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ED WATCH: Educators' Voices
In Fairfax's 'No Child' Fight, A Refusal to Leave Children Behind
Marc Fisher, Washington Post, March 22, 2007
Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher focused a recent article on Jack Dale, superintendent of schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, and his “stand at the schoolhouse door” against inflexible federal regulations. The issue is that rigid federal rules require “newly arrived immigrant children to take the same reading test that other kids take… Those children, Dale says, deserve a little time to soak in the language before they are subjected to high-stakes test in English.” The superintendent of “one of the highest-achieving systems in the land”,relying on his common sense, “refuses to make a kid who has just arrived in the country sit at a desk and be humiliated by a test that can only make him feel like a moron.” But though “Dale has met twice with senior officials in Washington to push for enough flexibility so schools are not condemned as failures…. [b]oth times, senior Education Department leaders told Dale there would be no exceptions to the rules.” As Dale concludes: "The last thing I'm going to do is subject some third-grader to tears… Let them fire me for it." article »
Respect Is Nice, but Principals Want a Raise
David M. Herszenhorn, New York Times, January 29, 2007
“Many principals applaud the concept” of increased authority to lead their schools, concluded David Herszenhorn of the New York Times on the basis of “interviews with principals across the city.” The principals reacted mostly with enthusiasm to Mayor Bloomberg’s school reform plan, in which “principals will gain power but also face far more scrutiny” and will be “held accountable for students’ progress and for rigorously reviewing teachers up for tenure.” As Kenneth Baum, principal of the Urban Assembly School for Applied Math and Science, a Bronx middle school, said: “These kind of empowering moves for principals allow us to make the school-based decisions that make sense for us.” However, principals were critical of the fact that “some teachers, because of recent contract deals, can now earn more than the principals or assistant principals who supervise them.” As Melissa H. Silberman, principal of Automotive High School in Brooklyn, summed up: “I wasn’t afraid of empowerment, so I jumped. But… How do you tell us that you want to empower us and respect us, and not give us a contract?” article »
Educator Abuse, a Heavy Concern in Valley Schools
Adrienne Augustus, CBS Las Vegas Eyewitness News, December 13, 2006
“Clark County elementary school principals are saying some visitors, often parents, are disrespectful and verbally, even physically, abusive to school staff,” reports Adrienne Augustus of CBS Las Vegas Eyewitness News. In a troubling sign of growing disrespect for teachers, “more and more educators are finding their own safety ranks too far down the list of priorities.” As Deborah Willis, principal of Helen Jydstrup Elementary, said, “'I have walked into classrooms and seen teachers in tears because someone has insulted them in front of their students and other parents. It's very easy for people to walk into a school and find no problem using profane and obscene language, threatening bodily harm to teachers and administration.'” Willis herself "'spent time on leave because an argument with a parent turned into a physical confrontation.'” As she concluded, “'I actually had people tell me, that's part of your job. That is a terrible misconception. It is not part of my job to put up with bad behaviors from adults.'" article »
Mentors Give New Teachers a Real Education
Jessica Blanchard, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 7, 2006
In Seattle, a pilot mentoring program that is pairing new teachers with more seasoned veterans is helping to cut down attrition rates in “high-needs” schools. The program, “Survive and Thrive,” requires that participants meet with their mentors at least a few times a month to discuss issues such as discipline, classroom management, and dealing with stress. Scott Anstett, an art teacher, says that participating in the mentoring program has made a big difference: “[Before joining the program] I kind of floundered my way through.” article »
Teacher’s Final Bell Rings
Sebreana Domingue, Daily Advertiser, May 31, 2006
Retiring elementary school teacher, Joan Schibi, notes the things that have changed in her 43 years of teaching in a Louisiana public school: “We have more paperwork. …One big thing that has changed is how we are teaching the subjects and standards, and not children. We are not conforming to their needs.”
Teacher Grew with Special Students
Kevin Riordan, Courier Post, May 19, 2006
After 36 years as a teacher of developmentally disabled students in New Jersey, Margaret Curran is saying good-bye to the classroom. The veteran teacher will retire in June and says that while she will miss her students, she will not miss New Jersey’s new Alternative Proficiency Assessment standards program, which she says was “one of the big helps” when deciding whether or not to retire. “There’s so much paperwork,” she said, adding that she “would not want to retire if it wasn’t for APA.”
What Teachers Want
Linda P. Campbell, Star-Telegram, January 8, 2006
A questionnaire created by the Star-Telegram provides a from-the-trenches take on what should be done in order to improve our public school systems. The survey, which was sent to teachers in 36 districts around the state of Texas, questioned educators on areas such as pay, administrative support, and job satisfaction. According to the respondents, the number one thing teachers need to be better at their jobs is time, “to plan, to collaborate with colleagues, to actually teach instead of drill for tests, to grade papers, to keep up with the deluge of other paperwork, to deliver individualized instruction, to consult with parents, to just keep up.” Besides the lack of time, teachers cited “excessive paperwork” and “discipline issues” as two other major obstacles preventing them from being the best teachers they can be.
The Challenge I'll Face this Weekend
Sharon Klafter, Orlando Sentinel, August 26, 2005
A Florida elementary school teacher describes the daily challenges of her chosen profession:
"There are long hours, extensive time away from family, an increasing chance of legal involvement, ever-changing rules, endless paperwork, extreme responsibility and a sense of being invisible to superiors."
Teacher Survey Weighs Morale, Trust and Support
Donna Bozza, Delmarva Daily Times, July 2005
In a survey of Northampton County, MD, school teachers, "80 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed that 'the morale as a teacher or support employee' of the school system 'is excellent.'" A full 70 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement, "The central office supports building-level decisions." article »
Dropping Like Flies: Bird's Eye View of Teacher Turnover in Area
Contra Costa Times, July 2005
A high school teacher in East Bay, CA, writes, "As I sat tidying my desk on the last day I could hear a student's exuberant voice echoing down the hallway, 'It's the last day of the school year; the teachers are dropping like flies!' ... At the end of every school year, we are ready for the 'Exodus.' Our colleagues and friends leave our schools. ... General estimates of teacher attrition is around 6 percent per year and according to scholarly studies, as many as 50 percent of all new teachers leave the profession within the first five years."
"But why?" the teacher asks, deciding to conduct an informal survey of teachers who were "throwing in the towel." "The teachers whom I chose to interview were popular with students, received good evaluations and showed measurable increases in their students' test scores. ... They said they were overwhelmed by their workload and the unrelenting demands of their students. ... Teachers felt that they weren't doing enough for their students. ... They felt that each student deserved more individual attention than they were able to provide. ... Finally, teachers felt isolated in their classrooms. They spoke of feeling a lack of support when managing unruly students and when trying to motivate apathetic ones. ... In short, these teachers felt overwhelmed by the workload, unappreciated and disempowered. Some of those who resigned were newcomers, other were veterans."
Coach-Teacher Finds Rewards in Classroom
Sandra E. Constantine, Republican (Springfield, MA), February 16, 2005
Paul M. Danielovich left his job as a high school principal to become a coach and teacher at a junior-senior high school. He says he "'much prefers coaching and teaching to the days of dealing with angry parents, lawyers, paperwork and policy.'"
A Writer Turns to Teaching
Erika Hayasaki, Los Angeles Times, December 21, 2004
Wanting to make a difference, Ricardo Lira Acuña gave up writing to become a full-time English teacher through a Los Angeles Unified School District intern program. But with five classes, 150 students, Acuna "found problems he had never imagined. Some could barely read. Others were in trouble with the law.... A few were on drugs.... They and other students, particularly the lethargic, the recalcitrant and the unruly, were wearing him out. Bureaucracy, paperwork and his internship classes at night and on weekends were frustrating him."
A profile in three parts follows Acuña through his first semester as he tries to overcome obstacles that manage to defeat many of America's public school teachers. article »
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