No homework, tenure or middle schools: A teacher’s vision
Crusading teacher Brian Crosby – author of “The $100,000 Teacher” and a National Board certified teacher with 20 years in the trenches in LA – has a more recent book called “Smart Kids, Bad Schools.” (The paperback comes out Sept. 1.)
It’s a lively book and bound to spark debate on many levels, from his call to eliminate homework to his proposal to liberate teachers from their classrooms every Friday – para-educators would take over – so they can plan, attend conferences and consult with colleagues. His first book called for six-figure salaries for top teachers.
In his second book, Crosby suggests fundamental changes to how we set up our schools. I have listed the big ones and pulled a quote from his book about each.
1. Student friendly buildings rather than prison-like warehouses. “Children living in poverty should be attending Taj Mahal-like education settings. We should be inspiring these children, not depressing them.”
2. Larger class sizes, fewer teachers, smaller schools. ‘The notion that a larger class is harder to control than a smaller class is bogus…When a teacher has put much time into planning a lesson and then exerts much energy into delivering it, why not expose as many kids as you can to it?”
3. No more tenure for teachers. “With a performance-pay system in place, anyone who truly is in teaching only for the money would be weeded out. With the current 150-year-old system, no one is weeded out – ever.”
4. No more middle schools – separate schools in k-8 and 9-12. “It is time to admit that the middle school experiment has been a failure and is just another example of how education takes old ideas, repackages them, shines them up and publicly announces the coming of the answer to all that is wrong with public school.”
5. Put the best teachers in the worst schools.”One of the most shameful truths about American public education is that those children in most need end up with the worst teachers.”
6. Mandatory classes in the arts. “Educators are so focused on the minds of young people we are starving their hearts.”
7. Outlaw teacher unions. “Rarely do they come up an original idea; always do they shoot down others’ visions. Mandating that all members be treated equally in terms of salary – the one-size-fits-all approach, with every teacher getting paid the same as any other teacher who has the same number of years on the job and college credits — unions stand for mediocrity, not quality.”
On his blog, Crosby offers a unique ideal to help battered states deal with their current financial crises: “Start charging $500 tuition for public schools. Too many people take public school for granted: free learning, free books, free supplies, free child care, even free food. No wonder many kids disrespect their place of learning. Of course there are families who would not be able to afford this. However, if even half of the 47 million school children could, that would result in close to $12 billion.
I have to admire the man’s verve. Any of his ideas resonate?
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77 comments Add your comment
Reality 2
August 14th, 2009
12:23 pm
I like 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6.
I’m not sure what he means by “small school” – if we put K-8 in one building instead of two separate building, wouldn’t that make schools bigger? Do we have any evidence that “old” system worked? Besides, wasn’t the most typical old system K-6, 7-8, 9-12 or K-6, 7-9, 10-12? I don’t know where K-8, 9-12 came from.
I think teachers (or any other workers) do have to have an advocate for fair treatment. Whether it is done through a union, I really don’t care.
I might change #2 to larger classes, fewer teaching assignment for each teacher. Let’s give teachers time to plan well, then they can perhaps handle larger classes as well.
#6 – add PE as well. Schooling should be the whole person – mind, body and spirit; academics, physical, and aesthetic.
David S
August 14th, 2009
12:32 pm
If you want to really find out what delivers the best results and can be managed successfully and financially, then you must get rid of the government operation of schools in favor of a totally free market solution. Everyone has their pet idea, and no doubt many are great. Unfortunately, rather than go out on their own, risk their own money and put out the effort to prove its positive results, folks like this instead command the power of the state to force children to be their free guinea pigs.
The free market rewards success and punishes failure. The exact opposite is true in any and every government system.
Shane
August 14th, 2009
12:53 pm
Wow – great ideas – and very unexpected from a long-time teacher. We need this kind of thinking at higher levels for sure. Public education in this country (and especially the South) is deplorable.
Joy in Teaching
August 14th, 2009
1:08 pm
Someone who thinks that a larger class is just as easy to control as a smaller one truely doesn’t have a clue. Just come watch the differences between my class of 38 7th graders and my class of 19 7th graders. Same age students….vastly different class sizes. It’s enough to test anyone’s patience.
Do it
August 14th, 2009
1:18 pm
Absolutely do away with middle schools. Most Catholic and private schools operate on a K-8, 9-12 basis. Research has shown that 6-8 grade students score better when they are in a k-8 school than in a middle school.
Old School
August 14th, 2009
1:22 pm
Both of my girls attended K-8 at a small rural school (where my husband taught) and both were very well prepared for high school (9-12 here where I teach). Because all the teachers knew all the students, lots of communication took place across all grade levels and learning problems were quickly addressed.
As for large classes, if one excellent teacher can present a lesson to a double or triple size class, then couldn’t the teachers who would have had those students be there to work one on one with students who need the extra attention? It worked in several of my college classes, why not in high school? Labs could be smaller groups.
I also agree with Reality 2 that PE should be required. How about “Fitness for Life” instead of “Watch the Jocks Play Basketball”?
Reality 2
August 14th, 2009
1:26 pm
David S:
Do you have any evidence? Most Asian (and non-Asian) countries who out perform our students in math and science operate “government schools,” and they seem to do perfectly fine. What’s wrong with US that we can’t do the same?
Do it:
What research? Can you give references?
Joy in Teaching:
I think Singapore classes have more than 40 students. Don’t give the “culture” excuse – what’s wrong with our culture that our teachers can’t control larger classrooms?
Ernest
August 14th, 2009
2:09 pm
The idea of paying ’something’ for public school tuition would make for an interesting discussion. There is something to be said about the ‘attittude adjustment’ that occurs when you have skin in the game. I recall a friend who was a principal of an evening adult school. He wanted to charge a nominal fee just to ensure students would show up to class to get their ‘money’s worth’. He could not thus had sporadic attendance except by those that were truly committed.
Some say we pay enough for public education through property taxes. This would impact those that have children in school which ‘could’ make some empty nesters happy.
Reality Check
August 14th, 2009
2:30 pm
I just paid over $5,000 in property tax for public schools. I do this every year. Have been for years, although it used to be less. I figure I’ve paid about $75,000 into public schools so far. That doesn’t add in the penny sales tax.
This guy has some good ideas. I think we should try some since it seems we’ve been going in the wrong direction for so long. Heck, Georgia’s at the bottom, we should take some risks. How about saying ‘no thanks’ to federal money? Then we could eliminate this nonsense testing.
teacher3
August 14th, 2009
2:34 pm
Larger class sizes? As a science teacher, I beg to differ. Classroom management of a large class is fine in a classroom, but can be downright dangerous in a chemistry lab.
Joy in Teaching
August 14th, 2009
2:37 pm
Reality 2:
The reason teachers in the United States cannot control the classrooms is because any authority we had to do so has been slowly stripped away by the administration and by crazy parents. I actually had a parent last year complain to a member of the BOE that I had “looked at her child wrong.” Did she talk to me? No. Did she talk to my immediate superviser (principal)? No. I was reprimanded for an incident that I truely didn’t remember because the BOE member wanted it addressed.
By the way…don’t even try to compare public schools in the United States with public schools in Japan, Germany, or where ever else. We aren’t the same. Here, we try to educate everyone, including those who have extremely low fuctioning IQs or the criminally minded. In other countries, they either keep those students at home or place them in special schools.
Debby
August 14th, 2009
2:53 pm
Reality 2, what is wrong with our culture that teachers can’t control larger classrooms is the fact that a lot of those kids in the classroom are completely out of control. Many of them are so horribly-behaved, loud, rude and obnoxious that the teacher is spending all of his or her time disciplining.
My guess would be that in Singapore the parents are probably much more concerned about little Johnny or Susie’s education than a lot of the parents I’ve seen here, and probably would expect nothing but the best behavior from their kids.
motherjanegoose
August 14th, 2009
2:55 pm
Wonder what Brian Crosby would have to say about the article on the front page of the AJC today…I just opened my paper: WATCH D.O.G.S Now these guys are winners! The article brought tears to my eyes.
I had dinner last night with a friend who is also a long time educator. We discussed how some cultures DO are more committed ( not white folks like we are) to education and thus their children excel, in spite of the environment.
If more folks would buy into the WATCH D.O.G.S, philosophy, I believe our schools would be stronger. Wonder who is up to the challenge.
Lee
August 14th, 2009
3:00 pm
A few thoughts:
“Taj Mahal” school buildings. ???????? How in the hell did I get an education in an old building that was built in the 40’s, didn’t have air conditioning, and was heated by the old radiators.
Larger class sizes MIGHT work if the students were stratified by similar ability AND the schools deal with the troublemakers.
“Put the best teachers in the worst schools.” Newsflash, most teachers (good and bad) have little interest in going to the ghetto schools and dealing with all the crap.
Reading this guy does provide comic relief, but his “solutions” are more of the same ‘throw more money down the sewer’ type thinking that is so prevalent in today’s education establishments.
Old School
August 14th, 2009
3:17 pm
I just clicked on the link and read some of his other ideas on his website. I have to admit, I agree pretty much with all of them. In fact, I’ve said many of the same things to those who would listen, those who know more than I do, and those who could make real change if they wanted to.
I just have this sinking feeling that the only change will be the latest cure du jour by the most recent millionaire (who got that way selling his/her great idea to clueless bureaucrats.)
Reality 2
August 14th, 2009
3:18 pm
JiT:
It’s another myth that only US educates all children. Other countries do, too. Our schooling just isn’t as effective as others – for a variety of reasons, including some cultural stupidity and incompetent teachers.
HS Teacher, Too
August 14th, 2009
3:18 pm
Larger class sizes because our lessons are so fantastic is fine when the kids are well-behaved. But even the most hands-on, engaging lesson can go dreadfully wrong — as the science teacher said above, dangerously wrong — if there are kids there who JUST DON’T CARE. This guy may indeed be a brilliant and experienced teacher, but I find it hard to believe that he couldn’t have ever experienced the “lead a horse to water…” phenomenon. And quite frankly if my lesson is that dynamic, I’d PREFER to give it to smaller groups so that I could get them even MORE involved!
concerned parent
August 14th, 2009
3:22 pm
Larger sizes will not work. There is no discipline because teachers and administrators are not allowed to discipline the students. Parents don’t discipline their children. Bring back paddling – at home and at school. Not with anger – but with love and concern and genuine caring about what the children will become if we don’t.
Reality 2
August 14th, 2009
3:23 pm
Ernest has an interesting point. I think we should charge tuition – not a huge amount – once students turn 16 – the compulsory education is through age 16, so let them (or their families) decide.
Reality 2
August 14th, 2009
3:24 pm
there may be *some* connections between good lesson and good behavior…
Brian Crosby
August 14th, 2009
3:50 pm
To all those who have commented on my ideas, thank you very much for participating in a lively debate on the future of America’s public schools. We need more discussions like this. I would like to clarify one thing. My blueprint for transforming this country’s schools is a complete vision, i.e., any of my ideas alone, say having a longer school year, by itself would not have much impact. Please look at my website, brian-crosby.com, and see for yourself. Comment on any of my blog entries. I don’t expect everyone to agree with all of my ideas, but for all of us to at least agree that something dramatic needs to be done. While President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have some interesting ideas, they really need to host the best teachers in the country and have a summit. The politicians need to listen to those who are in the trenches. Good luck to all you parents, schoolkids, and teachers in the upcoming school year!
Ernest
August 14th, 2009
4:13 pm
Brian:
Thanks for stopping by and don’t be a stranger! I found this statement interesting also:
Beyond charging for tuition, parents should be billed whenever their children are truant. Since schools receive funding based on average daily attendance, parents should foot the bill whenever their children miss school for non-illness reasons.
That would be interesting. I’m sorry to say I know of some families whose children take days off of school on a whim. They might think more about it if there was an enforceable penalty involved with this.
Reality 2, your 3:23 comment is interesting. If one REALLY did not want to be there, would they pay to come to school, even if it was a small amount?
I wish...
August 14th, 2009
4:23 pm
I wish just one of my children’s elementary school was like Mr. Kanamori…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=armP8TfS9Is
Dr. John Trotter
August 14th, 2009
4:29 pm
Mr. Crosby: I have written a response to your views on merit pay several hours ago, but it appears that the AJC has decided long ago that anything that I say of substance has to “wait for moderation” for hours or days. Sorry that this AJC Blog will not allow you and me to engage in a meaningful debate of some of these issues. I have since posted my thoughts on http://www.GeorgiaTeachersSpeakOut.WordPress.Com. http://www.TheTeachersAdvocate.Com.
mdowney
August 14th, 2009
4:49 pm
Dr. Trotter, I sent you an e-mail quite a while ago asking if you eliminate the one word from your posting that had consigned it to our filter. I can’t alter comments so I could not remove the offending word. Check your e-mail and resend and it will post.
Maureen
Maureen's accountability metric
August 14th, 2009
6:01 pm
It’s interesting to note what the AJC editorial board has and has not covered in regard to Crosby.
For instance, this quote:
No More Tenure
“What could be more American than work hard and ye shall be rewarded? While great teachers should earn $100,000 and more, bad teachers should be fired–immediately.”
I’m almost positive the AJC editorial board has come out against tenure in the past. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Yet I think if Crosby wants to do away with tenure, at least he wants teachers to have the conditions that must exist if they are to do their job
Kick Out the Bad Kids
“The only reason to pay lots of money for children to go to private school is to make sure they aren’t in a classroom with hoodlums. Let parents deal with their problem kids by expelling the bad apples with a zero tolerance policy.”
Teachers will tell you the vital role support for discipline plays. Wooten, in some asides on his blog, has advocated for removing chronically disruptive students.
Despite that, the AJC’s own Ken Foskett has admitted, online in the AJC, that going back to the year 2000, that he can’t find a single editorial devoted to advocating for teachers having increased authority when it comes to disruptive students.
Not one.
One would think the AJC editorial board could no more ignore the role of discipline in the education debate the past decade than the AJC could no more ignore the role of Al Qaeda. Yet somehow the AJC editorial board, according to the AJC’s Ken Foskett, has managed to do just that for close to a decade.
Maureen could you address this, and explain why, even with increased calls for education reform and increased accountability, the AJC editorial board has never seen fit to take a stand for advocating for teachers in matters of discipline?
teacher and parent
August 14th, 2009
7:55 pm
I could totally handle 50 kids in a classroom if I could get away with teaching like they did 50 years ago – lecture, lecture, lecture, test. I’m great (yeah, I am tooting my own horn) in the front of the classroom – I (literally) sing, dance, tell jokes and do great exciting demos…I’m very engaging and very entertaining…however, that’s not what schools want to see. They want small group “collaborative learning” and lots of engagement strategies – graphic organizers – authentic assessment – formative assessment – summative assessment – I could go on. I can do all that, too, but NOT for a group of 50 kids. Do we want the sage on the stage or the guide on the side?
Now, all that being said, there is no way in H-E-double hockey sticks that I would want to run a lab with 50 kids. NSTA recommends a max of 24, and I really like working with that number. Even in college we had huge science lectures but small lab classes.
On some of the other thoughts…LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of paying even a token amount – people don’t value what’s free. I wish my school district could assess fees, but they don’t. A token $5 lab fee, $10 technology fee, $20 book rental fee – I think it would be great.
I have no thoughts on unions since Georgia’s “professional associations” are really unions. I’ve seen bad teachers fired (I actually have my current position due to that).
I love the idea of merit pay as long as it’s not SOLELY based on something like CRCT scores. I also think teacher should be paid more for harder assignments, including but not limited to Title 1 schools, teaching inclusion classes and teaching gifted classes. I also think the number of periods, subjects, and students should be factored in. I have some teachers at my school who teach 4 periods with a max of 23 kids per class and others teach 5 with a max of 29 per class – yet they are on the same pay scale.
I work in a middle school, and I don’t think the middle school concept is that terrific, but I’m not really feeling a K-8 if the 8th graders have one teacher who teaches all subjects like traditional elementary. By 7th or 8th grade, the subject area should be being taught by content specialists, not education generalists.
What I really want to see is more flexible grouping age-wise, like I posted about under the gifted blog. Who said it had to take 13 years of 180 days to get a HS diploma?
ScienceTeacher671
August 14th, 2009
8:19 pm
teacher and parent, I recall that Georgia was supposed to be working toward the NSTA recommended max of 24 students in a lab class when King Roy “temporarily” removed class size caps, which have never been restored….now we have up to 30 in a lab class, which is too many.
ScienceTeacher671
August 14th, 2009
8:22 pm
Most of Mr. Crosby’s ideas don’t really do much for me…I note that students in some 3rd world countries work very hard sitting on straw mats in dirt-floored huts with few or no textbooks, because they want to learn and see the value of an education. We don’t have that attitude here.
I do like the idea of a minimal tuition, however.
Maureen's accountability metric
August 14th, 2009
8:53 pm
Has Dr. Trotter been calling out folks with the term candy @$$ again?
Good Day
August 14th, 2009
9:59 pm
It all boils down to respect. There is very little respect for education in this country and unfortunately this is not something than can be mandated.
mdowney
August 14th, 2009
10:34 pm
MAM, This time, Dr. Trotter made no mention of candy.
RespectME
August 14th, 2009
10:59 pm
Good Day,
Excellent point – respects must be earned, and we have a loooooong way to go.
I wish,
Very fascinating – the goal to come to school is to be happy – what a concept. I, too, wish we had more teachers like him.
Maureen's accountability metric
August 14th, 2009
11:31 pm
Maureen,
I’m so disappointed. I thought you might offer some insight as to my 6:01pm post. I realize it’s one of those questions that has the potential to put one on the spot as it were, but you have shown a willingness so far to address some questions concerning the AJC’s role in the scheme of things.
It may indeed be a tough question, and the temptation to avoid it is understandable. Yet one could make a paradigm shift, much in the same way the AJC has asked teachers to, and consider it a golden opportunity to address critics who feel the editorial board has had a decidedly anti-teacher bent to in its advocacy regarding education issues. What better way to increase one’s credibility than to address issues head on?
If, for example, Crawford Lewis answers the questions you sent him in a honest, forthright manner, won’t his credibility increase in your eyes? I think it’s fair to say, by the same token, that the AJC could increase its own credibility by honestly addressing areas where its critics think it has fallen short.
Your colleague Mr. Foskett seems to have embraced this, as he stated that he saw you reason why this issue hasn’t been addressed. Since he found the issue worthy enough to respond to, is it not fair to say that it is a valid, legitimate question?
History1
August 14th, 2009
11:33 pm
Why is there this endless talk of unions,we have no unions in the South, we have “advisory boards” that most people only join so they can get legal help if they get sued. I agree with ditching middle school. I went to a Junior High and teachers were trained in and taught one subject,a large part of the problem with Middle School is educators teaching subjects they either don’t know anything about or interest in.
Maureen's accountability metric
August 14th, 2009
11:38 pm
My apologies if this post appears more than once, but it is indeed frustrating, when one attempts to raise an issue, yet still strives to phrase it in the most civil of tones, to see a post disappear into the ether.
Maureen,
I’m so disappointed. I thought you might offer some insight as to my 6:01pm post. I realize it’s one of those questions that has the potential to put one on the spot as it were, but you have shown a willingness so far to address some questions concerning the AJC’s role in the scheme of things.
It may indeed be a tough question, and the temptation to avoid it is understandable. Yet one could make a paradigm shift, much in the same way the AJC has asked teachers to, and consider it a golden opportunity to address critics who feel the editorial board has had a decidedly anti-teacher bent to in its advocacy regarding education issues. What better way to increase one’s credibility than to address issues head on?
If, for example, Crawford Lewis answers the questions you sent him in a honest, forthright manner, won’t his credibility increase in your eyes? I think it’s fair to say, by the same token, that the AJC could increase its own credibility by honestly addressing areas where its critics think it has fallen short.
Your colleague Mr. Foskett seems to have embraced this, as he stated that he saw you reason why this issue hasn’t been addressed. Since he found the issue worthy enough to respond to, is it not fair to say that it is a valid, legitimate question?
Maureen's accountability metric
August 14th, 2009
11:43 pm
Two more lost posts, yet I’m betting that this post lamenting the posts that have been lost, will show up forthwith and posthaste at 11:43 pm when it was submitted.
Maureen's accountability metric
August 14th, 2009
11:44 pm
What did I tell you? &%^&#!
Dr. John Trotter
August 15th, 2009
12:29 am
NOTE: I will try (note that I said “try”) not to call these callous and insensitive (and might I say “evil”?) administrators by the phrase that offends the sensibilities of the AJC Blog Filter. Perhaps the Good Master would call them “a brood of vipers.” I was talking to a teacher tonight who was crying and severely stressed out by some lying and conniving administrators who appear to delight in making people’s (yes, teachers are real people) lives miserable. Our mission at MACE is to devour administrators (metaphorically, of course; this is not a terroristic threat) who abuse teachers. We don’t do spelling bees and give out tote bags nor do we try to act like we are important by aimlessly walking the halls of the Georgia Capitol. We don’t have time for such silliness. Now to the post that now may post. O que? Tudo bem, amigos e amigas!
What does Brother Crosby propose to do with the a__-hole, kiss-up, weasling, and booger-eatin’ administrators who immediately label any teacher a “trouble-maker” when ANYTHING is questioned? (Maureen, you ably pointed out the notion that questioning teachers are labeled “trouble-makers” in your “Endangered [T]eachers” article of July 6, 2009 on the “Opinion” page of the AJC.) These are the same administrators who would sell their own mothers “down the river” to ensure that they can hold on to their high-paying jobs and lifestyles. They use the evaluative process in a manipulative, punitive, and retributive manner. They do not tolerate anyone who deigns (1) to point out that some students are acting like hellions and that the teachers need administrative support in order to deal with these miscreant “students” (yes, “miscreant” because their behaviors often cross the line into criminality) or (2) to refuse to simply “go along to get along,” especially when issues of conscience are involved (like lying about student attendance in order to cook the books for No Child Left Behind or changing answers on students’ test sheets so that the Pharoah-Superintendents won’t terminate, demote, or transfer them). Merit pay has never worked in public education because students are not inanimate objects floating down a conveyor belt in a factory. Students have various IQ levels, have different motivational levels, and definitely come from different home environments which make all the difference in the world. I worked in a public school system in Georgia which was the only school system in the State which actually practiced differentiated pay for teachers. This same school system was hailed in Time Magazine and Reader’s Digest as a forward-looking and progressive school system in Georgia because of “merit pay.” I was allowed to look at the teachers’ salaries at the school, and I can assure you that the salaries did NOT correlate to a teacher’s skill or dedication as a teacher but to the number of butts that his or her lips had pucker up to or whose spouse this teacher was attached to. It was all about politico-familial connections and/or butt-kissing. These factors determined who got the “best” group of kids and who got the “merit” pay. When you can control the input variables, then, and only then, perhaps will some form of “merit” pay work. Until then, it is just a sham and a farce. Teachers start rat-holing everything from teaching materials, lesson plans, and insightful ideas. Teachers become suspicious of each other and very uncooperative. In fact, they begin to act like 2nd and 3rd year law students who are competitively angling to be hired (or, “enslaved”) by the silk stocking law firms. (c) MACE, August 14, 2009.
Dr. John Trotter
August 15th, 2009
12:37 am
NOTE: I will try (note that I said “try”) not to call these callous and insensitive (and might I say “evil”?) administrators by the phrase that offends the sensibilities of the AJC Blog Filter. Perhaps the Good Master would call them “a brood of vipers.” I was talking to a teacher tonight who was crying and severely stressed out by some lying and conniving administrators who appear to delight in making people’s (yes, teachers are real people) lives miserable. Our mission at MACE is to devour administrators (metaphorically, of course; this is not a terroristic threat) who abuse teachers. We don’t do spelling bees and give out tote bags nor do we try to act like we are important by aimlessly walking the halls of the Georgia Capitol. We don’t have time for such silliness. Now to the post that now may post. O que? Tudo bem, amigos e amigas!
What does Brother Crosby propose to do with the kiss-up, weasling, and booger-eatin’ administrators who immediately label any teacher a “trouble-maker” when ANYTHING is questioned? (Maureen, you ably pointed out the notion that questioning teachers are labeled “trouble-makers” in your “Endangered [T]eachers” article of July 6, 2009 on the “Opinion” page of the AJC.) These are the same administrators who would sell their own mothers “down the river” to ensure that they can hold on to their high-paying jobs and lifestyles. They use the evaluative process in a manipulative, punitive, and retributive manner. They do not tolerate anyone who deigns (1) to point out that some students are acting like hellions and that the teachers need administrative support in order to deal with these miscreant “students” (yes, “miscreant” because their behaviors often cross the line into criminality) or (2) to refuse to simply “go along to get along,” especially when issues of conscience are involved (like lying about student attendance in order to cook the books for No Child Left Behind or changing answers on students’ test sheets so that the Pharoah-Superintendents won’t terminate, demote, or transfer them). Merit pay has never worked in public education because students are not inanimate objects floating down a conveyor belt in a factory. Students have various IQ levels, have different motivational levels, and definitely come from different home environments which make all the difference in the world. I worked in a public school system in Georgia which was the only school system in the State which actually practiced differentiated pay for teachers. This same school system was hailed in Time Magazine and Reader’s Digest as a forward-looking and progressive school system in Georgia because of “merit pay.” I was allowed to look at the teachers’ salaries at the school, and I can assure you that the salaries did NOT correlate to a teacher’s skill or dedication as a teacher but to the number of b_tts that his or her lips had puckered up to or whose spouse this teacher was attached to. It was all about politico-familial connections and/or b_tt-kissing. These factors determined who got the “best” group of kids and who got the “merit” pay. When you can control the input variables, then, and only then, perhaps will some form of “merit” pay work. Until then, it is just a sham and a farce. Teachers start rat-holing everything from teaching materials, lesson plans, and insightful ideas. Teachers become suspicious of each other and very uncooperative. In fact, they begin to act like 2nd and 3rd year law students who are competitively angling to be hired (or, “enslaved”) by the silk stocking law firms. (c) MACE, August 14, 2009.
Dr. John Trotter
August 15th, 2009
12:42 am
Well, I submitted the post two more times (with major editing), and it still was not published. Oh well… Perhaps in time, this post too will be published a day or two later. I could offer up pablum but that “bores the pee-waddin’ out of me,” to quote my grandfather. Now, to qoute my spicey grandmother, I wouldn’t have merit pay “up my rear end if I had room for a saw mill.”
Dr. John Trotter
August 15th, 2009
12:44 am
I have re-submitted and re-submitted (after major editing) and even submitted a new post, but no publications. Y’all must have a filter again “John Trotter,” not just my use of rather spicey language.
teacher and parent
August 15th, 2009
1:38 am
Meant to say:”…Georgia’s “professional associations” areN’T really unions.”
ScienceTeacher671 – 30 IS too many!
Tenure
August 15th, 2009
4:50 am
[...] son is resigning the $120000-a-year deputy director of intergovernmental relations … No homework, tenure or middle schools: A teacher's visionNo more tenure for teachers. “With a performance-pay system in place, anyone who truly is in [...]
Old School
August 15th, 2009
7:48 am
Picture this though: when Georgia set up comprehensive high schools in the early 70s, we were given a maximum of 18 students in our vocational labs. Today our vocational center is in the same 1972 facility and we are mandated 28 in a class. Many of those students are special needs. One instructor with 28 randomly assigned students (at our school) and assorted power tools in a lab designed for 18 makes for a challenging and potentially dangerous adventure. In addition to meeting the expectations of Georgia’s Pathways and Standards, our instructors must conform to the Max Thompson “Learner Focused” methods and teach our mixed grade level/ability/interest/age students just like the academic teachers who have homogenous classes (same grade same subject). AND each of us teach at least 3 different trades in our skills areas. Example: Construction covers carpentry, masonry, wiring, plumbing, and sometimes cabinetry.
As for Taj Mahal schools, any clean, bright, cheerful building that is kept in excellent repair and free of trash & clutter would seem like a palace to many, many students. I’d rather have that than a tomb. . . even one as imposing as the Taj Mahal.
What's Best for Kids?
August 15th, 2009
8:41 am
I, too, noticed the editing (censoring?) from this post compared to the actual article written by Crosby. Note that he mentions getting rid of the bad kids, and four day work weeks for teachers,so that we can plan for the larger classes and attend professional workshops. Getting rid of tenure was also based on higher salaries and cutting the poor performing teachers from their positions immediately. I wonder why all of the suggestions were not posted???
xnxnxnx
August 15th, 2009
9:19 am
Dr Trotter:
I read this blog all the time (daily) and rarely post, but I feel I have to say something to you today. Your posts are passionately written, but I never make it past the first 5 lines because you never use PARAGRAPHS. Please break your posts into readable sections. Not only does your lack of paragraphs make it difficult–no it makes it IMPOSSIBLE–to read your posts, the long unbroken paragraph with the frequent near expletives makes you seem like a crazy person.
You might have wonderful ideas, but I (and I’m sure many others like me) have no idea what they are because you have no credibility with your current format. Remember: Paragraphs and tone. Rethink yours.
mdowney
August 15th, 2009
9:26 am
What;s best for kids: Mr. Crosby’s book has 38 recommendations. I chose to hightlight a few based on two things: The press information sent out with the book underscored 8 of his recommendations – the ones that the publishers likely felt had the greatest public interest – and I used most of the ones on that list, eliminating the ones that did not apply to Georgia, (He wants all-day kindergarten, for exmaple, which we already have so I didn’t include that.)
After I read the book Thursday night, I thought his chapter on teachers having Fridays off would be of interest to this blog audience so I added that one to my entry.I also thought it would be helpful to add explantions so I went through the book and picked out a sentence or two from the author that I thought elaborated on his points.
I also added his URL so folks who were interested could go to his site for themselves.And then I invited him to come to the blog and respond to posts made here.
All told, this single blog entry took about six hours. Space limits what anyone can say here, and time limits how much I can spend on a single entry that may or may not interest anybody since I am posting as many as three or four a day.
There is no way I could post all 38 of his suggestions. (Besides, he wants people to buy his book.) Believe it or not, long posts repel readers and tend to drive people away from the information, at least according to all the data.
So, this is a long (too long) explanation but I have a few rules with this blog that I have to follow: keep it short, relevant and lively.
ScienceTeacher671
August 15th, 2009
9:32 am
I think this article provides a more realistic picture:
http://www.eduwonk.com/2009/08/teachers-as-a-sustainable-resource-supporting-mid-career-and-veteran-teachers.html
Mindy
August 15th, 2009
10:01 am
To Dr. Trotter…
You are dead on with your responses and always are but we can vent about it all day long for years and it won’t change. Heck, WE HAVE BEEN VENTING for YEARS and we are NOT any better off. GAE mostly hurts teachers. PAGE certainly does but with all due respect Dr. Trotter, MACE hasn’t helped anything either. Don’t get defensive, I know you have helped a teacher here and a teacher there but so have the other organizations. I have even been a member of MACE for a while. I don’t see the point to paying into any “organization” at this point. I have never joined PAGE or GAE.
John, It is time to think outside the box.
Teachers need someone who has the time, the expertise, and knowledge of how the system malfunctions to figure out how to get a real collective bargaining system for Georgia teachers. I am talking a REAL UNION OF TEACHERS. I am pretty sure this will require an amendment to state law. So be it. State law can be changed. We just need to organize ourselves and get that grass growing. The roots are there already and fertilizer is thick. We just need a little water …. you know what I mean! You could do this if you wanted to do it Dr. Trotter. Public school teachers are a political sleeping giant out there. We know we are being pandered to now but what if that changed? I have been reading your writing for years and I know you don’t give up easily. MACE as it is now will never be able to make things better for teachers. I know you don’t want to hear that but….. You could be the one to help teacher REALLY get organized and get the respect we need from all parties involved so we can do what we were supposedly hired to do. Teach. I challenge you to put promoting MACE on the back burner for a little while and use your lawyerin’ skills to help classroom teachers finally take back the classrooms through whatever it means necessary. Some people say you are only in this to make money for MACE. I don’t think that is really true because although you do like the sound of your own voice, you are also deeply passionate about this.