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Performance of who? The child I have in class who on hearing about the legislation in Florida remarked "Cool, so if we want to screw over a teacher, we just fail the test!"? The performance of the girl who is four months pregnant and has finally gotten over her morning sickness? The autistic kids who are not responsive? The kids who vomit from the pressures of a test that can retain them for another year? I could go on and on... Pay based performance - just like everyone else?... great pay my performance like all the CEO's of the companies and banks that the government has bailed out!!!!!!
I once had a position where the boss simply despised me from the first day for some unknown reason and he "sat" on everything I tried to move forward. This included important documents that were responsive to Federal environmental laws and the lack of which could have easily gotten me sued. Once when attempting to examine a weed control program that had national ramifications for its implementation and for which there was a legal requirement for me to examine, I was threatened with a cross country transfer if I continued to do the work because this same supervisor was opposed to the program. This is only a small piece of what I have experienced on the job so you are addressing one who has had "tough" jobs before. I have to tell you what I was told every time I whimpered; you have to buck up and bear it or find another profession.
Please recall that I previously mentioned that I looked into a teaching career thirty years ago and I decided against it. Even then the American family was falling apart and schools were battlegrounds. Luckily for me back then there was the old television series called "Welcome Back Cotter." I could not see my self tolerating kids as obnoxious as Cotter's Sweat Hogs and was afraid my career would have been cut short by a prison sentence when I finally couldn't tolerate it anymore.
Many Americans will have little sympathy for your plight because, as long as there are plenty of candidates for teaching jobs, nothing will change.
NCLB was the brainchild of the left. It just happened to be a republican president that signed it into law.
And it is kinda silly not to expect teachers to teach. The inner city schools in this country were fine until busing took over(another leftist policy) And plenty of those kids had problems at home then.
And there are plenty of suburban kids that come from abusive, broken homes. And those schools aren't as bad.
Wrong!
The 8-year-old law was one of the signature policies of the Bush administration. It set up a regimen of state reading and math tests for students in third through eighth grades, intended to identify failing schools. But critics have said the Bush administration never properly funded the effort and that states needed more flexibility in meeting those goals.
...and as is always the case with crime families, the make sure their own benefits...
No Bush Left Behind: When You’re Barred From Banking, Why Not Bank on Education?
After Neil Bush was banned from banking activities for his role in the Savings and Loan scandal in the late 1980s, he decided to bank on education and founded Ignite Incorporated. Ignite sells software to help students prepare to take comprehensive tests required under the No Child Left Behind act that was pushed through by Neil’s older brother–President Bush.
Bad teachers aren't born they are created. Look at the first year teacher who goes in with ideals and principles, only wanting the best and giving the best. Then undermine them, sabotage all attempts, tell them they don't do enough, pigeonhole them. Guess what? Most leave. Many stay and rail against the system for the sake of what they feel is right (the good ones who can take it). Then there are the others (bad ones) who stay and collect a check and take the breaks. THAT is how BAD teachers are created!
I know some of those bad ones. I also know more of the good ones who are beaten and are ready to throw in the towel and will look back with pride and sadness at battle they can't afford to fight anymore. Some will stay and become those who numbly take a check to babysit your child. Others will leave and smile at the adults who come up and tell them years latter the difference they made in their life x number of years ago (man what a feeling! what a high!).
I haven't decided what path I will take. It may sound dramatic, but, I'm being honest.
Imagine your child X 30, for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week. Now, imagine 5 more kids, the kind that you see on Supernanny or Jerry Springer and throw them into the mix. Tie one hand behind your back and have someone who doesn't know you or these kids tell you what you should do and how you should do it. That, my friends, is what is happening today.
If you believe in God, I say God bless you. If not, I just say I sincerely wish you the best of luck and will mention an old prayer:
"God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."
Thanks! Funny thing is I just received that very prayer by e-mail 2-3 weeks ago from my sister and a plaque of the same prayer from a colleague last week. I hope it is a good sign getting it a third time. We are all praying that God will grant the wisdom to those in the capital to rethink the current bill proposed here in Florida. Maybe even ask for our help in coming up with a plan that will actually help our kids and get rid of those teachers that make us look bad. Many of us would love true merit pay, I for one could benefit from a true measure of what I do. Thanks again!
Everytime they get involved in "improving" our public education system, they only make it worse, No Child Left Behind comes to mind. Has anyone been following this Florida Teacher "Tenure Bill"? Talk about screwing our teachers, I am just in a fit about this. Allowing kids' test scores to determine a teachers' salary, for real? What about the teachers who work in the inner city schools whose students come from broken, abusive homes. How well do those kids really do in school without any family support, and now a teacher has to pay for that? What is with these Republicans???
George Bush doubled the DoE.
Why are you bitching?
I volunteered to teach troubled kids and help people get their GEDs.
What is your volunteer status?
It is clear that you only care about money. what a joke.
Everytime they get involved in "improving" our public education system, they only make it worse, No Child Left Behind comes to mind. Has anyone been following this Florida Teacher "Tenure Bill"? Talk about screwing our teachers, I am just in a fit about this. Allowing kids' test scores to determine a teachers' salary, for real? What about the teachers who work in the inner city schools whose students come from broken, abusive homes. How well do those kids really do in school without any family support, and now a teacher has to pay for that? What is with these Republicans???
I have some friends that are vehemently against this bill. They are teachers, amazingly enough, they are blaming the Democrats in the Fla Congress!!! I explain to them, the Dems are trying to stop it, they don't believe me, and will not look at who voted for it and against it, they don't want to know. It's simply amazing to me, how people can be so blind to what the Repubs actually stand for.
I volunteered to teach troubled kids and help people get their GEDs.
What is your volunteer status?
It is clear that you only care about money. what a joke.
Okay, first of all, I am not a teacher, and I don't live in Florida. I think this is a horrible Bill being shoved through, and at the end of the day all of us will suffer because without sounding "corny", these children ARE our future. I have seen firsthand with my own children how NCLB has affected their schooling. Kids don't actually gain knowlege anymore, now they just learn facts so they can pass a test so the schools don't lose funding. I think it's really crappy, and I am just stating my OPINION.
I am so grateful for good teachers, and feel like most people don't give them the respect they deserve. I see how hard my kids' teachers work, and I have many close friends who are teachers, they all go over and above what is expected of them. I just think there has to be a better way than this to determine if our kids are learning, and compensating teachers for a well done job.
That was really great of you to volunteer your time to help people earn their GED's, seriously. I am also very active in my community, (community clean up's, local homeless shelter/ animal shelter and PTO) and wish I had more time to donate, but I am in school full time/work/family.
Everytime they get involved in "improving" our public education system, they only make it worse, No Child Left Behind comes to mind. Has anyone been following this Florida Teacher "Tenure Bill"? Talk about screwing our teachers, I am just in a fit about this. Allowing kids' test scores to determine a teachers' salary, for real? What about the teachers who work in the inner city schools whose students come from broken, abusive homes. How well do those kids really do in school without any family support, and now a teacher has to pay for that? What is with these Republicans???
nclb was not totally a Bush or a Republican thought and how Bush wanted it handled isn't how it ended up..yes, teachers working in the inner city schools have it rough, but a good teacher can still help the kids develop traits that will improve the scores. That is my understanding, are the scores improving?
Regardless, don't blame all this on one side or the other..How would you suggest teachers be judged or do you think you deserve a raise every year regardless of how your kids preform?
ok, now we read you are not a teacher, in fact you are a college student. You mention the bill being pushed down peoples throats, I can think of other bills pushed down peoples throats. The only thing I will say, I too think there is too much based on test scores, kids are learning how to take tests, not how to learn. I also do believe teachers salaries have to be judged by performance, there is no other way and don't blame the right wing for this. You don't have to like us, but don't put blame where it doesn't totally belong.
Last edited by nmnita; 04-10-2010 at 11:36 AM..
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