Hey what do you guys think about the teacher strike?

In chicago there is a teacher strike. These teachers make one of the highest teacher salaries in the nation at an average of $73,000. But the real issue they have is the new system that our nation is adopting for our classroom and our new evaluation system.

My honest opinion on the evaluation system is that its a joke. Let me explain why. Our new evaluation system is based on a 26 page document of points we have to meet that our administration has to go by. That means our lesson plans that took me about an hour every week now takes me 4 hours. Thats only half of it. The other half of our evaluation is test scores. So teachers in poor areas are screwed because their test scores will be low. If you have low test scores for two years you lose your job. What a crock of shit. What if you have an inclusion class with 8 special ed kids? Oh that doesnt matter you lose your job. BS

The other issue is called common core. This is education switching from multiple choice standardized tests to essay testing. I dont have an issue with this because I teach AP and I am already doing this. But the other teachers now have to teach advanced writing in every subject not just english. Yes even Math. Really? This makes teachers jobs even harder.

My big issue in my state is that I HAVE NEVER HAD A RAISE. NEVER. They have made my job harder but we get no compensation. On top of that Oklahoma is the second lowest in pay. I only make $40,000 a year. Thats with coaching two sports. So while I dont know if I really support the chicago teacher striking over pay I hope they win the fight to get rid of common core and the horrible evaluation system.

sooner your points on evaluation in extremly poor performing schools has some merit.at times some kids no matter what dont want to learn.thats just some.
look times have changed since i went to grade school which was k threw 8 at that time.the so called conditions back then if applied today folks educaters would scream instant failure.total bullshit.overcrouded class rooms excuse is nonsence.from the first grade to the eighth grade my class was 40-42 students.it was a catholic school in a blue collar neighborhood..how about just 1 teacher a nun teaching math science history english etc etc..one teacher only who did not have the so called special -ed background of today.to pass a mark of at least 75 was needed.all past mostly and with grades of many in the 90s.yeah we had some who were ball busters no doubt.in fact our class was tough that in the 7th grade a special nun from new jersey was brought in to have us tow the line.she failed big time yet the class earned high grades because school was viewd as a place to learn first socialize a distant second.several went on to be professionals.a colledge professer a doctor a few educaters and one school principle a enginer a priest a brother a accountant.not to bad for what was consideredc back then a inner city school in a fucking tough neighborhood.
parents back then cared.they supported the teachers not opposing them.if you think the pay of yours is bad now well it was extra bad back then.folks became teachers because of a dedicated calling.realy.not saying you but there are plenty in the field who do it for a check and big time lifetime job security thats now being threatened.
with all the tools avalible for kids today computers extra strong visual aides smaller classes computers etc etc theres something wrong here..we had a inkwell and a fountain pen.thats fucking it.
yes teachers need to be held accountable.but there has to be sanity of reason here.the school and neighborhood envirement.how many are from one parent families.crime rate and poverty of the area.so much contributes to a poor performing school...can good teachers make a differnce.dedicated ones with patience and a calling.you bet your life they can.whats being done to have a attitude chance amoung the students.whats being done to show i care as a teacher.whats being done to uplift the self esteme of the kids.whats being done with all the tools avalible today to help them learn and whats being done to understand and impliment that several learn in a different way and a different pace.all those and more are needed for REAL improvement.
a real teacher does thoses automaticaly.i realy believe that.
my uncle a brillent man had that calling.he became principle of a inner city grade school that had over 1200 students in a city of about 90 000 at that time..his humor his heart but most of all he was a master motivater not only to his teachers but to the kids themselves.he turned a c plus school around to a a plus one in 3 short years.trust the trust the kids had in him and a mutual respect went a long way.whats wrong with our education system.i dont know but one thing i do know is there is a decent percentage of teachers that will go the extra mile.there are also a decent amount there that are in it for a paycheck job security and a decent pension and great benefits.they know who they are.they mail in there efforts day in and day out.they need to go.thoses are the ones that hide behind union protection.they hide behind tennure they hide behind excuses.if you do the job right like my uncle and somefriends of mine the works hard demanding and dam hard.they love it.sooner you know the good ones dont you.its easy to see from your eyes.you also know the bad ones also.they need to fucking go.
ill bet in chicago the good ones are honoring the picket line but prefer to be in the classroom now and reason things out.

The bad teachers are causing the issues. I understand trying to get rid of the bad teachers but what the politicians don't understand by making these changes they are chasing away good teachers too. But I think you hit the nail on the head with parents. I never get a call from a parent that starts with "what is my kid doing" its always "what are you doing to my kid." I just don't understand this disdain for teachers. Who the hell goes into teaching if you hate kids? The pay is shit and the job is stressful as hell. So I do not understand parents. Why the hell would you not trust the teacher over the 15 year old? My parents when they got a call from the school beat my ass before ever asking me a question. There was no time where they believed me over a teacher.

sooner lol true.there wasnt one parent in the neighborhood that didnt back the teacher.it was the kids that were wrong.and we were.

dmar5143 wrote:sooner lol true.there wasnt one parent in the neighborhood that didnt back the teacher.it was the kids that were wrong.and we were.

Whats messed up it was that way when I grew up and I am not that old. I have already had two parents this year call me at the school to ask about why their kid "was singled out" for talking too much in class. Are you fucking kidding me? Singled out? LOL Yeah like I woke up that morning and said "how am I going to get those kiddies today" then twisted a long mustache. Its shit like that that frustrates me to the point of questioning if its worth it. Thats what chases good teachers away. If you ask any teacher what is the worst part of their job everyone of them will answer the parents. Its not the pay or benefits(really lack of) or the kids. It is the parents.

I agree. Too many parents are trying to be the kids friend, not a parent. Anytime I had an issue in school they made sure I was the one who needed to work harder, not the teacher.

NJBeatdown86 wrote:I agree. Too many parents are trying to be the kids friend, not a parent. Anytime I had an issue in school they made sure I was the one who needed to work harder, not the teacher.

Its a bad trend.

My wife taught middle school science at a poor school where a very low % of parents had gone to college. And in general the parents looked at teachers as daycare for their kids. They sent their kids to school and they were the school's problem.

The test scores were not very good at that school.

My wife taught at a middle school outside of Richmond, Virginia, in a middle class area. More parents had gone to college. It seemed as most of the parents that hadn't gone to college did care about their kids being educated.

The test scores were better.

My wife teaches Honors/AP Biology at a public high school in West end of Richmond. It is a well to do area. There is a very high % of parents with a college degree. There are many parents that have a JD, MD, or PHD. Eric Cantor (Republican congressman that you see in tv all the time as he is 2nd for them behind Speaker Boehner). His kids go there.

The test scores are very good. The biggest problem is parents that think their kids should be in an AP class when they should only be in honors, or those in honors that should only be in college prep.

My wife is smart. She cares. She prepares. I believe she is a good teacher. But the testing criteria that is used to judge her is based on what school she teaches in and the makeup of the students there. Not that much to do with her.

captainanddew wrote:My wife taught middle school science at a poor school where a very low % of parents had gone to college. And in general the parents looked at teachers as daycare for their kids. They sent their kids to school and they were the school's problem.

The test scores were not very good at that school.

My wife taught at a middle school outside of Richmond, Virginia, in a middle class area. More parents had gone to college. It seemed as most of the parents that hadn't gone to college did care about their kids being educated.

The test scores were better.

My wife teaches Honors/AP Biology at a public high school in West end of Richmond. It is a well to do area. There is a very high % of parents with a college degree. There are many parents that have a JD, MD, or PHD. Eric Cantor (Republican congressman that you see in tv all the time as he is 2nd for them behind Speaker Boehner). His kids go there.

The test scores are very good. The biggest problem is parents that think their kids should be in an AP class when they should only be in honors, or those in honors that should only be in college prep.

My wife is smart. She cares. She prepares. I believe she is a good teacher. But the testing criteria that is used to judge her is based on what school she teaches in and the makeup of the students there. Not that much to do with her.

Thats what politicians either dont get or dont care about. They act like a teacher can perform miracles. I am lucky I am in a good school and I teach 2 AP classes and 2 regular so I will be fine but that doesnt mean that I dont hope the system changes. Its a joke right now. Politicians should stay out of education.

sooner check out the mornin g joe show.clips from today with jeb bush on education.just go to msn home page click on the news thing and look for morning joe..bush presents facts as well as a intelligent approach to the educational problem..accountabilty is a must.bush pointed out a miami and tampa area region of schools that results were bad in strong poverty areas that have made excellent steady progress.he correctly points to accountabilty and a critera that judges improvement.he also points out children as a whole not just in poverty areas are underperforming.the facts he gave is alarming.
there has to be a critera that measures accurately improvement.and also accountabilty.ill disagree with the word politican since its wrongly viewd as a person of evil and for government to stay out of the educational system.view it as it should be viewd is government works as a partner with state and local or regional educaters to improve the quality of education which is vital.we most certainly cannot give the teachers union the role of achieving this for the results are predicable.bad teachers will not be fired.seniority and tenure stand first over competence thus protecting folks who dont belong.as a reminder although considered non political most or all school board officals or governing bodies are elected officals.
testing is a way to define progress or lack of it weather teachers parents or others like it or not.a school or district weather excellent or poor competes against itself.by that i mean progress can be defined as a improvent in that school over the past year or two or three.a school with a F grade that lifts itself to a D grade and then a C minus grade shows progress.its not competing with a yale or harvard or berkley type of high school.thoses type of schools also compete with themselves.
government aides schools states with lots of money.it has a role in its say.bush outlines extremly well whats needed and how to achieve that..hes a politician that got involved and made good progress in developing floridas improved educational standards that at one time was horrible.

I'm with the teachers. My understanding is they didn't get raises they were supposed to and were asked to work longer days with no pay increase. They had an agreement that was breached so they went on strike. That's what's supposed to happen.

I'm very wary of hearing politicians talk about education reform because they generally don't understand what it's like in schools and how learning works.

FUCKKKKKKKKKKKK!. I have to stay off Yahoo. Those people there are retarded. They are just bashing teachers and one guy even had the nerve to say teaching is easy and teachers need a reality check. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!! I am going to go hit the heavy bag for a minute.