Job Discussion Forums

[johnslat]

"I�m going to step out of my usual third-person writing voice for a moment. As a parent I received a letter last week from the Kansas State Board of Education, informing me that my children�s school district had been placed on �improvement� status for failing to meet �adequate yearly progress� under the No Child Left Behind law.

I thought it ironic that our schools were judged inadequate by people who haven�t set foot in them, so I wrote a letter to my local newspaper. Predictably, my letter elicited a deluge of comments in the paper�s online forum. Many remarks came from armchair educators and anti-teacher, anti-public school evangelists quick to discredit anything I had to say under the rationale of �he�s a teacher.� What could a teacher possibly know about education?

Countless arguments used to denigrate public school teachers begin with the phrase �in what other profession�.� and conclude with practically anything the anti-teacher pundits find offensive about public education. Due process and collective bargaining are favorite targets, as are the erroneous but tightly held beliefs that teachers are under-worked, over-paid (earning million-dollar pensions), and not accountable for anything.

In what other profession, indeed.

In what other profession are the licensed professionals considered the LEAST knowledgeable about the job? You seldom if ever hear �that guy couldn�t possibly know a thing about law enforcement � he�s a police officer�, or �she can�t be trusted talking about fire safety � she�s a firefighter.�

In what other profession is experience viewed as a liability rather than an asset? You won�t find a contractor advertising �choose me � I�ve never done this before�, and your doctor won�t recommend a surgeon on the basis of her �having very little experience with the procedure�.

In what other profession is the desire for competitive salary viewed as proof of callous indifference towards the job? You won�t hear many say �that lawyer charges a lot of money, she obviously doesn�t care about her clients�, or �that coach earns millions � clearly he doesn�t care about the team.�

But look around. You�ll find droves of armchair educators who summarily dismiss any statement about education when it comes from a teacher. Likewise, it�s easy to find politicians, pundits, and profiteers who refer to our veteran teachers as ineffective, overpriced �dead wood�. Only the rookies could possibly be any good, or worth the food-stamp-eligible starting salaries we pay them.

And if teachers dare ask for a raise, this is taken by many as clear evidence that teachers don�t give a porcupine�s posterior about kids. In fact, some say if teachers really cared about their students they would insist on earning LESS money.

If that entire attitude weren�t bad enough, what other profession is legally held to PERFECTION by 2014? Are police required to eliminate all crime? Are firefighters required to eliminate all fires? Are doctors required to cure all patients? Are lawyers required to win all cases? Are coaches required to win all games? Of course they aren�t.

For no other profession do so many outsiders refuse to accept the realities of an imperfect world. Crime happens. Fire happens. Illness happens. As for lawyers and coaches, where there�s a winner there must also be a loser. People accept all these realities, until they apply to public education.

If a poverty-stricken, drug-addled meth-cooker burns down his house, suffers third degree burns, and then goes to jail; we don�t blame the police, fire department, doctors, and defense attorneys for his predicament. But if that kid doesn�t graduate high school, it�s clearly the teacher�s fault.

And if someone � anyone - tries to tell you otherwise; don�t listen. He must be a teacher."

http://www.examiner.com/k-12-in-topeka/in-what-other-profession

[fladude]

Well I disagree on your last point. If a meth head does all of those things HE does blame his lawyer for him going to jail. After a "real" lawyer and not a public pretender would have gotten him off........

But I digress, you sir are 100 percent right. The venom in this country against teachers is completely out of control and I do not believe that there is a way to stop it. In part because the blame largely rests on the parents and on society in general which obviously doesn't want to take responsibility for anything. Look at America's deficit if you don't believe me.....

I left the states for a reason. Its basically like people arguing with each other on the Titanic.

[DebMer]

Good points, all. Unfortunately, public school teachers are stuck between a rock and a hard place. The state (and soon the federal government, apparently) determines what must be forced down the throats of the children, and how it is to be forced, and teachers must do it their way or lose their jobs. I can't say anything about the rest of the country, but public education in Southern California is writhing in pain, misery and failure, unable to actually meet the students' educational and human needs, because everything and everybody is controlled by the impersonal entity at the top of the chain who never has known and never will meet any of these children.

My years spent as a full time elementary teacher demonstrated to me that there are few people more dedicated to their work than teachers. Where else do people spend out of their own pockets to bring in work materials, or work a challenging and draining job for 8 hours and voluntarily take home another several hours worth of work to do each day. (I've known some who have stayed at the school prepping and grading until midnight on a regular basis.)

My only disappointment with K-12 teachers in my area is that most of them accept each new piece of pedagogical dung with a sigh and an eye roll, then implement it according to orders.

[BadBeagleBad]

I agree with a lot of what you have to say. I am no fan of No Child Left Behind for one simple reason. If you look at schools along academic lines and compare them to the socio economic status of the parents you will see that test score largely replect how close to middle class a child is. Yes, you hear stories here and there of teachers or schools doing great things under horrible conditions, but that is statistically insignificant when compared to the sheer volume of schools that aren't.

[AGoodStory]

[AGoodStory]

[Glenski]

What does a mere President know about education?

"and to the C students� I say, you too can be President of the United States.�

http://www.depresident.com/president-bush-c-student-video/

[Guerciotti]

Johnslat you are, in my opinion, 100% correct.

The drones are trained to sink their venomous teeth into teachers, and to a lesser extent, lawyers. Teachers are the focus because they and their unions are obstacles for certain powers-that-be.

Teachers have unions and unions are bad, hence the senseless attack on teachers. It's working. Starting salaries are a joke. I talked with a young former teacher who quit because her low starting salary actually decreased the next two years. We are killing our teachers. It's a damn shame.

I thought teaching was easy but now I'm a teacher and I know better. Of course, as you pointed out, as a teacher my view is now irrelevant.

As Fladude said, people do blame their lawyers for everything. Though in my experience that is true, it is tangential and in no way contrary to your main point.

Teachers are the new enemy and it won't stop until the powers that be have closed teacher unions and reconstructed education to their liking.

Just my opinion. I hope I'm wrong.

[Guerciotti]

[LongShiKong]

Clearly, no other profession expects so much for so little. Human rights became the pretense a decade ago to dump special ed students into regular classrooms turning teachers into 'specialists' overnight. Furthermore, N.A's increasingly diverse and pluralistic society is reflected in classrooms where teachers have to 'differentiate' instruction to a gamut of personalities, attention spans, and achievement levels. We're back to the one-room schoolhouse.

[BadBeagleBad]

[DebMer]

[cmp45]

although not directly related but indirectly....per the last few posts...this makes me think of Erin Brockovich (sp?) ...here was a woman who despite her limited educational background managed with persistence to push her way into a job...without having any special "qualifications" because she was passionate (and perhaps desperate)

...to affect change within the educational systems one needs to have a very strong desire and an unwavering passion...mediocrity indeed ...what to do...what to do???? Yes we are all very good at ...talking the talk, but ...

[DebMer]

[Chancellor]

NCLB is even worse for English language learners in that these kids are only given a year to become proficient in English and meet state education standards.

A friend of mine is an ESL teacher in Buffalo Public Schools (Buffalo, NY) and the administrator took away his only actual ESL class and replaced him with computers monitored by a Spanish teacher. Meanwhile, he is expected to teach English to ELLs while they're sitting in other classes (e.g. a Social Studies class) being taught by another teacher.