Teacher absences: Are they excessive and do they hurt students?
Most discussions about school attendance focus on students. Now, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan wants to talk about teachers.
Duncan has made teacher attendance one of the measures to determine which low-achieving schools receive federal improvement funds. So, for the first time, the federal government will collect data on how many days teachers miss classes each year.
The reason is simple: Research shows that students suffer a small, but significant decline in academic performance as a result of teacher absences.
In addition, the nation’s public schools pay a big price — as much as $4 billion a year according to the National Center for Education Statistics — to hire substitutes to fill in for absent staff.
When he was CEO of Chicago public schools, Duncan was dismayed to discover that the system was spending more than $10 million a year on substitute teachers. He tangled with the teacher unions when he added teacher attendance data to school scorecards.
“This is important to parents,” Duncan said at the time. “There’s never been a spotlight on this, and that’s a mistake. I think it’s like any workplace. When people feel good about the work, people want to be there. This is not only important for student learning, it’s important to school culture.”
As one of the leading researchers on the impact of teacher absences on achievement, Raegen T. Miller, associate director for education research at the Center for American Progress, applauds the new emphasis on teacher attendance.
Patterns of high absences within a school can be a marker of deeper problems. “Controlling for age and other factors, there are still wildly different patterns that tell you about the professional culture in the school building. The Department of Education really gets this,” says Miller.
In his research, Miller found that public school teachers are absent between nine and 10 days per year on average.
Between kindergarten and 12th grade, that means a student is taught by someone other than the regularly assigned teacher for the equivalent of two-thirds of a school year, he says.
Every 10 absences lowers mathematics achievement by the same amount as having a teacher with one year to two years of experience instead of a teacher with three years to five years of experience, says Miller.
In his analysis, Miller found that most teacher absences — 56 percent — were discretionary, meaning they were either short-term sick days or personal days.
Those days often fell on Mondays, Fridays and before vacation breaks, suggesting that teachers were deliberate in the days they chose to stay home from work. (Nondiscretionary absences would include a family death, long-term illnesses or jury duty.)
That’s led Miller to advocate for public disclosure of teacher absences so that the public is aware of patterns within schools, patterns that may undermine student achievement.
Miller also says states should look at leave policies that may be overly generous or that encourage teachers to take off time.
“There is no question that a ton of resources are devoted to paying teachers when they are not there,” Miller says. “In some states, the statute provides for 10 days a year. In other states, it is nearly twice as much.” (Georgia gives 12.5 days per year.)
Many leave policies reflect political concessions.
“In years where there is no money for a raise, just to get people to go away from the table, the administration is likely to throw people another sick day . Or it may be the Legislature throwing out another day rather than more money,’’ says Miller. “But when teachers get paid leave for 10 percent of the school year, it’s probably excessive.”
Miller advises local systems to consider incentives to reduce teacher absences.
Teacher absence rates are about three times those of managerial and professional employees, a fact that teachers attribute to the health risks of working with children. Because the profession remains largely female, Miller says absences are often linked to child care needs.
Because teacher attendance data is not published, there’s little information about how often teachers miss school in Georgia. An exception is Cobb County where a school system official recently studied the question.
For her graduate work at Kennesaw State University, Mary Finlayson, investigations manager for the Cobb system’s human resources department, examined absences in the county and the impact on students.
Her 37-page study, “The Impact of Teacher Absenteeism on Student Performance: The Case of the Cobb County School District,” contains these findings:
-While the national average is 10 days, Cobb teachers are out of the classroom an average of 14 days per year.
-Cobb spent $8.5 million to hire substitutes to fill in for 6,800 classroom teachers and clinic nurses in the 2008-2009 school year. The system had only budgeted $4.6 million for subs.
-Students in lower-income areas experienced more teacher absences.
An analysis of third-grade CRCT scores in Cobb supported the national research that higher teacher absenteeism led to lower math scores.
In her report, Finlayson echoes the conclusions of most national researchers:
“From experience, I have learned that if employee attendance is allowed to become a problem in a school, it will affect other employees who also begin to take time off work. There needs to be an awareness of how pervasive this problem might be and consistency among all schools about what is expected from teachers and staff.”
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211 comments Add your comment
RJ
November 29th, 2009
1:49 pm
Maureen, why do my posts only post 50% of the time?! Ugh!
@You want stress?????, while I am sorry for your situation, I have a question. Are you working at Walmart because you lost a job? There are many out there forced to take positions due to down-sizing, company closings, etc. None of that changes the fact that teaching is a quite difficult job. I’ve worked in a job without benefits. It’s tough. But this job is also tough. We miss days for a plethora of reasons. Do some abuse it, yes. But I rarely see that happen. Most of the time it’s ridiculous training sessions and meetings that pull us out of the classroom. Really, how much training is really necessary? Instead of putting the blame on teachers, why not question those that are in charge? They make all the decisions.
RJ
November 29th, 2009
1:49 pm
me too
stress, what stress
November 29th, 2009
1:52 pm
Gee you work at walmart and don’t have health benefits, got 2 jobs-delivering pizzas & cleaning (what about that walmart gig?), and your factory laid off a bunch of folks. Gee, how many jobs did you say you have? Is it really just your complete lack of math skills that is causing all your problems. Maybe you budget your money that way too?
How many college degrees do you have? Every teacher I know has AT LEAST one! DO you wonder why people without college degrees OR those in low skilled professions (walmart, factories, etc…) are out of work more? It may be because they are easier to replace, lots of unskilled (and even some very highly skilled) folks currently looking for work. If you are trying to support a family on a minimum wage job (or 2) that could be done by a high school student maybe your poor choices in life are really to blame. And you should stop whining for causing your own problems.
doh
November 29th, 2009
1:53 pm
This is the same government who tells ALL OTHER WORKERS that if your sick stay home so you don’t infect others and lower productivity. How many times do we as teachers look at our classrooms and wonder why 10% of them should not be in school because they are sick? Behind health care workers we are the most likely group of workers to contract god knows what. Give me a break.
Proud teacher!
November 29th, 2009
1:56 pm
@you want stress????
I am sorry for what you are going through or what someone is going through in your family. I do not think you can one up some one’s hard time. I will not try.
What you are going through do help me put in perspective the stress on my job. At least I have a job and I am thankful for that.
Construction Dude
November 29th, 2009
2:02 pm
I’m out of work and have been for a year and guess what? I got the flu anyway.
d
November 29th, 2009
2:17 pm
What a joke? What system gives 30+ days a year? I need to be there. In both systems I have worked for, it was 10 hours a month for the months we worked — that adds up to about 100 hours or roughly 12,5 days per year. Oh, and where do I get paid for my vacations and holidays? Again, I must be in the wrong system. I’m paid for 190 days worth of work, and that pay is divided over 12 months, so the weeks off in summer are unpaid. Christmas break is unpaid. Spring Break is unpaid. Thanksgiving Break is unpaid. Presidents Day is unpaid. Columbus Day is unpaid. Heck, when I worked in retail prior to becoming an educator, I received 8 hours of holiday pay for 6 holidays a year, 3 weeks paid vacation, half day sick/personal time per month which accrued, but was bought back from me in November for anything over 48 hours.
Sick of paying…. That’s what you get when you hire veterinarians, MDs, Builders, Developers to run school systems — i.e. electing them to the school board. No other field has the oversight by people who have no clue what is required of the profession. Let educators be in charge and I think you would see a huge improvement in the moral and output of the PUBLIC schools.
As far as absences are concerned, since that is the point of this particular thread, my principal has said it best, come to work. I go to work unless I cannot. I broke my foot a few weeks ago and my students told me I should stay home. Why? They have EOCT in 2 weeks. Sure, I could stay home, keep off the foot, take disability pay, but when all is said and done, do administrators look at a substitute when EOCT scores come back? Of course not. In the mean time, I’m on my crutches as much as possible doing what I can to make sure my students are prepared for their test.
kindergarten teacher
November 29th, 2009
2:21 pm
As I sit here and read all the replies from the people who are not in the profession amazes me. As the old indian say, “Don’t criticize until you have walked a mile in my moccasinS” I am a veteran teacher who missed very little from school until the last couple of years. I had my Dad dying and while Dad was dying I was taking care of Mom who ended up dying two months before Dad. I had an unexpected surgery in which I hobbled around for two months so I could use Christmast Holidays to lessen my time off. Then I fell on a field trip and tore my meniscue and they wanted to do surgery right away which I put off until summer. Attendance does go into your addendrum (sp) but my principal noted the unusual circumstances. From a person who probably had missed no more then 20 days in 30 years to one who has used 16 one year and 21 another year, made me feel bad but it couldn’t be helped. As far as our pay I work enough hours in 10 months to make up for the breaks for which we are not paid . Most teacher are very dedicated and does not abuse the system. I do believe that all the mandates that have been put on us by NCLB and the state has put unbelieveable stress on overworked teachers causing them to get sick. I have known two teachers who had to be hospitalized because stressed caused sickness. Yes, I enjoyed Thanksgiving break but I spent two hours on the computer last night doing work mandated by the state. I still have papers to grade. My brother was high up in the military (LT COL) and after retirement taught ROTC for one year only as he stated it was the hardest job he had ever done. So until you have experienced it, DON’T COMPLAIN! Give us support!
d
November 29th, 2009
2:22 pm
You want stress, I can understand the layoffs, I have people in my family that have suffered. Georgia teachers, so far, have been spared, but in other states, teachers are getting laid off in the thousands, over 10,000 in California, 3,000-5,000 in Washington, just to name two. The problem is that there aren’t fewer children that need to be taught despite the number of teachers let go. This means there is additional stress on those left, which does result in health issues and more frequent absences. Something has got to give.
Philosopher
November 29th, 2009
2:24 pm
@irisheyes.. I spend time down at school and it is pretty gross- I do hope if a kid sneezes into his hand or onto a paper. that you make that an educational moment…and then disinfect it! Have a talk with your PTA president and your room mom. The teacher for whom I am the room rep has called uncle as there now tisues and hand sanitizer piled high- I regularly ask what is needed and then we set out to get it to the teacher…we never mind helping out. But I will say, after reading all the cruel, insulting, hurtful remarks about parents and kids…you’d think parents never contributed, never came in to copy or staple or read to kids, or bring goodies, or help with parties, or dances, or plays, or games, or landscaping or painting, or fall festivals. or chaperone on field trips, or give you thoughtful cards and gifts…or even say “thank you”. No wonder you all resent us so much!
P.S. Anger and resentment takes a big toll on the immune system…be careful or you’ll get sick, and then…..
Philosopher
November 29th, 2009
2:33 pm
Maureen: mine, also.
PsychMom
November 29th, 2009
2:47 pm
The study tells us nothing about what factors were controlled for- I’d like to see the data and stats used. I think the results we are given are over-simplifying things. There are so many great teachers that need to take sick days- I am guessing their classes are not suffering. My hunch would be that the suffering students are the ones in the environments that need much more fixing than a few sick days.
Reck in effect
November 29th, 2009
2:49 pm
Teachers are so over worked and under paid. I do agree that teachers are having to take more time. A lot of this stems from the increase in work load along with all of these infectious diseases. We also have to remember that teachers have children as well. One other thing, we might be tired from having to supplement our income from being furloughed.
Not a teacher
November 29th, 2009
2:53 pm
I am sick of teacher complaining about pay and how much they work. Guess what, I would 50-60 hours too– year round– and don’t make as much as you. I have a college degree (two actually). I get 2 weeks of vacation a year and 5 paid holidays. My business operatates 365 days a year, so although I get paid 5 holidays, I have had to work each one of them. Sick days? Wish I got them. And guess what, you teachers make more than me too. Sure you have to put up with school boards and administrators, but which ones of us don’t have bosses.
Stop complaining. Each of us have things we hate about our jobs, but we chose them. We all have job perks too. You know that you will have each holiday off, something I will never have in my profession. You also have job security. Teachers aren’t being laid off. I work in the media. Circulation rates and advertising revenues are falling. My job won’t be around in 10 years, but yours will. Be thankful for that.
teacher
November 29th, 2009
3:01 pm
I agree with everything Adam said.
Teachers work more hours than most. We often get to work either early or stay late. I would say in a given week I probably work about 6-10 extra hours a week because honestly planning time is not enough to get everything done. This also includes not only my academic role, but the multitude of sporting events, art events, after school programs, etc…that I WANT to go to so I can support my students. You all would be surprised at how many parents do not always make it to these events because of their own money or stress issues or sometimes the worst: they don’t want to show up. There are so many of us who turn into the driveway after six and seven just so we can show studens we are there for them.
As far as the DAYS: a lot take maybe five days a year and that is when we are very ill or we just need that personal day because of stress/anxiety.
As far as money: we are getting an average of 100-600 dollars taken out of our paycheck for fulough (some systems have been taking out this money for a few months).
Workers in every day jobs get usually two weeks of paid vacation. Why are we picking on teachers AGAIN???
I will challenge ANYONE to come teach for two weeks and see if you can handle the stress the admin and kids can put on a person. It can take months for you to establish a great working relationship with students…this does not happen overnight. Trust takes time and so does learning. You have to be willing to work together. I know that not every teacher does this, but most of us do. We love our job. This is a tough career and until you actually live it and breathe it, I would be carefull in your judgements.
Jim Tavegia
November 29th, 2009
3:05 pm
What the federal government knows about how to improve education you could put inside a thimble. No child left behind is the biggest joke ever put on public ed., and now she wants to find out if teachers missing school is a problem? With all the furlow days forced upon teachers..who fault is that? The problem with school is students who think it is a social event not a learning expeience. Plus here in GA. if students fail 2 classes during the school year and/or do not pass theCRCT you are promoted anyway. School performance is not a teacher problem. It is time to force students to actually meet some standards and stop social pomotion. No child left behind…they are leaving themselves behind. This Federal Government is so defective, how can they fix anything, let alone education.
Teacherman
November 29th, 2009
3:06 pm
@Philosopher: As a teacher, I welcome support and aid from parents, and I encourage it, but there’s a fine line sometimes that parents fail to see: they want to be the teacher: and so, they interfere with the teacher’s grading and methods. I have personally had to draw a line–diplomatically of course; harsher if need be. Either way, I know that parents will appeal to administrators that I had the audacity to do so; I’m not dismissing absenteeism among teachers, it’s there, but when I look at the daily picture of deteriorating respect and increasing self-entitlement among students and parents and a watchdog mentality among a few of them, then is it any wonder that the stress results in absenteeism possibly or downright resignation of a career?
rahrah
November 29th, 2009
3:06 pm
Guy, They do have drug tests for teachers. I have had one every year for the past 3 years. It is always a surprise. I am also going to take lots of sick days this year before I retire.
Ramblin Wreck Engineer-very pretty
November 29th, 2009
3:09 pm
Many of the people spewing this “suck it up and deal, at least you have a job” nonsense would not teach a day in their lives if they could help it.
I have an acquaintance who was once in the corporate sector but now teaches. He says he has never worked this hard in his entire life, and he was once the “minimum wage worker who held two jobs just to pay the bills” before landing his corporate gig. He yearns for the opportunity to get back into the private sector because of how he and his fellow educators are treated. Imagine that. As cut throat as the corporate world can be, here we have someone who’d rather do that than teach. Do more for less with minimal pay, why is this acceptable?? Because we tell one another to “suck it up and deal.” And who does this benefit at the end of the day?
I take my hat off to the people who have been called to teach. I can’t imagine the stress you deal with on a day-to-day basis in the name of seeing kids succeed, ESPECIALLY those of you in high-need, at-risk schools. Kudos to you, many people would not WANT your jobs, as evidenced by my acquaintance, unless it was tough times like these where they had no other choice. Kudos to you and if you choose to take a few “mental health” days so what. I get more riled up at these lame ducks in office who take vacations when they please, and have fishing holes at my expense.
To those who think teachers should shut up and deal, how about you apply that same logic: shut up and deal with whatever you’re “dealing” with and leave the teachers alone. Until you have walked a day in their shoes, which most of you would not, kill it.
Ramblin Wreck Engineer-very pretty
November 29th, 2009
3:13 pm
“The problem with school is students who think it is a social event not a learning experience.”
In the age of accountability, we continue to leave students and parents out of the equation. Makes as much sense as NCLB. Oh wait…
Ramblin Wreck Engineer-very pretty
November 29th, 2009
3:13 pm
Hey where’s my previous post?
Sick of Being Hammered
November 29th, 2009
3:15 pm
Come on Maureen. Those stats you gave about sick leave in the private sector (hotel and food service workers) are not comparable. Those workers are not salaried employees. They didn’t spend four or more years in college at great personal cost in order to cook fries or change bedsheets. If a hotel worker gets sick and doesn’t show up then she gets no pay but another fully trained worker may be called in to cover her shift. Same goes with the food service industry. They do the same thing every single day and most are trained to work in all facets of the job.
That is not the same as careers in education. Teachers do something new every day. A person can’t come in and cover what they do. You are comparing apples to hubcaps. Completely different industries.
Teachers shouldn’t be absent more than they have to be, no doubt. In the 17 years I have taught high school I have used less than 20 days for sick leave and those were mostly because my wife never had sick leave. If she missed work to stay home when our children were sick, she didn’t get paid.
If we are not going to get any other benefits, people need to quit complaining about sick leave. Remember, we do not earn overtime but we sure work it. How many other professionals can say that they earn no overtime and can’t earn bonuses.
ROBERT LILL
November 29th, 2009
3:17 pm
Schools need to adopt the same basic policies as “standard” businesses employ.
Teachers already have the shortest work year of anyone. Most cases about 190 days. Workers with 4 wks vacation and 9 holidays work approx. 230 days.
Teahers are like the rest, they do need sick days. We all get sick. I would think 5-7 would be plenty. Eliminate “sick” day carry over. If you are sick take it. If not, work. Or just give all teachers 7 “vacation days” to be use as one sees fit. No carry over.
Increase reirement age to 35 years of 62. Thats normal and fair. We can not continue to retire teachers at age 52 and pay them for the next 35 years.
Teaching is a tough job but no more tough than many others. We just need some parity.
(For the record) I taught for 4 years from 1981- 1985, 7-8 grade science.
ROBERT LILL
November 29th, 2009
3:18 pm
Hey Wreck….tough loss yesterday. Good luck with Clemson. Go Tech.
TIME TO BLAME THE TEACHERS, AGAIN!
November 29th, 2009
3:23 pm
To Jack Mums and every other idiot on here, spend ONE week in the classroom! Teachers bust their behinds EVERYDAY, weekends included! We are there before sunlight and often there after dusk! I’ve even had students on the weekend, have gone to the homes to tutor, and whatever it takes to see a child succeed! I’m not the only one, many teachers are making themselves physically and mentally sick, just doing whatever to bring children up. That’s what the public don’t see. These so called breaks you speak of Jack Mum, are just regular work days for many teachers. The summers are often used to attend trainings and conferences. Teachers are some of the most underpaid professionals, outside of police officer, the military, and firemen! They are disrespected by the school administration, parents, and the community. WE are expected to pay for supplies and anything our children need more often than not. WE are expected to do EVERYTHING for our students and one again the parent is not expected to do anything. Do you know the average teacher will spend no less than $400 dollars a year of his/her already insignificant pay check to take care of the students? Let’s talk about being sick. You have no clue how many times teachers get up and are dog sick, but they march in that classroom with their game face on! Now we have some sorry person stating we spend too much time out of the classroom. Well, cut back on the so called professional training which occur several days during a MONTH! I despise being taken out of my classroom for a half put-together training because someone has decided to waste hundreds, even thousands of dollars, just to say they had a training! I challenge anyone who seem to think this is an easy job, go into the classroom, volunteer to sub, do something! Most of us are here because we want to contribute to the success of children. We certainly don’t get paid enough, are respected enough, nor are we ever considered to do enough. However, if our children know what we are doing to help them, it’s enough to get up another day and ignore the trash from people who DON’T HAVE A CLUE!
TIME TO BLAME THE TEACHERS, AGAIN!
November 29th, 2009
3:28 pm
Robert Lill, why did you stop teaching? Not enough pay, too many long hours, student problems get you down? Four years is not a very long time. I don’t know how you say teachers have too many days. I work seven days a week and the holidays are used to catch up, if that’s even possible. Most of the top-notch teachers I know are working my same schedule. It almost sounds as if you did nothing when you taught.
Earl jes
November 29th, 2009
3:31 pm
I’m not a professional educator, but was a student for over 16+ years and can only be thankful for all my teachers. They were much better teachers than I was a student, but we both were only trying to make the best of “It” (my education) and the teachers always made “It” possible. Our teachers are much better educators when the environments of the homes and schools support learning situations. Don’t always blame the messenger for education failures since effective learning requires receptive students to be taught and a good learned teacher to motivate the receptive students to desire the information being taught. Learning is a two way process – a provider and a receiver.
I’ve found that is also true is working situations – employees must have the desire to be taught new needed methods and skills to effectively perform new and/or different tasks correctly in the working environments. Our successes or failures are usually determined by how well we are the messengers and/or the receivers.
Don’t ‘throw the baby out with the bath water’ – clean-up the malignant teacher problems and keep the reasonable sick days available for all teachers as we do in most other occupations.
If you can read this thank a teacher – and our military for the freedom to read it in English. Thanks to all our teachers and members of our military (past & present) for a job “well done” and keep us educated and free. “God Bless America”
Parents Are the 1st Teachers
November 29th, 2009
3:43 pm
Gwinnett parent is a prime example of a parent wanting the school to do everything for her child. Your kid’s reading should have never declined if you were doing what you were suppose to do as a parent. What did you do to assist your child? You are your child’s first teacher. My kids go to school and ANYTHING the teacher teaches them is reinforcement. Why? Because I taught them first and they are top-notch! To all the teachers, thanks!
Philosopher
November 29th, 2009
3:45 pm
Teacherman. ” As a teacher, I welcome support and aid from parents, and I encourage it, but there’s a fine line sometimes that parents fail to see: they want to be the teacher: and so, they interfere with the teacher’s grading and methods.” Hogwash!!!!!!! No wonder respect for teachers is going down the tubes…what arrogant, spoiled rotten, self-centered crap!!! Still couldn’t dig up a whole-hearted thank you or admission that parents have anything positive to offer. We don’t do all these things to be the teacher, *&%!- we do them to HELP YOU DO YOUR JOB AND TO MAKE YOUR LIFE BETTER!
Singing to the Choir
November 29th, 2009
3:46 pm
Maureen, thanks for the info on sick days. I know the major corporations I worked for did not have sick days. We did receive vacation time based on the time with the company and it could not be carried over.
I read as many of the entries as I could. Teachers stop whining about your pay. You knew what the pay structure was before you selected that as your profession. If you are sick then stay home, find a sub you trust to follow your lesson plans. Stop blaming parents for everything! Just as there are good teachers and bad, there are good parents and bad, don’t lump everyone together. If you are being furloughed look at your local school board and ask why. The economy may get worse before it gets better.
kimmieko
November 29th, 2009
4:01 pm
My comment on the original issue…
Crack down on the teachers who abuse the system, and give the rest of us credit for being with our students as much as possible. I know teachers who schedule elective surgeries during the school year and take a day off to go Christmas shopping. They’re the small number of teachers that give the rest of us a bad name. Granted we have busy summers, but that is the only reasonable time to take care of most of our personal business.
Reality
November 29th, 2009
4:07 pm
This is a crazy profession. In any other, you can go to a doctor’s appointment for an hour and return to work. A teacher cannot. We are forced to take a sick day (or 1/2 day) and get a sub.
What the heck does anyone expect? Teachers shouldn’t have doctors appointments or go to the dentist?
And, this doesn’t even address the other “normal” times that any employee is out such as when we have sick kids of our own, or other family emergency.
We are already getting forloughed and are forced to work without pay. What other profession does this? I don’t know of any. It is one thing for a teacher to volunteer their time to make their lessons special. But, when the employer forces an employee to work hours without pay, that is slavery in my book.
Yeah, the current job market is very weak and teachers are just hanging on to their jobs – for now. As soon as folks start to hire, just watch the sudden and large void in the teaching profession. You can only treat people like slaves for so long before they walk.
Teacherman
November 29th, 2009
4:29 pm
@Philosopher: I must have struck a chord and a dissonant one at that; you’ve proven my case; one thing more I failed to mention and I’ll let you have the last word to appease your sense of cornering the market on truth and bettering teachers’ lives:: there have been cases of parents actually doing their son or daughter’s homework, oh wait did I say that?
Kenneth
November 29th, 2009
4:52 pm
Why not write an article about how it’s not the Government Schools job to rear your kids? If you had a child it’s your job to make sure they can read and write and to help them with their homework every night. You are your child’s primary teacher. For the most part, and there are a few exceptions, they are the way they are because of their parents not the schools!
Sarge
November 29th, 2009
5:03 pm
This whole story is pure 100% BULL! In reading the article, authored by our National Education leadership, one is led to understand that teachers, unlike the rest of the world, cannot get sick. With esteemed leadership like this in Washington, there is but one warning to both current and future parents and teachers: BE AFRAID!
SC Bio Teacher
November 29th, 2009
5:03 pm
Philosopher,
If my reading comprehension was poor I would have thought you were talking about the way some kids and parents act when at school or talking to teachers. Your attitude is seen and mimicked by your children and their friends. Not all parents are bad, but, there are far more “bad” parents and kids than “good”. I have seen it from both sides as well as from the perspective of a substitute.
A lack of parenting and positive parental involvement are one of the MAJOR underlying problems in schools. It happens in every socioeconomic class and education level. Administrations that are over bloated and out of touch are one of the other factors. When one adds the likes of NCLB to the equation you have the disasters that are all to frequent today.
shed d light
November 29th, 2009
5:08 pm
Here it is we are talking about excessive teacher absences, which might the case among some teachers, while Hawaii recently cut its school year by 17 days. Some metro Atlanta school systems have already cut their school year by 3 days and more cuts are said to be on the way. These cuts were administered while some school systems are sitting on very healthy financial reserves. Where is the concern for the students? Add the numbers of instruction days that are lost due to unnecessary school system mandated tests and we get an even grimmer picture. A 2009 study published in the Journal of Education Finance stated that inequitable and inadequate distribution of educational resources is one of the greatest injustices in the American public education system. Other research on student achievement point to many factors that impact student achievement such as the current school calendar with its long summer vacation; high student mobility; lack of adequate investment in improving the quality of teaching; etc. I can’t help but think Finlayson study might be self serving but I would need to take a closer look at the research design. The 2009 study cited above concluded that the way to positively impact student outcomes is by investing in improving the quality of teaching and leadership. A 2002 article published in the Catalyst for Change called for year round education (YRE) as a way of improving student achievement. YRE promotes more meaningful breaks for teachers which may reduce the reported excessive absences among some teachers. It also provides more opportunities for frequent remediation for students. Let’s have an honest discussion about student achievement.
Philosopher
November 29th, 2009
5:25 pm
@Teacherman : over the years, quite a few teachers have sexually molested kids… shall we follow YOUR logic on that one?
Part of the Pack
November 29th, 2009
5:35 pm
Philospher, Unfortunately you are under the impression that every or even most parents are as supportive as you are. I teach in a very poor school system. My parents simply do not have the money to provide, in many cases paper, much less tissues. I provide both and it is not for my health, but because it is the RIGHT thing to do. I do not have a grade mother, my parents either work jobs where they can’t come, or simply do not a the resources to take on such a job. I have many kids who don’t get a bath and carry lice, so do I hug them-YES they are children and need affection. When they are sick do I still try and show them this yes! If I am sick I am usually there, and I have never just taken a day off. I know that a sub cannot provide what I do. I can’t write a script that allows for the training I have worked very hard to receive. It’s sad to me that so many people don’t understand teachers have so many sick days because they ARE there so much. I get one sick day for every month I work. It takes a great deal of time to accumulate 30 days. I worked for 19 years in the private sector and I understand how many of you feel, but until you’ve been in a school teaching you really don’t understand. The sad thing to me is that I do truly care about every kid who passes through my door and others that I just get to know in passing, and yet my profession is attacked and generalized daily. I love what I do, and who I do it for. Even though we are a poor district between 59-63% of students living in poverty our students still average 87% meeting or exceding stadards on CRCT. Just realize not everyone is taking advantage of the system, but some of us are working very hard every day to make life better for kids.
Teacherman
November 29th, 2009
5:41 pm
@philospher: that was truly pathetic; if you can’t deal with the issues, or rather the tangential issues which this thread seems to be going, maybe you need to reexamine the nature of your retorts. Your response was utterly inappropriate.
stress, what stress
November 29th, 2009
5:41 pm
Maybe its time to pay teachers what they’re worth or expect them to be worth what they’re paid. For those who are a little slow…if teachers continue to be treated like crap (I had a different word but figured it would be caught in “filterland”) then the only teachers that will be left will be the crap. BTW, anyone getting paid to do something is a “professional”, so the BS statements about “teachers should just be professionals” as they are getting dumped on is stupid. You can’t expect people to work their butt off while you treat them like dirt and cut their pay at the same time!
You can tell how a company treats its employees by how the employees treat their customers/guests…
Philosopher
November 29th, 2009
5:55 pm
Teacherman: As was yours..that was my point. If you want to use flawed logic to generalize about parents, best be ready to deal with the consequences.
Philosopher
November 29th, 2009
6:03 pm
This blog is about teachers getting sick, maybe…or about teachers abusing the system. What I see is a bunch of folks suffering from burn out. When you no longer care about the people you serve (those spoiled brat kids) or respect the people who employ you (the taxpayers..yes, the “bad”parents) and administrators, then you would be a lot healthier doing something else.
Teacherman
November 29th, 2009
6:26 pm
@Philosopher,
You took my initial posting and reacted as if I was generalizing about all parental involvement in our schools. That wasn’t my intention, but it’s obvious you took it that way; it was a sore point for you when I brought up that sometimes things go awry with parents apparently and it set you off. I’m sorry.
ScienceTeacher671
November 29th, 2009
6:49 pm
@Philosopher, at our school we don’t have an active PTA, we’re not allowed to ask parents or students to provide classroom supplies, and “parents never contribute, never came in to copy or staple or read to kids, or bring goodies, or help with parties, or dances, or plays, or games, or landscaping or painting, or fall festivals” so far as I know. It might be because we’re a high school. They would chaperone on field trips, but they aren’t allowed to ride the buses with us anymore because of insurance concerns.
All the same, I don’t think I’m as resentful toward parents as you seem to be toward teachers. Did a particular teacher make you really mad, or do you just think we’re all sorry people?
catlady
November 29th, 2009
6:51 pm
Wow, that’s DR. CATLADY (PhD, UGa) to most, but you can call me “Ms.” since I like you.
Our principal told us during preplanning that we weren’t “required” to work on our furlough days, but the school would be open….. She also told us that just because we HAD sick days didn’t mean we need to USE sick days. Geeze.
Philosopher
November 29th, 2009
7:11 pm
@Teacherman: Apology accepted. Please hear me out as a parent who cares.
I have never done my child’s homework. She is a straight A over-achiever, never late on an assignment, never rude and never disrespectful. I work 40 plus hours a week and do what I can (we do not have a lot) to help my kid’s teachers have it easier. I volunteer my time and supplies as I can. I know a lot more parents like myself than ones who do not care. Many of them aren’t as educated, or as able to support their kids academically, but they try. It is awful to read blog after blog and hear NOTHING that tells me you guys have ANY respect for parents and their efforts or problems. Many parents get up before dawn, work themselves to the bone and don’t get home until ‘way after dark. Sometimes there’s nothing left for them to give their kids except their love. Often they don’t know HOW to help their kids with homework. Many of the parents I talk to have absolutely no ability to help the kids because of the computer skills they must have now. It’s tough out here for parents, too, you know, and there ARE more good parents than bad…it’s a fact. And just like you, if a child is sick…a parents suffers with the dilemma of “do you take off work and risk losing a job in these jobless times..or do you just pray and send them on”? How disheartening it feels to send my child to school thinking I am sending her to spend the day with people who hate their jobs…and that my efforts to help at school are thought of as attempts to undermine or take over. Sadly, I feel pretty foolish having thought my efforts were just helpful.
Equal
November 29th, 2009
7:40 pm
Philosopher, go somewhere is hush! In fact, go get a degree and go into the classroom. You don’t think teachers get up before dawn and don’t get home until well after the sun is down?! Teachers are working themselves to the bone, some even to death. How would you feel if you worked on a job and can’t even go to the bathroom? Teachers face the same dilemma, “Do I neglect my own family to raise other people’s children? Do I go in when my own child is sick and burning up with a temp of 102? Do I get four hours of sleep tonight or none at all, because I have to grade papers, get the reports ready, call parents, etc.?”
Excuses, excuses! “Parents don’t know how help their kids”, give me a break. I don’t know a thing about higher level math and science, but I will beg, get a tutor, find someone to help my child achieve, whatever I gotta do! You don’t have to know everything to sit with your kid and read for at least 30 minutes! Stop with the excuses! My mother made sure we studied and completed our lessons everyday, in spite of the fact she was a middle school dropout!
You want to act like it’s all teachers missing excessive days, but there are FAR more teachers doing their job and loving the kids, not hating them! Then you have the nerves to fix your sick lips to say several teachers have been accused of molestation! Wow! Include politicians, preachers, nurses, dentist, police officers, mothers, fathers, brothers in that group of people who have harmed children. Which by the way I feel there is not place on Earth for a child molester.
Do you even work? Give these hard working teachers a break and get a life! Cause they are going to go to school sick, in pain, and stressed out with a smile on their face for the most part, come rain or shine!
To all the parents doing their jobs as parents, supporting their children, and staying in touch with the teachers, God bless you! I’m sure your child’s teacher appreciates it. Even if you can’t make it to the school, making sure your child is doing their job is what a hands-on parent does. These parents don’t expect an award, because seeing their kid make it is award enough.
Soccermom
November 29th, 2009
7:44 pm
I agree that “When a teacher is absent, school doesn’t have to be free day. Learning can still take place.”
Seems to me that a teacher would prefer to have a sub who has a college degree rather than just a high school diploma. But our county sub-assignment computer program does not have a place to list the qualifications of the substitute teachers. Sub jobs are generally entered into the program and assigned first-come, first-served. I do believe that teachers can specify a sub if they have lined one up. But they have to have the desire (and concern) to do so.
Some of us can follow lesson plans pretty well
Sarge
November 29th, 2009
7:52 pm
Well-said, Northview Ex. Repeating what I’ve indicated in the past…out of a true sense of professionalism and caring for the educational welfare of your “troops”, many of Georgia’s teachers, I understand, have been coming into the school, on their furlough days, to clear-up paperwork and tend to the myriad details which accompany the teachers’ day. While quite admirable, and indicative of the complete selflessness with which teachers conduct themselves, this action also serves to embolden those who attempt to address the state’s fiscal problems on the backs of teachers.
In past years, ed leaders have placed blame for the dismal state of
education squarly on the shoulders of those who they now look toward for help. This brand of leadership, at all levels of governance, bodes ill for the future of all.
Personally, I have never had much use for unions…didn’t need them on corporate row, couldn’t use them within the Green Machine; they don’t fit in the contracting world. In short, I never worked within a structure which required a collective voice. However, that may be exactly what is required, both for Georgia’s teachers, and the kids who depend on those teachers. Otherwise, the visionless dolts will never hear you.