Making It in Connecticut: Someone Who Did Understand What Was Going On and is Always Dumbfounded by the Biased Reporting
THIS FORMER TEACHER THAT HAS MOVED ON TO A NEW CAREER MADE THESE COMMENTS REGARDING AN UNBALANCED ARTICLE THAT REPORTED HOW HARD IT IS TO GET RID OF A TENURED TEACHER. AS LONG AS THE MEDIA PLAYS THE WHITE CHALK CRIME SONG BOOK, THE PUBLIC WILL BE LULLED INTO THINKING THAT THE PROBLEM IS TENURED TEACHERS WHEN THE PROBLEM IS WHITE CHALK CRIME. WHITE CHALK CROOKS CAN REST COMFORTABLY AS LONG AS THE MEDIA IS PART OF THEIR NEXUS! NAPTA
I never cease to be amazed at the way the media--which, in turn, influences the public--paints black and white pictures about all issues and never gives a balanced report! I agree that individuals who cannot teach should not remain in the teaching profession. I don't want individuals with personality issues teaching children and youth. I want staff who will treat children and youth with respect teaching them. I would not want doctors who could not "doctor" treating me! But you, of all people, know that perfectly good school staff are being harassed unmercifully for reasons other than they are poor teachers, poor social workers, poor guidance counselors, etc. and that plenty of unqualified teachers remain on the job because principals/other administrators like them and give them satisfactory evaluations. It's the qualified school staff who make waves, who try to buck the system, who are ethical and adhere to moral values, that get the shaft!
I'm not even irritated/incensed because of my own personal situation but because good, innocent people are getting their careers taken away from them and they don't even realize how nasty it can get until they are in the thick of it all and then the cards are stacked so high against them that it is hard to win. It is also common for the idea in this article that getting rid of tenured teachers is a costly and tortuous task--Yes, it can be costly and tortuous for the good people who suddenly find themselves turned upon!-- First of all, school administrators need to take advantage of the nontenured 3 or 5 yrs. (depending on the school system)to get incompetent people out of the school systems while it is fairly easy to do so. School administrators need more training in how to do that, i.e., how to ascertain who is a competent teacher and who isn't. But both of us know it's not always a herculean task to get rid of tenured teachers. There are nasty little ways to do that. We wouldn't want these methods taught to the students but it's OK if the adults who work with them use these nasty methods!
The public doesn't understand the methods that are used to get rid of good teachers. The "if there's smoke, there's fire" adage holds sway! Even when parents and a community supports a tenured teacher under fire that support rarely turns the situation around.
I will keep looking to see if your comments get publicized. At the very least, you would be a good interview to present the other side. The newspaper is losing a good opportunity!!!
Spring is coming slowly to Connecticut but the beautiful spring trees, shrubs and bulbs are out. The reawakening has begun. Let's hope there is a reawakening for "white chalk crime!"
Firing tenured teachers can be a costly and tortuous task A Times investigation finds the process so arduous that many principals don't even try, except in the very worst cases. Jettisoning a teacher solely because he or she can't teach is rare.
By Jason Song
May 3 2009
The complete article can be viewed at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-teachers3-2009may03,0,679507.storyTop
BACKGROUND