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In reply to the discussion: Michelle Rhee is smiling. [View all]Android3.14
(5,402 posts)I've seen more useless burned out lazy teachers who arrive at school two minutes before the last bell of first period, teach from their desks, pass kids for writing their names on papers, and hit the door at the exact moment the clock hits their exit time, and these teachers keep their jobs as entire programs in music, art, science and language turn into nothing but rubber stamps of mediocrity. And then I will see a new teacher, still full of the fire that called her to the classroom, coming in early, staying late, working weekends, inspiring students and raising the bar for everone while receiving a pittance, and when the layoffs come through, the good teachers lose their jobs and the bad teachers keep floating in the toilet that their classroom has become.
I've seen excellent, award winning teachers, moving into a new area to teach, and having to start all over again with the local union. At my last teaching position, when the RIF came through, even with eight years of experience under my belt, because I was new to that district which is still suffering from lack of academic progress today, I was at the top of the RIF list.
I understand the need for unions, and I was a member of the teachers union for eight years. But teachers' unions, in their current form, have dumbed down our kids, shielded incompetent teachers, and contributed to the early burnout of our youngest and most vital instructors.
I don't know that LIFO should be eliminated completely, but the way it works now is a travesty.