Maggie's Farm

Again the Maggie's teacher haters pull part of a quote and attribute it to thousands of teachers. I said it before but nobody commented; how about we curtail the ever rising health insurance coverage for teachers. Why can't the greedy private sector insurance companies take a premium freeze for a year?

"enjoy?".....nice typically loaded language from the haters. I graduated in 1982 and took a teaching job with a salary of $12,000.00 while my private sector friend took a business job in Hartford for $60,000.00. In those days I didn't hear so much pissing on about private sector comparisons. He still makes a shit-ton more cash than me but poor fellow, he only has private sector benefits. cripes.

So I can take a pay freeze regardless of my expenses increasing but insurace companies cannot? Look, I'll take a pay freeze and be out a couple grand so that your taxes don't go up by pennies. What concession are you willing to make?

....and on a personal note, does your envy come from being a high school drop-out or does it stem from being unable to join the ranks of us pampered teachers?

I'm complaining because a basic social contract that I have honored by educating myself with two degrees and staying literally DAYS past my contracted hours for nearly 30 years is being yanked out from under me. No, I never planned on getting rich but I finally make even decent pay and y'all want to reduce me to the financial status of a Walmart employee. I have a ton of empathy for any worker who's struggling and pissing on another group doesn't make me feel better as apparently pissing on teachers does for you. Yes, times are tough and we all realize that but that doesn't change the fact that I have a son to get through college in a few years and I worked really hard to get to where I am.

Do you like keeping the things you have? See, I do too.

i Did someone force you to become a teacher?

Is someone preventing you?

Trust me, DA. We do not hate teachers.

Then why is EVERY education link a big steaming dump on the profession Mr Dog?

As soon as we exhaust fiscal logic we turn to performance. Once that gets de-bunked, we're onto private sector comparisons. I literally never heard that term used in any discussion of Education until just recently. We're among the few professions that exercise zero control over our raw materials but take 100% responsibility for outcomes as measured by what? a State answer booklet?! Teens walking into today's classrooms are not the teens we were and it's as simple as that.

Lemme try another analogy....look at the state of health in the Country. Cripes, our obesity rate is striking, the list of cancers seems to grow non-stop. Clearly we need better doctors, right? I mean look at how they're letting people's health go to shit and they charge what they do? Doesn't take much thought for the absurdity of that to set in does it? If you don't smoke, eat right and excercise, you'll be healthier. Likewise, if you show up on time to class with a sharpened pencil, study, complete your homework and participate in class discussions and activities, you'll learn and achieve in school.

The only discussions I read, however(esp here at Maggie's Farm) center on correcting Education with better teachers for less money and benefits. I repeat my strong empathy for everyone who's struggling in this economy. I sincerely hope folks who've lost work find a decent job. I spend locally every chance I get.

I simply don't understand the comfort that hating on teachers provides for so many of you.

Know BD that I'm a big if recent fan of yours.

So here's a proposal.

John F, I made a proposal to you that went unanswered. In fact, I see no evidence that you read a single word I wrote. I will gladly address your proposal when I have time, however, it's 9:00 and I'm just leaving work after a 14 hour day.

Tom F, I'll glaldy share more in here when I can.

To the Maggie's folks.....I've made the point before but it seems to be missed to a degree. Yes, you folks are very inviting of opinions to include dissent, however, only you bloggers are allowed to make thread titles and ALL of them sharply crtique and blame the teaching profession.

why the teaching profession should be protected from the business cycle.[/i[

The best I can answer is that it needs to be protected from the Walmart business cycle because kids are important and we can't have substandard people educating them. If you're going to parr down achievement to include nothing but cognitive knowledge, then sure, a hand held phone with google access will suffice. As long as EVERY child is expected to achieve a state standard, we cannot have a sink-or-swim education model. As soon as we do allow sink or swim mechanics to guide the education process, we won't need any reform because that's how it worked back when it worked.

As for your previous post, I frankly don't know where to start.....wow. We "don't have squat to show." Let me return to my doctor analogy. Your doctor is a resource that you employ to stay healthy but you have to do your part. Schools are a resource to help raise and educate your children but you and they have to do your part.

[i]So here's a proposal. Let's see how much you are really committed to excellence in teaching:

So if I don't agree with each of your skeletal bullet points, I'm not committed to excellence? Cripes.

a) More teachers? You're unwilling to pay the ones you have.

b) Huh? All institutions need to have administrative oversight and having been in school administration in the past, I know well the hours and difficult situations that school administrators have to tread. They spend their entire career in a damned if you do damned if you don’t state and it can be real easy to become callous about that. You know that history book revision that pisses you off? The revision came because someone else was just as pissed that it read another way.

c) Like the rest of us? Any number of companies and institutions include retirement packages that extend beyond 401Ks. Envy that yours doesn't is the entirety of your position.

d) So no private sector businesses provide such benefits? Do the "rest of you" have mandatory Education requirements, required on-going professional development credits and an on-going recertification process? To curtail a fundamental benefit is nothing more than taking. I do pay an ever increasing share of health care costs btw.

e) I would have no problem with restructuring the authority of unions, however, the first order of old fashioned union busting is to provide for opting out. If not for union representation, where would our financial compensation be after all these years of being underpaid? All this bad times talk gets me scratching my head to think back to when you didn't SLASH EVERY FUCKING PENNY out of your local school budget that you could get away with. I can't seem to recall any such time. Now that the private sector has been run into the ground by greed at the top, you have a perfect excuse to dig deeper yet. When we do pull out of this recession, will you be championing the cause for passing the budget your school district forwards?

f) Pay cuts? Well now we’re at the crux here. Why a pay cut? Where does that notion come from outside of contempt? Please tell me about the concession you look forward to making. I love that simplistic argument that we just don’t have any money. Name one city in New England that didn’t run out of money for snow removal by mid January. Did those towns sit idly by while 4ft of snow in the roadways brought all commerce to a halt? No, they took it from elsewhere because the sacrifice was worth the expenditure. There’s always money for things of importance.

g) When I was in administration and if I were to return to it, it would NEVER be my intent to fire a teacher. Not that I wouldn't, but it would never be my goal just as it will never be a goal in my classroom to fail a student. The goal is for both teachers and students to be successful. In the event of a low-performing teacher I would instead script a detailed plan for improvement. I would mentor the teacher and give them all the support possible to help them overcome deficits. In the event that the teacher responds positively to the plan, problem solved. In the event that they don’t, a trail of paperwork is in place to facilitate the quite unfortunate event of letting them go. We are not getting our asses kicked in math and science around the globe because of a handful of teachers who aren’t top notch but to you haters, kicking out staff seems to be an aphrodisiac. Only private sector folks making big $$$ are truly turned out on a regular basis. No plumbing company, carpentry business or retail store “gets rid of” their lesser employees without cause after 25+ years. It is additionally false to state that tenured teachers cannot be let go when circumstances warrant it. The retort here is that they’re protected by the union. To a degree that’s true and why wouldn’t they be? Didn’t O.J. get represented? Would a union official really say to a teacher “you know, I realize that you’ve paid dues for the past 20 years but you know what? They’re right about you; you really do suck so we’re not going to represent you?”

h) After we complete the daunting task of determining criteria for success and failure, (A state answer booklet doesn’t cut it) we may move on to a sensible approach to accountability. Why is it that 100% of students of parents who have achieved academically, who value education by rewarding good grades and disciplining poor grades and who come to school conferences achieve a good if not terrific level of success in school…..why is that? Why am I continually charged with caring more about a child’s achievement than their own parents? If you meet basic parenting responsibilities like attendance and conferencing, I will gladly assume responsibility from there. Failing a few basic requirements, schools should be released from the expectation that the child will achieve the state mandated test scores used to judge my performance. I have had dads give their kids the dope they sell on the bus. I too have had students who are given everything they want including new cars even though they’re failing several subjects. Why on earth would a teen study and work hard when the payoff comes without effort?

…and now were on to your view of what’s “mission essential.” With your inclusion of Math, Science, History, English and Foreign Languages, PE, Art, Drama, Manufacturing, Robotics etc, I’m wondering just what courses you’re looking to cut. Yes, core subjects are very important but those “nice to have” courses (whichever you mean) are often the conduit for traditionally lower achieving students to make sense of the core subjects. I’m a Technology Education teacher and I run a shop. When I have a student apply the formula for circumference to make two pieces fit, I commonly see a light bulb go on for that student. When I teach them to read a standard micrometer, all of a sudden, fractions make sense. When they are required to complete a technical write up of project work, they learn a functional form of writing. When they use a MIG welder, they learn that C25 shielding gas is primarily Argon which they’ll find on the periodic table among the noble gasses.

Accountable teachers, principals and board members? Sure but you’re forgetting a couple of things. You failed to include parents and guardians and you failed to show how you would hold school boards accountable. School boards are not accountable for anything. They establish no presence in schools but rather, they vote on policies that sound good and feel good. Modern school boards are little more than an extension of finance boards as the dollar is their sole concern.

Now John, will you please define the role and responsibility of parents and guardians in achievement? Will you tell me what financial concessions you’re making or are willing to make to this fiscal crisis? Will you tell me why you’re not a teacher? Will you tell my why the private sector i.e. insurance companies cannot take a freeze in increasing premiums? Will you tell me what preparations you made to be qualified for your career?

Oops, a cut and paste screwed up my italics!

Well fair enough John.....I suspect we agree more than disagree. I'd just ask folks to think about who they want to have inspiring their children. Someone who skips to work each day thrilled to be there or someone more resembling the miserable dept store clerk milking their smoke break time for all it's worth!

Gee XRay, did something happen to her or did she just leave?