Newsweek published this article in their March 15, 2010 issue, about the problems with education in America. Their decision – it is the teachers. The article was titled, “Why We Can’t Get Rid of Failing Teachers” by Evan Thomas and Pat Wingert.
As I read this article and talked about it with other teachers at my school, it was interesting to hear their reactions. Some totally agreed, some were indifferent, some were angry, some defensive, and some full of excuses. I was supportive, shocked, and 100% agree.
Have you ever had a bad teacher? I have. Boy, have I. I’ve had teachers as early as middle school, where I sat in the back of the class and worked on my own, teaching myself. I was lucky because I was a smart kid and could do that. However, if I hadn’t been a smart kid, I would have been completely lost in the crowd and left behind. I’ve had teachers who have thrown chalk, passed out in class because they were so drunk, (that teacher also threw up on a regular basis in the sink), dumped water on sleeping students, and then there were those who just ignored me while I played games on my calculator (I didn’t have an iPhone when I was a teenager) or solitaire. The last weeks of school were often spent watching movies and playing card games.
Despite all this – I went into teaching.
Mostly because I had amazing English teachers. All of my English teachers were great. They inspired me. They taught be to think critically and express myself through words. I really think that it is because of them that I am an English teacher now. All of my English teachers continued to try new things, read new books, and pushed me to do more and be more. Here is a shout out of gratitude to Mrs. Silletto, Miss Heart, Ms. Sheya, and Mrs. Lofgren from Kennedy Junior High and Hunter High School.
But onto what Newsweek said . . .
They seem to group their comments into three categories:
- Good Teachers = better student achievement, grades, and learning
- The Unions and tenure system are keeping bad teachers in the profession.
- Examples (good and bad) of teaching.
1. Good Teachers = better student achievement, grades, and learning
“What really makes a difference, what matters more than the class size or the textbook, the teaching method or the technology, or even the curriculum, is the quality of the teacher. Must of the ability to teach in innate . . . within about five years, you can generally tell who is a good teacher and who is not. . . . The research shows that kids who have two, three, or four strong teachers in a row will eventually excel, no matter what their background, while kids who have even two weak teachers in a row will never recover.” (25)
“Teaching in public schools has not always attracted the best and the brightest. … most school teachers are recruited from the bottom third of college-bound high-school students.” (25)
“Some teachers resent the reform movement … others welcome a boost in status that would come with higher standards. You know, the Marine Corps never has any problem meeting its enlistment goals, because it’s an elite corps, and people want to be part of something that is seen as the best. … In Eruope, where teachers enjoy more social prestige and higher salaries, schools have no trouble attracting new teachers with strong academic records.” (27)
- When I read that first quote, I was embarrassed. I was NOT in the bottom 1/3 of my high school class. Then I remembered the saying, “Those who can’t do, teach.” Ouch! I don’t like the stereotype that we have in the United States, that teachers are flunkies who are just in it for summers off and a short work day.
- I do think we need to have higher standards. Because there are no differences between the quality of the teacher and no benefits for being a better teacher, I can see why there are so many teachers who are content to sit idly by and do minimal work with mediocrity.
2. The Unions and tenure system is keeping bad teachers in the profession.
“Teachers’ unions have become more and more powerful. In most states, after two or three years, teachers are given lifetime tenure. It is almost impossible to fire them. … In no other socially significant profession are the workers so insulated from accountability. … Many principals don’t even try to week out the poor performers (or they transfer them to other schools in what’s been dubbed the ‘dance of the lemons’). … firing a teacher invites a costly court battle with the local union.” (25)
- I do have lifetime tenure. I got it at the end of my 3rd year. The only thing I needed to do was pass my evaluations, pass a Praxis test, and pay $65. No one from the state or district really knew if I was a good teacher. I was surprised at how easy it actually was.
- I know of a teacher who has not passed her evaluations three years in a row. She hasn’t been fired. The district she works in keeps sending her to trainings, but it obviously isn’t working. She isn’t a good teacher and every one of her students suffers because of it. But by now she is tenured, is a member of the union, and no one will touch her. School can’t afford the legal battles to fire teachers. The money needs to go to our students and should go to our students.
“The teachers’ unions are major players in the Democratic Party at the national and local levels. So it is extremely significant – a sign of the changing times – that the Obama administration has taken them on. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is dangling money as an incentive for state legislatures to weaken the grip of the teachers’ unions.” (26)
- I’m a Democrat and have been a supporter of unions in general. However, now that I am an adult and understand how they work in my life with my actual employment, I am not a supporter. They control so much and protect their own – to the detriment of our students. It has gotten out of hand and while I still think unions are a good thing, they are too powerful and I see the effects of the teachers unions and quality teaching every single day.
- I asked one teacher in my school why they belonged to the union and the reason they gave was that the union will pay my legal fees if I go to court over a school related reason. This falls into the category of teachers needing to protect themselves and I can understand that. However, I know that my administration has supported me and will support me. I have had parents contact the administration and they have backed up my policies and procedures. This isn’t a “us versus them” system of education – teachers versus administrators. We are a team and hopefully we are both working to improve teacher quality and student learning.
3. Examples (good and bad) of teaching.
News articles
“Last year the Los Angeles Times ran a long series document the unwillingness of the education bureaucracy to fire bad teachers … The Indianapolis Star reported how Lawrence Township schools had quietly laid off teachers with generous cash settlements and secrecy agreements.” (27)
Here are some of the awful things these teachers did:
- One teacher told a student who had committed suicide to “carve deeper next time.”
- One kept a stash of pornography and cocaine at the school.
- One had a 20-year history of complains about injuring, harassing, and raping students.
All of these teachers are either still teaching or still have their teaching license.
It is terrible, just terrible. Do all people make mistakes, yes. Have I always said and done the right thing, no. But, these are some pretty serious problems. These are not “heat of the moment” dumb things.
Central Falls high school in Rhode Island.
“At Central Falls High School in Rhode Island, half the students drop out of school, and proficiency in math measured at 7% … The local superintendent, tried to improve scores by requiring teachers to work 25 minutes longer each day, eat lunch with students once a week, and agree to be evaluated by a third party. .. The teachers, who make $75,000 a year, balked. … So, she recommended firing all 74 teachers.” (27)
- This is an example of bad teaching/good administration. I do work longer days (we teach an extra 45 minute class per day), I do eat lunch with students, and I would love to be evaluated by a third party. I’m surprised that teachers didn’t want to try something new in order to help their struggling students.
New Orleans
“It is difficult to dislodge the educational establishment. In New Orleans, a hurricane was required: since Katrina, New Orleans has made more educational progress than any other city, largely because the public-school system was wiped out. Using nonunion charter schools, New Orleans has been able to measure teacher performance in ways that the teachers’ unions have long and bitterly resisted.” (26)
- Imagine having to completely start fresh and wipe out all of the traditions and standards in order to help students improve. All people resist change and education in America needs a complete rehashing of education.
In the end of the article, they stated, “Many teachers are overworked, underpaid, and under appreciated. Maybe they’d get more respect if the truly bad teachers were let go.” (27)
That is the key – at least for me. I do my best. I work hard. I stay current on research. I measure student progress. I openly invite anyone into my class to see what is going on with me and with my students. But because of all those bad teachers out there – the ones we all remember until we die – teaching, as a profession has a bad rap. If we expected quality teaching, rather than settling for what we can get, not only will the teaching profession improve, but our students will improve. And isn’t that the point of sending them to school?
Unless you do it simple for a free baby sitting service.
