I was proud to be a teacher in the public school system.

[madfloridian]

I took great pride in what I did.

I worked at one of the "best" schools in town, and I worked at one of the "worst". I was the same teacher, but the other factors were variables.

At the "best" school I had tremendous parental involvement. The parents overall demanded that their children respect the teachers and follow the rules. The parents themselves showed respect. We had the supplies and textbooks we needed.

At the other school there was very little parental involvement. Many parents insulted or yelled at us in front of the children. I had parents show up at conferences drunk or high.

The students and their capabilities were mostly similar at both schools. The differences came in the attitude instilled in them toward education and in the way the parents were partners in learning.

A comment from Diane Ravitch articles said it well.

“It would be good if our nation's education leaders recognized that teachers are not solely responsible for student test scores. Other influences matter, including the students' effort, the family's encouragement, the effects of popular culture, and the influence of poverty. A blogger called "Mrs. Mimi" wrote the other day that we fire teachers because "we can't fire poverty." Since we can't fire poverty, we can't fire students, and we can't fire families, all that is left is to fire teachers."

First let's fire all the teachers

Since the Bush agenda of privatization of public schools is continuing full speed ahead under this administration, it appears teachers are fair game. The contempt is growing and is very noticeable.

I was proud to teach....at either school. There is an art and feel to good teaching. It involves knowing the child, seeing the whole child, and understanding how that child learns.

Under the prevailing system one test, made without regulation and oversight and graded the same way, is the determining factor. The ability of the teacher to provide in depth learning simply no longer matters. And the contempt is growing for teachers in public schools...it was meant to be that way.

It must be that way in order for the public schools to be dismantled.

We can't get rid of poverty, the parents and their kids can't be changed because in this crazy mixed up new system.....they have become the clients who are to be given satisfaction by the teachers who are the only ones who can be fired.

It's a losing situation, and it is sad to see teachers talked about in a way that has become common in our party and at our forums.

[goclark]

1. I was a Teacher and an Administrator

for 38 years of service.

My love for educating all childrfen runs deep.

I have been retired for 9 uears now but I still volunteer and support causes that are supportive of teachers and learners.

Hats off to all of us that loved to teach!

[roguevalley]

57. ditto. we are the lowest rung of government they can get their hands on.

[stray cat]

2. Were you equally proud of every teacher you ever had as a colleague?

As a med school teacher I respect other dedicated teachers but there are some I work with that could care less and it shows

[tbyg52]

3. Agreed, and there are mechanisms in place to take care of that, at the good schools. nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. Those mechanisms are in place at bad schools too

[tbyg52]

14. True dat

Unless, of course, you've fired all your teachers and anybody decent is scared to work there......

[tonysam]

24. They can fire you anyway and for the stupidest of reasons.

It all depends on how rigged the administrative hearings are.

[roguevalley]

58. they are always rigged.

[tbyg52]

15. Oops, dupe nt

[pattmarty]

73. Well now, that's in EVERY other job in the world too. You don't..............

...........insinuate (as you do) that there is something wrong with the entire profession.

[liberation]

88. "med school teacher?"

Shouldn't you be a professor at that level?

Is every other profession in the world is uniform in their excellence?

[RedCloud]

98. It's couldn't care less...

[Ardent15]

5. K and R

Thank you for sharing.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Have you read Ravitch's book yet, Mad?

It's excellent.

[madfloridian]

90. Not yet. Behind in my reading...but ordering it.

Got too far behind with hubby sick so long.

[trotsky]

7. As you should be. As EVERY teacher should be.

And it's a damn shame the short stick our schools have been getting ever since the Reagan era.

Great post. K&R

[donco6]

8. I'm proud of what we've done here.

But if the measure of success is only test scores, I fear we'll never measure up to other districts that do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING innovative, but get better scores. It's frustrating.

[ncteechur]

9. Dr.Ravitch is correct that there are other factors that affect student learning BUT

the greatest factor BY FAR is the effectiveness of the classroom teacher. An effective teacher outweighs parental incompetence, poverty, and many other factors. If you consider that an average teacher can move a child one grade level in a year, then it has been shown that a very good or an exceptional teacher can actually move kids up to 1.5 grade levels in one year.

An ineffective teacher can move kids only 0.5 grade levels in one year.

Why can't we reward the good and the exceptional and get rid of the poor? Why is that so difficult?

A child that gets 2 or more ineffective teachers in a row (which often happens in poor schools) can put kids so far behind that they can never catch up.


While the OP was correct about many things in NCLB, the entire bill was not bad. The best thing that NCLB has done is to shed light on to all kids. Schools can no longer hide kids that are failing and falling behind. No longer can poor kids or EC kids or minority kids be pushed aside to highlight the scores of those for whom school has traditionally worked. The Obama administration has introduced some ideas to fix some of the shortcomings with NCLB. Will it get it all right? No. But it is a start and to summarily dismiss it as Dr. Ravitch seems to do doesn't help solve the problem.

I said last week that I believed those teachers in RI deserved to be fired. I still believe that. Not because I despise teachers. I love teaching. I believe it is an art and a calling.

I believe they were correctly fired because they sold out that calling. They were provided some reasonable remedies they could take to help turn that school around. They refused because they weren't offered enough money. Perhaps they thought there was safety in their union numbers. Perhaps they felt obligated to all vote together as a group. But they sold out the art and the calling. Those students needed the teachers. They needed the teachers to stay and work. And work harder. and work harder. They refused and as a result, they were fired.

There is no assault on teachers. That is a generalization that is just not true. The fact is that teachers like most other professionals do more to promote or denegrate their profession than any other official or agency could ever do. Good teachers should demand that their colleagues be the best. Good teachers cannot accept mediocrity. Not now. Not when there is so much at stake. It is, after all, about the kids.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted sub-thread

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

[madfloridian]

16. Good teachers do not accept mediocrity.

I am saying good bye to you as you do this on every thread in which we take pride which we deserve.

Bye.

[Catshrink]

17. Good move.

[madfloridian]

19. Should have done it long ago.

Hope this post does not get shut down by ugliness like another one did.

[Gman2]

26. Teachers are vital, and TENURE, is a concept we need to rethink, and reimpliment.

Ecudacional independence is another lost gift.

[Gman2]

30. But if you think that out of the box, all teachers will be exemplary, it is folly

As psychotherapists must undergo psychotherapy, so must teachers sometimes need help, to come across strongly.

[Catshrink]

33. Are you a teacher? What is your experience in education?

And who are you talking to, just responding to your own posts?

[proud2BlibKansan]

40. His 3rd grade teacher sucked

And that means we all suck. :)

[Gman2]

45. There is a job to be done. We want all good teachers. How can that be?

All people have baggage, ticks, hangups, biases, idiosynchrycies. All those can interfere with teaching. Any good teacher COULD be a top level salesman.

My point is, if you NEED all good teachers, you will need to create them. That doesnt happen automatically. In any profession. What is vital is desire to be a good teach.

[madfloridian]

46. Why not demand accountability of students and parents?

Don't we need them to be "good" as well?

[Gman2]

47. If you want to make the Op about that, then yes.

[madfloridian]

48. That IS what the OP is about.

Read it again.

[Gman2]

49. Then we agree more than I thought. I am pro teacher. And anti-stigma

[tonysam]

32. If you knew what "tenure" was, you wouldn't make such an ignorant statement

about it.

"Tenure" in public education is NOTHING like tenure in higher education. Got that?

I KNOW what the fuck I am talking about.

[Gman2]

34. I dont mean to insult teachers, but if you must have highly effective teachers all, you had better

invest in them. Not throw them away without that investment.

[Jim Sagle]

53. Ecudacional? What profession is that?

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Hannah Bell]

69. he must be part of his "80% incompetent." also "impliment"

i don't usually criticize spelling, but if someone says 80% of people are incompetent at their jobs, i must.

[Jim Sagle]

120. I doant think he kan gount two goud, eether.

[djp2]

64. sounds like a Troll.....

Any chance you work for Broad?

[pattmarty]

76. You better get some "Ecudacional independence"................

.............You DO KNOW that there is a spell check on the reply, don't you? Better get one of those 80 percenters to "school" you.

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. The greatest factor is the socio economic status of the kids

I taught briefly in a catholic school in a middle class community. I had 3 or 4 parents in my room every day. The PTA raised unbelievable amounts of money and had built an impressive library and a playground. We didn't need to hire a nurse because moms volunteered to staff the nurse's office. And the kids sat in their desks all day long and did worksheet after worksheet after worksheet. No critical thinking was taught. No projects. No problem solving. It was actually a boring job for a teacher. And every year those kids took the ITBS and every year they scored in the 90th %ile or above. Every year.

Then I went to teach in a high poverty urban school. Same grade level. My kids came from the most crime ridden public housing project in the city. Worksheets were forbidden. We were to involve the kids in the learning process with hands on constructivist lessons that taught higher level thinking skills. I taught my heart out to those kids and knew they were getting a far better education than the kids in the catholic school. But their test scores sucked.

That's just my experience but it is supported by data at the national level. The #1 determinant of achievement is socio-economic status. I am not saying that to avoid my responsibilities as a teacher. Like I said, I was a much better teacher in the second school. But those kids still failed to score even close to where the middle class kids scored.

[ncteechur]

20. And when is ITBS administered?

ITBS does more to measure prior knowledge of students in early childhood which is definitely more impacted by SES. But overall, classroom teachers have the greatest effect.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. I don't think any schools around here use it any more.

This was 30 years ago.

[tonysam]

29. A lot of school districts still use the Iowa tests

Washoe County School District uses ITBS. My private school used the Stanford Achievement Test.

[proud2BlibKansan]

31. I said around here

We have state tests.

[tonysam]

36. They do there, too. They have both CRTs and the standardized tests. n/t

[donco6]

28. We haven't used that in . . . forever. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

43. Thank God

That is the worst test ever.

When I taught 1st grade there were two questions my kids always missed.

1. Showed a picture of a faucet and the kids were supposed to pick the word 'faucet' from the following choices:
a. faucet
b. drip
c. sink
d. water

2. Showed a picture of a parasol and the choices were:
a. parasol
b. umbrella
c. rain
d. can't remember but it was another dumb answer

No how many 6 year olds are going to look at a faucet and pick that word and not one of the other three choices? And how many 6 year olds even know what a parasol is?? :mad:

[KTinOhio]

110. Well...

If students can do math, they will do well on any grade-appropriate math test. At some point we have to say "first things first" - and I say this as a supporter of critical thinking in the curriculum. The students need to know the basics before they can do anything with them.

[LWolf]

119. That's the truth. SES IS the greatest factor,

and no politician or talking head wants to confront that. If they did, they'd have to take their focus off of schools and teachers and do something about poverty.

[tonysam]

35. -1,000

Please know the situation in RI before spewing this stuff.

The teachers "sold" out nothing. Replace them with a new staff, the scores will still be low, but of course the math scores percentages rose a LOT in the past couple of years.

Fire the kids and THEN the achievement scores will shoot up.

[Catshrink]

37. Oh she knows.

Spreading disinformation is par. $$$

[LWolf]

75. You "believe" incorrectly.

Teachers are not the "greatest factor" in student achievement, although they DO make a difference.

The greatest predictor of student achievement by far is parent SES. We've known this for decades. Firing teachers who teach the neediest populations isn't just misguided; it's criminal.

[PVnRT]

81. Care to actually back up your assertions there?

[RedCloud]

99. Teachers should not have to motivate students.

What happens all too often is students readily give in to the latest tech gadgets and their crazes and day dream thinking of what new tech toys they can play with and the lesson just goes right over their heads...

They are distracted out the wazoo.

Forget about learning communities and start finding out what are the forgetting communities. Work on that first, so education can at least have a fighting chance.

[reggie the dog]

101. this is utter bullshit

how can you judge all teachers by the same standards? or is your goal really to increase funding for already privileged students at the expense of students already in difficulty as part of a class war of the bourgeoisie against the proletariat masses?

"the greatest factor BY FAR is the effectiveness of the classroom teacher. An effective teacher outweighs parental incompetence, poverty, and many other factors. If you consider that an average teacher can move a child one grade level in a year, then it has been shown that a very good or an exceptional teacher can actually move kids up to 1.5 grade levels in one year.

An ineffective teacher can move kids only 0.5 grade levels in one year"


distinguish between an ineffective teacher and a class full of students who have near zero motivation to learn their subject? What do you do when kids really do not want to learn? When you try multiple styles of lesson plans? When you try multiple different seating charts, when you try multiple rewards and punishments? When the parents either dont care or defend their "angel" against any accusation by a teacher that they are continually disruptive? What do you do when the kids just talk and talk and talk, never do written work, rarely participate orally, refuse to listen to any kind of lecture or do any kind of activity except throw dice for money, set up drug deals after school, contract murders (I had a student who explained that he bought murders for something like 300 dollars for any debts that were that large or larger, after class other students assured me that he was a crazy gangster) really what do you do in a school where 16 year olds run their own cocaine, heroin, marijuana, prostitution, and racketeering mob? and where at least half of the other 16 year olds are in these gangs, which leave you with perhaps 40 to 50 percent of the kids who are motivated and not scared shittless all the time and actually want a diploma. How can you teach the kids who want to learn? Really they are not going to tell the gangsters to shut up and let the teacher teach like I was able to do in the middle class suburbs where I was a student (ok where it was yelled to me by other students). The kids are scared, are poor, have poorer diets than kids in wealthier areas, less if any vacations in their lives, more stress, classmates being shot outside school at 7 am that are just innocent bistanders....AND YOU WILL JUDGE THE TEACHERS BY THE SAME STANDARD AS TEACHERS WHO TEACH IN WEALTHY AREAS!!!!

seriously it is so much easier to get high test scores if you are white due to cultural bias (yes white children of immigrants will be at a disadvantage as well)

it is easier to do well if you have your own room to do homework in, or a back yard to do homework in AND PLAY IN!

it is easier to do well when you know your parents will take you somewhere on vacation once summer rolls around.

it is easier to do well when your parents speak english,

it is easier to do well when no one is getting shot up,

it is easier to do well when you see siblings, hear of neighbors or have parents that have "good" jobs and "nice" houses and cars BECAUSE YOU THINK THAT YOU TOO CAN HAVE SUCH A LIFE ONE DAY!

I know this because I grew up white and middle class and spent my student teaching year in 2 very difficult schools in Chicago.

[SanchoPanza]

103. You will never have a high quality teacher in every classroom.

Such would take a commitment to public education that, in many communities, does not exist in the monetary sense.

Demanding that teachers "be their best" without the incentives in place to make the "best" a reality is naive. It's the same as expecting a student who's been in special education programs their entire life to excel in AP and IB classrooms in 11th and 12th grade just by telling them to "do their best". It's completely impractical. Good teachers need as much training as good doctors. That training takes time and money. Some states and communities have "merit pay" policies based on professional development (MAT+30, doctoral studies, etc), but these are often very lax. In all honesty, a person who has that amount of time and money to invest in their education would be wiser to go into another profession entirely.

Unless it's their "calling," I suppose. But being a doctor is also a calling. And you don't tell your doctor that you should be able to pay him or her less than the value of their services because they're doing what they love.

[tbyg52]

10. >>It must be that way in order for the public schools to be dismantled.

Yep. I so appreciate what you do here. I'm even willing to log onto this Potemkin site to say so. Thank you.

[demosincebirth]

11. Under paid and over worked. n/t.

[mzmolly]

13. I'm concerned that teachers will not want to work in poor

districts under the circumstances. :(

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. We already have that problem

I've had many student teachers and a few have told me they don't want to teach in a high poverty urban school. I tell them that's fine, they should teach where they feel they can do their best work. I have taught with more than a few teachers who were only there because they were offered a job. Some were good teachers. But if you don't feel a calling to teach kids in poor districts, then you shouldn't be there.

[mzmolly]

38. Even if you do feel a calling you may think twice

if you're fired due to test scores.

[proud2BlibKansan]

39. If you are fired for any reason, you have a poor chance of being hired anywhere

All the more reason not to judge teachers for test scores.

[tonysam]

42. It's the pits when you're over 50 and went into this field as a midlife career changer.

I hate that district so badly and that piece of shit who fired me I could just scream.

And then the district has the goddamned gall to ask me to help them out of a civil action.

These are my "letters of appreciation" to the shitbag who wrongfully fired me, which I wrote on Facebook after she was going around bragging on her page how "life is good":

How do you do it, ---, knowing you ruined my career and my life? How do you sleep at night knowing what you did to me was wrong because you didn't and felt you couldn't stand up for me against ---? Look what the district did to help you: bribe --- with a job so I would have no witnesses at the fake hearing, the lawyer suborned perjury for you by having --- and --- lie for you, confiscated and destroyed documents that would have helped me, collusion galore between the union and the district in order to cover for your negligence, and on it goes? How do you do it? You have no conscience whatsoever over what you did.

By the way, if I have to, I will go to jail before I will help the district in that --- alleged rape case where I am a defendant. After all, I am a "liar" according to you--a four-time perjurer. I could be ruined in a deposition and trial because of your fucking false accusations, but why should a shitbag like you care? You have it made--or you think you do. Don't count on it. Half the lawyers in town know what you and the district pulled on me.

You and your shitty district can go to hell. Don't bother to respond.





And then you brag about belly bumping with the giant manta rays in Hawaii when you should have lost your job. You didn't do one single thing that you were supposed to do with regard to me on the admonition, (which you never knew why I didn't get along with ---, but I will tell you, it was because he approached me to violate federal law--NCLB--by wanting me to cheat with the alternate testing of my life skill students, and then decided to retaliate because he didn't get his way) but that was typical for ---, the worst school in the entire district. See, I was told before --- and --- MOVED me to that school how bad it was and how you didn't really do anything about personnel issues and how easily you turned on your employees----- told me that as did ---. I didn't want to work there, and I felt I was being set up when I was moved. My rights from the time --- approached me to violate federal law to the time you wrongfully fired me through the phony hearing process were totally violated. You didn't care; as long as you had your career, who cares who you stepped on to keep it?

But the district decided to MOVE you to another school--how convenient. The problem is the internet will allow people to find out where people are--there is no secrecy. Here you spent all your time at --- trying to make it an "empowerment" school, but apparently the district, after the fiasco with me, decided it didn't trust you to run a school more or less on your own. Hilarious.

You know something, ---? --- would never, ever have pushed to get me out of there illegally if --- had filed the --- suit eight months earlier--I would still be at the district today. But now they are caught. This is just like a Laurel and Hardy movie--the district is just a joke in terms of competence. They screw up and screw up. Since both sides know all about the entire story of you, ---, WCSD, and me, I am representing myself in the ---- case. Depositions will be taken on this case beginning next month. I have been invited to attend these depositions. But if I am called to be deposed, Katy bar the door.

Again, don't bother to respond.

I couldn't care less if this is "burning my bridges." She wouldn't give me a good recommendation anyway after the shit she pulled. But she needs to be reminded of what she did and how despicable she and the other culprits are.

And that includes the union's attorney. I have been trying to get a letter that was included in the exhibit file, which I believe was falsified and submitted in the administrative hearing--if so a crime and grounds for disbarment of the district's attorney--but he is stonewalling my request. I have had no problem obtaining other documents pertaining to my case, but for some strange reason, I can't get this letter. I happen to have my original but I never gave it to the union's lawyers, and therefore I believe the district's administrators falsified it believing I didn't have it anymore.

[Fire1]

83. Don't worry, tonysam. Karma's a bitch!! n/t

[tonysam]

87. Thanks, Fire1. I know that the district is caught.

Today I am sending another letter (this one certified) to the union's lawyer demanding a copy of that letter, and, if I don't receive it within a matter of days, I am filing a complaint with the state bar.

For all I know this letter might be legit, although I doubt it. But I won't know if this lawyer keeps stonewalling my request.

And even if the submitted copy is legit, I am STILL not going to help the district in the lawsuit.

I may end up in jail for contempt of court before all of this is over with.

[Fire1]

92. That's alot of nerve to subpoena you to do that. You mentioned

that you were representing yourself in your case against them but I'd at least seek some legal advice regarding your testimony in their lawsuit. There's something 'fishy' about testifying on behalf of the same people you have a suit against.

[tonysam]

94. I don't have a suit against them; I am named as a defendant in a lawsuit

filed by a parent. I missed all the deadlines in filing a civil action and I could not appeal the hearing officer's award because I didn't have the money for appeals.

I haven't yet been asked to be deposed; the plaintiff's attorney has deposed at least one detective who will appear next month. I have been invited to be there because I am representing myself in the case.

What the school district did was unconscionable, not only by wrongfully terminating me but by forcing me to help them in a case they could have simply settled but of course there was bad publicity thanks to the media. Instead of settling with the parent, the claims adjuster and risk management sent the case to the outside law firm, KNOWING what had happened with me in my termination case and knowing the plaintiff's attorney could ruin me with the false accusations the principal leveled at me (including "dishonesty" and "negligence of duty"--I can't believe that shit). Attorneys can get access to the personnel files in order to discredit a witness.

The former superintendent didn't even defend me when the story of the lawsuit first came out; I guess he figured since my termination was in the process of being decided by a hearing officer, he felt he couldn't talk, but what this dumb ass did by publicly defending the counselor and not me was making it look like I had done something wrong. I had to issue a public denial. That was reason enough to tell the district to go to hell.

The plaintiff's attorney filed the lawsuit about four weeks after my termination hearing. Then the district had the nerve to ask me for my cooperation when the hearing officer upheld my being thrown out.


As for that letter I am trying to get, if it is falsified I intend to report the school district's attorney to the state bar. There is no reason whatsoever why the union's attorney is stonewalling my request for a copy of the letter which had been submitted to the hearing officer as evidence in the termination hearing--unless, of course, it WAS falsified.

[Fire1]

108. Ahh! Gotcha. Here's wishing you the very best. n/t

[tonysam]

44. And that is because of the disclosure questions on applications.

They should be outlawed.

You can't even substitute teach with those rotten questions on the applications. The assumption is if you were fired, YOU did something wrong, and never mind the stupid idiot who fired you was in the wrong.

[mzmolly]

54. I agree, and again I fear that judging teachers by test scores will mean

poor performing schools don't get the same quality of teachers.

[djp2]

67. Come ON!! Let's TRADE.....

teachers for an entire year...Any Day..I'll trade places with those Teachers on "the Hill", that school the Superintendent's child goes to... Let's trade the ENTIRE STAFF..For ONE YEAR...They wouldn't make the first MONTH at our school and our test scores would PLUMMET below where we already are. In the last 5 years we have had a 200 point growth...Is that enough? of course not...not under NCLB.

Let's SEE...THAT school has ONE ELL student! We have 40% ELL...They are getting a NEW $6 million expansion...They decided not to fund OUR 2 new buildings (all planned and "approved" by the voters!) which would have replaced the 20 20-year-old portable classes we have.

[progressoid]

23. Right. Why take a job in a school you might be fired from arbitrarily?

[tonysam]

27. They fire you anyway as long as the principal and district

are unscrupulous enough to rig the due process hearings.

[tonysam]

25. There are thousands and thousands of scabs to take their places.

There is such a huge glut of teachers in this country, it's pathetic.

They hire them, chew them up, and spit them out. And of course it is almost impossible for a fired teacher to ever work again in education.

[LWolf]

117. Why would we?

So we could be blamed for societal failures, fired, and have our careers destroyed?

[jonathon]

41. Of course, you are a teacher!

No wonder your passion with this issue.

My wife was a RN for years.

[madfloridian]

55. I admire your wife's activism and miss her posts here.

Please tell her so.

[Stuart G]

50. K and R thanks for posting this.

[EFerrari]

51. I loved teaching even though it didn't pay as much as comedy or translating.

I loved knowing my students and working with them, seeing them charge forward. All of it. My favorite moments are ones that happened in classrooms.

If our society manages to crawl forward, thank a teacher. Anyone who doesn't get that is just missing out. And that's a shame.

[G_j]

62. thank a teacher

:applause:

[Starry Messenger]

52. Those people just don't know.

I would never presume to tell any other professional how to do their job, but we get it all the time.

[proud2BlibKansan]

56. You know, there could be an upside to that

Districts are pumping up PD requirements. Maybe we could log some of our hours here on DU as PD. It's sure more interesting than some of the crappy PD I've had to sit through. LOL

[Starry Messenger]

60. lololol

:rofl:

[Fire1]

82. SSDD! Reinventing the wheel! Over and over and over. n/t

[inna]

59. K&R to one of my favorite posters, who made me aware of things

I would not have otherwise been aware of....

[Solly Mack]

61. K&R

[djp2]

63. At the School Board meeting held...

.....last Thursday teachers and union representatives protested that the District had gone to impass and that their silence would not solve problems...The School District had asked for a 10% giveback because of a $19 million deficit...After the union's questioning of numbers at numerous bargaining sessions the deficit became $10 million and the district only wanted a giveback of 8%..Amazing...The union refused so the district went to impass.

After returning from "Secret" Session the Board President began to LAMBAST our union representative that was present mentioning the "God-D***" Union and no way would they go back to bargaining. I believe several union members were accosted by the Board President by name with "Choice" words after they walked out in protest, blasting harassment even outside over the loud speakers as they went to their cars.

Can anyone spell "Hostile Work Environment?"

I'm sure our Board has been to numerous "Broad training sessions"....It seems every School Board in the County has been following the exact same formula in negotiations. (How can we combat SECRET Board training sessions?)

BTW...Our District Superintendent SEEMS to have a "Slush Fund" as numerous local businesses make LARGE financial "Donations" to an"Administrative Retreat Fund" and a "Publication Fund" (district brag rag--anti-union slant) ...I wonder what all those local businesses get out of those donations...let's see.... one makes riding lawn movers...one supplies paper........

[Starry Messenger]

66. djp2

Thank you for an important report. Will you consider posting in the Education forum here on DU?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=219

[Nikki Stone1]

65. The trashing of teachers has been systematic for the past 20 years, but now it's in high gear

I heard a show in LA today (KFI John and Ken) that basically blamed the high cost of education on teachers' "high" salaries. I'd love to know how much John Kobylt gets paid to scream into his KFI microphone. It's like he gets paid to defecate, and what he does doesn't take much more skill than that.

But the whole Clear Channel station is like that: blaming teachers, blaming unions--WITHOUT EXCEPTION--and "catapulting the propaganda" to make the schools easy pickins for charters and hedge funds.

[djp2]

68. "John and Ken" KFI were...

blasting the "inaccurate" numbers of per child spending...they said the numbers should include the "Building costs" (construction) and Retirement costs of teaching each child as well...supposedly, according to them, over $25000 a year per child, not the $6000 plus of reality.

[Nikki Stone1]

70. It was total crap. Those two assholes haven't been in a classroom since they were students

It's obvious.

[Nikki Stone1]

71. Madflo, some other proud teachers:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7935366

[Fire1]

84. I consider all of us heroes and most don't make headlines

but always make headway.

[cornermouse]

72. k & r

I'm on the teachers' side; always have been, always will be.

[LWolf]

74. I am tired today.

I haven't had a day off in 12 days now. My personal budget is in crisis because of the paycut we took last spring, so I've been taking on "extra duties" to try to make a little extra money. Today is report card day, and I have a half-day sub to attend a mandatory district meeting, and I'm working in the evening for the county, scoring state writing exams. I'm looking at a 14 hour day.

And I have a cold.

It's hard to stay positive in this climate. :(

[emmadoggy]

113. Sending you this...

:hug:

[JNelson6563]

77. We are lucky to have you.

We should all be grateful for every teacher out there who pours heart and soul into our kids. Good teachers should be highly paid and there should be memorials all over the place.

Julie

[swilton]

78. Scapegoats for the Country's Social Problems

Is what we have let the public schools become. They have become glorified baby sitters and repositories of rehabilitation rather tha institutions that foster intellectual curiosity, DISCIPLINE, and learning...

[Jefferson23]

79. Privatize, coming from the Democratic party, too sad for words. Look at

what they are doing here, it's like a funeral.

Pink slips issued to 23,000 teachers
March 16, 2010, 01:12 AM By Bill Silverfarb

George Metropulos/Special to the Daily Journal
Pink balloons were hung on empty chairs at Central Elementary School in Belmont yesterday to mourn the loss of teachers laid off due to budget constraints.



More than 23,000 teachers and other school employees across the state have received notices of potential layoffs, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell said yesterday.


Locally, a number of school districts issued pink slips while others have sent out notices of release to its temporary teachers.


More than 16,000 teachers in the state lost their jobs last year and another 10,000 classified school employees lost their jobs in the past two years.


Yesterday was the legal deadline for school districts to send preliminary pink slips to teachers and other certificated school staff in California. The pink slips do not necessarily mean a teacher will lose their job but rather that the job has been identified for potential elimination.


The Belmont-Redwood Shores School District has issued 31 pink slips to certificated teachers and staff and the San Mateo-Foster City School District identified 95 certificated and administrator positions for potential layoffs. The San Mateo Union High School District did not send out any pink slips to permanent teachers but rather notified its 50 to 60 temporary teachers they may not have a job next school year.


The South San Francisco Unified School District will consider making $4.67 million in cuts that could lead to larger class sizes and the reduction of 27 teachers.



http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=126992&title=Pink%20slips%20issued%20to%2023,000%20teachers

[bonnieS]

80. I had similar experiences

and I really enjoyed teaching the kids at the "poor school" which was actually the junior high I attended as a kid. They really wanted to learn, under all their bluster and problems. In the"rich school" they had contempt for teachers and seemed to think they already knew everything. I believe under todays "rules" the "poor school" which was almost totally African American would be closed and the other school, almost totally white, would remain open (for the meantime). If they are going to keep closing the bottom 5 per cent of schools, as you say elsewhere, they will eventually get to the top 5 per cent and that one will close as well.

[smoogatz]

85. I teach in a public university

and we're facing similar problems. Not mass firings, yet, but certainly dramatic erosion of public funding and a degree of public contempt for our profession. We actually make lower median salaries in arts and sciences than the public school teachers in our district--they're unionized, we're not--but they work brutally long ours and have incredibly rigid bureaucratic structures to deal with, not to mention the new mania for teaching solely to the NCLB test (our next-door neighbors both teach in the public schools, so we hear some stories). I don't begrudge them a dime. It is true that tenure in higher ed is different from tenure in the public schools: once tenure's awarded at my U, you have to do something pretty dramatic to get yourself fired--assault a colleague, maybe, or uncork a racist rant in the classroom. But the process of getting tenure can be brutal--constant evaluation, hazing by senior faculty, ungodly service workloads, unwritten standards you're still supposed to know and meet. I could go on, but it's your thread.

[Catshrink]

86. Thanks for reminding us

that the assault on public education isn't limited to K-12.

:hi:

[liberation]

89. College professorships have been in the cross hairs for a while...

... ever since the right wing declared open season on intellectuals.

I am a researcher, but I have inmense respect for those who go to academia after earning their doctorates. First off, most people do not comprehend the level of personal sacrifice getting a doctorate implies: long hours, insane work loads, shit pay. And then having to do the whole postdoc dance: more long hours, more insane work load, fast food salaries. All to go through the privilege of tenure: years of probation, insane workloads (teaching, research, publishing, advising, AND trying to capture grants all done concurrently), and all done for fairly low wages comparing the amount of expertise and labor involved.

Only to come to a supposedly "progressive" site like DU, and read opinions and comments from some posters who express some points of view so extreme in their "free market" faith and anti-educational/intellectual, that they would make even the staunchest of libertarians feel uneasy.

So yeah, let's pile the abuse on one of the most shat upon professional sectors in our society. I mean, it is not like professors and teachers are not abused and belittled as they are, let's pile some more! They sure can use some more abuse! And it is not like education is fundamental for a working and prosperous society, right?

[walldude]

91. As well you should be!

I will post my standard metaphor for teachers.

They are given a race car with no wheels and no engine and are told to win the Daytona 500, and if they don't there will be hell to pay. As the teachers in RI found out.

I wonder why Obama thinks teachers should be held "accountable" but not torturers, war criminals, financial criminals, etc, etc.

[madfloridian]

93. Your last sentence says a lot.

Unfortunately for teachers. :-)

[Deep13]

96. Wow, you nailed it. nt

[Deep13]

95. And well you should be.

Teaching is an enormously valuable and grossly unappreciated service. And the success of America is grounded in the success of its public schools.

[The Backlash Cometh]

97. The right-wingers are taking our schools from within too.

There is one sad sap who is indoctrinating the kids from his American History class. I'm sure that he's only too happy to be a public school teacher, because he has a military background and he's right where he wants to be to touch as many young minds as possible. He has all the kids so mortified that only two brave Democrats speak up and express their views. Unfortunately, because no one else speaks up, they assume that they're the only two Democrats in the class, and everybody else is a Republican. This guys talks badly about all the Democratic presidents.

We're losing grounds on so many different levels. I just don't understand it. Isn't it obvious from the support of Iraq that Republicans are the most mindless followers, incapable of reviewing facts on their own? Is this really the kind of American we want to represent what an American has turned into?

[GreenPartyVoter]

106. And then there are the new textbooks Texas is working on....

[Wednesdays]

100. K&R

Teachers are now seen as a kind of factory worker, except here the "products" are brainwashed robots.

[Riley18]

102. It is hard to come to grips with how badly we were duped by the current

administration. I really hoped it would get better, but instead it has gotten worse. The politicians are being paid too well and it is already decided that schools will no longer exist. The cute little name they came up with "charter school" sounds so visionary and brave when in reality these new "schools" should be called what they really are - corporate profit centers. There are no jobs anyway so they will play this out until they get bored, and then they will start to charge the parents for their kids. We know where that will lead.

[Nikki Stone1]

104. No kidding.

:(

[LarryNM]

105. In Order to Steal from Public Resources

the Privateers must Demonize and Marginalize, in this case public schools, teachers, teacher unions, professional educator organizations, etc., mainly by use of the corporatist hate-talk radio; otherwise, they would be seen simply for what they are: greedy thieves accusing others of what they themselves are.

[awoke_in_2003]

107. It may have already been said...

haven't read the thread yet, but I am a product of public schools. In 18 years I NEVER ran across a teacher who did not work hard for their students. I appreciate every one of them, even the ones I didn't particularly care for. I don't know what has come over this country since I graduated high school in 1986. People running around bitching about how much education costs, lowering taxes, and cutting school funding. How is cutting funding an answer to problems in education? I don't know, but goddamn Saint Ronny believed it, and so do all the mouth breathers I am surrounded by. Then, due to the shear volume of books Texas buys, they set the standard for books used around the country. Creationism, 6000 year old Earth, and the "greatness" of the Conservative Revolution while denigrating people like Jefferson- the GREATEST of our founding fathers, being taught as fact- it just boggles my mind. I have no idea how teachers today can handle it. But thanks for the job you do- I know there are plenty more out there that are trying as hard as they can to educate their kids with limited (and skewed) resources. Teachers do care- they certainly don't go in the field for the money.

[laughingliberal]

109. It's disheartening

Those who enter the helping professions are seldom in it for the money. It is similar to the downgrading of nurses which took place when for profit health care became the norm. We haven't had the PR campaign waged against us but wages and benefits were driven into the ground and work loads doubled. Guess we should all have become accountants or marketers, huh? Big rewards for trying to serve others. Not.

[Tumbulu]

111. My daughter has attended one of the worst schools and one of the best

The teachers at both schools are wonderful. The parents at the bad school were rude, disrespectful and all working too many jobs to ever be able to help out at the school. High or low income, they all worked too many hours and either did not care or could not be bothered. The parents at the great school work, but are able to take some time off to help out, they give money and are very respectful.

The bad school has a violent student body (my daughter was punched, kicked or punched hard every single day) and the great school has normal kids who play nicely on the playground together pretty much.

The administration at the bad school was horrendous. The admin at the good school is wonderful.

I feel very very sorry that teachers are being picked on. In my opinion it is about the parents and administrations. It is true there can be bad teachers, but mainly it is about the parents.

[libtodeath]

112. I applaud..

..you for your dedication.

[emmadoggy]

114. I am in my first year as a

paraeducator. I salute you, and all teachers. Teachers have become the scapegoat where all blame has been placed, but it truly is one of those "it takes a village" situations. There is far, far more to a student's success than just the teacher.

K & R. :grouphug:

on edit: darn, too late to rec.

[Fruittree]

115. Honestly

I don't see where the current proposal to change NCLB is anti-teacher. I read some of it and it doesn't at all sound to me like there's a big push to dis-respect teachers, close schools or fire everyone. It makes a point of declaring the importance in evaluating a school of all academic subjects and not just English and math and their respective test scores. It does call for mandatory changes at bottom performing schools but is that a bad thing? For all people may say about economic circumstances and lack of parental involvement - the truth is that in some neighborhoods teachers and schools are going to have to deal with those realities and be more than just instructors in academic subjects.
Regarding criticism of parents who are not involved, please bear in mind that some parents - like mine were many years ago - are new to the country and may be unaware of how things work or not speak the language comfortably enough to be there and be involved.In those schools with those "parents and kids who can't be changed", there are a majority of kids like I was who need a good teacher who can teach in that environment and make kids feel safe. Not everyone can. Teachers should not bear the total blame but neither should they be immune from some responsibility.
I think rather than jump all over these changes, we should all embrace them, work to change them where necessary and wait a bit - give it a chance to work then criticise but do so respectfully not hysterically.

[JCMach1]

116. I worked at a school that was almost exactly both...

We were about 55% minority students and about 50%+ of all students at poverty level. What made that tough was the stupid ratings system they put in-place. No matter how hard we worked, it was nigh impossible to get above a C on the FCAT. We were basically stuck there. Nor, would we ever get any 'bonus' for so called improvement despite our brightest kids (all races) excelling in the most advanced coursework AP and college entrance tests: SAT and ACT.

[trayfoot]

118. I, too, am a teacher...........

who agrees wholeheartedly with madfloridian! BRAVO!