Where are the voices of teachers in DeKalb mess? Here is one and he’s not holding back.

AMEN! Not much else to say to this one. Thank you to this teacher!

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I Love This TEACHER! WOW!….. BRAVO!…BRAVO! Excellent! Well Said! There is HOPE!

The WOLVES are definitely Circling Around ALL of US, BAYING and GNASHING their TEETH! For All to See!

They Do NOT CARE About The Children! They are only PRETENDING TOO!

Many of Us are Blindly following in agreement and without demanding accountability!

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I find it interesting that Schall has managed on thing. both the left and right of center had problems with his comments

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simple answer: teaching is a calling, not a profession. think mother Teresa with a chalkboard.

you don’t abandon those who need you the most when the ship is sinking. you starting bailing and hope others will follow the example

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And this is why I quit. 16 years wasted.

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@ serf

this is why I have long called for education administrators to have required years of actual in class experience before hitting the corporate ladder. and a requirement to teach a min of one course a year.

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If unions are “inevitable,” why do less than 9 percent of workers in the private sector choose to join unions?

Fifty years ago, that figure was 35 percent.

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I feel sorry for this teacher. While courageous to write this letter, it does not highlight the reasons why teachers are feeling disenfranchised. There is a lot of NEA rhetoric in here, and that unfortunately makes this letter feel more like a rant you’d find on one of Diane Ravitch’s blogs than a letter that can truly be taken seriously. The problems in public education have to do with the “system” and how it is outdated. The way we test is flawed and not constructive. There will always need to be formative assessment, and test scores need to be a part of, albeit a SMALL part of, the accountability equation. There is so much I want to say here (I feel for this person), but I will reserve that for my own blog – there is no simple answer that will satisfy this teacher’s grievances.

I do not agree when this teacher says that public education is being further privatized. What we see happening in public education is no different to most other government funded programs (e.g., AMTRAK, USPS) which are all in financial disarray. The system doesn’t work, and all stakeholders need to collaborate on the solution. But self interest groups on both sides are preventing favorable reforms from taking place. Teachers DO need to be part of the solution, but by aligning themselves with organizations such as the NEA, this ed reformer feels they are doing themselves more harm than good. Teachers are critical to a child’s success, but they need to be trained and evaluated appropriately.

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what state has the highest growth in union membership? Georgia.

and society swings wildly from generation to generation.
50 years ago soldiers were called baby killers. today we call them heros.
50 years ago teaching was considered a respected profession.
50 years ago we could paddle, suspend, or expel unruly and dangerous children

but thanks for the plug for the importance of social sciences in school.

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@ outdated

while I tend to agree overall, I understand the desire for aligning with NEA and such. when you are constantly abused by management and criticized by a willfully ignorant public, its natural to seek allies and shelter.

despite my feeling a teachers union is only a few elections away, I don’t want one myself. what I DO want is a genuinely independent advocate for faculty/staff who has the power to put breaks on abuses.

during the failing days of the Tricoli experience, I knew of faculty who went to the BOR and the GEA with documented issues only to be told, in essence, so what?

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@ atlmom

of course someone has to be in charge. just be careful who you give the keys to.

everyone has school choice. to say it is a province only of the wealthy is total and rank BS. choice often requires parental sacrifice of things like new cars and vacations, tats and bling.

those parents ARE engaging in school choice – and choosing themselves

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@ atlmom

then you get what you pay for. or more accurately voted for. if voters/parents can’t be bothered to be involved in their local schools and local school boards…..

you broke it, you bought it

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We’ve raised a generation of students to believe that they can’t be left behind because if they fail it’s their teacher’s fault. They’ve come to expect make up work even when they’ve slept through class and more than likely they’ll get it because their teachers will be judged by their failure rate. Students believe that they can “multi-task” so texting and web surfing during instruction is no big deal and as far as I can tell their parents agree. And since, with few exceptions, failing standardized tests will not cause them to fail the class, why should they care enough to actually read the test and make an honest attempt to increase their score? The minute school failure became the total responsibility of the teacher public education’s demise was set in motion. Nothing will change for the better UNTIL the students and their parents share equal responsibility for their academic progress. Teaching is the only profession where outsiders with no classroom experience make all the rules, earn the most money and keep their six-figure positions as long as the ones doing the work are perceived as failures. I began teaching on January 2, 1975 and May 31,2013 is my retirement date. I never thought I’d be counting the days until my departure so early in the year.

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My youngest daughter taught me one thing. Education should be about teaching people “HOW TO LEARN”. She went to college with no idea of what she wanted to do in life-took classes she was interested in, and classes that she enjoyed. Her degree happened because of her interest in one area and in her desire. Schools have probably forgotten that concept and instead concentrate in test scores and in showing off their scores. Much of DeKalb County, and Georgia is overly concerned with test scores. Let’s concentrate on learning.

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I liked this letter!

I began teaching in1973. I was a baby– had turned 21 the week before. But what I had was respect– from the principal, the superintendent, parents, and students. A combination you rarely find in public K-12 nowadays. I feel sorry for teachers just starting out. They truly don’t know what they have missed.

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The writer shares a few code words like “profit” and slams business and parents in general but has no effective prescription for fixing anything but to leave him alone and give him more money.

This taxpayer is done with giving education more money until it’s accountable and responsive to the taxpayers and the parents. There is a sea change brewing among taxpayers who are going to see change in how their money is spent.

Of course we should treat teachers with respect. However, don’t you ever get confused about who is most vested in what is good for my child. I AM. NOT YOU. I respect your professionalism and your skill but I am not going to abdicate my responsibility and my rights to you. If you are an inadequate teacher you should be prepared to hear about it. I have sat through my last arrogant, condescending parent teacher meeting trying to be polite to a would be professional that I would not hire on a bet.

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Why is the name of all that is holy is Kendra March still around? She should have followed Cheryl Atkinson out the door.

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Sorry that should have been “Why in the name”…

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This article makes many excellent points but I would like to highlight a few issues:

“I know virtually no teachers who think this would ever turn out well. If you think there was cheating on the high-stakes tests before (which includes the suggested model StudentsFirst organization by Ms. Rhee), wait until you tie a paycheck to some ridiculous exam written by a for-profit organization.” Absolutely! Most people regardless of the profession when threated with their job will feel coerced (i.e. the cheating scandal and APS). In addition, the education received will simply be reduced to testing drills all day everyday (is this the desired result?)

“Instead of working with teachers to help the students, parents have been empowered to believe that they know education better than the educator. And why wouldn’t they think that? It’s obvious that everyone thinks they can do a better job than teachers.” I think no one is more guilty of this mentality than the Georgia legislatures followed by Bill Gates in second place and Michelle Rhee in third place.

“It’s because the powers-that-be have not been focusing on student success and teacher protection – they’ve been running this district like a business complete with golden parachutes, missing monies and top-heavy management.” Absolutely! The millions of dollars do not trickle down to the students and teachers! The percentage of the millions of dollars that actually affects the classroom is so minimal. The mismanagement of funding by the school board and county office is appalling! The mere fact that superintendents make well over a quarter of a million dollars in salary, bonuses and other perks each year speaks volumes, especially considering that actual work done in that position.

“Because my days are spent producing worthless charts and graphs for my “data notebook” so that my countless supervisors can justify their own jobs by showing that I’m not doing mine right yet.” Amen! The people in supervisory positions (superintendents, county office staff, administers) usually begin at the $85,000 to $125,000 salary range each year. These people are in only concerned with self-preservation with no regard for “what’s best for children”. I have observed that they will not risk losing their income, thus, they become part of the status quo.

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Correction- Georgia Legislators

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Correction- Administrators

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I commend the teacher for writing this letter. More teachers need to speak out. The teaching conditions were reprehensible. You cannot have good learning conditions until you first have good teaching conditions. This is MACE’s Law of Teaching. It’s like other laws (principles of action) like the Law of Gravity. You cannot ignore this law of teaching but only to the peril of the students and the school system.

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Teaching is definitely becoming more difficult each year. The stress is getting to me at my elderly age.

However, as educators we do produce a product when is educating students. It is important that this is measured and it is important that comparisons are made to continue to make improvements in what we do. There is no perfect system in the evaluation process and I also see problems to come if teachers are paid on performance.

I believe DeKalb County is lacking the right data collection systems in order to collect data by subject and different standards. I think that was one of the problems SACs indentified. Due to lack of the appropriate data collection system electronically this has causes the teachers in DeKalb a great deal more work which is an administrative issue that hurts the teachers.

I disagree in the fact that as teachers we absolutely do need some accountibility and I am in support of bonuses based on performance of achievement of the students. However, there are some gray areas in this processs. The upper level teachers of high performing students will alway do well while the lower performing students teachers will have a harder time getting those bonuses. However,there are some measurement systems out there which take this type of information into consideration.

I do believe that there will be changes coming in the DeKalb County School System. I am so optimistic for the changes that I see in the future. I am excited for the change in the school board. I am just sorry that a few school board members who sincerely were doing the right thing are caught in the middle of this process and probable will not be re-instated. If the governor were to re-instate any one of these individuals it would become a bigger problem so I do not believe it will happen.

I would like to see everyone in the county support Mr. Thurman and the new board (whomever they might be) and work together as a community to improve the DeKalb County School System. The interest is there so I hope the community will get involved.

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Dr. Trotter, what does MACE do that NEA does not do?

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I can see why Dr. Schall would not respond to the post articulated of Dr. Trotter. People have forgotten how civil discourse works. I found the note to be absolutely reckless and hostile, just like all of the people who post on Diane Ravitch’s blog, or blog’s that the NEPC promotes (e.g., Bruce Baker, Edshyster, Paul Thomas, etc.). They do not dignify a response because they are heartless, personal attacks. Folks need to try and take the emotion out their rebuttals if you want them to have the effect you desire.

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Ella, We protect and empower classroom educators…one member at a time. We don’t claim to do anything else, and we are darn good at what we do. We don’t offer spelling bee contests for students, tote bags for new teachers, or waste our time lobbying at the Capitol for lower class sizes. We take care of the individual teachers…one member at a time.

Ella, I don’t know how these educrats and politicians can fathom that mistreating teachers will not have detrimental impact on the students. They are operating upon a terrible theoretical basis. But, I just think that they don’t care. It’s like my friend from the Invisible Serfs Collar blog said earlier, the “for profit” part of public education is in the Central Office salaries. Why should any superintendent make three to four times as much money as the Governor? Something has gone awry.

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@ “living outside”: I wasn’t expected a response from Mr. or Dr. Schall. No, I never even thought of that. What could he say? He was just plain wrong.

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@ Ella @ 4:27

The answer to your question is nothing. Dr. Trotter tried (and failed) to stack the Clayton County BOE with his MACE lackys, Noressee Haynes, in hopes it would gain him some sort of political clout. He failed. The only reason Dr. Trotter writes in these blogs is to remain relevant. He, once again, is failing.

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NEA has Republican members – yes, believe it or not – a whole Republican caucus. Here’s the problem with the current Republican Party and why they don’t get a lot of endorsements from NEA – too many Republicans are allied with ALEC which seems to have a goal of destroying public education. It’s hard to endorse someone who believes the complete opposite of what you believe. How many Democrats are getting NRA endorsements?

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Dr. Trotter, I guess I need to be a member MACE as I definitely do believe in empowering teachers to do their job.

I would agree that this is a major problem as a teacher of 34 years. I am less and less empowered to teach. I believe way too much money is spent on the county level and not enough in the classroom. However, having taught in DeKalb and leaving I do believe the problem is significantly worse in DeKalb regarding money getting to the classroom to empower the teachers.

However, we did disagree on the constitutionality of removing the school board members of DeKalb. I see the education of students as a state responsibility which was given to school boards, but not without supervision from the state. When the school board does not do what is best for the students I do nto think it is unconstitutional to remove them. We can agree to disagree and not dislike each other over it. I do respect your opinion.

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Joseph.. “Much of DeKalb County, and Georgia is overly concerned with test scores. Let’s concentrate on learning”
_________________________________________________
I am afraid this is not what all the posts have concentrated on recently They have mainly torn the Schoo Board members apart for very little to do with what has happened to LEARNING in the classrooms !! The teacher’s letter says it all ………
“That’s what I learned as a student before we traded learning for testing – to think critically and creatively.”

But , then again this is GEORGIA …so now Deal will call the shots !!

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all the back and forth discussion is fine, but ultimately i agree with everything the anonymous teacher said. and his/her fear of retalliation is all too real. no one is speaking or working for the teachers. what i would’t give to not have to spend 3+ hours a week in “common planning” which amounts to very little. then i have to scrounge to find the time to grade papers and plan lessons that i hope will help my students. too much time and money is spent on job justification and not in meeting student and teacher needs.

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“dougmo2″: Every political season, I try to get out of politics. But, I keep getting sucked back in! This past election, I limited myself to helping only three candidates…one sheriff candidate, one incumbent state representative, and one challenger to a school board chairman in South Georgia. My candidates all won amazingly by the same number…54% to 46%.

In Clayton, it is true that at one time, I looked on the school board and saw that of the nine school board members, I had had a part in recruiting six (6) and running their campaigns (black and white, by the way). Of these six, none included Norreese Haynes. (He was on a later school board.) Not all “nutted up,” but most did. I had quit even talking to them, and I, by the way, was the first person or institution to publicly call for their resignations — before the AJC, the Clayton News/Daily, the Chamber of Commerce, or CCEA.

I have helped many candidates (Commissioners, Commission Chairmen, Judges, States Legislators, Congressmen, et al.) run for office through the years. I won’t call names, and I know that many are now relieved. Ha! The school board races were usually the easiest to help someone win.

Now, let’s get to the other school board on which Mr. Haynes served. The Chairperson, Ericka Davis, and the two men who served as the Vice Chairpersons, Rod Johnson and Eddie White, boldly (and boastfully?) stated on the school system’s web site that they were GAE/NEA members. There was one of two other GAE/NEA members on that school board. So, so much for MACE stacking this board. This board, by the way, is the board in which the members either stepped down rather shamefully or were illegally removed by the Governor. (The law used to remove them was later declared unconstitutional.)

Thanks, Dourmo2, for your interest.

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Ella, We would welcome you with open arms.

@ Anonymous: MACE does not endorse any candidates…national, state, or local. We don’t presume to tell teachers how to vote. Plus, we couldn’t even agree at the MACE Office on candidates! Ha!

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South Georgia agrees with this teacher. Starting at the state leadership level, teachers are disrepected and ignored. The Guv and his minions want to give away tax money to every big corporation and increase tax credits for private schools through the SSOs. But there’s no consideration for funding public schools adequately, and as far as Atlanta is concerned, systems can go belly up and teachers can spend their own money for classroom supplies. The big boys under the dome fail to see the ultimate investment for economic growth is in public education, not tax credits for bigwigs.

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Thanks Dr. Trotter I will definitely look into it.

I look at things a little differently from many teachers. I am always a student advocate first and then I am a teacher/community advocate.

One of these days I will retire. I feel the time is getting closer after a year from y______.

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@anon – I fail to see how that rebuttal has anything to do with our conversation. If a parent wants to put his or her child in a private, parochial, or home school, he or she has that choice already. I’ve even stated on this blog in the past that I wouldn’t object to a person receiving a rebate on his or her property taxes for the schools to pay for that.

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Where are the “like” and “share” icons?

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I laugh at the comments about the evil big corporations taking over education. They already receive millions in consulting and management contracts yearly. If corporations can runs schools better for the same or lower price, let them have it.

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@Anonymous How can you support denying them that choice?

My comment had absolutely nothing to do with school choice. It had to do with the possible reasons a teacher might stay in a troublesome teaching situation for the sake of the students rather than bailing on them. Why do you insist upon focusing upon the issue of school choice when my reply had nothing to do with such? Do YOU have an agenda?

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@WilieJo I have sat through my last arrogant, condescending parent teacher meeting trying to be polite to a would be professional that I would not hire on a bet.

I sympathize. Your experience is not unlike that of a teacher who must sit through a conference with the occasional arrogant, condescending parent who refuses to listen to advice, who insists that all the problems their child is having are due to the teacher, who is angry that the teacher does not gush over how absolutely unique, special and precious their child is above all others, and who complains that their child “never had any problems in school before” when previous report cards and teachers’ notes all indicate an ongoing issue. It is hard to remain polite in the face of that as well.

I guess we just need to keep reminding ourselves that generally, both parties do have what is best for the child at heart, and that, as adults, we should be able to find common ground if both parties remain polite and respectful and agree to listen to each other.

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The person who compared public education to Amtrak and the USPS is making a very poor analogy. Those two institutions have been affected by changes in technology. There are many ways to travel across the country other than by train and, obviously, email has displaced snail mail as the main form of written communication. In addition, certain companies have been allowed to cherry pick the profitable portion of the USPS, sending packages, further impacting cash flow. There is no substitute, however, for educating the masses other than public schools. It is clear that there is a faction which would like to see public education moved to the prison managment model where private companies siphon off tax dollars. Privatization is like crack cocaine for governments. It sounds so good and financially prudent at first, but after the government has given up control and resources of some responsibility, the private companies have the government hooked.

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Teaching is teaching…but the day to day running of a school district has to be treated like a business with checks and balances on what and who is spending the taxpayers money. A school districts finances damn well better be treated no different than any private company when millions of dollars are at stake. The last thing that any teacher in GA needs to do is to join the NEA, which is nothing more than a front for the democratic party.

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Education is a business. It has balance sheets and income statements and cash flow statements just like the QT. It has a mission to educate children. It has a strategy about how that should be done, and it has customers with all kinds of dreams and aspirations.

QT sells gas. School districts educate children. We are not trying to turn a monetary profit, but we expect the people coming out to compete with the rest of the world. That is a serious business, and to the extent that is not happening, we can not afford to cuddle that system- we have to set it on fire to get the ground to build something else up.

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Amen,amen,amen. I’m a retired high school teacher (with a Ph.D. in my content area), and this gets to the heart of the problem better than anything else I’ve read. Politicians and others, including some educators (those at the top and not in the classroom) are dismantling public schools in America. And I’m afraid that they’re working on the colleges and universities now. Enough said. Amen to this person who isn’t signing his/her name. Keep writing.

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Blah blah blah. More hot air from another parasite trying to make sure he can keep feeding at the trough.

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“This teacher is responding to a recent DeKalb commentary on the blog by Oglethorpe University President Lawrence Schall” –Maureen Downey

Awesome response! Thank you, teacher. Thank you, Maureen.

Now, …

“We Need Schools… Not Factories” (22:32) [*1]
A TEDTalk by Sugata Mitra

Be sure to listen carefully starting at around the 13:55 minute point, when Mitra moves to intimate (1) encouragement allows learning to happen, (2) testing and performance thinking from The Machine Age [*2] prevent learning from happening, and (3) learning can emerge from self-organizing learning environments (SOLE).

Interestingly, SOLE is very much the essence of the acclaimed…

“Teaching with the World Peace Game” (20:28) [*3]
A TEDtalk by Public School Teacher John Hunter

It is encouraging to see Hunter’s and Mitra’s learning wisdom at play. Let’s hope theirs will catch on, especially within public school systems that limit themselves to being no better than “urban” — as Atlanta Public Schools does, for example – and that run every aspect of what they do as a dated, Machine Age business.
———————————
[*1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sugata-mitra/2013-ted-prize_b_2767598.html
[*2] http://preview.tinyurl.com/bzb8q3q
[*3] http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hunter_on_the_world_peace_game.html

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Behind Enemy Lines, I look forward to day you go to seek medical services and find you have an uncaring doctor who can not answer your questions are your discomfort is increasing and views you as a distracting burden they sure don’t need, for there are much easier and less demanding patients, ask any doctor. What goes around comes around and your lack of support for educators may yield you in a care facility where someone else really doesn’t care to read the labels on the bottles and has not been especially trained to do so during their formative years. When that day comes, recall your characterisation as unconnected, not-profiting, not “player,” teacher in the classroom as how you say, “a pig at a trough?” Well and good, well and good.

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ever increasing costs of property and liability insurance.

Should not governments be self-insured?

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This teacher should submit this response to “Rethinking Schools.” Sadly, in regards to this teacher’s commentary, I just don’t see how voices like this teacher’s can permeate the “run it like a business” mentality that is so firmly entrenched in the American psyche so that it becomes common sense. We are witnessing the writing of the school privatization metanarrative that will prove dangerous and disastrous for country’s children and ultimately for our country’s well-being. And lest we not forget that school privatization movements are really only taking hold in large, urban school systems populated predominantly with children of color. This is racialized; it is political; and it really is only about funneling public monies into private hands. And it’s all done in the absolute more insidious way under the most benevolent of pretenses–it’s for the children!

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the very simple reason education can’t be run like a business.

in a business (yes, I’ve run a few) you -the service provider- get to pick what you want to engage in, where you want to engage in it, and who you wish to market your services to. you can turn down
business you don’t want, and are only answerable to your vendors and your direct service clients.

when you can offer education that kind of work environment, get back to me.

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I still favor making school optional after the sixth grade

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Lee, I do not think you can call public education a business when the revenue comes from taxation with property and home seizure to back it up.

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public ed is as much as business as elmer fudd is a great hunter

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Amen, Teacher.

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Until sanity and common sense is permitted to be employed in the public schools the decline wil[ continue. When disruptive students in a classroom cannot be removed almost immediately all other students in that classroom are being penalized during their educational pursuits. Just one mention of a problem that causes at least ten or more other students to have their educational time with the teacher halted until the disruption ceases. Freedom of speech, action, and other democratic rights should not exist in the classroom as understood by most people because all the students in the classroom are being taught how to behave and solve problems outside the classroom in an acceptable fashion. Many of the students also are not prepared to learn when entering the school beginning prior to day one when they choose their parents. They are lacking in basic vocabulary, nutrition, clothing, affection, and many other basics that will prevent them from being accepted as a normal member of society just because their parents suffer from the same lack and cannot provide these basics. What is worse is that many such parents would not and do not provide these basics to their children even when provided them to give to their children. And in most cases nothing can or is done because no criminal offenses are found to permit removal of the childen to a satisfactory environment. This is a sociatal probem not strictly educational, and education is being handed a sack of male bovine excrement,

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Before you get on a plane, do you tell the pilot how to fly? Do you tell your surgeon how to perform an operation? So why does the public, most of whom have never stepped foot in a classroom after they graduated, tell those who work with these kids everyday how to do their jobs? Our system is beyond broke, this country has maybe 50 years left in it. God help your children if you were dumb enough to have any.

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@TM – In response to your first question, I don’t mind being evaluated on my students’ learning, but the process that is in place does not measure student learning – and certainly there are issues with student growth – especially in high school. How does one “grow” between 8th grade earth science, 9th grade biology and 10th grade physical science – they are very distinct courses. How is the 11th grade English teacher responsible for 2 years of growth? The 11th grade US History teacher for 3 years of growth? How is Economics related enough to US History to show growth there? Let me show what students can do – and not from multiple choice tests – to determine if I did what I needed to do.
As far as your second question – many people with far less education can make a lot more money while they are working – however, there is not much security for post-retirement. Teachers trade off decent – and well justified salaries – during their work time in exchange for knowing that there is security post retirement. I don’t believe the diploma mill EdDs should be making doctorate salary, and I don’t believe the people who earned a leadership EdD or EdS should be making those salaries if they are not leadership. I don’t believe a 5-week crash course can adequately prepare even the best students for the realities of being in front of a classroom of 30+ teenagers (or 5-year olds for that matter). All I ask is 1) fair treatment 2) respect for my knowledge and understanding of the profession and 3) trust the professionals to manage our own profession – not the outsiders (I don’t need Bill Gates or Michelle Rhee, or Fran Millar for that matter telling me how to do my job. They don’t have a clue).

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@TM

I would resituate your questions:

1) How is doctor effectiveness measured?
2) What incentives are provided to best award doctors and motivate them to improve their performance?

I do not mean this in a snarky manner at all. I ask these questions not in rhetorical deference, but rather in an effort to illuminate the question of professionalism. I do not mean professionalism as in the behavior of teachers in their work environment; I mean professionalism in how we as a society view teaching as a profession. Teachers are generally viewed as chumps who could nothing else or as wildly noble individuals sacrificing themselves for the good of the children.

Why are teachers subjected to negative press about performance, to questions about measurements of effectiveness, and to the myriad of silly incentive plans? Why are doctors, who really do sometimes have people’s lives in their hands, not subjected to the same scrutiny? In fact, many states have passed laws to ensure that doctors can only be held to a certain financial limit for malpractice.

Why instead do we not make elevate teaching as a profession that has competitive entry and high wages like the profession of medicine? The answer is that no one wants to make the financial investment to do just that. That is the reality. The best and brightest are out there, but the incentives will come from the social and financial value and status we place on the teaching profession as a society. Until that happens, no incentive schemes, no magical metrics will change anything.

We have models available to us in countries like Finland that show how important professional perception is in attracting good talent to a profession. The scholarship and research are out there. Why do countries like Finland have such high performing teachers/education program? Because teachers there are compensated and viewed as true professionals, not just technicians in an educational mill.

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In all that I have read, I see lot of people (educators, politicians, parents, teachers etc) blaming someone else for the the problems we have all created. I am one of those “education as a second career/Teach for America teachers. Like most teachers, I do not teach to make money, but to change lives. Like every industry you have good and bad. There are great teachers who have dedicated their lives to teaching and those who can’t wait for summer or the next break. You have administrators who want to manage the school but don’t want to send their children to the schools they manage. You have parents who do not want their children to fail but will not buy them a book and read to them. We all have responsibility. We have to stop blaming others for our short comings. In life we fail sometimes. It is sad that students are not allowed to fail as a consequence to their lack of focus in the classroom. Their parents want them to be able to play sports, but they don’t care that they have done absolutely nothing in the classroom. We can’t use just standardized test to measure teacher competency. Teachers and administrators cannot continue to use over 50% of their time filling out paperwork that no one ever uses to make educating students better. College isn’t the only route for graduates and you are not a failure if you want to be a welder rather than a doctor. Education unfortunately is a business. There is money going in and out and checks a balances to make sure the money is not misspent. I do have an issue with people who do not have a stake in public education making decisions for public education. Why should I trust sending my child to the school you will not send your child to? The education system is broken but it is not beyond repair. So as Iyanla Vanzant says, put on your big girl or big boy underwear, take responsibility for what you have done and do the work to make it better. There is enough blame to go around, but there are not enough boots on the ground working to make our education system better for all children.

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@ d & Dave

I get the points you make and sense the frustration, but the challenge is how can we improve performance and watch the bottom line, due to limited resources. I fully get that teachers are under-valued perceptively and perhaps financialy, but..

Dave – re: doctors. The lack of effective, objective measures in a system that rewards delivery of service rather than health outcomes is a major driver of fast rising healthcare cost with comparatively lower health outcomes, when compared to other health system. The focus is now shifting for doctors and other healthcare providers to be compensated, or at the very least compared based on health outcomes.

My concerns (and others) are, in the face of global competitives, maximizing the return on investments in education, and limited resources, we need a way to target the dollars to drive the best education outcome, which we need to measure and identify ways to make it better for most teachers and most students. So it seems that, like presidents, governors, and boards of education, there must be some form of objective measures of perfrmance.

Maybe “d” has a point; perhaps a system that allows teachers to set targets, gain agreement with the principale each year, based on the subject and grade level being taught (i.e “Let me show what students can do” from end of the first para – March 10th, 2013, 10:38 pm) is a workable approach that could be awarded if the goal is met, with a sliding downside penalty if it’s not.

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@ Curt

“Maybe hiring real business people to run these organizations vs ex-teachers is the right idea.”

An absolute MUST! But, do think that teachers who have determined that the classroom is not for them, have a penchant for business, and commits themselves to further developing their business skills would be ideal as well.

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I think the teacher may be a keeper.

Here are my concerns. My gradndmother flunked out of Mills College, but was deemed acceptable to a Normal School and got into teaching. This hasn’t changed. Tech and UGA rejects and dropouts get to become Georgia teachers. Georgia teachers, where are your National Merit Finalists and Commendeds, or even your 1300 M + CR/1950+ SAT or GRE Q +V students, or your AP 4-5-scoring students dominating your classes. Or your 3.6 +GPA, Tech or 3.8+ UGA, or 3.9+ other-USG schools dominating Georgia school teaching, with 3.5 in the last being minimally-qualified to teach OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN in academic-track classes?

If you want to hire people who have Phd/EdDs, check out if they scored 1400 GRE Q + Vs. If they didn’t, your kids are screwed., in so-called “academic track schools.

In non-academic track, apply different metrics. One of my favorite classes of all time was metal shop. And then carpentry. It was so difficult for me to do pre-med, my starting grades were abysmal. I didn’t even know how to apply strategically to get into med school. (Their closing date Oct 1 is bogus, you have to figure out how to apply just before opening to get to AMCAS applicant-gate, July 1. I got to 500, West Coast disadvantage. But 500 got me into early (September) interviews, and first-round (January) admissions.

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This other time, in Arkansas, this young girl delivered a baby, into my hands. I had to resort to NZ midwifves’ teaching; okay, Im reaching into the uterus, removing plaental remanants, every one, and then we run pitocin. I do not want her to die.

She lived, got to suckle her baby.

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I loved Harvard. They were kind of stupid. I loved Arkansas. They were kind of stupid. But both taught me really interesting stuff.

Like, at Harvard Med campus, you can run below-ground in the steam-heat-pipe tunnels in January. I was the only one in 85-86. I never met a single person.

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@ Home Tutoring Parent, you say,

“Georgia teachers, where are your National Merit Finalists and Commendeds, or even your 1300 M + CR/1950+ SAT or GRE Q +V students, or your AP 4-5-scoring students dominating your classes. Or your 3.6 +GPA, Tech or 3.8+ UGA, or 3.9+ other-USG schools dominating Georgia school teaching, with 3.5 in the last being minimally-qualified to teach OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN in academic-track classes?”

Prior to answering those questions, you should also ask, “where are the lower class sizes promised GA teachers years ago; where is the parental, medical, and psychological support to enhance what goes on in the classroom; and where are the salaries (without furloughs) that should be paid to someone whom you expect to do all of the things you have mentioned above?” Once you have fulfilled those simple requests, I am very sure you will be well on your way to getting the things for which you inquire ;O)

In short, you gotta’ give some to get some.

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Home tutoring parent, Let me get this right, you went to Harvard medical school and became an anesthesiologist, you made lots of money and went spear fishing and did some ocean crossing. Well, good for you.

Harvard today does not have such a noble mission as when you were there. In fact, it appears they are rocketing downhill in the public service and respect for privacy dept. 50% of their output today goes to work in the finance industry producing what? And recently they searched the email of a bunch of deans without the dean’s permission. Keep it classy, Harvard. Exploit the debt colony. home-school, maybe you should return to your alma-mater and ask them what they’re about, what is their mission?

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It’s the management, stoopid. Teacher resignation letter from Lafayette, Louisiana:

You make us pilot all of these new programs year after year that have been tried already (just under another name), not worked-and tried again. We keep reinventing the wheel! I hear often that teachers don’t teach any more. We don’t!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/10/i-have-had-enough-veteran-teacher-tells-school-board/

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“You have made it all about “what the teacher needs to do” instead of “what the student needs to do!”

AMEN!

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Mountain Man, It’s all a psyop to screw with people’s heads. If they want to change structure or governance, they should do it instead of screwing with people and torturing teachers.

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@ Ed Johnson, Private Citizen, & Mountain Man

I understand your points about “the system”, which I think needs to be addressed (management, priorities, salaries, etc), but I think of the student-teacher relationship is the core element of the learning process, much like doctor-patient and attorney-client relationships.
Admittedly I’m a none educator,but I think the administration’s role, as well as that of parents and other stakeholders, is to SUPPORT the maximum effectiveness of the student-teacher relationship and should be measured and paid according metrics on the quality of that support.

While I recognize that students have a tremendous responsiblity in the learning process, along with close parental support and reinforcement, the I view teacher as the professional and the adult with skills to identify impediments to student learning, manage around or overcome such barriers, advise administration and parents on the optimum support. Additionally, that the teacher must have a record of SUCCESS in order to define how much they must be “LEFT ALONE”.

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TM, You must work some of kind of dignified job that pays your bills and you are entertaining yourself as a voyeur. Imagine a sane job. Now, give the worker 20 things to do that are excessive, not very well explained and are “high accountability.” See how much they produce. In other words, not much. School management is now excessive and harassing. Make that x10. Obviously, you do not relate.

PS Please loose the ALL CAPS if you want to learn how to write. PS I have a record of SUCCESS. 100% pass rate for 120 students. Is that good enough for you or do you want me to wax your car? Not only did I not receive approval for this “going the extra mile,” I received muddling work reviews. And guess what, in the brief time since this happened, both of the “review executives” have already been displaced and assigned to different jobs, and I do not mean in a friendly way. Therefore, as well, there is much “churn” to go with the incoherent demands. I completely empathise if you do not relate, as it is uncomprehendible or incomprehensible for someone trained who works in proximity to this type of bizarre management. It’s a strange time, my friend. Strange days.

PS You do not need to over-supervise and micro-manage professionals. And it cost money to do so, I guess you have not noticed. That’s your money, too. And you want to pay it out on “supervision” of professionals? I keep wondering, why don’t you bring an “inspector” with you when you go to the dentist? Why does the dentist get a free pass, but you treat the teacher like illegal worker polishing your furniture? Teachers I know, one them his sister is a DNA professor at a major university, another, husband is the CFO of a major company. Maybe you’re a peasant? Many teachers are not. They’re not peasants because they do not spend their money inefficiently.

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If you have a child in the pubic school system you will stomp your feet and scream until your voice goes out. Before you know it your child will be finished with the 12th grade and it will be someone else’s problem. You can not afford to wait one more min. for change. Do what you have to do to find the resources but get into a reputable private school NOW!!! You can do it – I know you can – we did and we won’t ever look back!!! Generations are being lost while you wait for change. Sorry but that is the truth and I decided I was not going to risk my child’s educaiton while you guys try to figure out if it is the main office, the teachers, the parents or the kids.

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Read a comment online that said school in Finland perform for two reasons: they do not interfere with their teachers, and they fund their schools.

About funding their schools, they do not spend a penny on testing there. They don’t waste money. This whole U. S. thing has turned into an incomprehensible mess with 20 circling predators interfering with schools while extracting money. It is really a nightmare. Teachers are getting railed from the federal DOE (your tax dollars at work), the state DOE (who do no protecting of any kind), and local districts with their deeply rooted creepy management rife with distant learning degrees. It is said that the 13 states that make up “the South” prohibit collective bargaining of teachers, so there are no defences, although many call out the “NEA-affiliation” with these same states, which is just completely meaningless when collective bargaining is prohibited by law. It is almost… like… every single level of interference where there should be governance is rife with incoherence. Completely lack of leadership, and cowardice rules the “leadership society” and you will not while the level of interference has occurred the 1% and 10% have doubled (tripled) their ownership of assets and the lower 40% of society now owns about 2% of assets. Teachers have been spending thousands of dollars of their own money on supplies, and now what recompense they get is being reduced and students work loads are increased, which directly correlates to how much teachers have to supply materials in their little charity-soup-kitchens they’re running in the classrooms for students who do not have books, paper, or writing utensils.

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Well said! Good on you for taking the time to write and publish your thoughts.

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@ TM

honestly, the system is so flawed to answer your question we gotta break things down to their most fundamental nature.

-an understanding education is not like GM: we don’t make widgits which can be measured in the traditional economic ways.

-get administrative types who actually have classroom experience, so the evaluators have something to base their evaluations on.

-developing a baseline (I hate that word) so that there are realistic expectations on what can be expected in a student’s development. just because a kid is in the 7th grade, it does not mean the kid SHOULD be in the 7th grade, or able to do the “traditional” workload. this way teachers are evaluated on how much the kid actually learned, not just on letter grade achieved.

some kids go from F to D making major advancements. some go from C to A learning nothing more than how to take a standardized test.

-factor in the negative effects of mainstreaming and overcrowding have on the ability to teach.

-factor in that we only have kids for 5 hours a week. that’s 5 out of 168.

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The Finnish principal states, “There is no politician who tells me what to do.”

Meanwhile in the U. S., principals are moved around like checkers by these little weirdo local management mafias who network like Peyton Place, get $100k+ salaries and use every bit of the federal examine-the-teacher initiatives to make their employees work in fear like illegal labor at a meat packing plant. The superintendents receive unrealistic salaries and work with a cabal of overpaid creeps acting as “management” who network together in meetings and then launch forth to use their federal checklist to harass the principals and teachers who are in the buildings doing the work. Usually the credential of the work review person is “I tell you what to do because Sally and Robert assigned me to this job for this year, although it is different that my advisor position from last year when I was doing training seminars with you. Oh, and I am paid more than you. Don’t forget that part. That’s why I tell you what to do. In fact, we’re going to re-arrange everyone at the end of this year again. You’re lucky I don’t move you mid-year and tell you to pack up your desk. By the way, I expect you to be an exemplary and powerful “leader” in your building with your thousand students and I’ll be checking on you.”

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The reason why most of the teachers will not publicly talk about this is because they have been threatened. They are afraid that if they do they will lose their jobs. I know this because my mom is a teacher for DeKalb County.

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@ Private Citizen, I rather enjoyed the bold print. I wish I knew how to do it on this blog. Ha! I am a little bit of a Luddite. Someone almost always has to show me how to do those things.

I enjoyed the points that you were making also.

Bootney, I share your sentiments also about those ever-present comparisons with the Finns.

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As a respected and retired teacher of 35 years and one who relentlessly demanded discipline. Wow, what a letter. So many responses. This letter writer hit a home run. To the home tutoring parent, you may thank your lucky stars that you were not in my classroom. Having a student such as you in my class would make teaching a splendid experience at your expense.

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I totally agree with every word said in this post. The problem with all of this is that the right people never read any of the posts here. Our stupid society just goes along with what the politicians want. Teachers need to get off their butts and become active. Fight those ridiculous administrators, school board members, county officials, and superintendents who never listen to teachers in the first place. In Gwinnett County, teachers never have any say in what happens to testing, the classroom or any topic where “the teachers” know best. If teachers would get out of the quagmire they have created themselves, they could change education. The problem seems to be that the teachers are caught in never-never land where they are just plain “afraid” to make any comments or suggestions, knowing that they will be shot down in the first place. Maybe it is time for the entire country to switch to private education. NO, I do not support private education, but public schools are currently lost in the political bull we all have to deal with.

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Dr. Trotter, this might get you started. The topic is “formatting html” and different sites use different htmp (hypertext mark-up) systems. This should get you started on how to do “bold:” http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_b.asp For italic, just use “i” in place of “b.” Don’t forget to to the slashmark “/” to stop the bold or italic, which is what I left out which is why it kept going. And the htmp commands have to be enclosed in the pointy brackets, which is why you do not see them in the post.

As far as the “I do not care” mantra, maybe this translates to “I have not been” and “I do not know.” I care because I know most of the web, including this site, works well because of the w3 initiative that is based in… well, it is worldwide, but the main guy who coordinated the operating system I am typing on right now and have used full time for the last fifteen years was born in Helsinki, so not only do I care, but I benefit. How many computer viri in fifteen years, reaching into many dark corners of the interwebs? None. All about architecture and file structure. Trouble maker? Access denied. I had some good mentoring though, like my friend who would not allow a windows machine into the four story server building he owned, and had one Apple machine as a courtesy for visitors. In sum, “I care” = “I benefit.” This is the way of knowledge. Ask any dentist or fitness coach.

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@ PC

1- that’s not at all why I’m a redneck, and I’m not ashamed of being one.

2- you have the stupidest of a string of stupid claims, but I support your right to make an ass out of yourself. and that is a uniquely American thing. I could easily and brutally expose you here for your rank arrogance and ignorance, and frankly would enjoy doing it, but my southern white redneck mama taught me not to make sport of the mentally handicapped and emotionally disabled.

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The biggest problem in the higher grade classrooms (6-12) seems to be student work ethic. One time I gave my students an extra 10 minutes to review before an important test and a student commented, “We don’t study, we either get it or we don’t.” This comment blew my mind. How is a teacher supposed to be measured on the results of student achievement when there is minimal effort made by the student? This lack of work ethic either comes from current culture, the parental household, or the individual student — factors which the teacher has limited hope of changing.

Measuring teacher achievement and compensation based on student results is like getting a salary raise based on a co-worker’s efforts who sits down the hall and on the third floor. When is the student responsible? In addition, about 6 weeks of the school year is used for test prep and re-takes limiting the time actually needed to teach the material that is now decided by Bill Gates foundation which has instituted National Standards in the form of Common Core. Sigh.

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@ PC

btw: I HAVE been, I DO know, and thats WHY I don’t care.

europhiles are the most stupid segment of our society. what they don’t know about the realities of life in europe could easily fill the great lakes.

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We do not have school choice in DeKalb County. Well, some do. The lucky few who, by lottery, get into a magnet school. School Choice ended when Georgia was excused from No Child Left Behind.

I agree, atlmom, that we need more magnet programs. The waiting lists are long and slow-moving.

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“the most intellectual yet ineffectual”solutions”".sorry its early.

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Sounds exactly like a typical teacher’s union member…those who don’t have private sector experience will do anything to protect their publicly funded job. If they could look on the other side of the fence, they’d see a private company would do a much better job with much better results if the school was run like a business. Government schools are just as bad as our government. They don’t know how to do anything except slow the process to a crawl (just like the post office), and put the kids benefits above their own.

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europhiles are the most stupid segment of our society

Yes, I’ll recall this when I drive past your overheating Pontiac Aztek, although if you insist on driving a Dodge Durango, I would appreciate if you would not insist on rear ending my car because you are looking at the sky while talking on a cell phone and approaching me minding my own business stopped at a signal light.

hey Bootney read a comment from some guy who said he was safer driving 165mph on the A7 than going 65 on a U. S. highway. Generalising about living in euro is about like generalising about living in the U. S., do you mean San Jose or Watts or Santa Barbara? Do you mean some psycho little berg in Florida or do you mean Boston? Hey bootney, I found a car for you, but it’s really heavy and corners like a sled. I guess that’s why its a “touring car.” http://www.flickr.com/photos/neongenesis87/4601821276/lightbox/

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@ PC

I’ve no idea why you are choosing to make such an ass out of yourself, but ….
again, you have no clue how badly you are humiliating yourself, but I’m just gonna stand aside and let you do it.

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@ joe

Argosy? Phoenix?
both are regarded as predatory who promise much and deliver little.
Phoenix in particular is looking more and more like an Enron ponzi scheme

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@bootney: Please don’t insult readers with your “Nobody’s stopping you from utilizing private schools!” argument. Most parents forced into simultaneously paying for failing public schools can’t afford those private schools.

Unless they’re, say, the Obamas.

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Been There

March 10th, 2013
11:53 pm
______________________________________________________

Agree …..was there too!!

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MariAnn Roberts……… ..”Race to the Top district, taking multiple, pointless, mind-numbing standardized tests; then (and only then) I will actually believe that they think what they are doing is best for all children – as they so often claim. Until then, I will call their actions what they actually are – purposeful class subjugation and disenfranchisement.
_____________________________________________________

Well put …….I am not sure that they are at all concerned with real EDUCATION that calls for facilitating Thinking Skills instead of “mind -numbing ” drills . Come to think of it real EDUCATION in classrooms may actually bring about thinking that could cause an upset of the status quo that is current in Dekalb !!!!!

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“We do not have school choice in DeKalb County. Well, some do. The lucky few who, by lottery, get into a magnet school. School Choice ended when Georgia was excused from No Child Left Behind.”

The Central Office personnel have school choice. Very few have their children in the school their child in the neighborhood school. They either place them in Central DeKalb or Northern DeKalb schools or they send them to theme or magnet schools. This is a huge problem because if the administrators of the school system can take their children out of a low performing school and place them in high performing schools, then they have no vested interest in improving the schools in their community.

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On payday the system out to tell this teacher that education is not a business- that is is a commune; “from each according to his ability to each according to his needs.”

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As a teacher in another county, the author of this post put into words what a great many of educators have been feeling for many years. Thanks.

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@Anon – I bet a lot of parents could afford it if they were willing to make some lifestyle choices. A large number of my students have the latest iPhone but are on free/reduced lunch. They wear $200 shoes, designer jeans, and have new hairdos every 2 weeks. This isn’t all of them, of course, but there are options for those who want to make some sacrifices in the name of private education.

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Now that I am 40, and can think about how we took the California Achievement Test each year growing up, and never were we taught to a test or even coached. We were shown a few days before how to fill in bubbles, but that is it. The pressure we put young kids under is ridiculous.

If teachers are to be considered professional, let them be the master of their classroom. Let them decide how the subjects will be taught and if they fail, let them go. Keep the best educators.

Also students disrupting the class need to be thrown out and placed in an alternative placement. Too often student discipline is not dealt with, and the others in the class/school are the ones who lose.

Stop focusing on education when we have children who can’t read. What does it matter if we have the latest, greatest technology if the children in the school couldn’t read a manual on how to operate it? Focus on reading, writing, math, science, and history. Allow students to think, form opinions and thoughts and defend their thinking. Technology is always changing, is expensive, and is often not taken care of, so the money purchasing it was ultimately wasted. Allow parents to give their students technology if that is what a family finds meaningful, or purchase when at least 95% of students are at or above grade level with the rest of the country on a true measurement, not the CRCT.

Unions are not the answer, and any teacher who touts them, I question. I’ve been a child in school during teacher strikes twice from K-12th grade. Both strikes were long, and only benefited teachers. When teachers were forced back to work my senior of high school, they refused to write letters of recommendations for us to get into college, or lead any extra activity until they received the pay and medical benefits that they wanted. Sorry, but this isn’t putting the kids first. As a teacher in a union district, the focus was on what the union could do for me, the teacher, and not how we could make education better for the children.

I believe that if we treated teachers like professionals and got rid of those that were no good at teaching, engaging students, and making them think, that our schools would be better. Currently they are over burdened with administrators with little classroom time themselves, and with questionable credentials, but man are they making big bucks. Give teachers more power and let them sink or swim, but don’t put those that fail into higher paying more powerful jobs as is currently being done in our school systems.

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In response to the Dekalb teacher I would like to share comments from Dr. Merrianne Dyer, Superintedent of the Gainesville City Schools, from a guest column to the local paper. “The single most important variable in a student’s access to learning, no matter where one is on the globe, is an effective teacher.”— “Education performance pay is nothing new. In the mid-1800s, British schools and teachers were paid on the basis of results of student exams. Thirty years later, the practice was abandoned after cheating and cramming became wide spread. In the early 1960s, under president Nixon, there were brief attempts to implement performance-based systems, which also ended in cheating scandals and failure. The 1980s, under president Ronald Reagan, brought experiments with merit pay that introduced incentives programs based on merit, measured by meeting objectives, and career-ladder or staffing differentiation. Similar attempts were made in the 1990s, yet none had staying power.” What is the definition of insanity?

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@ op

good to know you’re using “protection”

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@ don’t

that’s an evasion, not an answer. all I’m asking you to do is back up your claim. you can do that, can’t you?

no kidding most public schools are poorly run. next discover grass needs rain to grow.

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Hey @blabney feignsworth, why don’t those fat-cat union bosses you’re fronting for “make some sacrifices” instead of blocking needed reforms?

They can start by refunding the $168 Georgia Association of Educators members pay the NEA each year to help bankroll the Democrat Party.

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@blabney feignsworth

I’ve appropriated another blogger’s name for you because it so very fits you. Both name and surname. And yes, the NEA says you’re wrong about there being no unions here in Georgia—right on their own website.

Google “NEA” and “union.”

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@ maureen

can I respond appropriately ie-publicly humiliate this bozo?

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@blabney feignsworth

Perhaps you can start by explaining just why you’re unemployed, with free time to spare to constantly bore us with your snarky opinions.

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@blabney feignsworth

That your best shot?

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No wonder you’re unemployed. And probably blogging from your mother’s basement.

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@ maureen

I retract my request to deal with this “gentleman” as he deserves

while I admit it would be interesting to see if this bravado would stand up face to face, there is no beating I could administer which could be worse than him being stuck being him.

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since my parents are long since dead and gone, blogging from their basement would be a challenge.

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@ serf

I was so stunned it took me a moment to get off the floor. somebody who actually read the documents? so regardless of agree or disagree we can discuss their actual merits?

you obviously are some kind of radical union idealist/communist/pick you favorite ists…

I’ve thought for some time the “social justice” (whatever the hell that is) aspect was/is the primary driver in their decisions and policies.

at GPC, just before Tricoli got removed and we imploded, GPC went “social justice” crazy. classes were spent building and maintaining gardens, “volunteering” in food warehouses, ect when they should have been in class.

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Thanks, Bootney and Attentive Parent. Yes, thanks for reading all of the reports! This sort of gets on people’s nerves…when you actually know their agenda. Ha!

Here is an article that I just ran across that I wrote a couple of years ago. You can tell that it is old since I actually made reference to my Blackberry! But, I thought that it tied in to what this DeKalb teacher was trying to communicate (and did very well) to the readers. Teachers just want to teach!

Here is the article…

Why Do Teachers Teach?

By John R. Alston Trotter, EdD, JD

Many times you see me rail against what has happened to the teaching profession. Sometimes I may seem like a broken record (ala “You can’t have good learning conditions until you first have good teaching conditions”). I am passionate about what has happened to the teaching profession…educrats treating teachers like they are hired hands and expecting them to mindlessly teach a prescriptive curriculum like they are robots. It is a tragedy. When I taught in the old days, we could be zany and creative in the classroom. We could have our own style, a style that the students knew and to which they adjusted…and usually with a degree of delight. That’s the great part of growing up…learning to adjust to different people (teachers, in this case) with different styles.

I have often told my colleagues and teachers that I would be fired every day under the current culture of teachers being placed in straightjackets. I even bowed up to the odious structure that was in place in the old days (especially those horrid TPAIs and the accompanying written lesson plans and behavioral objectives in the old DeKalb County — when DeKalb was King of the Rock and thought that their mess didn’t stink). I turned down my second contract (didn’t even sign it — which was stupid of me) and left. Moved back to Athens and the next year car-pooled each day to Greene County High School. I had a great principal, Dr. Donald Garrett. He was so supportive of me and just let me do my thing. When MACE picketed the superintendent in Greene County on three occasions about three years ago (yes, this superintendent moved on not too long after these downtown pickets which were joined in by local towns people!), I had one of my former students, Vincent, to happily meet me on the picket line. We laughed, talked about where my old students were today, and just reminisced. I had a blast teaching at Greene County High School, but I was offered a good assistantship in the Department of Administration at the University of Georgia for the next year, and Dr. Garrett (who was finishing up his doctorate there at the time) encouraged me to take it. He said, “You can always come back here anytime you want.” But, after my assistantship, I took a job as Assistant Principal at Washington County High School down the road…at 27 years of age.

This morning I looked at my Blackberry to see my emails and my Facebook comments. I saw the nicest comment from one of my former Jonesboro Jr. High School students. It was from Eric Jensen, a First Team All State football player from Jonesboro High School and a student and player whom I taught and coached at Jonesboro Jr. High School in the early 1980s. Forgive me for my vanity but he wrote the following: “Well I hope my boys have a teacher as dedicated and passionate about education. A legend is a person whose fame or notoriety makes him a source of romanticized tales and exploits. That’s you coach.” This is why teachers teach. We teachers (and I am still a teacher at heart) teach to have an influence (not to artificially raise the standardized test scores to fatten up the superintendent’s wallet or pocketbook). We love interacting with the children and watching them grow — even to adulthood. I get a kick out of watching Norreese Haynes run the day-to-day operations at MACE…especially since he was the classroom “bishop” in my 7th Grade History class.

I have witnessed hundreds of people through the years come up to my father at restaurants or elsewhere and be delighted to see “Coach Trotter” or “Mr. Trotter” (my father was a teacher, coach, assistant principal, and principal). They love to regale in the old stories. The men love to recount the times that my father had to paddle them. I remember some over 70 year old retiree recalling at the Burger King Breakfast confab (a morning ritual at Airport Thruway in Columbus) this to my father (who will be 86, Lord willing, on April 21): “Mr. Trotter, do you remember paddling me when I showed up for school with no socks?” This man was laughing big time about this disciplinary incident. I bet he didn’t show up anymore to Jordan Vocational High School with no socks! My father didn’t put up with any foolishness, and the students loved him and respected him for this. This is what is missing in our public schools today. Today’s students hold the teachers in contempt because there is NO discipline (especially in the large school systems). Kids really crave discipline. That’s how they know that they are loved. Pampering and coddling won’t do the trick. It’s like what is said in the Bible: “The Lord disciplines whom he loves.”

Why do teachers teach? Teachers love the interaction with children. Teachers love watching the light turn on when a kid finally understands a concept or skill. They love watching them grown and mature. They love the “relational learning” (I will coin this phrase) that takes place. That’s why teachers are so frustrated today…because all of this has been hijacked for the sake of infinitesimal gains on a standardized test which does not amount to a hill of beans, with the exception to the gypsy superintendent receiving financial bonuses and maintaining his or her job for another year or two. (c) MACE, April 9, 2011.

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Original Prof, Are you spamming me because I put a link to a picture and the server the picture is on does not like direct linking? And then you make this very basic concept into something else? I took a screen picture for you. You sure get hot over a bowl of curry. http://postimage.org/image/f5azrpwox/ PS You ought to learn a little more about browsers and servers and then you would not so paranoid. Did it occur to you to research the reason for a “forbidden” hyperlink? It’s because I went to their main page first. It won’t bite you, there, Para-Pro. You ought do more building and less complaining while you are consuming. You’d better understand the web. Read the w3c site and check back.

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“Michael Barber recently in a document called The Learning Curve actually said that who does well on the PISA-driven top performing countries in the world is based on which countries are pushing social justice through their ed systems.”

This document was published by Pearson, one of the largest sellers of educational programs in the U.S. DeKalb County Schools has had their fill of two Pearson programs, “America’s Choice” and “Success for All”. Literally tens of millions of taxpayer dollars spent on “America’s Choice” and not an ounce of proof it has been efficacious for DeKalb students. Ask DeKalb teachers how they like using these scripted learning programs. In addition, another $10,000,000 a year is spent on non teaching “Coaches” to implement these programs.
http://www.pearson.com/news/2012/november/pearson-launches-the-learning-curve.html

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Lesson 1 vocabulary:
hyperlink: (noun) A link from a hypertext file or document to another location or file, typically activated by clicking on a highlighted word or image on. (verb) Link (a file) in this way..

Sometime hyperlinked images can give a “forbidden” message as described here (this used to be very common, less so now) http://www.110mb.com/forum/index.php?topic=20938.0;wap2

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Mary Elizabeth,
Students’ test results should not be used as a threat to teachers’ pay or to teachers’ job security

Test score can also be used to threaten students. I’ve seen it in action. And setting up the “if you do not pass the CRCT, this will happen…”

There’s a term for this activity: emotional blackmail. It is completely unethical. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_blackmail

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Anonymous: You still demonstrate very transparently your jealousy. You need to get hold of yourself, Anonymous. Jealousy is a powerful emotion. You can call MACE anything that you want to call it. I just know that teachers like MACE. Let’s face the facts…the classroom educator in Georgia has three friends, WalMart, the good Lord Himself, and MACE. The administrators have PAGE and GAE.

I know that MACE must really get under the skin of those so conflicted. Sorry, but this is life. Other than your fuming about MACE, have a good day, Anonymous, my brave-hearted friend.

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Yo Prof, I was using this browser for a while. Works great. http://kazehakase.sourceforge.jp/screenshots/ss20040828.png -Live a little. Take an adventure.

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That’s pretty clever that Pearson has a program titled “America’s Choice” since they’re a UK company located in London:

“Pearson PLC is a British multinational publishing and education company headquartered in London. It is the largest education company and the largest book publisher in the world.”
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Not exactly keeping “the money” local.

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@ Anonymous, Trotter will not answer your questions, nor will he admit to his purpose, defending incompetent teachers who give him money.

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Anonymous in DeKalb, give it up for a week, oky?

Btw, I find the real information in this thread overwhelming. Good luck to this teacher who wrote the essay, to keeping it together through the spring. I looked in a teacher friend of mine and he’s a ball of nerves since the main admin. is going to spring everybody around again. Very cold about it, too, these folk. It’s really crazy, they just treat people like dirt which is so counterintuitive when you’re working with the kids each day, are conscientious and caring, but then do a 180 degree turn to face the bosses and the bosses treat you as alien. Never ever seen a one of the bosses pick up a marker and “do it” or address the class.

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Bold Announcement is Bold

Do not read the text, for it is not bold and there of lesser importance. The above fits the curriculum of satire as business.

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@Angela

YOU’RE ENTIRELY WELCOME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I am a retired teacher and am still teaching and have been communicating on this blog for many months. From the content I see, I believe there are a number of teachers participating, but remember, it’s at your own risk!!!!!

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Last night in Dunwoody, Supt Thurmond, when asked about the hiring freezes and subs only postings, replied that that was “just a rumor.” If anyone will look on the PATS system, all teaching jobs are marked for subs only. Why would he lie??????

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In my opinion, education should not be about threatening either teachers or students, but about ensuring student growth. A threatening school environment does not lend itself toward fostering student growth. Again, education should not be run like a business. They require different models for success.

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As a constant reader/requent poster – just an observation/comment

If your post is longer than the original post, or is so long that less than half of it fits on my decently-large screen at one time, even if broken into 2-3 paragraphs, I’m not reading it & I suspect most don’t. Although apparently if others post as long as you, & reply to you, apparently some do. I know I can get wordy, but wow. Been meaning to say that for a long time!

OK, keep up the good work . . .

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Private Citizen,

Finland did a complete transform on their schools, starting ca. 35 years ago. They were following the Prussian model, which America adopted too, and their kids were in Europe’s lower half. They decided to make education-major students (future teachers) be high performers, in the realm of doctors, make them take the same university classes, and earn high grades. Completing a master’s degree is required.

Do you realize that in America today, most states’ teachers programs issue diplomas and certificates to teach to young people who have a 2.5 overall GPA, and a 2.75 GPA in education-specific and subject-area courses that grads will teach?

Finland does great on PISA. The US ties Russia, the old USSR. Look it up, it’s true. (Why can’t we beat the Russians? Is it because the Soviet scheme to communize America worked?)

Are teachers paid well enough? Personally, I think great math, physical science and computer science teachers should be paid $60k or so to start–whatever it takes to get 90th+ percentile Tech grads. Those over age 50 should be earning $100k+. If they get a promotion offer to administrate, salary-matching to keep them teaching classes is in order.

For regular teachers, LIVE RESPONSIBLY. A two-teacher-couple Georgia family age 50 earns over $100k per 9-month year. With summer employment the couple can hit $130k easily.

This is not, “Teachers are soo poor.” If teachers want to be irresponsible, and divorce, subjecting themselves and their children to the hardship of dropping from the quite-comfy upper-middle-class, to the struggling median, well, that’s their choice.

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As for my own posts I would recommend reading them quickly in order to miss most of my frequent typos, but then you would miss my brilliance, so I would prefer you ignore them. The typos . . . not the posts. Well, you can ignore them too, at your own peril.

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Mary E “Students’ test results should not be used as a threat to teachers’ pay or to teachers’ job security, as might occur in a business climate. In education, there are many factors, beyond test results, which must be considered as to why specific students may not be functioning on par with their peers. Moreover, when students’ test results are used for punitive purposes toward teachers, the entire educational climate will change to one of tenseness and fear, and that type of educational environment will adversely effect both students and teachers”
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Mary , when I worked in the school during the Clinton era that is the way we utilized tests and then came the Bush era and NCLB . That was a disaster!! . I had hoped that with the advent of the Obama administration things would go back to being EDUCATIONAL . Unfortunately I was wrong as we now have ‘races’ that threaten teachers AND kids

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@Bootney After being so lazy as to never bothering to google your name, finally did, not sure why today, right now, but I must say very clever. After reading a few of your posts I’m now feeling a little hypnotized myself. Not sure if it’s your intellect & wit, or my stupor from reading the “quantity not quality” posters.

My own name pales in comparison, I humbly bow. Until I have reason to disagree with you. Then . . . well I pity the fool . . .

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I like Dr. Trotter’s posts. But listening to him speak, I can’t follow him. Maybe he intentionally “deforms” to gutteral language, I don’t know.

http://www.theteachersadvocate.com/

Play the tape.

He just doesn’t SPEAK to enlightened peoples. If he is doing a carney-con, I get it, but I don’t think carney-con is going to advance Georgia’s interests

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I keep hearing this tune in my head:

“Finland, Finland, Finland
The country where I quite want to be
Your mountains so lofty
Your treetops so tall
Finland, Finland, Finland
Finland has it all, Finland has it all

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@home I will say this: I think all parents should be a “home-tutoring parents”

I try to live it everyday for my 3, and I think it shows. Especially in science & social studies, as they are in elementary school, and I find the depth they cover to be lacking, mainly due to the emphasis on teaching to reading/math test dictates from the system. But it gives me an opportunity share my love of learning with them.

So if you’ve lived it throughout your life, great. Seriously. You should proud & obviously are. But the tone, well . . .

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Chamblee Dad,

Double thumbs up. Your daughter brought books home. At some point she may meet a math/science nerd guy, and then that may be where electricity happens.

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@ Anonymous in DeKalb: I don’t know of any union or association which puts its membership numbers on the front page of its website. I could be wrong. I know that we don’t at MACE but it is no one’s business who the members are or how many members there are. It’s only our business. The same for other companies like Chick fil-A. I think that Truett Cathy’s income is still estimated by this newspaper and other publications because this information is held private. Does this invalidate the sumptuous broasted chicken sandwich for which he’s responsible? I don’t think so.

I said from the very beginning that we, unlike other organizations, were not going to lie about the numbers or puff the numbers. You must have forgotten that I worked six years for GAE, and I can assure that GAE “cooked the books,” so to speak, for the public. In other words, the membership number that was constantly fed to the press was never the real count…at least when I worked for GAE. We were given the real numbers at staff meetings but we saw the inflated numbers that were so often fed to the media.

One time, a reporter asked me our membership count, and I facetiously said something like 100,000…to the reporter’s instant disbelief. He knew that I was just being facetious. I said: “Well, you believe PAGE when they give you numbers like 75,000 or 80,000. Why don’t you believe me?” The point that I was making was that you don’t really know how many members that PAGE or GAE have. You are just taking their word. The difference with me is that I am not going to tell you any numbers. Therefore, you know that I am not lying.

Our membership is naturally, I am sure, lower than GAE’s and PAGE’s because we are much younger as an organization. MACE began 18 years ago. GAE has been around since 1857. Ford has been around longer in the U. S. than Mercedes. There are more Fords on the road than Mercedes. I have had both. I prefer the Mercedes. It drives better. Numbers mean nothing. What matters is quality.

The MACE membership is held in strict confidence, as someone noted earlier. There may come a time when the member wants the administrator to know that he or she is a member of MACE. When that hour comes, it is usually a rude awakening for the administrator. I have had so many teachers guffaw over the reaction of their administrator when the administrator finds out that they are members of MACE. The administrators’ harassment usually ends pretty quickly as they “get religion,” as we say at the MACE Office.

This is really why the teachers join MACE. They certainly don’t join because we do good spelling bee contests for the children. We have never put on a single spelling bee contest. We don’t give tote bags to new teachers. Never have. We don’t do the fluffy stuff or any of the useless stuff. Do you think that we give a rat’s rear end what they think of us at the Capitol? Ha! Do you actually think that they respect GAE and PAGE? So, I suppose that the ridiculous buy-in to the horrible Race to the Top program is a show of respect for GAE and PAGE. Wow. With friends like that, you don’t need enemies. Or, the onerous and stupid new evaluation program for Georgia teachers is respecting GAE’s and PAGE’s heroic lobbying efforts, eh? Ha! No, we don’t waste our time. (Don’t forget: I used to work for GAE. I know that is does no good.) We fight for the individual teachers…one member at a time.

By the way, most of our members do hail from the 28 counties in Metro Atlanta. But, for the record, I will state that our membership stretches from the border of Tennessee in the north to the border of Florida in the south and from the border of Alabama to the west all the way east to the board of South Caroline. That’s all that I will tell you. The mystic of the MACE membership is one of the things that we did right, even if we have to pat ourselves on the back. We also refused to do payroll deduction. Another stroke of brilliance, right? It’s driving people crazy like our friend Anonymous of DeKalb.

Oh, by the way, home-tutoring mom, I am sorry that my voice doesn’t sit well with you. I have had many people tell me that I sound like I am from Louisiana. Nope. Born and raised right here in Georgia. Seventh Generation Georgian. It’s not as bad as James Carville’s, is it? Ha!

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Hey coach, I hope you come from farming family because you sure have to do a lot of “gathering!” hi-yoo! http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/School-Improvement/Teacher-and-Leader-Effectiveness/Documents/LAPS%20Standards%20Rubrics%209-17-2012.pdf

(I’m sorry. Really, I am.)(No one deserves getting overseen-by-rubric)

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@ Candor a

sorry, your dog is not hunting. I was with GPC for several decades before Tricoli spent us out of existence and I got RIFed along with several hundred others. my reward for sticking by the school during a decade when pay was frozen and benefits skyrocketed. along with the administrative staff.
just how many VPS, AVPs, directors and assistant directors does a school need?

-how many GPC VPs does it take to secure the salaries of the custodial staff? we’ll never know.

during my years one of my kids needed to get get out of public school for awhile. I had limited resources so I did three things:

-cancelled all our fluff: eating out, Starbucks, premium cable, ect
-talked to the school I enrolled the child in about scholarships and ways to offset the costs
-took a second, and at times a third job.

yeah, I missed a lot of time with my family, worked 7 days a week for months at a time, had little sleep and zero intimacy time with Ms. Bootney. but it was what I need to tend to my child, so I cowboy’d up and did it.

since you work at GPC you should know from firsthand experience the amount of kids who came to us from desperate situations whose families laid out everything they had to send their kids to the best school possible

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@ Dr. John

how to I reach you off line? I’ve got a couple questions not for public consumption

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@ Paulo977, 4:58 pm

Paulo, I have seen too many students fail simply because they have been misplaced instructionally that I must advocate for testing to determine correct placement. However, testing should not be done as a threat either teachers or to students. Testing of students should not be overused or misused.

All I can do is keep stating my thoughts based on my 35 years in education. I agree with you that testing is being overused and misused today.

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Mary Elizabeth, your view on testing is relevant and makes me to think of assembling a collection of one-page monographs based on “best practices.” -not going to happen this week, but it can be done.

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h-t parent, the government districts detest IB because it interferes with their power structure. You saw the rough treatment APS chief Davis meted out to the IB high school. IB governance actually uses sophsticated education people. Their headquarters is in Switzerland. I have a lot of respect for them, but they really grind the local power-types who insist on grinding everything down to management-by-intimidation ala you-must-work-in-fear Arne Duncan. IB does not plant the seeds of “you must work in fear.” The territorial management power players completely can not deal with it.

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John, your picket in Macon was not even mentioned in the Macon Telegraph. Furthermore, you told people in Macon to get more people to join before you would help.

If only one member is from Macon, you should have helped, not just stick your hand out for more money.

When Maureen allows you to get on here and shamelessly shill for your organization, I will be around to point out that in many ways you are a fraud.

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@ PC the TKES is actually a huge improvement over GTOI, although that may not be saying much.

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Coach,
GTOI “Georgia Teacher Observation Instrument” I shudder. Yes, I have to admit that maybe there is some good to TKES/LKES but it sure is tedious and I’ve been through some of that it seems that the administrator’s intent outweighs a neutral reporting. There is some much improvisation required of many teachers. Weird how there is so little example information on “how it’s done” yet plentiful demand to “invent!” and sprinkle magic pixie dust and stuff. Maybe they are moving away from requiring “essential question” and all of that garbage to be posted on the walls. It really is low and really is garbage. It is just highly distracting to doing quality concept work. From the teacher perspective there is a conflict, as in “I have my real job teaching the students” and then “I have a second job posting the required fake-information-front for the state with their required sayings and such.” This conflict leads to burn out and it is directly due to state interference and occupying the classroom with required petty ritual and literally making-people-do-things.

There so little coordination. One time I was making a lesson and I go to the state published ancillary materials to go with the standards pacing guide and the “resources” for the lesson are graduate level academic research papers, like some link they just grabbed from somewhere, and I’m supposed to use this to teach kids? I can deal with that, but not posting their “essential question” from the same folk. Basically, it is an outlier. I doubt anyone anywhere else is making people do this stuff, certainly not outside of the US system. I see it – and feel it – as nothing but harassment of teachers and meddling from offices far far away from the classroom. And then they want to use these rituals to grade you on your work?

Seriously, I do not know how you keep your sanity with the level of incoherence from the state-mandated trainings you must endure.

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Seriously, the Oxford comma (the serial comma for those who are less pretentious or more interested in clarity) is your best example of the silliness of standardized testing? Oh, woe to be a teacher in the vile throes of accountability!

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No, teacher unions are not the solution to fixing education. The last thing on the mind of a teacher’s union is educating the students. Besides, DeKalb and most of the other counties around here could not afford the benefits the union goons would be demanding. Unions were once needed in this country, but have long since outlived their usefullness. Brining unions into the mix will just make things much worse.

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