A tornado, a dark hall and frightened children. A school saddles up to meet the challenges.
Jim Arnold leads the Pelham City Schools in Mitchell County, Ga. He is a frequent essayist on this blog. Here is his latest piece:
By Jim Arnold
Public school teachers are fighting battles on many fronts. These challenges have been presented and debated again and again. Everyone seems to have an answer but no one can present a viable solution. Many believe that teachers and public school students are being held hostage by state and federal politicians to promote an agenda of privatization; others are convinced the public schools are irretrievably broken and beyond redemption.
Furlough days that directly affect teacher pay and quality of life, denigration of public schools and of the teaching profession, the use of public schools as instruments of social experimentation and reform, the imposition of more and more standardized tests as an educational end unto itself rather than a means to improve achievement, the threat of tying meaningless test scores to teacher evaluations, the continual micromanagement from state and federal agencies, the institution of program after program, each designed after the fashion of snake oils and Vitameatavegamin to miraculously cure whatever ails our students – all combine to make it difficult to continue teach in the face of what might seem to be insurmountable odds, opposition, constant criticism, all too frequent complaints and parental indifference. It would be oh so easy for teachers to become bitter, jaded and downright mad about the lack of support, dearth of approbation and the seeming lack of appreciation for the vital job they hold and the work they do every day.
Sometimes it takes a tragedy for the rest of the world to see what many of us already know; that the overwhelming majority of teachers and administrators care deeply for their students and go far above and beyond what our most vehement detractors can see or observe. These heroes want “their kids” to be safe and to experience learning opportunities that will make them better citizens, better learners and ultimately better people.
They take kids as they are and refuse to allow them to fail. They take students from hopeless family situations and give them something to build their lives upon. They struggle against staggering amounts of meaningless paperwork and regulations and impositions that make their jobs both thankless almost impossible, and they succeed more often in spite of the system than because of it.
They fight continuously to reach those students that others find unreachable, to find time to teach in a hopeless tangle of bureaucracy and regulation, and more often than not don’t see the results of their efforts until years later, when that treasured note or email appears from a student from years ago thanking them for what they did to help that child succeed.
On Jan. 30, a devastating tornado hit the area in and around Adairsville, Ga. Sonoraville Elementary School was very close to the path of that tornado.
One of my colleagues contacted Sonoraville Elementary Principal Elizabeth Anderson to ask how they might help. None of us really know how we will react when danger threatens. Will our first thoughts be to protect ourselves or will we fight our fears and do what we can to protect others? John Wayne said “courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.”
This story is about heroes at Sonoraville Elementary School.
Dr. Anderson wrote:
“I would be honored for you to share this. When I wrote this it was to convey what everyone did in our building that day. Our society should know what educators do every day for children.”
“Good morning!
Thank you for asking about our area. The Sonoraville community was devastated last week by the tornado. My family advocate, counselor and county social worker continue to make home visits and locate all those impacted by the storm. The damage to many homes was more far reaching than we had originally thought. We are a resilient community and the volunteers have been amazing. We are so appreciative. I would like to brag on our faculty, staff, and students. I think as a principal, you often wonder what the reaction of everyone will be when a crisis happens (you always..what if ?). We were in dark hallways and other areas for approximately two hours and lost all forms of communication.
As the tornado spiraled in our direction, everyone was safely huddled in hallways, bathrooms, and practice rooms. Adults took little ones in their laps and covered them with their bodies. Many adults rocked small children and used soothing tones as they waited in cramped spaces. Our nurse remembered medical needs and tended to those in the darkness. A teacher and her paraprofessional drew blood from a diabetic child to make sure he stayed healthy during the storm. A fourth grade teacher prayed with her students when they questioned what would happen if they died. Once the warning was lifted and we proceeded back to our dark classrooms, the heroism did not cease.
Everyone pitched in to serve lunches and aid in a dark dismissal with no means of mass communication. Many adults had learned they had severely damaged homes, but never once did they ask to leave their students. They all stayed until students had been safely removed from campus. Many said we are here to the end, and they were. Our students assisted each other and each one stepped up that day.
Words will never be able to capture the spirit of Sonoraville Elementary School that day. Following the storm, our people have cleaned, served meals, donated money, resources, and so much more. As their principal, I am one of the luckiest people on earth to say they are mine. So, this February’s Board of Education report’s classified and certified personnel of the month is all of Sonoraville Elementary School. What do Phoenixes do? They rise up…yes they do.”
Stories like this restore my faith in what teachers do. They remind us of why we went into teaching in the first place, and why we spend our lives helping other peoples’ children. They took care of other peoples’ kids because it’s not their job, it’s their calling. John Wayne smiles down on heroes like these.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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81 comments Add your comment
Jack Wolf
February 11th, 2013
10:14 am
We are woefully underprepared as the onslaught of climate change starts, whether it is our schools or other infrastructure. How can we prepare our better schools for extreme weather events? School boards should be addressing this now before a hugh weather event takes our children’s lives.
Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring. Rigorous scientific research demonstrates that greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver. The inertia of the global climate and Earth systems has thus far prevented the full expression of an aggravated climate state.
And because carbon dioxide is a long-lived molecule, any additional emissions will have a long-lasting effect on the climate.
These changes will occur much sooner than originally expected and indeed they already are. These conclusions are based on multiple independent lines of evidence. Contrary assertions are inconsistent with an objective assessment of the vast body of peer-reviewed science.
The media has not connected the dots between climate change and all the extreme weather of late.
Why is this?
Georgia
February 11th, 2013
10:16 am
Inspiring!
10:10 am
February 11th, 2013
10:16 am
“Many believe that teachers and public school students are being held hostage by state and federal politicians to promote an agenda of privatization; others are convinced the public schools are irretrievably broken and beyond redemption.”
Teachers’ unions and the liberal education establishment is the opposing faction Mr. Arnold fails to identify in his open paragraph. And what follows, of course, is “the world according to teachers’ union apologists.”
Thurston Howell IV
February 11th, 2013
10:20 am
I applaud the dedication shown by Sonoraville teachers and faculty.BUT…
Using a natural disaster to reiterate how picked on the education community feels itself to be is in extremely bad taste. It smacks of cynicism of the like that has led to the reactionary environment the education cartel finds itself in.Lots of other people did extraordinary things that day in Adairsville too.But we don’t read how firefighters,EMT’s and sheriffs deputies are complaining about their lot in life. They work for a lot less than teachers (in most cases,not all) and have a lot less job security. But they seem to have a certain esprit de corp that is all but absent in the school teachers world.
And even if SMS was totally privatized,the teachers would have watched out for the students welfare just as diligently. They’re human beings,after all,despite the attempt to use them as the boogeyman on this blog.
indigo
February 11th, 2013
10:23 am
A Country whose leadership truly cared about the future would do everything possible to give both children and teachers the best possible learning evnironment.
That this is anything but the case in America speaks for itself and indicates a dark and grim future for all of us.
Google "NEA" and "union"
February 11th, 2013
10:27 am
On this blog—no matter the topic, there’s always a way to weave the anti-reform union message into every story …
Proud Teacher
February 11th, 2013
10:38 am
10:10 am: You seem to know little of real teachers by what you write here. The real teachers, the ones who really care what happens to the minds and souls of their students continue their work in the darkest of storms while you write tripe against all. Liberals or conservatives should be able to recognize a child who needs consoling without taking time for namecalling.
Mountain Man
February 11th, 2013
10:44 am
I am glad that the teachers responded so well in an emergency. I think that techers in general would do that at any school, because teachers do care about their students.
One concern I have about schools nowadays is the proliferation of “portable classrooms” (aka – trailers). These “classrooms” are tornado magents, so students have to be moved out of these before a tornado hits. Sometimes there is time to do this. Will it take a natural disaster where a tornado hits unexpectedly and devastates a school and kills a lot of school children before we see the danger thee trailers represent?
In the sixties, we spent about one-fourth what we spend today (adjusted for inflation) and housed all children in real, brick and mortar school buildings. We need to look at where our money is going today and ask ourselves where our priorities are.
In relation to the Federal government, we need to ask what “unfunded mandates” has the Federal government saddled us with, without providing money to pay for.
Mountain Man
February 11th, 2013
10:48 am
“Many believe that teachers and public school students are being held hostage by state and federal politicians to promote an agenda of privatization”
You could also say that the public education system is held hostage to an agenda of inclusion – where SPED students are forced into regular classes where they disrupt the lessons of the many to “include” the one. Where “tracking” is no longer allowed, so the smarter kids are bored by being placed in the same classrooms as those that do not wish to learn.
Jerry Eads
February 11th, 2013
10:55 am
Yep, second post by one of the non-thinking knee-jerks we live with in this society. Surprised it wasn’t first. Those caring people in that school ARE the establsihment, and they comprise both liberals and conservatives. Thankfully, very few are of the mindless right-winger sort such as said poster – never under any circumstances ever to be confused with actual conservatives.
Unions exist because ill-educated people like 1010 were treated as dirt. The NEA came to exist because teachers were – and still are – treated like dirt, including the ones who clearly would – and have as in Connecticut – lay down their lives for OUR kids. Teachers come from all walks of life. The difference between them and people like the poster is that (a) they are capable of reasoning (b) they care about others. Their job is to create good citizens. Sometimes they fail, and we end up with some 1010s in our midst.
Chimamanda Adichie does a wonderful talk about “the dangers of a single story’ that most of you likely will enjoy. It’s at http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html
Clutch Cargo
February 11th, 2013
11:00 am
“The NEA came to exist because teachers were – and still are – treated like dirt,”
Utter nonsense.The NEA wants more money,better benefits and more teachers.To claim otherwise is to expose your ignorance.Good grief, it’s one thing to lie to others, but if you believe that,you’re just lying to yourself.
A TEACHER is a caring,selfless,wonderful creation. TEACHERS are just a mob.
10:10 am
February 11th, 2013
11:10 am
@Jerry Eads:
Sorry to catch you before you’ve had your morning coffee … and I certainly don’t mean to imply that the bravery and sacrifice you personally displayed at Sandy Hook isn’t worthy of heartfelt praise.
… But I’m not sure just what that has to do with my critique of Mr. Arnold’s gratuitous opening shots at school reformers.
Mountain Man
February 11th, 2013
11:15 am
“Their job is to create good citizens.”
I would disagree with that. Teachers jobs are to create EDUCATED citizens. PARENTS’ jobs are to create good citizens.
And ADMINISTRATORS’ jobs are to enrich themselves as much as possible while eluding any semblance of doing a job that improves education, such as dealing with attendance and discipline, and defending teachers against unwarranted parental ranting.
FlaTony
February 11th, 2013
11:21 am
Well said, Jerry Eads.
Wondering
February 11th, 2013
11:23 am
I haven’t seen any comments here about HB 263. Is anyone concerned with the legislature changing the retirement benefits for teachers and state employees?
bootney farnsworth
February 11th, 2013
11:26 am
@ clutch
and the last time you were in front of a class was….
bootney farnsworth
February 11th, 2013
11:34 am
@ mountain man
back in the day, a couple of mine went to class in trailers. I had some of the same concerns you state until I spent some time with the teachers to see how they, themselves would approach a severe weather problem. 3 of the 4 of them left me feeling comfortable, the 4th reminded me I needed to say very involved.
one of the unintended consequences of the trailers is the admin types don’t often wish to trek all the way out there, so the faculty was freer than most to actually teach.
the thing I was the most worried about was the heat during the late summer.
paulo977
February 11th, 2013
11:38 am
They all stayed until students had been safely removed from campus. Many said we are here to the end, and they were….
———————————————————————————————————-
THAT IS WHAT TEACHERS DO , DON’T YOU KNOW? Of course the event could also be explored to have kids respond in creative ways to expand their learring . I DON’T MEAN BUBBLING IN ANSWERS ON A TEST SHEET!!! UGH
bootney farnsworth
February 11th, 2013
11:40 am
@ mountain
unfortunately you’re both right. as educators our job is supposed to be to help create an educated population.
sadly, the way the Fed binds our hands, it has become a job of creating pliant, under educated citizens. smart enough to hold basic jobs, but not smart enough to challenge the system
Fred ™
February 11th, 2013
11:50 am
<i.Teachers’ unions and the liberal education establishment is the opposing faction Mr. Arnold fails to identify in his open paragraph. And what follows, of course, is “the world according to teachers’ union apologists.”
One day you will pull your head out of your butt and get off the talk radio/FOXBOT teat and actually think for yourself. When thaat daty comes you will realize how completely ignorant your hatefilled rants about “the evil liberals” really sounds. Of course to simple minds only simple catch phrases and ideas come. Rush has you so well programmed that everything *bad* is because of “the liberals.”
Your brand of tripe was so apparent this weekend when the blog was about about Atlanta and it’s literacy rate. You and your ilk spewed hate all weekend about that good news. You are so filled with mindless hate and impotent rage because “that man” is President that you have lost all capacity for joy or rational thought. Wow is it disgusting.
That dang “librul” George Bush and his no child left behind………. oh and this State has been controlled by those “librul” Republicans for over a decade you hate filled pathetic little man. What’s your excuse now? Things have gotten WORSE since Sonny took over in 2001 with his promise to reform statre government and improve education. As a matter of fact, class 2006 recorded the sharpest drop in history of SAT scores. That damn “librul” Sonny Perdue.
Now get off your mindless “the libruuls done it” rant and offer up[ some real THOUGHTFUL suggestions. Oh wait, you can’t. All you can do is spew hate and FOXBOT lies……….
10:10 am
February 11th, 2013
12:01 pm
@Fred ™… The “TM” should remind you to take your meds! This is a blog. People will disagree with your viewpoint.
Brasstown
February 11th, 2013
12:18 pm
10:10 and Clutch. Come up with something new to post or just remain silent. Can you deal with that? Also, close your pie holes on the anti-teacher crap.
Clutch Cargo
February 11th, 2013
12:18 pm
@Bootney
And the last time you saw an honest,transparent union that didn’t steal dues from its members was…
Brasstown
February 11th, 2013
12:27 pm
Clutch Anti-union. Check. Any other thoughts? Oh, anti-teacher. Check. Anything else you need me to put on your list? It’s really fascinating the range of your ideas. Great reading really.
Private Citizen
February 11th, 2013
12:30 pm
Stunning and welcome essay. Brings to the fore the whole bureaucratic harassment thing that is happening to teachers, national make-busy initiatives disconnected from real purpose, making a tough job impossible, it is like the assassin shows up from the fed with a counterweight designed to flip you over a cliff. I’m not overstating it. The real stress effects on people’s health is significant.
10:10, I am going to go ahead and respond to your disconnect jab. I would agree with the term “FOXBOT” from the people who tell you that the reason solar power works in Germany is because they have more sunlight than the USA. (A ridiculous knowing lie from a network being paid by petroleum business interests.) Yes, 10:10, you need to back up (as in move your feet backwards) your stuff and here’s why. First, do some minimal research on the history and purpose of labor unions. The main reason is safety, so people don’t get crushed, electrocuted, or blown up on the job. Labor unions provide order to a system of apprenticeship. For you to connector labor realities with the national lefty big-power politics is not fair. I am in agreement with you on the character of your observation of many things going on from the national think-tank exploit manipulation houses, but where you perspective gets weird is that you seem to think that teachers in Georgia are connected to or care about this stuff, much less from that perspective. That is where you are projecting politics onto people that do not practice what you say, which is why your commentary comes across like a curve-ball from Mars.
As your advocate, I suggest you do some reading / research on the good part of union history regarding training and safety. You need to fill your own self with a little more knowledge and information on your topic, and then you will not require to default to shallow “take your meds” type retort, which is also a formal use of propaganda by you to disqualify your opponent by claiming they are not mentally sound. Really, you ought to read Gulag Archipelago where you are told a first person report of when your method is ramped up and people are collected and imprisoned using the same thing you are doing. But the truth is, I can not tell you what to do, and bullies rarely and I do mean never, read. People who bully are stuck. They can not or do not read on their topics and develop concept information, seem incapable of it as if that part of their brain is missing. It is a great tragedy. Ask anyone who knows a bully. Maybe you do, maybe you can relate. I am not very good at nurture with difficult people. Hey, have a good day.
Clutch Cargo
February 11th, 2013
12:37 pm
@Brasstown.
You’re right-I am anti-union. Look up and to your left. The calendar will say “2013″, not “1867″. Unions have outlived their time. Most of the health and safety reforms demanded by unions are codified into law. Unions will just protect the worst teachers out there and make the good ones hate their administrators and co-workers even more. If you had ever worked in the real world where unions destroy productivity and camaraderie,you’d understand this. But I guess that you’d take it on faith that your lot would improve when you have TWO masters instead of one.
Private Citizen
February 11th, 2013
12:40 pm
It would be nice if Georgia teachers could have a cooperative labor group that was not connected to politics, but it seems that every one of them is motivated to get member monies and commercially solicit members. We’re so depowered, it is just crazy. And it seems like the GAE,NEA, and (whatever that third one is) can not stand up to what big power is doing, none of them seem to have wit of power to counter or affect the federal intiatives, or someone so aptly called it, turning the DOE into an education IRS where the rule book is incomprehensible, the conditions can not be met, and therefore they can continue as the center of attention with their exploit. The term “attention suck” is appropriate for what Arne Duncan is doing, when a teacher wakes up and all of their attention has to go to the authority conditions from someone far far away, and then this is signed in and enforced by both their state and school district who do not have the nerve or wits to stand up to it. Where I live, the percentage rate of teachers leaving is double what it was a year ago. But even on a good day, most districts act like they have a cold heart about it, but I guess after the 4th round of budget cuts, the friendliness, care, and warmth is gone.
Brasstown
February 11th, 2013
12:44 pm
10:10 Maybe take a week off and come back under a new name. Other than that I don’t have any suggestions for you.
Wait new name idea: Private Citizen’s Maid
Once Again
February 11th, 2013
12:44 pm
Worried about your child’s safety at a government school during a natural disaster? Keep them at home, homeschool them, and make your own natural disaster preparations. Problem solved.
Plus, they get a better education, won’t need a bulletproof backpack, will actually learn to read and write, will learn to think critically, will learn to be an individual, and every other great thing that comes with homeschooling.
Private Citizen
February 11th, 2013
12:48 pm
Clutch Cargo, good commentary, except that thing about “health and safety reforms demanded by unions are codified into law” is right, but for some reason there is a mechanism in Georgia where a malicious principal can pick out a teacher and tell them to stand on one toe, and the teacher has to do it. There’s a real void happening where interconnected principal-gangs sort of screw people around, like they have an appetite for it, by destabilising competent workers, they get power from this in a perverse way. I’m not saying every district is like this, but I’ve seen it is action and just in the last week a guy told me his wife, a teacher, was being treated in this manner. You’re pretty smart and keen to labor conditions. What is the answer in Georgia where there are school districts and the principals act like an interconnected gang and this works just fine for the central office who seem to coordinate a group of attack-artists who also act as principals. And it is often competent workers they do this, too. It is just a power thing, but it is ungoverned and where a group wishes to practice this, they are able to do so.
Private Citizen
February 11th, 2013
12:50 pm
Brasstown, that’s okay. I don’t use a maid. I do my own work.
Private Citizen
February 11th, 2013
1:00 pm
I dare say the old world plantation system of “be mean to labor” and “cultivate favorites” is alive and well in some parts of Georgia school district management. I do not know what the answer is, except that teachers have little ability to work autonomously or stand up to it for when they are called out for not playing along, other than having a private attorney on call is the sole way I know of it for a teacher to deal with this type indulgence from management. Its like the top management is really attention-needy and expects / requires other people to come down to their level. This is the problem of so much overt power, and the workers have none.
Private Citizen
February 11th, 2013
1:03 pm
The reason that in reality on a state level Georgia school performance is so low is that in many school districts, the local power does not want the underclass to have a professional level education, and the local power has the means to stop or derail any teacher who does professional level work with lower caste kids.
Brasstown
February 11th, 2013
1:06 pm
Clutch,
In GA unions are not a factor in deciding if a teacher goes or stays. We really don’t have unions here and the organizations we do have, have no power whatsoever. There is no comparison between GAE and say the Teamsters. Poor teachers stay because principals don’t want to do the work to get rid of them. About a 2 year process for a tenured teacher. Also, there are very few of them. Probably no greater percentage than the dead weight to be found in any orgainization public or private (anecdotal evidence only). Certainly not the boogey-man that many beleive is the main cause of problems in public education. Nor, for that matter, is a problem with how teachers teach. Curriculum has been tweaked to death. Now students are better test-takers. That’s about all that has accomplished. If you really want to bring educational attainment up a significant amount, you have to solve poverty and all of it’s root causes. Many of those problems can best be solved in the health and mental health worlds, not the classroom.
Private Citizen
February 11th, 2013
1:07 pm
To the anti-union crowd, I’d trade current conditions for a rock-solid labor union any day of the week 24/7/365, where professional level teachers could tell errant administrators to “get lost” or at the very least, “there’s a rule book and you’re going to play by it.” The state certainly will not do this for you.
Private Citizen
February 11th, 2013
1:09 pm
The other thing that the anti-union bunch needs to observe is that the states with the strongest education performance have strong teacher unions.
Brasstown
February 11th, 2013
1:20 pm
The private sector only needs 20-30% of it’s work force to be college educated. The biggest need is in the skilled work force area. The question in America is, Who gets to decide who gets that higher level of education, status and pay? If you undermine public education enough, then those who can afford private education will get to keep those postions in the hands of their offspring. That seems to be the plan of the ruling class here in GA. The only barrier is that most of the excellent teachers are in the public schools. Public schools do an incredible job teaching the top 10%. We must undermine those resources in order to stop top public school students from crushing the private school kids.
Astropig
February 11th, 2013
1:40 pm
“The private sector only needs 20-30% of it’s work force to be college educated.” – Says who ? Citation desperately needed.
” If you undermine public education enough, then those who can afford private education will get to keep those postions in the hands of their offspring.” – Private education is not chock-a-block with do nothing former teachers that got promoted.
” That seems to be the plan of the ruling class here in GA.”- Kook fringe conspiracy nonsense. Names please, or pipe down.
“The only barrier is that most of the excellent teachers are in the public schools.”- Before you get too full of thyself, there are literally THOUSANDS of people that have never set foot in a college of education doing outstanding work teaching- They are called Homeschoolers. You may be a tad less irreplaceable than you think.
“We must undermine those resources in order to stop top public school students from crushing the private school kids.” Conspiracy Kook nonsense to the power of 2.
KIM
February 11th, 2013
1:41 pm
@10:10 am and Thurstson Howell IV–go thank a teacher today for what he/she does on a regular basis. Thank that one and as many others as you can that you read and live in a world where informed people ensure our country stays free so you can post these ignorant comments.
As for the principal at Sonoraville Elem…your tornado drills have served you well. And your staff was as well trained as it could be. Your community also has something schools can’t teach: heart. I think we would find that true almost everywhere, but Thank God most of us are not put to the test. Glad you all are safe.
Another comment
February 11th, 2013
1:50 pm
Obviously, most of you have never gone to school in a union state. I will tell you that the quality of teachers is 100% better than in Georgia. Why, you have professionals, who know that they will earn a middle class wage, with good benefits and decent working conditions. You also mostly have small one high school districts, in each township. You don’t have the traveling superintendents and the corrupt politicians medling either. The union won’t allow it. Why do you thing so many of us educated Yankee’s have been brought down here as the best and brightest out of College or Graduate School.
I was even hired by an old line Georgia Company. Yes they crossed the Mason Dixon Line to hire employees. They paid the moving expenses to bring me down here. They had to have some employees that could do the estimates that made them money. The ones done by their Southern employees had them $80K in the hole at the start of the job, I had them making $3,000,000 at the end of the job. I knew how to do math and cost accounting on a job.
Private Citizen
February 11th, 2013
1:53 pm
Astropig, After 35 years in the classroom and two State of New York Teacher of the Year Awards, John Taylor Gatto said the reason schooling is in the shape it is is because that is exactly how they (big power) want it. There is no coincidence or “maybe” or what-have-you.
I certainly support your frontier solution of home schooling, but in abandoning the system, we lose what could be benefits of coordination. Not every home school situation is competent. My neighbor does periodic home schooling, meaning the student spends a lot of time outdoors on a 4 wheeler and a lot of time on computer doing chats with a peer group on “cool stuff?” Neighbor is absolutely anything but learned, no one in his family has ever gotten near a college, and he is probably 2 grade levels or more behind his at-grade-level peers. I knew a guy in another state who was home schooled. He said his mother was crazy and he hated it. In other words, it is not a simple matter and when high minded metroplex folk advocate for home schooling, well, good for you.
Seems few in the US are willing to take responsibility for the political condition of their country. Everybody’s got an out or a reason to ignore or continue the status. The do-it-yourselfers are doing it themselves, those on the take are happy to be removed from the riff-raff. Somebody said about when the only new construction is government buildings and everything else is in a shambles.
Prof
February 11th, 2013
1:59 pm
@ Wondering, 11:23 am. You asked about HB 263, and legislature changing retirement benefits for teachers and state employees. I went to the TRS website, http://www.trsga.com, and under “Legislation,” it stated:
“The 2013 Georgia General Assembly will convene on January 14, 2013, and is the first year of the two-year (2013 – 2014) biennium session. Retirement legislation introduced, but not acted on, during previous sessions is no longer valid.
Retirement legislation that has a fiscal impact can only be introduced during the 1st year of a two-year session and can only be acted on during the 2nd year. Therefore, the earliest date that a fiscal piece of legislation introduced during the 2013 session can become effective is July 1, 2014.”
So I guess we’re safe for now.
Astropig
February 11th, 2013
2:00 pm
“two State of New York Teacher of the Year Awards, John Taylor Gatto said the reason schooling is in the shape it is is because that is exactly how they (big power) want it. There is no coincidence or “maybe” or what-have-you.”
More conspiracy kook drivel. In fact, it’s worse than drivel. It’s…Religion! You have this “faith” in something that you cannot prove, and you have someone who has stature and notoriety assuring you of this (John Taylor Gatto) and you swallow it whole. It’s an article of “faith” with you. You’re no better than the holy roller,refried Jesus wheezers that you make fun of every day.
KIM
February 11th, 2013
2:00 pm
Some bloggers generalize and make broad brush strokes:i.e. saying union states have better teachers. There is NO, aboslutely no, empirical data to support that statement. Georgia teachers have a mix, just like union states do. Some are true teacher leaders, others are not. On an educator exchange one time to Buffalo, NY I entered a school to hear the unionized teachers talk about their soft strike: entering a second before the contracted time, leaving a second after the contracted time and doing nothing, nothing after hours. Interesting. Some were creative and happy to do their work, while others were a miserable lot, asking if we were hiring “down here in the south.” Good ole’ Georgia. Actually, some of our districts are so well thought of (Gwinnett, Fayette, Forsyth) most professionals in other states would love to work here. And as for companies hiring north of the Mason Dixon line…well, isn’t it interesting we actually have good old’ southern young folks from UGA, GA. Tech, Mercer, Valdosta, etc. getting hired in northern states…can you imagine??? We actually do go up there and wear shoes and use computers and even people skills! Wow!
Captain Kirk
February 11th, 2013
2:06 pm
“Obviously, most of you have never gone to school in a union state. I will tell you that the quality of teachers is 100% better than in Georgia. Why, you have professionals, who know that they will earn a middle class wage, with good benefits and decent working conditions. You also mostly have small one high school districts, in each township. You don’t have the traveling superintendents and the corrupt politicians medling either. The union won’t allow it. Why do you thing so many of us educated Yankee’s have been brought down here as the best and brightest out of College or Graduate School. ”
Funniest post I’ve read today. Keep ‘em coming.
Google "NEA" and "union"
February 11th, 2013
2:10 pm
For the record, the GAE (Georgia Association of Educators) is the NEA in Georgia. In other words, they are in charge of funneling Georgia money to Democrats and the liberal left. Google “NEA” and “donations” for details.
Chicago and Washington D.C. are two of the most unionized cities for teachers—and they score lowest in education results using nearly any yardstick.
Prof
February 11th, 2013
2:36 pm
@Wondering. As a follow-up, HB 263 relates to health insurance coverage after retirement, and provides that the retiree pays the entire premium.
”First Reader Summary
A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Subpart 1 of Part 6 of Article 17 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the O.C.G.A., relating to school personnel post-employment health benefit fund, so as to provide that any person who becomes eligible to participate in such fund on or after July 1, 2013, shall pay a premium which reflects the entire cost of such coverage; to prohibit the expenditure of public funds to subsidize the cost of health care; to provide for persons currently eligible; to amend Part 2 of Article 1 of Chapter 18 of Title 45 of the O.C.G.A., relating to the state employees post-employment health benefit fund, so as to provide that any person who becomes eligible to participate in such fund on or after July 1, 2013, shall pay a premium which reflects the entire cost of such coverage; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.”
So it’s just been introduced and is making its way through committees. The legislators are cagy. This bill provides that it applies to those retiring after July 1, 2013, although the bill itself cannot be acted upon until July 1, 2014. So educators can retire through June 30, 2013, and still have part of their health insurance benefits covered, I gather.
The TRS website is a good place to keep track of the progress of the latest retirement legislation, whether or not you’re a member of TRS.
Home-tutoring parent
February 11th, 2013
2:42 pm
Maureen, the replies here are indicative that you may be right in saying “Everyone seems to have an answer but no one can present a viable solution.”
I think I opined, in an earlier thread ca. 3-4 weeks ago, “There may be no solution.” I wasn’t smart enough to figure out a solution for other people’s kids. I didn’t know if I was smart enough to figure out one for my own, and I still don’t know, but they were my kids.
Kudos to the Sonoraville staff who stayed with the kids. (The ACLU will not sue the teacher who led her kids in prayer, thankfully.)
Maude
February 11th, 2013
2:48 pm
From what I read the staff at Sonoraville did what thousands of educators would have done in the same situation. They did their job! Why is this news? Why do people on this blog seem to find it hard to believe that a group of educators would do their duty??
Wondering
February 11th, 2013
2:53 pm
Prof: However, it goes into effect for all people not retired by June 30, 2013. We may be safe now but how about then?
Since Georgia doesn’t have teacher’s unions, these arguements are mostly academic. However, see http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02685219?LI=true and others. Militant teachers unions are considered by far the biggest negative influence on SAT scores and other measures of academic achievement. Of course Georgia was never successful enough to have fallen.
Even Harvard (not a right wing think tank) studied the negative impact of teachers unions and concluded their impacts were negative on the students. http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/111/3/671.short.
In Georgia we simply rely on due process for teacher protection. There is no union.
jarvis
February 11th, 2013
2:56 pm
@bootney, Muliple refineries have been taken off line for maintenance and Summer preperation. Hopefully we’ll see some relief soon as they come back on line. Similiar trend (but not quite as expensive) happened last year.
I think we actually saw a little relief in May or June if memory serves
bootney farnsworth
February 11th, 2013
3:17 pm
@ jarvis,
thanks. be nice if they could figure out some kind of rotation so we don’t get stuck every year
Jerry Eads
February 11th, 2013
3:20 pm
Hi clutch – glad to see another neanderthal knee-jerker on board — – - you contribute so much -
bootney farnsworth
February 11th, 2013
3:20 pm
@ clutch
I’m just trying to sort out your bona fides to comment with anything resembling authority.
you didn’t/couldn’t answer a simple question, and in not doing so actually answered after all.
Home-tutoring parent
February 11th, 2013
3:21 pm
Astropig, you probably aren’t smart enough to understand John Taylor Gatto.
For example, my grandma went to a private expensive women’s college, flunked out. Her parents “re-channeled” her to a public “normal school”. She taught in a proverbial rural “little red schoolhouse” in the Roaring Twenties. Most of her grammar school alumni went to work on their farms, a few went to high school.
My grandma wrote letters that were grammatically perfect, and her handwriting was “wow!” impeccable. She could do perfect checkbook balancing, and household-expense budgeting. She couldn’t do Algebra II or geometry, and certainly not calculus.
My great uncle was a high school teacher, who could “do the math”. He went to an Oxford-descended American University, an institution that was named to the Association of American Universities before 1908.
Tech made AAU in 2010. UGA has never made it.
No Georgia regional-state-university (the predominant Georgia teacher-training institutions) is a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.
Public schools perform services. If some of you want your kids to attend scholarship-tradition colleges, you need to determine if your kids’ teachers attended AAU/ PBK-chapter universities. In a modern world, where these things matter, who teaches your kids matters.
bootney farnsworth
February 11th, 2013
3:22 pm
@ clutch
you did know teachers unions are specifically forbidden by state law.
which is probably a violation of 1st amendment rights – if that matters top you.
bootney farnsworth
February 11th, 2013
3:29 pm
@ home
in fairness to UGA, they have made huge strides in cleaning up their academic act and have become a very competitive, very academically successful school.
getting AAU status is profoundly hard. consider how long it took Tech. give them time, they’ll get there.
Prof
February 11th, 2013
3:36 pm
@ Wondering. Well, if you haven’t retired by June 30, 2013, I assume the bill goes into effect for you…if it manages to get passed by both the House and the Senate. But I REALLY suggest that you ask your HR department about this. They should be keeping up-to-date, for it will be a significant change.
State employees have a different state retirement plan from public school educators and USG employees (Teachers Retirement System); and all have various health insurance packages. My own USG school has its own post-retirement health insurance coverage as a “perk” for its own employees, that other USG schools do not.
But do ask your own HR, especially if this would determine whether you retire before or after June 30, 2013.
Just Sayin
February 11th, 2013
3:40 pm
I’m sorry but to the people yelling about homeschool I have news for you. All those homeschoolers aren’t as brilliant as you think. I homeschool my daughter and let me tell you that many of the kids parents exaggerate about what they can really do.I know cause I have met and interacted with MANY of them. Also, there has been a trend of late of home schooling parents being more relaxed in their curriculums. This is resulting in the kids not being as prepared as homeschoolers were in the past. It has been discussed in a lot of the coops and other homeschool blogs. The movement is towards unschooling. There are a lot of problems in the homeschooling arena that are never put on public display (abuse, depression, even apathy). There is also the new problem of the kids rebelling against values and teachings of homeschooling. Just because someone is homeschooling doesn’ t mean they are doing a good job. It also doesn’t mean their family is a happy one. It takes work. Homeschooling is great and provides excellent results when done right. What I am seeing is more and more parents moving towards what’s convenient.
Mikey D.
February 11th, 2013
3:42 pm
Gotta love how every blog entry here, regardless of the topic, gets hijacked by the “unions are evil” crowd…
Brasstown
February 11th, 2013
3:52 pm
Astro,
A reference?! Are you kidding? With all of the crap that is spouted here you want a reference on one of the oldest stats. out there? Look it up yourself. You apparently have alot to learn about what skill sets are needed in the private sector.
My ideas are “Kook Fringe” but then you go on to tout home schoolers. We did that for about a year in some unusual circumstances and went to a local home-schoolers meeting in Gainesville. Wow! There are a few wonderful, well-meaning people going that route. Glad they have that right. However, it also is a group that has many members that fit in with the doomsday prep crowd. So be careful throwing around the word Kook until you look at the group you run with.
Here’s something you’re probably also not aware of. The private school and public school teachers are not really discrete sets. Many travel back and forth from one to the other. There are a few exceptions usually those not trained in schools of education. Few of those last very long. Generally, public schools pay better and so attract the top teachers. So why would anyone chose to teach in private schools? Could be several reasons: Religous reasons, classroom management problems, well off spouse, couldn’t pass state exams, smaller class size, to get their own kids out of public education (reduced tuition), more freedom to teach a curriculum of their choosing, etc.
Oh and Pig, I’m not a teacher. So, I wasn’t bragging on myself. Got one more tip for you. Your home schooler will likely spike very high on different areas of their testing. They will score very low in other areas. These peaks and valleys will likley track along side of your own strenghts and weaknesses. A source you ask? I got this from testing information data of homeschoolers that were applying for admission in a private school.
Prof
February 11th, 2013
3:52 pm
@ Home-tutoring parent. Your ideas about education, whether K-12 or higher, are certainly antiquated. If your grandmother was teaching in the 1920s, you must be at least in your 70s or 80s… not a home schooler for quite a while.
Oh, and UGA has a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.
Home-tutoring parent
February 11th, 2013
4:08 pm
bootney, UGA is making progress. Keep it up!
Home-tutoring parent
February 11th, 2013
4:32 pm
Prof, I re-read my post. I didn’t say UGA didn’t have a PBK chapter. I knew it had. of course. I only mentioned Georgia regional teaching colleges, cum state universities’ not having PBK.
Rare originally state normal schools,such as LA Normal School now UCLA, and James Madison U have made PBK. Your school “university” didn’t make PBK. Whine about it all you want about why they didn’t recognize your second-rate mediocrity as being worthy of admission.
But UGA is not an Association of American Universities member.
Private Citizen
February 11th, 2013
4:48 pm
With current economic conditions, surely the state will follow-through with removing health insurance supplementing from TRS.
Private Citizen
February 11th, 2013
5:08 pm
Allowing for topic drift, here’s a commentary from the service man who killed bin Laden (referring to Esquire magazine interview):
“Esquire reveals how, despite being riddled with scar tissue, arthritis, tendonitis, eye damage, and blown disks, the shooter has even been denied health insurance by his country.
“My health care for me and my family stopped at midnight Friday night,” the shooter said in the days after leaving service. “I asked if there was some transition from my Tricare to Blue Cross Blue Shield. They said no. You’re out of the service, your coverage is over. Thanks for your sixteen years. Go f- yourself.”
http://www.news.com.au/news/the-man-who-killed-osama-bin-laden/story-fnejlrpu-1226575893020
Prof
February 11th, 2013
5:21 pm
@ Home-tutoring Parent. How do you know what “my” university is? And Georgia does not now have “regional teaching colleges.”
What is your educational expertise or teaching experience that permits you to make such sweeping judgments about the worth of teachers and the ranking of universities? Whether or not an institution of higher education was originally a “state normal school” for teachers in the 19th century is about as irrelevant as it comes.
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming...
February 11th, 2013
5:49 pm
Even in a postive story about good works, the negative Nellys come out to play…. One wonders, do they have nothing better to do?
I myself say thank you to the good folks of Sonoraville Elementary. Thank you for doing what you could to keep your students safe and make them feel secure in the midst of a difficult time. I am sure the parents of your community appreciate it.
Astropig
February 11th, 2013
10:23 pm
@Brasstown
So…You just make stuff up that fits your fringe worldview, yell it loud enough and it becomes fact?
Paint everybody that you disagree with in broad-stroke stereotype and then pronounce yourself enlightened?
I think I see the problem here…
Home-tutoring parent
February 12th, 2013
1:33 am
Prof, of course Georgia still has regional state universities. Their majority of students live within a 100-150 mile radius.
I don’t know where you went to college, that’s true. You don’t know where I went to college, that’s true.
Mine was a university that joined AAU in 1900, that’s true.. Check your university’s AAU election year.
Home-tutoring parent
February 12th, 2013
1:59 am
Prof, old state “normal schools” are very relevant today. Originally schools for 13-14 y/o 8th-grade grammar school graduates, they became, after WWII, multifaceted universities. The vast majority of them today are not allowed to confer PhD’s, operate law schools, operate med schools, operate dental schools, and none operates a DVM program.
The vast majority of originally normal schools today have sub-1050 SAT M + CR or sub 23 ACT mean score first-year-student matriculants. If you’re teaching at one of these universities, you probably started out teaching remedial high school subjects. Now, you don’t have to because you’re a senior, tenured, professor, so newbie assistant professors have this role.
Home-tutoring parent
February 12th, 2013
2:20 am
Prof, old state “normal schols” are relevant, because in my “old” era, they had <500k bound-volume libraries with <10k research-journal subscriptions, today, with internet, they have more, but you still can't go to the stacks and dig up a century-old journal article.
Of course I went to every stack I could find, including Harvard, Berkeley, UC Irvine. For biomed stuff, UCSF and UCLA and UCSD Scripps were science-report treasure chests
Personally, I think the Google fellows have a great idea: Put the Library of Congress online. Fugg the publishers, authors want to get their ideas out.
Home-tutoring parent
February 12th, 2013
2:32 am
Just Sayin.
“All those homeschoolers aren’t as brilliant as you think.”
Tis true. But we loved having our kids at home, not being pummeled by misguided stupid people, who didn’t even know they were selected and groomed to be other people’s chlldren’s teachers because they were dullards.
Home-tutoring parent
February 12th, 2013
2:42 am
My perhaps-best experiences as a young adult, were roaming the library stacks. Berkeley, UC San Diego, particularly Scripps, UC Iirvine, Harvard, they were all fantastic. Talk about discovering treasure troves.
Segursky
February 12th, 2013
5:57 am
I wish I could say that I am shocked by the cynics who have responded to Dr Anderson’s comments about how her faculty handled the events on January 30, but sadly I am not.
As the mother of two Sonoraville Elementary students, I applaud the teachers and administrators who took care of the students that day. There was a vast amount of destruction that occurred less that one mile from the school and many parents were unable to pick up their children for several hours after the tornado touched down. I was one of those parents- I took me well over three hours to get to my children when I was just 10 miles away from their building. My comfort was knowing my children were surrounded by people who would take care of them and make them feel safe.
Until you walk in the shoes of an educator, you have no idea what it takes for them to “just do their job”.
Pride and Joy
February 12th, 2013
6:46 am
RE: “They take kids as they are and refuse to allow them to fail.”
Um…kids do fail and they do it it alarming numbers and in Georgia 33% of all kids fail to even graduate from high school.
I understand there are some good teachers, even in dekalb and in APS. My personal experience is that 25% of the teachers in my very personal experience are good teachers. 75% are not.
While I understand the author’s point that some teachers are good teachers, when the writer makes the sweeping statement that teachers “refuse to allow them to fail…” the author loses all credibility. The piece becomes just another “woe is me I am a teacher” complaining diatribe that paints teachers are martyrs.
It just isn’t true.
And the other truth is that the more we read the seemingly endless ‘woe is me I am a teacher” pieces the more I as a parent am just tired of hearing it.
Kids ARE ALLOWED to fail and teachers ARE NOT martyrs.
And when teachers complain on a public blog to all of their stakeholders (we the tax payers and parents) the less we are inclined to listen…or care.
Lee
February 12th, 2013
7:50 am
“…the use of public schools as instruments of social experimentation and reform,…”
Probably the #1 reason schools are in such disarray, IMHO.
Brown vs. Board, forced integration, forced bussing, IDEA, equal outcomes, don’t paddle kids, pass them from grade to grade even though they cannot do the work, grade inflation, ad infinitum.
At some point, schools are going to have to get back to the basics.
Segursky
February 12th, 2013
8:22 am
I wish I could say that I am suprised by the cynics who have commented on what Dr. Anderson had to say about the response of her staff to the events of January 30, but sadly, I am not.
As a parent of two students at Sonoraville Elementary School, I applaud the efforts of the faculty and staff. In a time of chaos, they remained calm and kept children safe. The destruction of the tornado left a twenty mile path that came within one mile of the school. Although these teachers did not know how their own homes or family members had been affected, they focused on the children in front of them. It took many parents several hours to pick up their children from school due to the abundance of road closures. Although I was only 10 minutes away from their school, it took me more than 3 hours to get to my children and every road I traveled revealed more of the devstation that swept our community. My only comfort was knowing that my children were surrounded by people who would keep them safe and comfort them. Some of you say they were just doing their job, but I’d have to argue that on January 30, those teachers went above and beyond their duties as a teacher.
Until you walk in the life of an educator, you have no idea what it takes from them to “just do their job”.
Dianne
February 12th, 2013
9:28 am
I, too, am proud of the job done by the teachers and staff at Sonoraville Elementary during the tornado. I have 2 grandsons who attend this school and my daughter is a teacher in the High School nearby. It was truly a time of heroism, and as mentioned by the blogger, a quote attributed to John Wayne, “courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.” This was not a time to think of what would be “politically correct”, but a time to consider the immediate needs and protection of mankind’s most precious commodity, its children. I don’t like to think that it would take a disaster such as this to remind us of the how much we owe to our teachers. To the vast majority, I think and hope, teaching is a calling. It certainly isn’t because of the wonderful paycheck! Whenever something comes up in our legislature, state or national, that would cut the pay of teachers in lieu of another “important” project, I would like to remind legislators…is there REALLY something more important to us than a good teacher?? These women and men hold the future of our country in their hands and we all should support them at every turn! Do we celebrate a National School Teacher’s Day? If we don’t we SHOULD!
Prof
February 12th, 2013
10:41 am
@ Home-tutoring Parent.
FYI. I received my doctorate from a university that joined the AAU in 1908. I said that there aren’t regional teaching colleges today not regional universities, which would be a ridiculous claim to make. Teaching colleges are now part of our universities.
I don’t know why you’re so fixated on universities that were originally normal schools, for you’ve stated on several blog-threads that teachers with degrees from such schools are third-rate. I can’t think of any Georgia universities that “are not allowed to confer PhD’s, operate law schools, operate med schools, operate dental schools, [or] operate a DVM program.”
One goes to school to get a degree so that one can then accomplish something: the school is merely the preparation for the rest of your life. After you got your degree (B.A.? M.A.? Ph.D.?), what did you accomplish afterwards in the field of education that qualifies you to evaluate educators and schools as you do constantly on this blog?
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming...
February 13th, 2013
6:22 pm
@ Pride and Joy “My personal experience is that 25% of the teachers in my very personal experience are good teachers. 75% are not.”
I have to wonder what school your children had the misfortune to attend! I spent time is a very difficult inner-city school. It was known as one of the worst – gunfire drills, barbed wire around the playground, toxic soil contaminated by chemicals, gang fights at recess, parents punching each other in the parking lot, investigated for school wide cheating scandal, teachers assaulted and hospitalized, drug sales on the corner, weapons found in the lockers, etc.. Still, I would still have estimated the percentage of good to poor teachers at 50% good and 50% poor – and that in a state with tenure! I have heard you complain frequently about a particular teacher who could not speak with proper grammar, but you seem to have encountered a plethora of problematic teachers. If that is the case, I can understand your frustration, but having worked in numerous schools, districts and states, I find it hard to imagine that only one out of every 4 teachers your child had were any good. What made the “good” teachers different? What did they do that you appreciated?
Was that one school or was it a system wide problem? Were the parents working together to address the problems? Was there any recourse for you through the system? Would you work for a parent trigger for that school if given an option?
I guess having never encountered a school that was that badly run, I find it hard to imagine, especially since you say you pay $10,000 a year in property tax! I would have thought an area with that high a property tax base would have better schools?
Is that a situation that is unique to Atlanta?
Have other posters encountered the same issues?