Obama applauds union-busting school board that fires every teacher at a Rhode Island high school

Arriving late to the party, again, but this needs to be said: George, your post at #80 is unacceptable. You can't characterize another poster's words as "fucking game playing. Stop it, you know better.

Maysie wrote:

Arriving late to the party, again, but this needs to be said: George, your post at #80 is unacceptable. You can't characterize another poster's words as "fucking game playing. Stop it, you know better.

When one tries to communicate from the heart and finds himself played with...?  Any time someone does that they should expect the same, Maysie.  Look over the several postings. I'm sure you'll understand and find some more chastisement to go around. 

As a (supply) teacher, I do see how well or poorly students learn.  One of the biggest indicators of success or failure is a student's socio-economic status.  In the board where I teach, most teachers use similar teaching methods.  Most schools receive funding based on student enrollment.  There are some minor variations for students with exceptional needs.  The school board does provide a little extra funding for schools that require extra assistance.  These schools may have a high concentration of low SES students or English language learners.  That extra money may go toward hiring an extra half-time teacher or educational assistant and providing healthy breakfasts or snacks to students.  One good thing in my board is that the best teachers can teach at challenging schools.  Yes, teachers do get evaluated.  They get evaluated on their teaching ability and methods--not on their students' test scores.

When I look at Obama's initiatives, I can see that he means well and wants the best for America's children.  I do see some problems with Obama's initiatives:

Obama wants to extend the school day.  He wants teachers teaching more and helping students before and after school.  I will let everyone know that for every hour in a classroom a teacher needs to prepare about an hour outside the classroom.  By extending the day for teachers, the quality of the lessons will suffer.

Obama wants charter schools to take over in poorly performing areas.  Some charter schools may be great; others are no better than slave factories for the teachers.  The teachers work long hours for low pay; they burn out after a year or two.  If these charter schools were implemented, then the poor students would be taught by first and second year teachers just out of teachers' college.  This situation is similar to some Canadian native reserve schools where students are taught by new teacher graduates.  The students do not have continuity in the teaching staff.  A stable learning community cannot develop.

If I were a teacher in the United States, I would be looking for work in a middle or upper class neighbourhood.  If I am going to be evaluated on my students' standardized test scores, I would want to teach in a well-off neighbourhood where the scores are likely to be higher.  If other teachers think the same way, then poor students will end up being taught by new graduates and not by experienced teachers.  There may possibly be a shortage of teachers serving poor students.