What do you think?
http://www.thetoledojournal.com/news/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=81367&sID=4
School board candidate Chris Myers says that if elected, he will work to dismantle the Toledo Plan, the controversial teacher hiring/firing program that critics say is racist, sexist and keeps Toledo Schools
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Read the Toledo Blade story on local Blog sites, including this one.
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I went through the Toledo Plan, and have no problem with it at all. I think I was very fairly judged by my mentor, and think it is a good overall program. It has been nationally awarded several times, and is the best plan I can think of to hire teachers. As for the building principal being responsible for hiring, it was my third year at my school before my principal knew my name, literally. He would always add letters or subtract them when he talked to me, it was quite annoying. This was probably the result of my lacking the two things he seemed most interested on a day to day basis, the breasts of his female teachers and students, being a male I was lacking from the start with him. That aside, exactly what does the Lawrences being white have to do with anything. As I said, typical Journal article. Every article I have read from the journal has pretty much sounded the same.
-Here's another thought that always seemed to strike me as obvious. Maybe the reason so many white females are hired as teachers is because they are the overwhelming majority of education students at colleges. Maybe if there were more white males or black males or females going to college to become a teacher, than more would get hired. Kinda seems obvious, but I guess it is just easier to say so and so is racist that's why they hire so many white female teachers.
--These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will; in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. -Thomas Paine
If I understand the principal of the plan the collective bargaining unit vets the teachers.
In most businesses and school districts the administration of the system hires and fires and the bargaining unit acts as the employees reps.
Why is the Toledo school system different.
http://toledoohioneighborhoodconcerns.com/blog
Chris Myers-
What the heck?
Chris you're stretchin' here.
Everyone knows you dislike the teachers union. That's OK. But don't insuate that people are racist for where they live. Especially since you are a white male Republican (guys with your characterstics aren't known for being real big on social justice issues).
It sounds like you may be fishing for votes. I hate to say this, but you're beginning to remind me of many of the other board members (which means you'll get elected and immediately do nothing).
On a side note, I do enjoy reading the Journal, Sojorner's Truth, and the Toledo Free Press. They are excellent alternatives to the Blade.
Being a minorty teacher, I didn't have any problem with the Intern Process (The Toledo Plan). That being said, I think the union made a mistake by going with this plan. The reason being is that teachers are firing teachers and that does cause some division among the teaching ranks (isn't this what you want Myers, to bust the union).
If anything you want the administration to control hiring and firing, so that the union can play them off as the bad guys and fight for employees jobs. Or at least, that is what I was taught in college.
About race and gender issues with TPS teachers...well, most districts are dominated by white females (urban, suburban, and rural). Tpsteacher is right about the number of white females education majors at colleges. It's overwhelming. I'm working on my master's degree and all the classes are full of these evil beings:) This does not mean that they are bad teachers. I would love to see many more minorities in the system, but I believe most minority college students are not interested, initially, in being an education major. I wasn't and many of my friends weren't either (they all wanted jobs that made a lot of money). I think to solve this problem, colleges should try to recruit more minority students into education. TPS can only hire the people that have applied for jobs.
Oh and Myers, why isn't the Journal taking up the cause of the white guy that taught science at Libbey last year who got canned, or the white guy that got canned at Scott who taught social studies. I know why, so do you.
Chrismyers- I read the article, but understand my comments are based upon what you type in your posts. YOU make the insinuation of racism in your post.
Performance pay sounds great, but what happens when all the teachers try to run to the well performing schools to make the money? There are a lot of teachers who decide to stick out at a tough school, and they would get ripped off. From your post there are many ways to bump up your pay-scale, but it still seems biased to those teachers working at the better schools.
I don't care who judges my performance as long as its fair. Can you (Mr. Myers) guarantee that there will not be any bias (race, gender, etc.) when administrators review performance?
I'm glad that someone else pointed that out, because it was the first thing that popped into my mind also.
I attended a university with one of the top ranked education programs in the country, and I also work closely with students (many of whom are in the education program) at BGSU...in my personal observation, the overwhelming majority of education students are white females.
Its a noble objective to want a teaching staff to reflect the diversity of the student body, but one can only work with the pool of applicants that's qualified at any given time.
My statement can be found at:
http://myersforschoolboard.com/3_point_plan_to_improve_tps_hiring_and_co...
"Mr. Myers, while not calling the Toledo Plan racist or sexist, said the program allows for bias on the part of evaluators of first-year teachers [assigned by Ms. Lawrence.]"
Also, if you read my statement, my conclusions were based off of the research listed below. So before you say I am fishing for votes, look at what is actually being said.
Academics is my first priority and quality teachers is an essential part of that. You should expect that I am going to do my best to make sure teachers are hired in an accountable way.
While some of you may have gone through the Toledo Plan without incident, it does not mean the accountability questions exist and that the inherent flaws still exist. Please read what the research says about peer review programs at this good (independent) article: http://www.vtaide.com/png/ERIC/Peer-Review-of-Teachers.htm
Research:
Districts should encourage districts to dismiss more teachers:
Robert Gordon, Thomas J. Kane, and Douglas O. Staiger,
But I think you are starting to think the issue through. I do agree that there is a pipeline issue of teacher candidates, but that was not the focus of my press conference. Working for a school of education and being a graduate (be and me) of education I can easily see what types of people are studying education.
I copied the article and due to copyright restrictions I could not copy the whole thing. The Journal gave background information to provide its readers insight on the topic and if you read my statement and what I said, you can figure out the background information vs what I talked about.
Also, it would seem that there is not much improvement to be made in a well performing school. Someone who wants improvement can make much more headway in a school where there is progress to be made, not one where they are at the top of the game, so I don't see how this helps well performing schools better.
Plus, I also said that the criteria would be developed by the stakeholders, so you are making an assumption on what the plan would be like that I have not made. Other merit plans give bonuses to teachers that go to schools in need. Merit pay is catching on across the country. Many teachers in other progressive districts don't have a problem with it and I don't either. It would be great to allow teacher to be able to earn more quicker by working hard and getting good results than the current slow step increases. Wouldn't you like to earn more?
I posted those resources for a reason, take some time to read them (the journal articles would be hard to get but some of them are out there).
Sarah beat me to the punch. I better type faster next time;)
Your plan makes sense as written, and if this was how your plan is implemented it may make a difference. But I am a cynical person. What happens if there is little or no progress in my student achievement? Do I simply get fired? Do I remain at the same pay-level? These are questions that popped into my mind. While I'm crazy and I would still probably take a position under these circumstances a lot of others wouldn't. You may have trouble filling many of the positions at the troubled schools.
Back to the Toledo Plan, many of the proposals sound great, but they are all open to some type of bias. So what happens when a person gets fired and sues the district for discrimination? Will you call for the return of the Toledo Plan? What happens when the Toledo Journal puts your face on the front and makes you the scapegoat for a "racist" review system?
In truth, no system of employee review is perfect. There will always be people who are upset with their reviews. But as I said earlier, I'm not a big fan of the Toledo Plan, but it generally works.