you look at the results from these schools there are some serious failures and kids are being hurt. The idea of taking actions that allows the schools to only keep the best teachers, who are performing well, seems like an excellent one. It should result in significant improvements if a school is allowed to ignore seniority and keep only the teachers that are doing a good job.

[tonysam]

8. So you are sure administrators know who the "best" teachers are?

Boy, are YOU naive about education.

[NJmaverick]

14. So if the teacher's supervisors are unable to determine which teachers

are doing a good job, who can? I do not for a second buy into the idea that it is impossible or very difficult (so it's not worth trying) to hold teachers accountable or be able to judge their performance. If I believed that I would have to then buy into the idea that teachers should never be fired unless they violate a rule or commit a crime.

[tonysam]

82. You have absolutely NO idea what it is like working in public schools

Principals are NOT like other supervisors. They can literally destroy a teacher's career and for the stupidest of reasons because they are NOT closely supervised, unlike in a business (except the tiniest businesses). Terminated teachers are totally blackballed in this system because of disclosure requirements from other school districts and licensing boards. Teachers have utterly NO power in this system; once a principal targets you, you are dead meat. See, the unions don't really protect teachers who are terminated; all too often they are in bed with the school districts. Meanwhile, the principal is supported by the district--and the taxpayers--and the districts will support these assholes all the way to the court of appeals in the event of a lawsuit.

I was fired in complete violation of the Family Medical Leave Act because an idiot principal decided to get rid of me rather than have the HR head keep riding her about my absences, which he later found out I hadn't faked at all. However, the district decided to support this shitbag who should have lost her job instead of her still working for them thinking she has it made. Fortunately, I have a lawsuit in the works against this filthy district.

You have no clue how the process works. You have no idea how much power a principal has. You have no idea how "due process" hearings operate, which are nothing more than kangaroo courts. You really have no clue at all about education. Neither do Obama and Duncan.

[wolfgangmo]

103. You seem to be under the delusion that pricipal actually supervise.

Mostly they attend meeting, wander the hallways, look at budgets, make a few calls, and then once or twice a year, drop into the classroom for 5 to 15 minutes (in my experience) and assume that they know what is going on in the classrooms.

Let me give you a little example. Assume for a moment that the principals job is to maximize the learning experience and environment for all the students under their jurisdiction. I know a principal (associate) whose only job was to handle discipline. One of his main jobs was to make sure that disruptive students were removed and kept out of classrooms so the remaining students could learn.

By disruptive, this means someone who was verbally or physicially out of control. They might be throwing desk around a room, they might be assaulting another student or the staff, they might be yelling or singing at the top of their lungs all of which would make it impossible for other students to learn. So a teacher would send a student out to the man. He would return the out of control student to the classroom in less than 5 minutes. When questioned about this he would tell the teacher that "experienced teachers know how to deal with this, and if you don't then maybe you shouldn't be a teacher."

This principal had a room for disruptive students where he would sit with them, talk to them, etc., and help them get back under control. If he couldn't get that student under control or if it was happening alot, the principal was supposed to get this student extra help, refer them to counciling, transfer them to an alternative program, hook them up with social services, etc. This special room NEVER had any students in it. Never. In 2 years time he refered ZERO students for extra help. ZERO. He sat in that room and read the newspaper.

This pricipal, FYI, was also the principal who supervised new teachers. In the 2 years I was in his building I NEVER saw him. Not once. FYI - all teachers had to reapply for their job every year. I left because they never hired until just before the school year started but made you apply more than 4 months before that. It was impossible to plan to buy a house/set up long term savings/plan for retirement/etc.

This is the type of shit that you seem to support. I agree that there must be some way to evaluate teachers, but the only things are being suggested are more of this lame shit. If you are looking to get rid of incompetence in schools I suggest that you look at administration and that you look at anyone who suggests that privatization is the way to go (off topic here - but I defy you to name a single incidence where a formerly public service has been taken over by private interests where the service was improved and the cost lowered - ENRON anyone?).

[Fire1]

116. I've got news for ya maverick, education is so politicized, it's

unbelievable. THAT'S why bad teachers are able to stay under the radar. If the principal LIKES you, you're good to go. If NOT, that's your ass and I don't care HOW well you do your job! Believe me, I've worked for some real creeps in my day in various capacities and it's always been this way. Furthermore, the creeps get the promotions b/c they're "in" with the superintendent and their ilk.

[wolfgangmo]

125. I've been in the crosshairs.

I used to be a teacher and I am no longer. I was award winning, grant writing (about $250,000 the last year I was teaching), I had a growing program, parental support groups for my kids, and the respect of my peers. But I made the mistake of getting more press coverage than the principal and my "reviews" went from excellents across the board to substandard instantly. To give you an idea of how good I was, when I informed a music tech company that I worked with that they would need to talk to the choir teacher (I was a band director) instead of me for maintenance follow up on the music recording studio and technology lab that I had designed and built for the school with grant money I obtained by writing the grants, I was offered a job almost the same day with VH1's Save The Music Foundation. So I wasn't a bad teacher. I just had bad reviews from a principal who felt threatened by my being in his school.

I couldn't get a job teaching now to save my life. I have too much experience (too expensive), and I've been blackballed.

I've moved on to better things, but I still kind of miss teaching. And then I remember those truly shitty administrators and I get a cup of coffee, sit at my desk, and revel in what I am doing today.

Cheers everyone. It's a great day to be alive.

[laughingliberal]

63. Listening to my teacher friends leads me to believe school administrators know about as much about

teaching as the nurse administrators I've worked with know about nursing. They have a calculator and a clip board and couldn't nurse their way out of a wet paper bag. One of the most heartening moments of my life was talking to a former co-worker about the workplace from which I resigned. She was telling me how hilarious it was after my notice was up and I had left that they couldn't replace me and the snooty Director of Nurses she said, "had to kick those high heels off and get out on that floor to cover a couple of shifts." So inept she was my friend said she was having to ask nurse's aides about policies. These people's jobs are to look after the money and they have not a clue about the work that goes into earning the money.

[JCMach1]

97. +1... you would have better accuracy letting the students, parents, and teachers

vote who gets to return.

[wolfgangmo]

109. Hell ya.

The STUDENTS know who the good teachers are. They know the ones who make them work and the ones who make them think and the ones who help them to be better.

The PARENTS can see which teachers have a positive effect on their kids. They know.

The TEACHERS know who does a good job and who is a poser / needs help / need to be broomed to the curb. They help those who need help, they avoid the posers (who have usually welded their lips to the principals pimply ass), and they try to help the students who get stuck with the incompetents.

I'd be perfectly fine with letting students, parents, and teachers decide.



Principals - not so much - at least not until they get the principals acting like the professionals they profess to be.

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. Yeah - you go! Bust that union! nt

[mopinko]

15. it's the unions job to worry about the teachers, it's the superintendent's job

to worry about the students. tie goes to the students.
i personally find it quite depressing how many du'ers put teachers above kids.

[RaleighNCDUer]

23. You do know that if there are problems with a school, the right ALWAYS

puts it on the teachers - not on class size, not on school budgets, not on local economic conditions, but on the TEACHERS, and the teachers depend on the union to defend them. This is a very obvious ploy to do an end run around the union, and who is to say that only the bad teachers will not be coming back? Perhaps it will be Ms X, because she is known to like women; perhaps it will be Coach Y, because he's been there for 35 years, and they can get a kid fresh out of college for half the pay; or it could me Mr Z, because his World History classes smack suspiciously of promoting socialism.

When school districts conspire to get rid of teachers, it seems that the teachers that go are often the ones the students like best, who are liked because they don't play the game the way the school wants them to. These things are ALWAYS political. There have always been bad teachers and good teachers, but these things don't happen because of bad teachers - they happen because of bad administration.

[NJmaverick]

29. I have a question about your last statement

"There have always been bad teachers and good teachers, but these things don't happen because of bad teachers - they happen because of bad administration."

This comment would seem to suggest that teachers don't make a difference, that good or bad you are going to get the same result. You seem to be suggesting that the only one that matters when it comes to successfully educated students are the administrators (at least in terms of school employees). That doesn't make any sense.

[RaleighNCDUer]

38. In essence, yes, I am saying that.

The fact is, a really, really BAD teacher will be run out of the school by the students themselves. No teacher is going to put up with daily hell. Any just moderately bad teachers are always balanced by the good teachers - I've never met anyone who had nothing but bad teachers.

This tactic is used to get people out of the system that are politically uncomfortable to the administration. They use the excuse of poor test scores, but this 'nuclear option' does NOTHING to address that problem.

I guarantee it, this will turn the entire nation's school system into Texas - and that is where this misbegotten experiment in destroying the public school system started. Standardized testing, punishing schools which fail to meet arbitrary standards, shuffling those students from closed schools off to other public schools where overcrowding and social pressures cause THOSE schools to fail, and so on and so on until we have the Republican utopia of NO public schools, only private, non-union institutions where there is NO government input on the dreck they teach - bible readings before class (even if you are not christian), bible classes, creationism instead of evolution.

We have the myth of the 'savior teacher' - the hero who singlehandedly turns the school around and saves his or her students from a life of squalor. Blackboard Jungel, Up the Down Staircase, To Sir With Love, right up to Freedom Writers; but the flip side of that myth is the teacher as villain, that bad teachers are destroying our kids.

Neither is true.

I come from a family of teachers and have seen this from inside and out, and I promise this is nothing more than a RW move to dismember the teachers' unions.

[NJmaverick]

42. It's been a long time, but I am able to remember high school

I remember there was a terrible physics teacher that couldn't teach to save his life (now I have a degree in mechanical engineering from one of the toughest colleges in the nation, so if I say a teacher can't teach physics it's not because I was incapable of learning the topic). Yet as bad as this teacher the school was powerless to do anything about it, because he had seniority and was protected by his union.

So like most things in life the answer lies in the middle. You are inviting disaster if unions are allowed to make teachers immune to any job performance standards, while at the same time there are few school boards or school administrations that are purely motivated by a desire to educate the children. So you need to strike a balance where the union protects the teachers from the political pressures and unfairness that is not uncommon at local level politics while at the same time making teachers accountable and ensuring that the children are only being taught by the best teachers. For some time now, the scales have been tipped too far to the teachers and our education system has suffered. Hopefully it can be brought back into balance with out tipping things too far the other way.


One other point I would like to address, I am not sure student popularity is always the best measure of a teacher's job performance. Some teachers can be quite likable or funny or don't ask too much from their students. or let the students get away with murder which will make them popular, but it doesn't mean they are good at their jobs.

[RaleighNCDUer]

52. Curiously, while I've known a number of good teachers who were not

well liked, I've never known a well-liked teacher who was not a good teacher. Of course, that recognizes a difference between "I like that teacher because he's easy" and "I like that teacher". There is not real liking or respect in the first - students are very quick to spot a phony.

BTW, that terrible teacher you had did not stop you from getting your degree. You survived him, just as most "bad" teachers are survived. And I don't expect that if you wanted to be a physicist that he could have stopped you, no matter how poorly he taught physics.

[NJmaverick]

81. I learned physics despite him not because of him

and for many students it was their only chance to learn the subject and they were deprived of that knowledge. A terrible thing in my opinion.

[wolfgangmo]

112. Ah - I understand.

How long ago did you go to high school? I ask because you seem to be arguing on specious assumptions

Did you know that tenure is almost a thing of the past at this point in America? That it is easy to get rid of most teachers? That the unions no longer are all powerful? That teachers no longer have great salary/fireproof employment/summers off/great benefits/etc.

None of what you remember from "a long time" ago is still true. You are arguing about circumstances that no longer exist. It's time to update your assumptions and align them with current circumstances.

I'm not trying to slam you here, but rather asking you to make sure that the argument you are proposing is still relevant.

[laughingliberal]

49. Yes, I was listening to a really vile RWer spout off about how the teachers here are so well paid &

only have about 20 students in their classes when a rather imposing looking, young teacher walked up and, hearing this, said, "My smallest class has 35 students in it." It was beautiful to behold.

[QC]

89. He sounds like an awful lot of people here. n/t

[Starry Messenger]

93. I'm sure it's just a coincidence

:sarcasm:

[wcast]

66. Right On!!!

That is the best, most concise response to the problem of education that I have every read. It pains me that everyone has an opinion on why it's the teacher's fault, but most have no idea what actually goes on inside of a school, and many couldn't hack teaching at these failing schools for even one day.

This was in response to post #23. For some reason it didn't reply under that post.

[mopinko]

86. you do know there are bad teachers, right?

whatever is happening elsewhere, here the new teachers make what the union says they make, and the new teachers are in the same union. and the schools are not turned into charters, although they may be run by contracted administrators.

there are bad administrators, and here they get the boot as well. but there are bad teachers. in fact there are downright monstrous teachers. and here i can tell you they are very, very hard to fire.

kids are shaped for a lifetime by what happens to them in schools. they should not be shaped into little monsters. yes, we are political animals. that is why someone from outside that structure needs to come in and make the decisions. bad teachers are like bad apples. so if this is what it takes to get rid of the bad apples, so be it.

[wolfgangmo]

113. Where is here?

Where is it that teachers are impossible to fire not matter how many babies the eat on their Satanic alters while buggering helpless students (sarcasm alert),, and administrators are fired at the drop of a hat (poor dears - ahem).

Just wondering?

[mopinko]

121. chicago

and i don't think i said that admins are fired at the drop of a hat. although principles have 4 year contracts that must be approved by the local school counsel. some do get fired.

[wolfgangmo]

127. Sign me up.

If I could get a principals contract for 4 years, do a crappy job, taking long breaks and generally doing nothing, THEN get fired in the 2nd year and collect on the entire contract (that being how these things are written) then I would.

I heard about the supervisor of Portland, OR schools about 10 or so years ago who spent almost 80% of his time NOT doing his job (because he was involved in some national supervisors leadership post in Washington) who still got full pay, benefits, housing allowance, travel allowance, etc. . The district had fired him after slightly more than 1 year and had to pay off his contract for 7 figures.

Many, where do I hitch my waggon to that gravy train.

Snort. And folks complain about administrators.

[arcadian]

48. Please

Yeah those poor little precious darlings. :puke:

Most kids are coddled little spoiled brats.

[NJmaverick]

72. So much for the idea that liberals are driven by compassion

[arcadian]

87. Funny

you got them two donkeys, and the signature "Registered Democrat" me think thou doth protest too much.

[Suji to Seoul]

131. So much for the idea of your credibility

Dismissed and permanently on ignore, you clown!

[Mithreal]

91. That stinks of rightwinger bullshit, no offense.

[mopinko]

108. well, there's a real informative addition to the debate.

it's not rightwing, it's mom-wing. it's someone who took a lot of time out of my own life to school my kids because i knew the local school would chew them up. it's someone who later had kids in classes with teachers that the principle really, really wanted to fire for a lot of reasons, and couldn't.
it's also someone who is a proud democrat, who happens to be proud of the changes that a lot of democrats made in the schools in my city. there was an equal amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth here. however things are being done elsewhere, here there was many levels of support for turnaround schools, and in the end, it didn't work. in the end, the democrats in charge here said that the most important thing was the children.

how is it rightwing to care more about students than teachers?

[Mithreal]

110. It's your framing. I have a meeting in a few minutes, will explain in a bit.

[wolfgangmo]

114. I have a quick question. How do you know the principal ...

... really, really (really? Yes, really!) wanted to fire that teacher?

By any chance, did the principal tell you that? If so how do you know it was true? DID the principal actually attempt to fire the teacher, or did the principal not even try but tell you s/he did?

I'm not saying you are wrong, but are you sure you are right?

[mopinko]

115. i had a piece of evidence against the teacher.

that principle was never on my ass for anything the way she was on my ass to get her that piece of paper. (teacher gave kids extra credit for attending a gospel music concert at a church. wrong in itself, but didn't clear it with the principle, as was the rule.) she was already building a case against this teacher. however, last i knew the teacher was still there.

i knew this principle very well, was on nclb parent committee, hubby was on the lsc. had 3 very complicated kids go through that school.

and to respond to your other comment- this principle cared about the kids. passionately. most of the teachers there did as well. but there were a few who sure the hell did not. and there are plenty in chicago who do not.

[wolfgangmo]

128. What's wrong with getting extra credit for attending a concert.

This assumes, of course, that the credit was related to the subject matter. In my case (years ago) I gave extra credit for seeing concerts, including gospel concerts in churches. Of course I was a band director and the students were required to write a review and fill out a form and get it signed by someone in authority saying they were at the concert (or attach a ticket stub) to prove they went. They were required to relate what they heard to a piece of music that they were working on in band or in lessons.

Now if the extra credit was given for, say, math, then I think you are completely correct.

[mopinko]

129. this school has a significant muslim population. a gospel concert in a

christian church was not something they would be able to use to boost their grade. it was only very loosely connected to the class (english). the teacher was one of the singers.
so, kiss your xtian teacher's ego, and get extra credit??
besides, any outside activities with student are strictly monitored. this was a surprise to the principal after the fact.

[Mithreal]

126. You fleshed it out a lil more, all the better. Should I respond to the other comment?

"it's the unions job to worry about the teachers, it's the superintendent's job

to worry about the students. tie goes to the students.
i personally find it quite depressing how many du'ers put teachers above kids."

Not sure how I should go about this, so I will just list some points I find difficult.
1. What does "worry about the teachers" even mean? I suspect I could read this negatively, positively or other but it is unclear.

2. The superintendent's job includes support and management of all operations and personnel including principals and teachers so they can do their jobs. That is not to say they do not have other responsibilities but to say a teacher's job isn't to "worry" about the students is utterly ridiculous. I probably misread your intent.

3. Where is this tie? Using a sports metaphor is also ridiculous. If you see the superintendent as some great arbitrator who ensures the needs of the students are met, then fine, but really, how is it that supporting the teachers and providing discipline as needed isn't indirect support of the students? Maybe I am naive. Maybe your experience led you somewhere I haven't been. I attended both private and public schools and taught secondary science as well. I saw corruption of principals and superintendents. They are pretty well immune, teachers on the other hand get scapegoated all the time. And as a teacher I can also tell you about a few bad teachers, wanna know how they stay? They usually have developed a relationship with their supervisor that immunizes them. Like to take a guess what happens to the careers of teachers who challenge their supervisors in more than one district? I have known a number of excellent teachers run out of their jobs because they made waves. I suspect you have good intentions and are what you say but what you wrote was horribly unclear, at least the comment I responded to.

4. Your last statement is straight up rightwinger. There is no "teachers above kids." Maybe there is a knucklehead or two every now and again, but saying nearly every teacher isn't focused on their students is utter rubbish. Most of the DU'ers who feel passionate about public education may not mention students but that is not for lack of focus. The fools we have in DC want people to think that these break away schools are better but there is more than enough evidence to the contrary. Also, how often do you hear people praise the PUBLIC schools that are innovative and outperforming. I take extreme offense to your last statement, the one I quoted.

My wife is a teacher and is on a number of leadership teams. She doesn't have time to participate in the political debate. HER KIDS ARE HER FOCUS. Don't you dare say teachers put themselves above kids. That is just a knucklehead statement, no offense. I don't think you meant harm, were just talking off the top of your head. I do it all the time, I am just honest and open and sometimes say silly things I wish I hadn't. Do you really want us to tell you all the horror stories that make teachers hearts break, maybe share a joyous moment or two? Sure I can see how you would prefer we talk more about the individual kids or the needs of students in general. How often does that get any traction. Teachers tell you what they need FOR THEIR STUDENTS all the damn time. What is good for the teacher IS good for the student much of the time. Want us to talk more about individual kids, there is some privacy involved and some things that should remain personal. The teachers can tell you what we need and some of you all will tell teachers to make do, overcome poverty, hunger, broken homes. Maybe if I worked in rich districts I could have some richer perspectives.

I don't accept excuses from politicians or anyone else about what is best for each and every student. I also do not buy the whole idea that teachers be pitted against students, that is rightwinger logic and nothing less. I am just getting irritated again. Hope this wasn't too long and boring. I feel like it was too rambling.

[wolfgangmo]

111. Please consider this and respond to it.

Many of us DUers may appear to put teachers before students, but in reality we put teachers first before administrators. The reason we do this is that the ONLY people worrying about the students (usually) and advocating for them are the teachers.

So if the teachers are removed, then who will fight for the kids in the schools? The corporations that are taking over schools? Administrators who only focus on their budget? The local republican school board? The local church? Who?

[mopinko]

123. how about everybody worry about the children, and always put them first?

your comment is nothing but a strawman. all those people, if they are doing their job, care about the children. in my experience, most of them do.
this pedestal you are trying to put teachers on is built of bullshit.

[NJmaverick]

16. Are you suggesting unions are opposed to our kids being educated or

that they support bad teachers? Your accusation implies that is the case.

[RaleighNCDUer]

25. No, that's what YOU are saying - this is an obvious end run around

the union, meant to undercut it's ability to protect teachers' jobs. If you support this you are taking a stand against the union.

[NJmaverick]

30. The union's job is to protect teacher's jobs regardless of job performance

if a school is failing it's students how do you deal with an organization that will not let a school address the job performance issue?

[donco6]

31. So you fire the band teacher? The counselors?

How was their performance measured and how does it match the outcome?

[reggie the dog]

43. you try to teach kids who want to be pimps and dealers

they dont give a fuck about school except to disrespect other gangsters, set up drug deals, and brag about how much money they made over the weekend and who they just may have to shoot this week...you seem to have no idea what these schools are like. I, as a teacher, can do nothing for kids whose goal is to drop out so they have more time for their gangbanging.

[RaleighNCDUer]

47. Your disregard for teachers is obvious.

That would be "its" not "it's".

[Name removed]

50. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

70. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Fire1]

117. Wrong!! n/t

[canaar]

142. Wrong again

It's the union's job to ensure that the members of the bargaining unit get due process. You know, that obscene setup where the accused gets to demand that a fair investigation is conducted, to examine the charges, to challenge the facts, and to confront the accuser. Seems to go against our notion of mom and apple pie doesn't it. (sarcasm off)

Note that in every employment relationship in the nation (save for those for which employment is explicitly at will), there is a presumption of 'just cause.' Workers, whether they are covered by a collective bargaining agreement or not have the protection of 'just cause.' Just cause is synonymous with due process. Employees who have not passed their probationary period of employment (typically 6 months, more infrequently up to a year) may be terminated for any reason the employer deems adequate (don't like his/her attitude for example). After successfully passing a probationary period the employer may still terminate the employee but the employer must give the employee due process.

In education, the term 'tenure' means that the employee has the right to due process prior to termination. However, the probationary period for a teacher is normally 2-5 years, not 6 months to a year as found in other employment. Therefore a teacher who has not acquired tenure (the right to a fair investigation, etc.) may have his/her employment terminated AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE TEACHER'S annual contract for employment for any reason the employer deems adequate. This is what is meant by the terms nonrenewal or non-retention. This is tantamount to 'firing' a teacher and it is done in every school in the nation routinely for those teachers deemed a 'poor fit,' 'inadequately prepared,' 'incompetent,' 'wrong attitude,' and a myriad of other reasons.

Teachers under an annual contract, whether tenured or not may be dismissed (fired) during the term of the annual contract for misconduct, or incompetency. Normally, the just cause (due process) standard is applicable for these types of actions.

The difficulty in removing teachers is not because the standard for termination is higher than any other type of employment. The difficulty lies in linking a negative effect (failure to learn adequately) with a specific cause (poor teaching). Other professions have more objective standards or less sympathetic clients. If the patient dies, doctor errors may be objectively identified in an immediate post-mortem examination. If the building falls down, objective examination may determine the culpability of the architect. If an attorney loses a case, the client is presumed to have been in the wrong.

The effect of education on the other hand, is longitudinally determined with greater accuracy although the specifice individuals who were responsible for the student's success are much more difficult to identify. Correspondingly, effective ongoing teacher performance evaluation requires an intensive commitment of time and support from the evaluator. Expecting an administrative team of 3 or 4 building administrators to be able to conduct effective evaluation and coaching for 75-100 teachers whild performing all of the other managerial and administrative responsibilities for a school is ridiculous.

This is a brief synopsis of some of the factors that ignorant individuals fail to acknowledge when they strut their expertise (after all, the vast majority of us attended public schools). I hope that I have made the summary sufficiently digestible for the varying levels of sophisticaton that the DU readers demonstrate or (fail to demonstrate) in their posts.

[ipaint]

12. Right out of the Broad superintendant academy manual

and social engineering institute. Who wouldn't trust the person directly responsible for the enormous bonuses negotiated for the failing AIG people. By the way where is the accountability for his own company?

By AIG/Broad standards those "failing" teachers should be getting bonuses in the thousands.


"Eli Broad, as in Ed in '08, the Broad Foundation, and the Broad Prize, played a big role in the collapse of AIG. But he, along with venture philanthropist Bill Gates, might still be the most powerful force currently pushing the so-called business model on public schools.

Broad helped negotiate some of the biggest pay and severance packages for failed AIG CEOs, in history. This should give educators plenty of food for thought about the hypocrisy of the Broad/Gates push for merit pay as part of business-model reform. If merit pay is so great, why didn't it begin with AIG?

The AIG collapse may also cause school boards to think twice about the top-down leadership model being pushed at Broad's own Superintendent's Academy, which offers special fellowships for military officers interested in running school districts. We all should consider the unwarranted influence these giant venture philanthropists are having over public education in general.

Broad co-founded Kaufman & Broad and later acquired Sun Life Insurance (renamed SunAmerica) in 1971 and sold the company to investment bank AIG in 1998 for $18 billion. Instead of retiring on his billions, Broad saw an opportunity to make billions more in the retirement business as millions of the baby-boom generation approached retirement age. As a director of AIG Retirement (VALIC), he was able to keep one foot in real estate and one foot in retirement—two legs planted deep into the sub-prime mortgage scandal.

...To give you an example of what the AIG collapse will mean for teachers, in California alone, teacher retirement funds held more than 20 million shares of tumbling AIG stock. Teachers in Louisiana, California and other states, have settled suits against AIG trying to recover a portion of their losses. But many teachers are now going to have to rethink their retirement plans. In Georgia, the teachers retirement fund took a $180 million loss yesterday, when they were forced to dump 3.5 million shares of AIG from their portfolio."

http://michaelklonsky.blogspot.com/2008/09/eli-broad-stick-to-golf.html

Funny how that works. Bailouts on the backs of the teachers retirement funds ala Mr. Accountability himself, billionaire eli broad.

But some people just can't help running interference for the elite hoarders and their jack boot policies.

[NJmaverick]

17. Do two wrongs make a right?

[ipaint]

24. Is this what you think your elite billionaires behind these policies are doing.

"The idea of taking actions that allows the schools to only keep the best teachers, who are performing well, seems like an excellent one. It should result in significant improvements if a school is allowed to ignore seniority and keep only the teachers that are doing a good job."

Taking into account the wealth of facts and links to sources in what must be hundreds of threads proving the opposite is true, if you do- see the last sentence of my previous post.

[NJmaverick]

33. I don't buy into the billionaire conspiracy theories. I think you have concerned parents

that want their children to get a good education and have a bright future.

[ipaint]

62. Not buying into the truth. They depend on folks like you.

As you said you are a loyal employee.

[laughingliberal]

67. +1 nt

[NJmaverick]

76. The kids need to depend on teachers that care and do a good job

something that apparently isn't happening in many Boston schools.

[ipaint]

77. According to the elite who know jack shit about teaching.

Not according to the communities, parents, students or teachers.

Typical right wing corporate takeover bullshit and you are defending it. So noted.

[NJmaverick]

78. No that is just plain wrong and completely inaccurate

the community, the students, school administrators and even some teachers agree with my position while opposing yours. Although I will credit your post for using plenty of labels and simple talking points.

[ipaint]

84. No it's not. What the facts do is prove Obama is wrong.

And that is something that some won't tolerate even if they sacrifice the well being of those children in poor and minority communities in order to maintain the pr illusion of a progressive "peoples" president who is apparently shoving a billionaire corporate "kinder and gentler" agenda onto citizens with the least amount of power and wealth needed to fight back.

Sort of a team of giant school yard bullies capable of wreaking untold violence and harm on those they deem weak. All to make a buck.





Study: Charter schools promote segregation, perform worse than traditional schools

Nearly 20 years after Minnesota passed the nation's first charter school law, charters in the Twin Cities continue to perform worse, are more segregated than traditional public schools and are forcing those traditional public schools to become more segregated.

Those are the findings of a new report called "Failed Promises" -- from the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota.

But the conclusions are not necessarily swaying those who run charters.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/11/25/charter_schools_study/


Study: Charter Schools Increasing Racial Segregation in Classrooms

Encouraged by the Obama administration, efforts to expand the number of charter schools are being organized around the country. But concerns are being raised about the system. We speak to UCLA’s Civil Rights Project co-director Gary Orfield about a new study that suggests charter school growth is increasing classroom segregation.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/11/charter_study



Study: Segregation rife at charter schools
EDUCATION
February 05, 2010|By Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer

De facto segregation is alive and well in public schools in virtually every state, but is more common in charter schools - an educational option increasingly endorsed in state and national reform efforts, according to a national study released Thursday.

The trend is particularly severe for African American students, the UCLA researchers found.

Nearly 3 out of 4 black students who attend charters are in "intensely segregated" schools with student populations that are at least 90 percent minority, according to the study by the UCLA Civil Rights Project. That's twice the rate of regular public schools.

http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-02-05/news/17847613_1_traditional-schools-california-charter-schools-association-public-schools




Charter schools' growth promoting segregation, studies say
A UCLA study is one of two finding that the increasingly popular campuses skew toward racially separate student bodies. Charter advocates criticize the reports.
February 04, 2010|By Howard Blume

The growth of charter schools has promoted segregation both in California and nationwide, increasing the odds that black, Latino and white students will attend class with fewer children who look different from themselves, according to two new studies.

Charter school advocates contend that the researchers' presumptions about racial separation are out of date. They said parents -- including low-income minority parents -- are turning to charters for a quality education that traditional schools have not provided.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/04/local/la-me-charters5-2010feb05

[NJmaverick]

85. Charter schools is not what we are talking about

[ipaint]

88. A rather pathetic dodge. I'm not surprised. nt

[canaar]

144. The kids need to rely

on parents with good parenting skills and who have good jobs. Something that apparently isn't happening in Boston.

See how easy that is. Just make a sweeping generalization about your own biased perceptions and use the word apparently and how could anyone take issue with the detailed logic of your argument.

Appearances can be deceiving. After all, railroad tracks appear to converge at the horizon.

[ipaint]

65. One small point, the communities, parents and teachers are fighting this tooth and nail.

So by your reasoning these rich billionaire assholes need to but out.

[laughingliberal]

68. That's inconvenient for the "we're worried about the children" crowd.

Just more elitist bullshit to rob us of the education money and channel it some more fat cats. Reagan would be ecstatic.

[NJmaverick]

79. Parents, communities and students are fighting for a good education

they are not lining up to protect teachers that are not doing their jobs.

[Suji to Seoul]

132. then those lazy worthless shiftless good for nothing braindead parents

should help educated their little brat instead of pawning all the responsibility on the school and a teacher, then bitching like you are when their stupid, ignorant, lazy, selfish, worthless little brats sucks at everything?

WHERE IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PARENT TO RAISE AND EDUCATE THEIR LITTLE BRAT? No, they have none.

Screw parents and I loathe people like you who blame teachers for everything. You teach for a month or two, then come back and talk to me.

[madfloridian]

34. You have a right to despise teachers.

I have a right to fix it so I don't see your posts that offend me so much.

[NJmaverick]

35. Your comment is not being intellectually honest. It would be me accusing you of despising children

To me the kids and their futures are more important than teachers being immune from any sort of requirement to perform their job well. Teachers do an important job and it's an occupation I can respect. However their job is so important that they need to do it well.

[canaar]

146. Another in a long line

of sweeping generalizations. Immunity from any sort of requirement to perform their job well? I have never heard anyone in education spout that kind of claptrap. Could Mr. Pot be introduced to a strawman kettle?

[sabrina 1]

105. You don't know much about our system of education, do you?

Or, maybe you do and support turning America's schools into corporations, the goal of NCLB which was written by businessmen for businessmen.

Are you aware of the profits made by Bush cronies after the implementation of the worst 'education' system in the civilized world?

Do you believe eg, that children learn by testing? Not that it matters to those who support NCLB. Testing is profitable, but not for children.

The problem with the U.S. educational system is the system itself to begin with. The problems that exist in poor districts, inner city schools where teachers are lucky if they can get a parent to even care what their children are doing cannot be fixed by testing them every day. Which of course is the goal. Test the untestable then declare it's 'the teacher's fault'. Next step, privatization. But never, ever address the real problems. Just say it's the teacher's fault. That was the Bush educational system.

I know teachers who are working in inner city schools. They are dedicated educators who care about their students. They cannot even get books and often end up spending their own money to buy teaching materials. But there is no shortage of testing materials.

Someday check out who owns these publishing companies and how many of them were friends of the Bush family. Their profits soared and that is all that matters.

There are and will always be 'bad teachers'. They are in Charter Schools, Private Schools and Public Schools. Smashing Unions won't change that one bit will it? Most of us can survive a bad teacher here and there but children cannot survive a bad system.

NCLB needs to go and a decent educational system put in place in this country. But it won't happen under this administration which has become increasingly obvious. Until then, even good teachers will be struggling, if they stay in the field at all, to try to work within a system that puts profits above the educational needs of children.

[canaar]

143. One student reaction

to one teacher is slim evidence on which to base your grander assertions. A mind like a steel trap, like any other trap, only works when it's open.

[Bozita]

32. Robt Bobb, Detroit's Broad ubersuperintendent, just got an $80,000 *bonus* from an unknown source

[madfloridian]

54. Aha, found it. From private sources, a public figure gets a raise.

That is truly alarming. It deserves it own post...and I am too tired today.

http://www.freep.com/article/20100304/BLOG2505/100304010/1004/NEWS02/Bobbs-raise-sends-wrong-message-

Bobb's raise sends wrong message

"Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb just got an $81,000 raise, boosting his pay under a one-year contract extension to $425,000. Bobb has become a rock star in Michigan for taking on waste, fraud and corruption, but whether he’s worth that paper is practically irrelevant. A raise that, by itself, amounts to more than what teachers make sends the wrong message to a district that is being asked — rightfully so — to make sacrifices and concessions. Leaders lead by example.

Most of Bobb’s increase will come from private foundations, but that doesn’t change overall perceptions much, while raising a new set of ethical concerns. It’s Management and Politics 101: Appearances Matter. That’s why savvy CEOs of struggling companies don’t take big raises while laying off workers or asking for concessions. It’s why no politician in his or her right mind would propose a pay increase now for public officials.

"Tone deaf” is how a local political consultant described it to me. I have no issue with Bobb making more than twice what the highest elected official in Michigan makes. He’s making changes that will pay education dividends and dead presidents to the district for decades. Still, this raise at this time erodes his authority as a — to use an overused and abused moniker — public servant."

I don't agree with the column on the changes he is making, I think they will harm instead of help.

[Bozita]

58. It has its own thread ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7852620

[donco6]

19. In your working life, have you ever had to reapply for your own job?

I've never heard of it anywhere but teaching.

[NJmaverick]

22. Most jobs I have had, I could be fired if I failed to perform

so there wasn't a need to have me reapply. Still this isn't an unheard of practice and is more common than you realize (outside the teaching profession). It's why I operate on being valuable to your employer as it's the key to job security.

[ipaint]

26. LOL. nt

[madfloridian]

27. Under this new "reform"...the only value is "cheaper".

You are doing this on every post about education, it seems.

It is getting pretty obvious you don't respect teachers.

[NJmaverick]

36. How exactly is that the case? Your article says the teachers not brought back to the

under performing schools would be given jobs else where in the system.

[donco6]

37. There's only one high school. How are they going to pull that off?

Permanent subs? Rubber rooms? Under NCLB, teachers aren't "mix and match" anymore.

[laughingliberal]

69. Exactly. The shorter term teachers whose salaries are lower will be rehired. nt

[donco6]

28. Everyone has that. That's not what I asked.

And I've worked in private business more than public.

Have you ever had to reapply for your existing job? I doubt it.

[reggie the dog]

44. how would you judge performance?

in a school where many, if not the majority of kids, do not want to graduate and want to be gangsters?

[NJmaverick]

73. Your profiles says you are in France, so how do you know what the

kids in Boston want?

[reggie the dog]

75. I grew up in Chicago

where I studied to become a history teacher and while finishing my MA I did my student teaching year at a school in the ghetto, Roberto Clemente High School. A school where just over half the kids dropped out....

[Suji to Seoul]

133. Your profile states you are in New Jersey, so how do you know what the

kids in Boston want?

[laughingliberal]

53. That is not the same as having to reapply for the job you are in.

Working for a low wage seems to be the key in my profession to having good job security. Stay too long and get too many raises and, lo and behold, an exemplary employee starts finding herself being nit picked to death.

[donco6]

96. It's amazing how some people can blast away -

then when the questions get too tough, they just disappear, only to reappear in another thread with the same crap they posted before. I'd love to hear him respond to your post. I had the same point.

[Hekate]

135. Having a performance eval is not the same as automatically being told to reapply every damn year.

Is it?

Hekate

[reggie the dog]

41. so the teachers who get the students who want to graduate

get to keep their jobs and the teachers who get classes full of kids waiting to turn 16 and drop out to pursue a career in gangbanging get fired???? How can you teach a kid whose goal in life is to sell a kilo of cocaine, marijuana, or heroin in one day????

[Name removed]

46. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[roguevalley]

74. no it wouldn't. you would see even MORE nepotism and bs

than you do right now. Taking actions are one thing, putting everyone at the mercy of one of the biggest parts of the problem- the g-d administrators- is another. And who decides who is performing well? I saw a teacher get an award in my district once for high scores. Actually, her eraser should have gotten it. Seniority is the only thing that protects us from ageism, dipshitery, circumstances beyond our control, etc.

[NJmaverick]

80. No doubt it's a difficult balancing act

The unions need to protect against the corruptions inherent in local politics while at the same time unions can not prevent schools from holding teacher's accountable for their job performance.

[Suji to Seoul]

130. Wow, are you clueless about education?

IT IS A SCHOOL, NOT BUSINESS!!! EDUCATION IS LONG TERM, NOT SHORT TERM!!!

I HATE ALL BUSINESS PEOPLE, SMALL OR BIG. THEY ARE ALL CLUELESS.

Stay out of the classroom! Worthless, ignorant opinions like your infuriate real teachers.

[canaar]

141. This is an example

of the same mentality that justifies bailing out Wall Street and ignoring Main Street. It entirely ignores the systemic factors that are largely responsible for educational disparity. It stereotypes the line worker based on bias created by toothless reliance on pablum while lionizing CEOs that drove jobs overseas and our economy off the cliff.

[tonysam]

7. The underlying message is, though, is you had to have done something wrong.

It doesn't matter if you're "fired" or not--you're tainted no matter what in this dysfunctional system.

[frazzled]

9. It's the law

As it was in Rhode Island. Where teachers will reapply as well (to get new contracts that conform to the revised education plan).

[mitchtv]

10. too bad Americans don't understand

workers must stick together. Time for mass walkouts and strikes

[Bozita]

18. Sounds to me like the Central Falls thing was a trial balloon

[donco6]

20. Worthy of Republicans, sure.

But with Dem support? Messing with people's lives for a "trial balloon"? Who did we elect, again?

[Starry Messenger]

51. Bozita, did you see Hannah Bell's new thread today?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7848234

[Bozita]

57. Thank you. Take a peek at something I found this afternoon. It's Broad-related.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7852620

[Starry Messenger]

64. I'm in there.

Thank you. :thumbsup:

[inna]

99. did you see this thread?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7848234


(Oops, sorry, I didn't realize someone already linked to it.)

[LostInAnomie]

21. Fuck these union busting bastards.

If shit like this becomes the norm, teacher unions aren't going to be worth a damn.

Fuck anyone that agrees to participate in union busting.

[Edweird]

39. Fucking bullshit double talk.

[reggie the dog]

40. well, good luck finding teachers to work in the ghetto

students who come to school to set up drug deals
over fifty percent drop out rate
gang fights at school
gang shootings just outside
prostitution rings run in the school
gangbanger kids in the same gang as cops so they take a photo of your car, have the fellow gang member run the plate, then they tell you your address and ask for a passing grade if you want to make sure nothing will happen to your family....
and it is the fucking teachers fault?????

[madfloridian]

45. Yes, they do consider it the fault of the teachers...sadly

As a retired teacher, I am having hard time seeing this happen.

I taught a school my last few years with high crime, high drug traffic. My kids could hardly get up in the morning, much less concentrate on school. One boy came in late, a big guy, good student. His mother had disappeared during the night...a hole was in the bathroom wall. He had to get himself and his little sisters to school.

I tried to help him find what happened to his mother, but the principal told me NOT to call the police. Turns his mother was in the hospital.

I worked with him all day, but the powers that be let him down.

[laughingliberal]

55. My prediction: They'll rehire the less senior teachers whose salaries are still low

and who are not close to being able to draw their pensions.

[Political Heretic]

56. Democratic Education Policy: Fuck Teachers, those fucking worthless assholes. It's their fault.

Saves Democrats from challenging vested money interests funneling money out of public education, or infrastructural problems in education, or the fact that you can expect super-star teach performance while paying them shit, or the fact that the constant right-wing assault on education weakens it...

Blame teachers. They are an easy target. Those damned EVHUL teachers unions!

[laughingliberal]

59. Pretty much Reagan's policies on steroids. Reagan could only dream of decimating public education

this badly.

[madfloridian]

90. His policies are coming to pass under Democrats.

It's stunning.

[Starry Messenger]

60. This is really Orwellian.

Not only does this throw the teachers into uncertainty and insecurity, it does the same to the students. We aren't interchangeable cogs to the kids. I replaced a teacher who was retiring and it took three years for my classes to adjust to the fact that the ceramics teacher was not Mr. R. They liked me, but they had been expecting a different experience so there was always his memory in the classroom. I had to make it a part of transitioning them to my lessons. And that was just one classroom in a normal scenario where one teacher reached retirement. This "not rehired" business is going to cause communities that need stability to loosen at the seams even more. :(

[LWolf]

83. "Rehired...." on what contract?

On whatever contract Boston feels like writing for them, without having to adhere to the contract already agreed to?

Or on the existing contract, which still won't require them to add extra duties without pay?

[madfloridian]

92. Very good point.

Maybe not a contract at all. Probably have to take what they can get.

[omega minimo]

94. It shows contempt for educators and for a public that is supposed to buy this bullshit

How far do the corporate overlords want to go to alienate the public?

[cornermouse]

95. k & r

[slampoet]

98. "I'm not murdering you, I'm just letting you reincarnate."

"I drink to keep it out of the hands of small children."

[varelse]

101. K&R

Thank you for all that you do to keep us informed :)

[tekisui]

106. This is fucked up.

I am no longer disappointed--I'm pissed.

[Fire1]

118. +1

[suffragette]

119. More districts will follow since the price for the grants is 1 of the 4 changes

http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2010/03/05/dramatic_shake_up_planned_at_12_boston_public_schools/?page=full

Massachusetts could receive an infusion of $250 million from the federal government to help these schools and others. The US Department of Education announced yesterday that the state is among more than a dozen that will advance to the final round of President Obama’s Race to the Top competition, which will reward states that aggressively fix failing schools and expand independently run charter schools.

States are making drastic and painful budget cuts and are desperate for any sources of funding they can find to support programs. By tying this funding to the changes Obama and Duncan want, they've ensured that the states will make those changes - anything to get the money they need to keep funding schools in their states. And this will happen even though the changes being forced are unproven as to their success and may even prove detrimental to achieving success.


From Washington State:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011228297_schoolturnaround02m.html

Like other Obama administration education initiatives, this one offers big financial incentives for accepting controversial requirements.

In brief, districts can close a school, replace its principal and half its staff, turn it into a charter school (which is not allowed under Washington law), or "transform" it. The latter has a number of requirements, such as tougher teacher evaluations, a new instructional program and more learning time for students.

~~~

The teachers felt they had no choice but to support one of the options, she said, because schools need more financial support.

Many teachers thought both choices had elements that are educationally unsound, Addae said, but decided on transformation because it wouldn't leave the impression that something was wrong with the teachers.

[northernlights]

122. maybe they should just apply for jobs....elsewhere

and the the state scrambling. Seriously...this is how the government plans to attract and retain top talent?

Funny how when it came to the banksters, instead of being jailed, or at least fired, the thieving scum were bailed out and bonused with our money to save us all from the travesty of them going away. :grr: :grr: :grr:

:wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

[YvonneCa]

124. I personally wish teachers would have a one day...

...standdown. Nationwide. It might finally get someone to listen.

[Bozita]

140. A 20yr vetrn tchr will usually be hired in at no more than the 5th yr on the salary sched - Big cut!

The more senior staff is caught in a real bad spot.

[ChiciB1]

136. "madfloridian" I've Commented On Many Of Your Threads, However I

just want to personally THANK YOU for your continual GOOD WORK on many, many issues! Especially those concerning EDUCATION!! While I no longer have my "kids" in school, I do have grandkids and see and hear a LOT of what I DON'T like that's going on!

I too live in Florida and it just seems to get worse with time! My step granddaughter's mother is a teacher and she has become extremely upset as time goes by. Where once she didn't take much notice, now, when she's looking at the prospect of perhaps losing a job because of cuts... it HITS HOME!!

I've always stated that for far too many people, it NEVER really hits home until it HITS HOME! Then APATHY turns one on, but many times it much too late!

Activism from the get go is best, and I applaud you for all that you do on this issue and so many others! While I know the "rules" say we shouldn't mention names here, I will mention one in a positive way as a person who has added a great deal to the discussions here at DU... Nance Greggs has had some fine postings, but IMO you are much more informative to me. That is not to say that she isn't right up there, just making a comparison for myself!

And I know, this isn't a competition thing, just sayin'!

[madfloridian]

138. Education is really personal to me.

I have seen this area go down fast since Jeb became governor in 1998. It started earlier, but it started moving more quickly. No one paid attention really to what was happening. now they wish they had.

It is personal, and it angers me so much. Thanks for the nice words. I have some friends still teaching who might get the ax soon. They never believed it would happen.

[ChiciB1]

139. Thank You Again... I Understand How You Feel... Education Is Personal To

me also, not because I've ever worked in the field, but because it's so very, very important! When I think of this country and how far behind we are, it truly saddens me!

We really must find a way to make this one of our most important issues, it begs more attention! I could go on with examples, but I'm sure there are many who MUST understand the importance and what the consequences will be if we don't do much more!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

137. They should do that with the military. Fire 'em all and make them reapply.

And, give them a couple of years to think it over.