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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sully- who wrote (78144)	3/7/2010 7:44:05 PM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 90947

If teachers have lost valuable tools in dealing with problem kids, it's mainly because they don't work as a team among themselves and with school administrators. No rules or laws are going to change that. It goes to the culture of the system, a system that rewards mediocrity, while the NEA seeks to create friction among parents and the school administration. The NEA are the teachers and the teachers are the NEA. With a little creative teamwork, they could discipline just about any kid. What's wrong is the NEA holding a monolopolistic grip on public education in America. An NEA that fights tooth and nail reform such as vouchers that would empower parents, instead of the bureaucratic union that does nothing but protect them from actually doing their job. I don't think a teacher has actually been fired in Washington state for incompetence in 20 years - even convicted pedophiles find a way of being transferred instead of actually fired. Every industry has deadbeats that get fired for incompetence. Can you tell me how many teachers were fired at the schools you taught at Sully? I can name a dozen military instructors off the top of my head that were tossed out on their ear within 6 months of being in front of a class of students. That's the difference between military instruction and public education. People actually monitor performance and hold teachers accountable.

To: Sully- who wrote (78144)	3/7/2010 9:07:09 PM
From: greenspirit	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

Keep the best teachers March 5, 2010 Last fall, Washington, D.C., schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee laid off 229 teachers. Here's what was unusual about that: She chose who would stay and who would go based on the competence of the teachers. That's a radical departure for public education. Most schools across the country make personnel decisions largely or entirely based on seniority. Last in, first out. Illinois law requires that teacher layoffs be based on seniority unless a school district and its local union negotiate different rules. Result: seniority is the deciding factor everywhere, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. So law and custom protect older teachers — whether they're good teachers or bad teachers. "The factory model approach of last-hired, first-fired is unusual among white-collar professions," says the National Council on Teacher Quality. That's true. Think about your workplace. Are you protected simply because you've been around for a long time? Or do you have to prove yourself every day? Many cash-strapped Illinois school districts face the prospect of layoffs in the coming months. Unless outdated rules are scrapped, the schools will have to fire some of their best teachers because they happen to be younger teachers. They also will have to fire more teachers. Younger teachers have lower salaries, so when schools operate strictly on seniority, they have to let more teachers go to achieve a certain dollar savings. Yes, there is value in experience. But the National Council on Teacher Quality reports that "teachers in their third year of teaching are generally about as effective as long-tenured teachers." Seniority can be considered, but along with such factors as competence, drive, classroom performance and willingness to learn new skills. Younger teachers, for instance, may be more computer-savvy and thus more capable of teaching the tech skills children need to succeed. Teachers apparently aren't afraid of broadening the criteria for personnel decisions. The New Teacher Project surveyed two large urban districts and found that about three-quarters of the teachers said decisions on who stays and who goes should be based on the quality of the work. "Teachers tended to favor factors that relate to their effectiveness and performance more than time served in the district," says the project, a not-for-profit organization co-founded by Rhee that focuses on getting outstanding teachers for poor and minority students. We imagine that's particularly true with younger teachers, who know that seniority rules stack the deck against them. Some teachers argue that seniority must be the deciding factor because performance evaluations are poorly done. That is a problem, and Illinois and other states are moving toward better evaluations. But that doesn't argue for denying school districts the flexibility to make decisions based on the knowledge of principals, administrators and teachers. Last year, Arizona approved a law that forbids the consideration of seniority in firing decisions. A handful of states allow other factors to be used. That's the direction Illinois should go. And at the local level, parents and taxpayers should push school boards to negotiate contracts that move away from seniority-based personnel decisions. That will caucus a ruckus. Rhee has weathered a brutal storm in D.C., mostly from unions and politicians. But all governments have to find ways to lure and keep the best and brightest in their work force. Where is that more important than in the classroom? chicagotribune.com