5 schools in Mass agree to replace 50% of teachers in return for Federal dollars

[Sea Witch]

12 Mass. schools share $27M in federal funds
By Associated Press
Friday, August 13, 2010

MALDEN - State education officials say 12 Massachusetts schools are sharing a $27 million federal grant over the next three years to help improve student performance.

The schools - 10 in Boston and one each in Chelsea and Springfield - have been defined as under performing.

Of the more than 7,000 students in the 12 schools, 88 percent are considered low income and 26 percent are limited English proficient.

Each school will adopt one of four federally developed turnaround programs indicated in their proposal to win the grant money. Five of the schools will replace at least half their teachers.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1274385&srvc=rss

These schools are in very poor, often immigrant communities. Somehow I think replacing half the teachers is going to solve the problem. You need to address the gang, poverty and language issues that hinder learning. It's always the teachers who get the blame. Teachers who cannot fix the issues these children arrive at school with.

Also, why would any teacher now take a job in a school system where they have the teaching job from hell, for not so great pay AND know that they will be the first to get the blame if test scores suck.

[boston bean]

1. Deval Patrick has been very instrumental in trying to get the race for the bottom funds.

he was in washington recently looking for $250 million to race to the bottom.

[Freddie Stubbs]

12. Voters seem ready to reward Patrick by reelecting him, as he is leading in the polls

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

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

[Freddie Stubbs]

21. Charlie Baker loves to hear things like this

[valerief]

2. The "teachers" will probably come from Blackwater or CCA. nt

[txlibdem]

6. Or the Heritage Foundation

The Obama administration's brain trust? You decide.

[valerief]

24. Ah, yes, the good old "I hate Americans so much I could puke" Heritage Foundation. nt

[midnight]

3. Selling our infrastructure off one institution at a time.

Did this happen during the last depression, or have the vultures gotten better at restructuring the next generation of low wage earners.

[LostinVA]

4. Why ANYONE thinks this is a good idea is beyond me

:shrug:

[Sea Witch]

10. I know people at Chelsea High

It's a very tough school in a very tough area. My significant other coached there for a year and sitting in the stands to watch was frankly scary as hell. Lots of gang members watching and playing.

[LostinVA]

15. So, the teachers who work there are dedicated and want to be there

For the most part, anyway.

UGH!

[Doremus]

32. And yet you came away unscathed. Imagine that.

:eyes:

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. Bet that 27 M goes to some * verrrrrry* interesting places. nt

[ThomCat]

7. They will hire inexperienced teachers making the minimum pay scale.

They will almost surely use this to get rid of any teacher who has ever dared to raise his or her head up and have an opinion on anything. So this will have the effect of decapitating any initiative among teachers. Morale will be gone, and nobody will dare speak out against anything.

This won't do Jack Shit to deal with the real problems of poverty, lack of support programs, lack of support staff, high teacher to student ratios, infrastructure problems, etc.

Damn it! All we are seeing is fucked up policies to kill unions and public schools, blame teachers, and privatize everything so that education is just one more damned way to redistribute our tax dollars from all of us up to people who are already rich.

I am so damned Sick of this Shit. Is this this "Hope" we voted for? It sure as hell looks like a re-hash of "No Child Left Behind" to me.

:grr:

[Nite Owl]

8. So sad that we

have such idiots running things. They will do anything for the $$$ even if it is wrong and will hurt the kids.

[dkf]

9. If we had control of our immigration policy maybe our test scores would rise.

It is amazing how immigrants are always cited as the reason for low test scores. Are they just scapegoats or are they an extra burden to teach and do their extra needs help or hurt other students performance?

[Sea Witch]

13. The problem is more the poverty, but language also plays a part.

It's tough to teach kids coming from many different cultures and languages and backgrounds. Also the parents often speak little English and are struggling with multiple low paying jobs. Poverty and gangs flourish and create a cycle. School becomes low on the list of priorities. Just eliminating immigration would not solve the problem.

[YvonneCa]

25. I agree completely. These are the same issues...

...I have worked to improve for all the years I taught.

[madrchsod]

11. now, now we should not criticize our president.....

remember we must be good little children and accept what we he thinks is best for our children.

[LWolf]

14. What a travesty. nt

[Starry Messenger]

16. And when this doesn't work?

Bring on the charters. I'm sick of right wing crap in our education policies. "You need to address the gang, poverty and language issues that hinder learning." Amen x a million.

[Larkspur]

17. Wonder if they will import new teachers from India

Bridgeport, CT hired teachers from India to work in some of their poorest schools because they claim that they couldn't find American teachers who wanted to teach in them.

[madfloridian]

18. Hiring TFA grads for a 2 year stay? Or maybe H1B? Lots of that lately.

Cheaper that way. Don't worry about a good education, just save money.

Thank god for Arne's money. :sarcasm:

[Sea Witch]

20. The charter school across the street is building a big addition

as I type this.

[sandnsea]

22. Better to just leave the schools and kids to rot

They do not just replace teachers, they replace the principal and propose new curriculum and education model. The idea is to get new people in place who are interested in implementing new programs, many of which address the issues the kids are having outside of the school.

[YvonneCa]

23. But they ASSUME (to assume is to make an...

...ASS out of you and ME)that dedicated teachers/educators there have not been doing exactly that. They are basing these decisions on FALSE INFORMATION. What makes anyone think that will work? What makes anyone think that just bringing in newbies will fix those VERY CHALLENGING problems?

[sandnsea]

28. The Schools Are Failing

You take those very same kids out of that failing school, put them in a variety of other education models, from Harlem Children's Zone to Catholic schools - and the kids thrive. That's what makes people think it will work.

The replacement model does not mean bringing in all newbies. It just means bringing in different teachers who are specficially applying for a position in a challenging school.

I am sorry Yvonne. The public school system is failing many kids. It's got to change. There are poor kids all over the world, in every country in the world. That's no excuse to have the problems we have in these schools. Did you ever think the failing school system is what feeds gangs, and not the other way around?

[YvonneCa]

31. I like your...

...sig line. :) And I appreciate the civility of your answer. I think...if you and I sat down and discussed education... we would probably agree on more than we disagree on.

I am not about excuses. Making excuses for what is wrong in public schools will never fix what needs fixing. I agree the system is failing many kids and THAT is intolerable. For most of my career as a teacher, and my career as a mother, I've always said that America's children need and deserve for the adults in this country to 'Get it in gear' and take responsibility for what is wrong in kids' lives. I fervently believe that. That encompasses everything from being good parents to providing food and shelter to making schools work. I think that is what President Obama is trying to do and I applaud him for that goal.

What we may not agree on is HOW to accomplish that goal. I've worked with kids who were growing up in a gang 'family.' I taught boys (and girls) in gangs whose little brothers came to conferences following right down the same path. Educators in my district were and are working to support those kids. Feed them, make sure they see a doctor and dentist, get them glasses, teach them reading and math, help them learn cooperative and conflict resolution skills...on and on. That is NOT failing. But sometimes a school still struggles to meet AYP. For politicians to assume that those educators doing that difficult work should be broad-brushed as failing educators is a loss for everyone. I think Obama can fix education without doing that.

[Sea Witch]

29. It's not a black and white issue

You can keep the teachers and give the teachers and staff the funds and support to deal with those issues.

[sandnsea]

30. And if that's been done?

Then what??

It's not a black and white issue. Local schools don't want a one-size-fits-all solution. You can't have the federal government come in and tell the schools which curriculum and discipline model to implement. The parents won't have it, the teachers won't have it.

There are several options with the School Improvement Grants. Letting go of the teachers and administration is only one of the options. They can put in a charter, or close the school and put the kids in other schools. They can even replace just the principal and implement a rigorous staff development program.

The only option the school doesn't have is to keep the status quo. However, even if a school doesn't want to make any drastic changes, there is still more money available for building funds and other federal programs than there has been in the past few years. There is simply no excuse to do nothing.

[Sea Witch]

33. It hasn't been done.

Schools in poor areas never have the funds or support they need. Often teachers take money out of their pockets for basic supplies. They are lacking in everything except poverty, violence and frustration.

[MilesColtrane]

26. Teachers?

Don't they have computers that can do that now?

:sarcasm:

[laureloak]

27. All we can give anyone is a chance. It's up to the parents and

kids to pick up the ball and run with it. Sometimes the worst circumstances create the most motivation to succeed.

I know, cause I've been there, done that.

[crazyjoe]

34. why is it were always worried about the teachers paychecks,

and not the kids? Shouldn't the children come first?

[Catshrink]

35. Obviously you failed reading.

Try reading the thread again and see if you really think the primary concern of educators is salary. Yes, we should be fairly compensated for what we do but if money was our only goal, we wouldn't be teaching. It is all about the students, what's best for them and their futures.