The Center for Union Facts wants to offer bad teachers 10k to leave teaching. Know some bad teachers yourself, nominate them at:
http://www.teachersunionexposed.com/worst_nominate.cfm
Many times we debate on not hiring bad teachers, but why not pay bad teachers to leave. The idea is very unique and it will be interesting to see if it gets any traction. Maybe local districts should weigh this plan.
Some details:
"The Center for Union Facts (http://www.unionfacts.com/) will ask parents, students and other teachers Tuesday to nominate the "worst unionized teacher in America." The center says it will choose 10 and offer each $10,000 to quit; "winners" must allow the center to write about them on its website."
Some of the recent nominations:
http://laborpains.org/?p=774
Read the coverage in USA Today at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-03-10-worst-teachers_N.htm?l...
Paying teachers for bad performance is part of the problem.
The consequence of bad performance is that you're FIRED ... in the real world, at least.
We need to bring the real world in the schools. THAT is the solution.
I wonder how many of the allegations are true?
I could see someone taking the money but I don't see them allowing the site to write about them on the website.
I agree with GZ if you're a bad teacher your consequence should be being fired. If I screw up at my job bad enough or long enough I know I will be.
Look back into history and see why unions were formed in the first place. And now the cancerous idea has become so malformed that people actually need to buy off poor performers.
I agree with GZ if you're a bad teacher your consequence should be being fired. If I screw up at my job bad enough or long enough I know I will be.
Right, but not in a union environment. Poor performance, lack of attendance, even drug use is no grounds for dismissal.
Hell, we've even allowed our own state to be "Closed shop" state! These supposed organizations that are FOR workers? Yet in Ohio, they can actually not allow a business owner to hire a person unless they belong to their little cult?
So, from that you could infer - since union members are a minority (13% in toledo I think, but dont quote me) - In a closed shop state like Ohio, these pro-worker organizations are now actively engaged in PREVENTING the majority of people from working?
How many other things in this world that are FOR you do you get shoved down your throat whether you like it or not?
Toledo's garbage tax comes to mind...
Why the HELL would anyone in their right mind ever open a business in Toledo Ohio??
i'm wondering about 13% of toledoans being in a union, that seems awfully low considering how the typical toledoan votes, and the power the unions have on this city.
i agree that bad teachers should be fired, but in a union that's not going to happen.
I read how madjack ends a declarative sentence with a question mark. Is he stupid or should he blame his lack of basic language acumen on his second-grade teacher? (The question mark, jack, means the sentence was posed in the form of a question.) Can you grasp the concept? (There's another question mark, jack). If people are to be allowed to contribute to this site, particularly on education issues, at the very least they should have basic, fifth-grade levels of spelling, punctuation and grammar. Otherwise, should the webmaster cut off the illiterate!! I mean, the illirerate?? I mean, them damn teachers of mine never did me no damn good?! Can't spell. Can't type. Can't hardly think to save my life!? But, goddam, I got a lot to say!! Or, say?? Let's have a remedial English session on this site on declarative and inquisitive. Madjack and other misspellers will be much better off. Or is that much better off??? Or better off!!?
Were you retained by the admin of swampbubbles to be the grammer & spelling moderator?
Toledo wants you to pay more to stay.
What a horrible idea to be able to nominate teachers and post about them at that site. I guarantee the majority of complaints against the teachers are half true..exaggerated and even entirely false.
But I say...if you're going to pay them...then pay them about 30k to leave. That way..they will be reimbursed for their overpriced education that got them an underpaid job. It will also make-up for the lies teachers were told in college...that they will get to teach. Instead, teachers quickly learn that teaching is about the last thing they get to do. Its amazing how many parents can't control their one kids behavior...but, they expect a teacher (with no administrative support on effective discipline) to control 25-30 kids...many who are drugged up on ADD drugs...etc.
The colleges also fail to tell future teachers they will also be counselors to kids from broken homes...the parents who get drunk and don't get up to feed their kids....the parents who abuse each other physically/emotionally in front of their kids...and then expect the kid to be focused on learning. They also fail to tell future teachers that when they try to enforce discipline...they will be threatened with lawsuits from parents and be threatened their jobs by adminstrators and school boards.
Amazing that parents...who are not in the classroom all day...can write about the type a job a teacher is doing to be read by the public and lead to termination of that teacher....because of what their kid tells them or the 15 minutes a year they talk to the teacher at conferences....if they even go.
Has anyone here made a bad choice at work every now and then? Has anyone else here ever been falsely blamed at work for someone else's mistake or for other circumstances beyond your control? I'm sure we all have....so, should I or anyone else be able to post to the public about the "bad job" you're doing based on our minimal experience with you or your company.
I really don't get the war on teachers. We put them in a hostile environment with their hands tied behind their backs and then expect them to be perfect at all times. You couldn't pay me enough to teach your bratty, undisciplined, coming from broken home, cocky, unwilling to learn, 23hour a day video game playing brats.
I say teachers start a website to vote for the worst parents...my wife could easily nominate some of her students parents. Like the parent who got mad that her child got a zero because they didn't turn in their homework....the parents excuse was, "they had baseball practice and didn't have time." Or the parent who beat his wife with a bat when he was drunk and then hit the kid and told him he wouldn't amount to anything....Or the parents who both work seventy hours a week so they can live in a 300k house while they leave their kids to raise themselves....Oh...yeah...lets start that site.
My wife will gladly take 10k to get out of a job where she gets blamed for problems that are a result of neglect and brokeness in the home.
So which is more pertinent to this post?
Madjack's statement - properly punctuated or not, or Donwart's flame?
My rub with Teacher's is their lifetime legacy costs (insane drain to a district) and their strict interpretation of pay based on longevity, not performance.
Perhap if the teacher unions were more flexible with their contracts - school districts could afford resources / counselors to offline the students that need additional support.
Lifetime healthcare, lifetime pensions, how many breaks per day, how many paid holidays, how many days off per year? They teach the same lesson plan each year. You think after a few years you have all of your tests, quizes, lesson plans figured out.
what does being a bad teacher mean? could it just mean a ticked off parent nominates a teacher after their kid gets poor grades, warranted as they may or may not be?
The general public knows so little about the Toledo Federation of Teachers, it's just sad. Blame the local media, and uninformed critics.
The Toledo Federation of Teachers was the first teachers' union to participate in removing bad teachers from the classroom. The Intern-Intervention Program, commonly referred to as the "Toledo Plan", not only calls for extensive observations, supervision, and mentoring of first year teachers by experienced teachers, it also can lead to veteran teachers being fired. Yes, that's right! The TFT is a full partner in firing poor teachers. I am in my 32nd year of teaching. If either the principal in my building, or the elected union building committee believes that I've "lost it", either can place me in the "Intervention" component of the Toledo Plan. Most referrals for "intervention", in fact, are done cooperatively by the principal and the union committee together.
In the five years before the Toledo Plan began, the Toledo Public Schools failed to renew the contracts of exactly zero first year teachers. In the first five years under the Toledo Plan, 8%-12% of first year teachers were not rehired for a second year! Principals and supervisors were doing the observations before the Toledo Plan took effect. They were simply overwhelmed with too many other duties to do a good job. Also, how can an elementary principal possibly know how to properly evaluate all the teachers from kindergarten through fifth or sixth grade? How can a secondary principal possibly understand all of the various disciplines being taught in their building well enough to evaluate the practitioners well?
Under the "Toledo Plan", mentor teachers are matched closely with the teachers whom they evaluate in grade level and subject area. They both mentor and evaluate. They recommend whether or not the new teacher should be retained. They must have extensive documentation one way or the other.
The "Toledo Plan" is so well respected everywhere (but in Toledo?), that it has been adopted in school districts nationwide, and in foreign countries as well. Entire states, including our largest, California, have used the Toledo Plan to formulate statewide evaluation programs for first year teachers. And Dal Lawrence, the formulator of the Toledo Plan, still travels extensively to help management and unions develop and implement such plans. The Toledo Plan has garnered nationwide awards for TFT and TPS for union-management cooperation. No serious book about education reform is written without a positive reference to the Toledo Plan.
Interestingly enough, the same local people who criticize TFT for being too powerful, also criticize this model of union-management cooperation, which ensures that TPS has the best possible teachers for our children.
When Dal Lawrence first negotiated the Toledo Plan, he was widely criticized by veteran union leaders, especially veteran teacher union leaders. How, they asked, could a union participate in firing dues paying members? But Lawrence held firm. He was embarrassed by those who were in the classroom and just didn't belong there. How, Lawrence asked, could we call our occupation a profession, and not ensure that poor practitioners would not continue what can only be described as malpractice?
The Toledo Plan is true educaion reform. Most of TFT's critics wouldn't recognize true education reform, if the skies opened up and the heavens declared it to be so!
You just described a system that is used against entry-level teachers. This is a common way unions are destroying themselves. I've heard that the minimum seniority for teachers in the TPS is about 5-6 years. So the true aim of the "Toledo Plan" is clear.
I approve, of course. Any union that destroys itself by demonizing the new generation while retaining all benefits for the older generation is something that should obviously be allowed to run its course ... leading to NO UNION, and a return to 100% merit-based employment.
Of course, even before then, the union-solid members will be in the minority and the majority and the management will just vote away their ridiculously lucrative pensions. So this will all collapse soon enough.
P.S. If the TPS is allegedly so vigilant about removing bad teachers, then why is the product (the graduating student body) so bad? I'm sure you don't relate one to the other, like most unionized people do.
I have no idea where you get your "minimum seniority" from. Like most financially struggling school districts, TPS tries to hire teachers with NO years of experience. They're cheaper!
As far as our product...urban public schools teach a greater depth and breadth in the variety of students than does any public suburban or any private school. We simply have greater challenges. I have a freind who improved greatly as a teacher by your standards. He started out at an inner-city school. His students had terrible test scores. He then got a job in Ottawa Hills. WOW!! Did he improve!! In Ottawa Hills, where he had such successful students, he was the President of his local union for many years!
If having better graduates was as simple as eliminating teachers' unions, then most southern anti-union states would have the top testing students in the nation. The don't! Not even close!
Many teachers who are fired from TPS through the Intern-Intervention Program teach elsewhere. Among those are veteran teachers who are fired under the Intervention part of the program. Some do quite well where the challenges are not so great as they are in an urban system. Some just can't do the job.
You just can't accept that any union can do anything good. We're human, too. Maybe we are motivated by positive forces. Don't be so rigid and close minded!
«I have no idea where you get your "minimum seniority" from.»
You have no idea since you're uncomfortable with the truth. And if you really aren't: ASK. I did. That's the consistent answer I get for the minimum seniority for PERMANENT teachers (not just subs) in the TPS.
«Like most financially struggling school districts, TPS [...]»
The TPS is not struggling financially. That's the myth perpetuated by the heavily entrenched elite who sup on our tax money like fat ticks.
The system spends about $11000 per student, which is the high end of all districts in Ohio. Like too many of its teachers, that only indicates a rich appetite for expenses, with no attitude for financial discipline.
«[...] TPS tries to hire teachers with NO years of experience.»
This contradicts your assertions of how difficult they are on subs.
Of course, my anecdotal information indicates that there's a distinct two-tier system at work in the TPS. Subs find themselves kept in the temp zone, and teachers are hired from another tier (largely involving "knowing somebody").
«As far as our product ... [avoid avoid]»
You didn't deny that the product is faulty. The educational levels of these children are appalling. They can't make change. They can't read a newspaper. They don't vote. They are NOT functional citizens, and by the rights and responsibilities assigned in the Ohio constitution, we MUST fix that.
«If having better graduates was as simple as eliminating teachers' unions [...]»
It's not up to me. Unions are destroying themselves, since they have hit upon the idea that it's effective to preserve benefits for a shrinking base. That means demonizing the incoming generations.
At any rate, a merit-based system can't be any worse, and it will be cheaper for the true customer: the taxpayer.
«You just can't accept that any union can do anything good.»
No, you can't accept that the time of unions is past. The economics of the situation demand it. You can't have a unionized force that continues to accrue benefits from a taxpaying population that is just getting poorer.
«Don't be so rigid and close minded!»
The excessive use of exclamation points is a hallmark of poor literacy. I highly doubt you have the wherewithal to truly judge my mind. At any rate, you're just an advocate (i.e. you support a conclusion from selected data) and as such your viewpoint can be summarily dismissed.
All I can say is that you certainly don't allow facts to get in the way of your opinion.
You're right about one thing. Unions are dying. That is directly tied to the destruction of the middle class by the greedy, unpatriotic corporate magnates who send our jobs to the Communist dictatorship in China.
The unions are welcomed to try unioinizing China. Corporations have figured out how to do business in other countries. Are Unions afraid or too lazy to promote their agenda in stratregic foreign markets?
Sadly, your entry reflects the ignorance most Americans have about the world. China as a strictly, severely controlled Communist dictatorship. There is no political freedom there. It is impossible to organize a free trade union there. Unions are creatures of Democracies and true free market economies.
That's the whole point. We are asking our workers to compete with an economy in China that is totally controlled. Workers there earn little. Working conditions are dangerous. And there are no environmental concerns. Individual human life means little to the Communists. And our unpatriotic President and the equally unpatriotic corporate robber barons who support him couldn't care less. As long as they have their money, their health care, and their creature comforts they're happy!
As union membership has plummeted in the U.S., has our overall economy improved? I would say the exact opposite is true. You are another person who won't let facts get in the way of your opinions.
Of course, the economy in the US tends to be worse in areas that have historically been heavily unionized...
You missed the point. In the past, when the U.S. was heavily unionized, we were a more prosperous nation with a thriving middle class. As union membership has plummeted, so has our economy and our middle class. These are statsitical realities. Are we better off now that we have destroyed private sector unions?
Most of the U.S. is in a recession. Those areas that are less affected are those that have attracted high tech businesses. But their day is coming. China and India are pouring funds into their educational institutions in unprecedented amounts. Unless we stop our griping and fund our own educational systems the way we fund wars, those high tech jobs will be lost, too!
FWIW, I am not one of the anti-teacher crowd by any means. I don't even think that all unions are bad under all circumstances. However, I do think that some unions have done as much (or more) harm than good in the past few decades, and the so-called "union mentality" in this area has held us back from opportunity. (Just one factor - obviously there are other factors, such as the whackjobs we keep electing into office.) :)
(In regard to teachers though...I tend to put at least an equal amount of the blame on the parents. Yes, there are problem teachers. But in general, I think that if more parents did their job at home, then more teachers would be effectively able to do their jobs in school.)
I appreciate your comments. You came from a "common sense" perspective. The old "unions as scape goats" argument just doesn't work now that there are so few union members. The radical right doesn't get it. The union "horse" is dead. It's time to stop beating it, and assess if the death of unions has made us a more prosperous nation. Most statistics seem to say our economy is in trouble, and on the verge of collapse. It's hard to blame unions when we basically don't have any anymore!
Your comment on parents is appreciated as well. "It takes a village to raise a child" is a great quote, but parents have the greatest influence upon their children. In my 32 years in public education I have yet to have a serious problem with a student who had a stable home environment and parents who worked at doing the parenting job well.
The amazing thing to me is that so many of my former students achieve so much when they come from less than desirable home situations. I remember back to my first year of teaching when I had a student who had no father in her life, and whose mother was still pumping out babies, while this, her oldest child, was in sixth grade.
This 11 year old made breakfast for herself and her school-aged siblings, and packed them all lunches every morning. I made a home visit because she wanted me to see her new baby brother. Because Mom was busy with baby, guess who cooked and cleaned in the home after school? (I had that baby brother as a student in eighth grade 13 years later.) She went on to run a day care center as an adult. When I found that out, I went to see her. She was both happy and successful.
I tell my students: Everyone has problems in their life. Those who do not succeed see those problems as excuses to fail. Those who do succeed see them as challenges to overcome. Statistically, 2/3 of all inner city youth never get in any serious trouble growing up, and became successful adults. I have had an innumerable number of successful students, both minority and non-minority, who have viewed their problems as challenges to overcome. And they have overcome!
"It's hard to blame unions when we basically don't have any anymore!"
if the unions are dead, then who is running toledo? where is all the money coming from to elect the same status quo politicians? when we get people who want to change the system, the unions come in, pick their people, fund their campaign, inform the blade who to tell toledoans to support, and amazingly enough, they win! if you need an example, look at the last school board election. ford did absolutely nothing, but because tft supported him, he was elected. yeah, you're right unions are dead, what was i thinking?
That was the answer I expected out of you. Unions are failing to organize equally in global markets, hence they lose their status as global partner and now become parasites to specific markets. U.S compnanies can operate globally, but unions can't. What does that tell you in the long run?
but pointing out that you say that the same local people who criticize TFT for being too powerful also criticize this model....
Not contracting with interns who don't work out is not a practice invented by the TFT. It's a common, entry level business skill.
It has nothing to do with the broad scope of control that the TFT has over the public school district here.
People do not get kudos for performing minimally.
I did NOT say that TFT invented this idea. I said that TFT was the first teachers' union to adopt this type of program. Dal Lawrence wanted to get away from the "factory model" of unions and toward a model that was closer to that of the American Medical Association. In the medical field, experienced physicians oversee new doctors, not hospital administrators. Lawrence wanted a system where the union took responsibility for the quality of the professionals it represents. Is there something wrong with that?
so with this toledo plan, does it have anything similar in reference to subs? i've heard some pretty awful stories from subs and the policies of subs and i was wondering if they have a plan for them?
you being a teacher, what do you think of teachers retiring during the school year? i just spoke to someone who was put into a classroom that started with the teacher who retired in the first semester. this really bothers me a teacher can't wait until the end of the year to retire in the best interest of the kids. i don't know the other side of things, so could you help me understand this?
TPS is NOT "user friendly" at all when it comes to hiring subs. Just as with other teachers, the rate of pay for subs has been frozen for the last 5 years, and subs are daily employees who do not get "step" increases. With subs able to go to area schools which are, generally, less challenging, go through an easier hiring process, and make as much or more per day as they would in an urban school, TPS has a constant shortage of subs. Central administration has no urgency about this situation at all!
As far as retirement is concerned, do you really want someone to continue teaching until the end of a school year when they are ready to quit? Is that really in the "best interest of the kids"? Most career teachers leave the profession with a lot of mixed emotions. Some are merely "burned out". In a few cases it is advantageous monetarily to retire before the end of a school year. I'm not about to tell anyone who has taught children for 30 or more years that their retirement income should be negatively affected because they must retire at the end of a school year. Besides, some young person is probably waiting anxiously for that "long term" sub position and may well do an outstanding job of teaching those students.
By the way, I still enjoy what I do very much. Two years ago, in my 30th year, I had two student teachers. They had my students, under my supervision, for most of the school year until March! I couldn't wait to get back to teaching full time again! I knew then I wasn't ready to retire yet.
My biggest frustrations are a central administration that doesn't value what I do, and outside critics who don't understand how hard most urban teachers try and how much we care.
i asked a simple question about if there was a toledo plan for subs, and i hear about pay woes again?????
it reminds me of my parent teacher conference last week. i had asked my son's teacher about why she loves teaching, and why she chose to teach at a private school rather than public since she would make more. she smiled, and said she loves her job, and used to be a public school teacher, but when the position came open, she applied. the pay cut was not a big deal to her because she did not go into teaching to make a lot of money. she didn't mind the pay cut since it meant she could talk about her faith to the kids. i lefteel i that conference feeling so good about his school, and about her.
mailman chuck, how long did you say your friend took to get hired as a sub for tps? if they are in constant need of subs, and they have a less challenging hiring process, why does it take so long?
i'm wondering about teacher retiring before the end of the year because i feel they should finish out the year, so the kids will have the same person throughout the year, and the kids will build a relationship with. i know someone who is in a class now that has had 7 teachers this year because the teacher decided to retire the first semester. the kids have had to go from sub to sub without building a relationship. the kids are so far behind she's really struggling to catch them up. if they had the same teacher all year, then there would be more respect for the teacher, and the kids might actually learn what they should be learning because they have a stable teacher encouraging them. a teacher who's been with them all year knows their strengths, weaknesses, and how to motivate them. when a sub comes into a classroom, they don't know any of this, and the kids often test the sub, now multiply that by 6 subs this year, and tell me how the kids are better off?
we were just talking in another post about the importance of a stable home, i feel it's also important to have a stable classroom. many of these kids NEED that since they are lacking it at home. if a teacher has been teaching for 30 years, what's another few more months for the sake of the kids?
You speak highly of your sons teacher because she took a pay cut to go to private school becasue she loves her job?
My wife was offered a job at a catholic school $15k a year! as opposed to the 40k she makes in public schools.
So tell me litterred...you would quit your 40k job to go do the same job for 15k. Yeah right!
first off, you don't know me! if i felt i was called to teach in a private school, and take a pay cut i would. i rely on my faith to guide me, not money. in fact, i decided to stay at home with my kids, so i could spend more time with them. i chose not to work, so it shows i'm not motivated by money. yeah, i could have a bigger house, nicer cars and so on, but i chose not to, so i could put my children first.
Did you really read what I wrote? I said that it is NOT easy for a sub to get into TPS. It's a serious problem!
The problem you refer to with multiple subs goes to the heart of the problem with the ineffective Human Resources in TPS Central Administration. If an opening occurs in the first half of the year, it should be permanently filled within 2-3 weeks. There is no reason why more than one sub would be needed in the interim, except for the ineptitude and the blase attitude of HR.
On a separate note, I know a LOT more teachers who LEAVE private schools because they just can't afford to pay their bills on that pay scale, than those who go the other way. One is a former nun, who was a teacher and a principal for 30 years in the Toledo Catholic schools, but came to TPS because she had decided to not be a nun any more, and she had no money at all, and no retirement to speak of. NO! She didn't get married! She stayed single and taught until she was almost 70 years old to have at least some pension.
My wife is a teacher also, and she stayed home for 9 years when our children were young. We lived on one teacher's salary and it was tough, but we have never regretted the sacrifice. No one gets rich as a teacher! I did my student teaching in a Catholic school. The biggest single advantage of a private school is that it is easier to get rid of disruptive students. And that IS a big advantage!
FYI...statistically about 50% of those who begin in the teaching profession leave within 5-7 years. Some great job, huh! Most leave because their college degree qualifies them for jobs that pay significantly more money. We do have bills to pay, just like everybody else!
dalepertcheck,
although, i have a tendency to disagree with you, i really appreciate that you answer my questions, and do so without attacking or swearing at me. i respect your opinions and views, but it does not mean i agree with them. :)
"statistically about 50% of those who begin in the teaching profession leave within 5-7 years........"
why is this since it's publicized how much teachers make, so it's not like a new grad from UT can't calculate how much they will make, it's a matter of doing a little research?
yes, there are teachers that go from private to public, but there are also some that go from public to private schools. my point was i appreciated my son's teacher taking a pay cut to teach at his school. she wasn't so focused on the salary. she also liked how there was not a union in the private school, and that she has more freedom to pick what she wants, and to voice her opinion since it's the teachers, board members and the principal.
i also appreciate that your wife also stayed home with your kids. yes, it's a sacrifice, but well worth it.
I hope that we can agree to disagree in an amicable way. I also hope that your child's teacher never has to work for a principal with whom she disagrees. Union organizers do not build union membership. Unfair management builds union membership. "The Andersons" has never had a union, and they have a relatively stable work force, because they treat their employees fairly. The same cannot be said of most businesses.
dalepertcheck,
well, you see unions one way, i see them another. you keep paying your union dues, and i'll make sure i never end up in one. :)
It took 6 months for them to approve him , and he has no glitches on his record. Wood county approved him within 5 days.
And now some of his tps sub assignments include - he is sent into a classroom where there is already a teacher present . One day he was assigned to a classroom with 6 students in it. There was an intern, a teacher , and him- 3 adults and 6 students.
So he literally sat on a stool completely silent for the whole day . He is new in Toledo , and wonders what TPS is up to, why they are this way. I guess they have extra money to burn.
that Americans bitch and complain about teachers making certain amounts of money or getting summers off...etc.
But, these same people have no problem with athletes making $50 million a year...with an off-season...days off between games...AND, you will even pay hundreds of dollars for tickets to watch them play and pay $6 for a pepsi and $6 for a hot dog....and all with no complaints.
Those teaching your children should be paid well....and, if its so easy...why don't you just home school them?
i have only been to one professional sports game, and don't watch any sports, nor does my husband.
i've looked into homeschooling.
school. It is not unusual at all to hear the comment when you ask a well educated teacher why they do teach in private and often small schools. They always tell me the same thing - they enjoy just being able to teach.
They can send a troubled kid out of their classroom and the kid gets in trouble. The teacher can get on with teaching. I don't think anyone who hasn't had the two experiences is in a place to challenge what these people say caused them to make the choice to take less money to be able to teach in a much different environment.
But that is what they say. That they wanted to be able to just teach.
The story here is that some teachers have put being able to teach above money and benefits simply to get out of the government education system.
If you wouldn't have made the same choice so be it - but don't take someone to task for noting that others DID make that choice.
I believe good teachers should be well paid. Summers off should be a great enticement to get young people into the profession.
I think bad teachers should be fired and put into a national database so that if they apply to teach somewhere else - those schools will know they've been fired before. And why they were fired.
Our kids deserve the very best teachers available. Nothing less.And in my case - we found them in a small, private school.
Thread reinforces Teachers First, Kids Second. Pathetic. Imagine Doctors first, Patients second.
KKK First, Marines Second.
Toledo is approaching both morally and fiscally bankruptcy. Armpit Traits.
if a teacher has been teaching for 30 years, what's another few more months for the sake of the kids?
Pure drudgery if you don't like your job. No, I wouldn't consider the students in this decision. Who's to say that their new instructor won't be better or as good as the one who just retired?
Paying employees to leave is not a new or particularly novel concept. Early retirement has been going on for years.
I'm beginning to get tired of hearing about public school and its failing students. Until some higher authority steps in and makes a few severe modifications to the current system, nothing will change. There are far too many people entrenched in the system whose life style depends upon maintaining the status quo.
*******had a student who had no father in her life, and whose mother was still pumping out babies,*******
What a strange way to articulate how you see a student's parent.
FYI
This is a true statement about one parent. You obviously ignored my comments about supportive parents. By the way, the student was not a minority!
I took issue with this, ****whose mother was still pumping out babies,******* and the
the scorn and derision in which teachers such as yourself hold parents whether minority or not. Why you felt the need to stipulate that this is a non minority student was not necessary.
Also your interpretation of the Toledo Plan is very skewed. See the thread The Toledo Plan and get the real deal.
You so often state positions that make you appear to be so negative! To you, no teacher ever does anything right, (unless they are a personal friend or acquaintance of yours or of someone you know and like), and no parent does anything wrong.
I admit that there are some poor practitioners in the classroom, and I support the plan that forces them to improve or removes them. One veteran teacher, who was removed in the early stages of the Toledo Plan, was the son of one of my mother's very best friends. I did not do one thing, did not talk to one person involved, even though this person's mother asked me if there was anything I could do. To this day, no one directly or indirectly involved in that case even knows there was a connection with me. If this person could not do a good job teaching Toledo children, I wanted that person out of a TPS classroom. This person went on to have a long career in a suburban district where the standards for evaluation are lower. Those who oppose the Toledo Plan would have us lower our standards for those who teach our children. I cannot be a party to lowering standards for those who teach the children about whom I care so deeply.
You just don't get it as far as parents are concerned. Most of the parents of Toledo's school children try very hard to do a good job of parenting, and succeed. But we must be realistic in looking at each situation. You obviously missed my point. I am still outraged that my student, then 11 years old, was given the responsibility of running the house while Mom was giving birth to children without developing a long term adult relationship. In this specific case, which one of us is the true child advocate? You seem to be advocating for the promiscuous adult here. She was the mother. She couldn't possibly be doing anything wrong!
The fact that this particular student turned out so well is a tribute to the human spirit. As I pointed out, statistically, 2/3 of inner city children never get into serious trouble while growing up, and become successful adults.
I grew up in the inner city. I had the distinct advantage of having a stable home life. To me, traditional urban public schools play a vital role in the American dream of giving everyone a fair chance to succeed. It worked for me, my siblings, and my first cousins. All were products of public education. Almost all were in the Toledo Public Schools.
The Toledo Plan has been evaluated by neutral outside groups over the years. It has been found to be demanding but fair. Only apolgists for poor practitioners have a problem with the Toledo Plan. No plan involving the judgement of human beings is perfect, but compared to any other system in place anywhere around the nation, it's the best. I guess you would want us to go back to the days when only administrators evaluated teachers, and no one lost a job, no matter how poorly they ran a classroom. How does a self-proclaimed student advocate justify keeping poorly performing teachers in the classroom?
As a parent of 3 former DeVeaux students, Mr. Pertcheck clearly falls into the category of teachers that should qualify for bonuses to remain, not to leave teaching. While he is never afraid to voice his opinion, I never had the feeling he was forcing that opinion on others and he really makes his students think. For the sake of the students, I hope he continues to enjoy what he is doing for a long time.
Your words are too kind...Thanks!
Translation:
Socrates: "I know only that I know nothing."
Soldier: "You dare to make fun of our system of education, you foolish man?"