NYT: In California, a Fierce Battle Is Joined Over Teachers

[DeepModem Mom]

In California, a Fierce Battle Is Joined Over Teachers
By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
Published: October 20, 2005


LOS ANGELES, Oct. 16 - As a fifth-grade teacher in Lancaster, Calif., Jeanne Marks feels an occasional need to march into her principal's office and request textbooks or other supplies. She has made the trip often enough, she says, that administrators now roll their eyes when she approaches. She calls herself "a squeaky teacher" for speaking out on behalf of her pupils.

For now, however, Ms. Marks has largely stopped squeaking. A ballot measure before California voters next month would not only extend the time that public school teachers wait to gain tenure, to five years from two, but also change the rules for dismissal, allowing administrators to fire any teacher after two unsatisfactory evaluations without what current rules provide: a 90-day period for improvement and a comprehensive appeals process.

Ms. Marks, who has been teaching for seven years, says that if the measure passes, she will be left more vulnerable to a bad evaluation by any administrator inclined to interpret her "squeaking" as troublemaking.

That is but one objection to the measure, Proposition 74, which has set off a political storm for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican running for re-election next year. He is promoting Prop 74 as crucial to reforming public schools by weeding out ineffective teachers.

Unions that represent the state's 300,000 teachers are leading the opposition, arguing that the initiative would do little to improve classroom achievement, would scare away new teachers and would encourage school districts to get rid of older teachers, who cost more in salary and benefits....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/20/national/20tenure.html?oref=login

[rodeodance]

1. she is right.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

2. My best friend is a teacher, and the politics are un-frikkin-believable.

She's told me stories that equal or surpass any Silicon Valley cube rat tales you've ever heard.

She got squeezed out of her job by another teacher in the department who did some heavily orchestrated maneuvering behind her back. She wasn't aware of it, and by the time she WAS, "the fix was in"...there was nothing she could do.

If this thing passes you'll see a spike in teachers walking on eggshells and / or sucking up to the administration out of sheer survival.

That's the LAST thing we need...a pool of educators well-schooled in the Karl Rove Machiavellian School of throat-cutting and back-stabbing.

:grr:

[TallahasseeGrannie]

5. Teachers are very vulnerable

to so many forces from the outside. Like giving a failing grade to the child of influential people who are suddenly out for your throat. Or having the audacity to have your children close their eyes and visualize something and then being accused of dabbling in the dark arts. Also, with the school board an elected position, they are also prone to lose their non-tenured position to the new school board member's wife, daughter, sister, next-door neighbor or campaign manager.

And they burn out. Fast. And I agree that a burned out teacher can be useless at best, toxic at worst, to kids.

The key is to use these folks more effectively. There are a lot of positions in the school district that are not one teacher: one classroom positions. Burned out teachers could be placed in team teaching situations, one-on-one tutoring, even non-teaching jobs like curriculum development. A good principal recognizes this and works for the best solution for both the teacher and the school.

The concept of two bad evals and you're out isn't tenure. I have seen many good teachers who have been victimized by principals for a variety of things: political beliefs (which translate into classroom issues such as whether to teach phonics or "whole language"); personal appearance (including weight issues), etc. It would be nothing for them to churn out two bad evaluations.

We are losing at least 50% of our teaching corps in the next five to seven years as the boomers go out. We already don't compete very well in regards to salary, with an enforced 2-3 month "forced vacation" with no paycheck. If we take the job security out of the position we will have to close schools for want of teachers.

My opinion, but developed after 30+ years in the public school system.

[roguevalley]

3. the worst part of education are administrators. this is why tenure

and other rights are so damned important.

[tsuki]

4. Bush in FL did away with tenure. That is the ultimate goal. eom

[Akoto]

6. Gee, I can see where this heads.

"You don't want to teach your students intelligent design? You've been instructing them to always question authority and not blindly follow the Republicans' wars? Guess what? You're ineffective, get lost."

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

7. My friends who are teachers often go unreimbursed for supplies

they purchase for classroom projects. Most teachers are quite dedicated and work far more hours than the administrators judging them.

Arnie is an asshat and I can only hope he fails. My concern is that the "parental notification" proposition will get the RW'ers out to vote. Anytime you have any abortion issue on the ballot, it gets their base out.

[Sequoia]

9. Sadly, you are correct.

Ahnold is a useless skag.

[brentspeak]

8. Who do you trust? The teachers, or the administrators?

By and large, the teachers. What would a group of politically-connected administrators and board members know about proper teaching, anyway?