So here's what is going on in my life: For the last year I've been searching for a job- on Edjoin, on Craigslist, in the online newspaper listings, all to no avail. Then, in this last week I got 3 calls for interviews and one job offer. I've spent the last few days updating my teaching portfolio and going on interviews. So now my life feels like it's in limbo while I wait to hear news, any news. Of course, things are further complicated by the fact that we're going on vacation, so the receiving of any news that may occur will be delayed by a couple of days.
I like it when God answers prayers, but sometimes I hate the way he does it.
(For you non-religous peeps, all I mean is that even though I asked for this, it still kinda blows.)
And as if I'm not feeling enough anguish and upheaval, it happens to be a fact that the job I want most of all- a teaching position for a 2/3 combo class- starts on August 29th, which is J's first day of Kindergarten. I would not be able to take him for his first day of school, which is almost a deal breaker for me. In fact, just thinking about it makes me feel like a failure as a mother and makes me want to cry. However, as my husband says, I need to take one thing at a time and please please PLEASE let us just enjoy our vacation and leave the stress at home.
Amen.
So anyway, tonight I am going to write about Waiting For Superman, which I've mentioned several times and have never really gotten around to discussing in any kind of length. At one time (actually for a long time), I felt fired up about it, but now I just feel tired and a little cranky.
What made me angry about this movie is that it could've really helped the state of education in our country. It could have made people aware of how poverty levels affect learning, or about how pacing guides are causing teachers to rush through the curriculum without allowing for time for the students to really understand a concept before they have to push on to the next concept (and all these concepts are crammed in the first 6 months of school so that they can be taught before the state testing occurs). It could've discussed the importance of parent involvement, or the impact of the HUGE influx of second language students in the last 2-3 decades, but it didn't. Instead it oversimplified things to a ridiculous degree and it played the blame game. If you watched Waiting For Superman, you probably walked away from the movie thinking that our education system is failing because teacher unions and tenure prevented administrators from firing bad teachers.
Bullshit.
I've said it over and over and over. Of course there are bad teachers. I had bad teachers. I survived bad teachers, just as I have survived bad bankers, bad customer service reps, bad waiters, bad community service officers. Your child will survive a bad teacher, and so will you. They are out there, but the majority of teachers are good and well meaning and loving and most of all, they want your child to succeed.
I'm so tired of saying that. The thing is, if you are of the belief that teachers are overpaid sloths who are in the job for the summers off, then you're an idiot and there's not a lot I can say to you to change your mind. The politicians have managed to to get everybody riled up about teacher pay, accountability and teacher tenure. My personal feeling is that this is a deliberate diversionary tactic. In a manner typical of our government, it's easier for them to blame the teachers than to do something productive and work to save an outdated, failing public school system.
Because this whole topic (so obviously) irritates me, I won't spend a lot of time debating points from the movie. Let me just get the following things off my chest, and then I'll shut up.
*Teacher "overpayment"- I'm not sure why it's anyone's business how much teachers make. I don't have any idea what my doctor or grocer or any other service member in my community makes, but suddenly it seems that people feel like teacher's salaries should be discussed and scrutinized publicly. I don't feel like this is fair, but I'll talk numbers if I have to. Mr. C's district's salary schedule starts at $42,000. (By the way, the national average household income is $55,000) For every year of service, employees get a small increase. The schedule caps around $78,000, but that's only for employees who have their Master's Degree. Considering the hours that teachers work, the overtime they put in, and the extra events that they attend, I don't feel like Mr. C and I are earning an unfair salary. I know people who work less, don't have a college degree, and who make more money than us.
*Teacher "tenure"- Ugh! I hate how politicized this topic has gotten! In Waiting For Superman, the woman who served as the D.C School Superintendent, Michelle Rhee, shut down 13 schools because of poor performance. Imagine that you are a teacher in one of these schools. You go to work everyday and dedicate yourself to students who may or may not have any support at home. They may not speak English. They may be being hungry, or even abused. You teach them and do your best to make a difference for them, but the state test scores from your school are low. (Of course they are- studies have shown that poverty has a detrimental effect on learning.) However, one day, because of these low test scores, your school is shut down. You no longer have a job, because one person-this Michelle Rhee- has decided that the teachers at your school are ineffective. It doesn't matter that you've seen your students improve and blossom. Because they haven't scored well on the standardized test, you have now lost your job.
It is because of people like Michelle Rhee, that we even have tenure and unions. We need it to protect ourselves. However, if it really matters all that much, then take it! It never mattered to me and Mr. C. We were both tenured, along with 1000's of other teachers, when we were pink slipped two years in a row because of budget cuts. Tenure never really meant that much.
Finally, let me say this about the unions- I agree, they've become too politicized. I don't like that every October I get a pamphlet from the California Teacher's Association telling me who they think I should vote for in the November election. I have my own mind, and with it I make my own decisions, thank you very much. However, I blame the politicization of our unions on the structure of our government, not on the teachers themselves. I view the union as being useful for what it was created for- to protect my rights and livelihood from being intruded upon by any power plays from the government.
I will agree with the movie on one point- in education the focus has shifted from the kids. It seems everyone is arguing about all the stuff I talked about above; standardized tests, accountability, unions, tenure.... but no one is thinking about how to make it better for the kids. Our system is overloaded, ineffective, outdated.... but so far no one has been able to give us answers for what we need to do to fix it. Teachers are returning to work, and they'll continue to do what they do. They'll care for the kids, they'll go through the curriculum the best they can, as fast as they can, and they will just.... teach.
As fo me, I'm curious about what you all's thoughts are on this. I know I came off pretty strong up there, but I do want to know what other opinions and thoughts are out there. How much are teachers to blame? What exactly do you think is wrong with our system? Should I take a job that won't let me take my son to his first day of Kindergarten?
Just kidding on that last one. Kind of.
Leave a comment and let me know what you think. I'll be out fending off bears in the Sequoia's somewhere, but I'll be happy to see your thoughts when I come back.
By the way, I realize I have broken internet safety rule #1- never tell the internet that you are leaving your home. However, you should know that if any of you are considering breaking into my home while I'm gone, I have arranged for house guests to stay here. Plus, I have a big, mean, toothy dog who is very loyal to us and our home. He will be on guard.
So there. Don't even think about it.
Have a good night!
No comments:
Post a Comment