Rhee fires 241 D.C. teachers; 165 cited for poor performance

[Adios]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/23/AR2010072303093.html?wprss=rss_metro/dc

Another 737 educators at risk

In addition to the 226 dismissals, which become official Aug. 13, another 737 teachers were rated "minimally effective," and will be given one year to improve their performance or also face dismissal. Rhee said Friday that job actions were "a more accurate reflection" of the quality of the 4,000-member teacher corps than has been available in the past.

[Jasper]

Right.  Because we need to punish teachers for failing, instead of support them so that they can succeed.  That'll fix shit.

[Adios]

Right.  Because we need to punish teachers for failing, instead of support them so that they can succeed.  That'll fix shit.

Any other job not doing a good job will also get you fired.

[Jasper]

This is dicks. 

[Adios]

This is dicks. 

The teachers are failing. What should we do? Continue to reward them?

[Cain]

Uh, believe me, no-one in the US teaches for the wonderful pay and opportunities the job presents.  In fact, since teachers are required to be graduates, they'd probably earn more in the private sector anyway.

Also, that's nearly 1000 teachers out of a staff of 4000 at risk, if you include those already fired.  There is no way they can survive those kinds of losses without massively rolling back on the quality and amount of teaching they do - which I suspect is entirely the point.  What is more likely, they just magically found out that 1/4 of their teachers are morons, or that BUDGET CUTS are on the way and they have to axe that many just to retain core services?

[Jasper]

My aunt is a teacher.  She works unbelievably hard to help her kids, and her position is still in jeopardy because the school is losing funds, since the kids get such bad grades due to the bad neighborhood/poverty/high crime rate.

You fire one teacher, you fire someone who spent years and tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege to work in a classroom.  You can't tell me a person like that doesn't really care about teaching.  Just because you have some new test to rate teachers doesn't mean it's the teachers fault that kids don't do well on tests.  

[Adios]

My aunt is a teacher.  She works unbelievably hard to help her kids, and her position is still in jeopardy because the school is losing funds, since the kids get such bad grades due to the bad neighborhood/poverty/high crime rate.

You fire one teacher, you fire someone who spent years and tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege to work in a classroom.  You can't tell me a person like that doesn't really care about teaching.  Just because you have some new test to rate teachers doesn't mean it's the teachers fault that kids don't do well on tests.  

Understand that I am very far from saying all teachers are not doing a good job. The vast majority I am sure ARE doing excellent work. But surely you can admit that many are just skating?

[Adios]

Uh, believe me, no-one in the US teaches for the wonderful pay and opportunities the job presents.  In fact, since teachers are required to be graduates, they'd probably earn more in the private sector anyway.

Also, that's nearly 1000 teachers out of a staff of 4000 at risk, if you include those already fired.  There is no way they can survive those kinds of losses without massively rolling back on the quality and amount of teaching they do - which I suspect is entirely the point.  What is more likely, they just magically found out that 1/4 of their teachers are morons, or that BUDGET CUTS are on the way and they have to axe that many just to retain core services?

Yes, it is a huge cut and budget concerns probably play a much larger part than they should.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

Our education system is fucked. The teachers do fail, but you can't blame them for the fact that kids see school as a) a waste of time, b) a place to meet girls/boys, and c) a sham institution that's more about turning them into robots than giving them a strong foundation for a successful life. (C is actually true, but anyway...)

Ours is a disposable culture. Nobody gives a flying fuck about anything that isn't new, shiny, expensive, or dressed in practically nothing. Nobody wants to learn, because nobody wants to know the truth. Education is contrary to our society. How can we expect students in schools to really be curious, to really want to learn, when out here in the rest of the world we punish curiosity, marginalize intellect, and champion the Easy Way Out of everything?

Sure, blame the teachers. After all, they're only volunteers, practically. They should be doing a "better job." A better job of making up for the rest of society's lack of imagination, the rest of society's lack of patience and curiosity. A better job of picking up our slack. They're the last line of defense between a self-destructive society and the nearest precipice. Of course we should start picking them off, how else are we going to make a gap for the rest of us to go charging off the cliff?

[Adios]

Our education system is fucked. The teachers do fail, but you can't blame them for the fact that kids see school as a) a waste of time, b) a place to meet girls/boys, and c) a sham institution that's more about turning them into robots than giving them a strong foundation for a successful life. (C is actually true, but anyway...)

Ours is a disposable culture. Nobody gives a flying fuck about anything that isn't new, shiny, expensive, or dressed in practically nothing. Nobody wants to learn, because nobody wants to know the truth. Education is contrary to our society. How can we expect students in schools to really be curious, to really want to learn, when out here in the rest of the world we punish curiosity, marginalize intellect, and champion the Easy Way Out of everything?

Sure, blame the teachers. After all, they're only volunteers, practically. They should be doing a "better job." A better job of making up for the rest of society's lack of imagination, the rest of society's lack of patience and curiosity. A better job of picking up our slack. They're the last line of defense between a self-destructive society and the nearest precipice. Of course we should start picking them off, how else are we going to make a gap for the rest of us to go charging off the cliff?

Well then, do nothing seems to be the answer. Carry on.

[Jasper]

I've never had a teacher like that, at least in 6-12.  Middle school, perhaps a few were less than satisfactory, but kids that age... you know.  However, at least in 6-12 I never had a teacher who didn't come across as sincerely invested in my educational growth, whether or not I was interested at the time.

I've been through high school a bit more recently than you, and from my vantage point I am more wont to place the majority of the problem in the laps of the students and the administrations.  The students are disinterested because life is so jam packed with entertainment and free time these days, and the administration are disinterested because they make more money by spending less and doing less.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

If only the students had some kind of... oh, I don't know, some kind of adults who could live with them. You know, at home. If only there was some system we could devise where the sole responsibility for turning snot-nosed bratty little hairless apes into people wasn't entirely given to Teachers. Where, just maybe, the kids had examples of mature, responsible, fully-formed People right there in their own homes.

Well, a guy can wish.

[Juana]

I've never had a teacher like that, at least in 6-12.  Middle school, perhaps a few were less than satisfactory, but kids that age... you know.  However, at least in 6-12 I never had a teacher who didn't come across as sincerely invested in my educational growth, whether or not I was interested at the time.

I've been through high school a bit more recently than you, and from my vantage point I am more wont to place the majority of the problem in the laps of the students and the administrations.  The students are disinterested because life is so jam packed with entertainment and free time these days, and the administration are disinterested because they make more money by spending less and doing less.

THIS. Fucking this! Teachers are very much constrained by what the administrators want. My former employer/debate coach from high school was forced to pass almost all her senior English kids who were failing because she expected them to actually work. And every teacher I ever had in k-12 was interested in helping me learn and grow (ok, except one, but he got hooked on heroin early in the first semester).

This is absolutely inexcusable. Quality is going to plummet, test scores are going to drop, and a year is not enough time to really improve. Moreover, the quality of kids you get can seriously affect your test scores. Sometimes you get a bad batch, so to speak (my mother's last class was an example of this - her colleagues called them "the class from hell" for a reason). Ones who don't have support at home (or are busy raising their siblings because mom and dad aren't or can't), or have medical stuff that can't be taken care of for one reason or another, etc. There are teachers who are going to be screwed because of something they can't control.

[Cain]

Personally I'm eagerly awaiting the post from the only other person on this board who (that I know of) is involved in education.  Especially since my impressions of the US system, while vivid, are all second hand.

Edit: And there she posts!