L.A. Unified panel recommends changes in teacher evaluations

[tonysam]

Teachers in L.A. will be totally fucked over.

High-performing teachers should earn more pay, tenure should be more difficult to achieve and teacher reviews should be tied to student test scores, a Los Angeles school district panel is expected to recommend Tuesday.

The proposals, aimed squarely at increasing the effectiveness of teachers, would be the most far-reaching change in years in how the Los Angeles Unified School District decides which teachers to promote and retain.

If approved by the city's Board of Education, the recommendations would be among the most aggressive in the state, if not the nation. Employee unions are expected to oppose some of the proposals, some of which would have to be collectively bargained.

The task force was created by the board, by a narrow margin, shortly before The Times published a series of articles last May examining the difficulties in firing and evaluating teachers.

Of course the articles were lies about "firing" of teachers. It is laughably easy to fire teachers; the administrative law realm is heavily in favor of districts. Don't expect the media to tell the truth about it.



L.A. Times

[wtmusic]

1. Bull. Fucking. Shit.

"The eighth-grade boy held out his wrists for teacher Carlos Polanco to see.

He had just explained to Polanco and his history classmates at Virgil Middle School in Koreatown why he had been absent: He had been in the hospital after an attempt at suicide.

Polanco looked at the cuts and said they "were weak," according to witness accounts in documents filed with the state. "Carve deeper next time," he was said to have told the boy.

"Look," Polanco allegedly said, "you can't even kill yourself."

The boy's classmates joined in, with one advising how to cut a main artery, according to the witnesses.

"See," Polanco was quoted as saying, "even he knows how to commit suicide better than you."

The Los Angeles school board, citing Polanco's poor judgment, voted to fire him.

But Polanco, who contended that he had been misunderstood, kept his job. A little-known review commission overruled the board, saying that although the teacher had made the statements, he had meant no harm.

It's remarkably difficult to fire a tenured public school teacher in California, a Times investigation has found. The path can be laborious and labyrinthine, in some cases involving years of investigation, union grievances, administrative appeals, court challenges and re-hearings."

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/03/local/me-teachers3

I wish I got a fucking review panel before I got fired (and I didn't even make fun of a kid who was suicidal). :grr:

[ret5hd]

2. How you get a "review panel" is join a union.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. Bingo

Instead of criticizing tenure we need to demand it for all workers.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted sub-thread

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[Hannah Bell]

3. if you mean that anecdote, you're right. i suspect it's bullshit.

[wtmusic]

5. You suspect that "anecdote" is bullshit, do you?

You need a little education about what bullshit is, teach.

"Respondent did not engage in conduct that jeopardized the health and welfare of Javier, in that he did not intend, by his comments, to facilitate Javier harming himself. To the contrary, this event was initiated because Respondent was truly concerned about Javier and he simply asked Javier about his absence. Respondent intended his comments to and about Javier to diffuse the awkward situation presented by Javier’s comment about hurting himself."

http://www.latimes.com/media/acrobat/2009-05/46659480.pdf

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. If every worker got fired for saying stupid things at work we'd have no more workers

My mother in law's doctor compared her to a potted plant when she lapsed into a coma after minor surgery. He wasn't fired or even disciplined.

My son's boss told my son and his co-worker (they were both teenagers) that they would make more money selling drugs than working in the restaurant. Nothing happened to him either.

People say stupid shit at work. BFD

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[tonysam]

10. Principals will say slanderous things to parents.

It happened to me, and the only way I found out about it was because the parent contacted me. But the principal is still at his school doing whatever the hell he wants.

[wtmusic]

13. Are you defending a teacher who told a student to commit suicide?

How despicable.

[wtmusic]

15. So telling a student to commit suicide is just some "stupid shit", huh?

Is that something you might say on a bad day?

[Hannah Bell]

9. i'm not a teacher. & oh, haven't you noticed: newspapers & tv = propaganda outlets.

they push an elite agenda, & that includes lying & distorting facts & presenting them without context.

[tonysam]

11. They are pretty much bought and paid for by the billionaire boys. n/t

[wtmusic]

14. A big conspiracy, is it?

Either that or some teacher isn't fit to teach and you can't admit it.

Is it that hard? Or is every teacher perfect? O8)

[Catshrink]

17. You obviously have

either a short fuse or someone hit close to home. No matter. No, the teacher shouldn't have said that. Is it grounds for firing? Depends on the individual circumstances. You can't make that judgemet sitting at your computer. Look, armchair teachers are a way too plentiful here. It's clear that you have never been a classroom teacher or you would understand that each situation must be evaluated differently. You can't make a blanket statement other than "you can't make a blanket statement." It's not a one-size-fits-all deal here. That's why we object to what Obama-Duncan are doing. As an educator, that's one of the first things we learn.

Take a deep breath, pour yourself a glass of wine, and chill.

[wtmusic]

18. You bet it hits close to home.

I have two teenagers. Teenagers are statistically at the highest risk for suicide.

Here is the blanket statement: if a teacher teases or otherwise advocates that a student commit suicide, *especially* when that student has already attempted suicide, they should be dismissed. End of story. The teacher has admitted to making the comments, there is nothing else relevant to the case.

This has nothing to do with what Obama/Duncan are doing, but a knee-jerk reaction on the part of some DU teachers to "protect their own". It's insane.

[Catshrink]

19. No, what's insane is making a blanket statement without knowing the facts.

No one here is advocating suggesting to a student to commit suicide. Stop insinuating. You may have teenagers, but you are not an educator and don't know the ins and outs of the job. Hear this: you don't know what happened. You are making a snap judgement without all the facts.

You already had one thread locked, you need to calm down.

[wtmusic]

20. Here are the facts:

http://www.latimes.com/media/acrobat/2009-05/46659480.pdf

There is no circumstance - none whatsoever - no "ins and outs" - which can justify this teacher keeping his job.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[wtmusic]

16. The link is to a school board action

Are you saying the legal document presented is a lie and distorts facts?

What possible context would argue for retaining a teacher who encouraged a student to commit suicide - by his own admission?

[salin]

21. I hope it is bs

it would be a reprehensible comment, made to any child, let alone a child who had been hospitalized for a suicide attempt.

In this sensationalized press - it is very likely a misrepresentation.

OTOH, I have worked with some educators/colleagues whose sense of decorum was so lacking that the sarcasm used with students makes me think that it "could have" happened. That I can even think that bothers me. More a comment on the deterioration of civility in our society, than a comment specific to educators.

[wtmusic]

22. Unfortunately, it isn't sensationalized.

The teacher has admitted to the comments.

http://www.latimes.com/media/acrobat/2009-05/46659480.pdf

[wtmusic]

23. I've had teachers tell other kids in my son's class that they're "stupid".

More than once. When I called the teacher out, he apologized to me and to the kid.

Do teachers get any training in child psychology anymore? Sometimes I wonder.