Education / Teaching thread (3 Viewers)

[guidomerkinsrules]

Well, I did it. After 25 years where I’ve been at, I put in my resignation. Couldn’t take it anymore. Love the community, love the kids. But the school and district are simply heading off a cliff. Got the incoming numbers a week ago. 1/3 of the next incoming class (I teach 4th) cannot read. I don’t mean read poorly, I mean are still in early phonics. And no one is upset, they just keep doing their pet projects, and demanding fidelity to the programs. Programs that have been in place for 5 years and our numbers have gone down significantly each year, but yeah.

Then today I have a student whose close family members were murdered last weekend. We were supposed to have a ceremony for a teacher that died 3 years ago. Yeah 3 years ago. So, I wasn’t going to take my kids because I didn’t really think that it was really what my class needed. Yeah well you can imagine the mess this created. What a joke. I’ve never been so glad to leave a dysfunctional mess as this before.

thats all sorts of messed up
sorry man
any idea what's coming next?

 

[Goatman Saint]

Yes, the "tiered" materials that are supposed to be perfectly aligned with the standardized test. Garbage in, garbage out. Don't dare deviate from the script!

Sorry you got to that point, I was really hoping Ca would hold the line. I'm sure this isn't the way you envisioned going out. Who knows, maybe something else will open up, something more appealing?

It got to the point that this issue is district specific. At the top we have a mindset of these poor kids and they need all this help because they can’t. Site specific they have allowed a bad choice as principal put in all her friends/yes men that are no threat and just agree. I’ve been in hot water most of the year because I do believe, and started questioning. They spend hundreds of thousands just at my site for programs and training for compliance. So I asked where is the training for young teachers to learn how to teach well? Hone their teaching skills. My principal looked me dead in the eye and said “I expect compliance with programs. Training like you suggest is a waste of money”.

So this issue to me is more site/district than anything else. So I will find another job in a surrounding district. I have connections, and admin who know what I can do. I’m not worried.

 

[bonnjer]

My principal looked me dead in the eye and said “I expect compliance with programs. Training like you suggest is a waste of money”.

Almost sounds like someone is getting a kickback from pushing these programs....

 

[faceman]

I know we have several teachers or spouses of teachers here and I've been meaning to start a thread on education for a while now, so when I saw this article, I figured it was a good time to start discussing things.

Public education is facing a crisis of epic proportions

Test scores are down, and violence is up. Parents are screaming at school boards, and children are crying on the couches of social workers. Anger is rising. Patience is falling. For public schools, the numbers are all going in the wrong direction. Enrollment is down. Absenteeism is up. There...

www.yahoo.com

I've been teaching for 23 years now and I've seen things continue to head in one direction - testing. EVERYTHING is tied to testing. Diagnostic, benchmark, interim, end of course....tests, tests, tests. Of course, all of that testing isn't free. We're spending a fortune on testing fees, equipment to test with (because all testing has pretty much moved online), etc. School performance scores are based heavily on test scores. It's too much, especially in Covid times when you've got so many kids in and out of classes for a week or two at a time. But how do we stop it? I don't think there's a way. The lobbyists and politicians are the ones running this show and making all sorts of money off the education system.

Meanwhile, you've got teachers who are having to cover classes because nobody wants to sub these days or there just aren't enough subs to adequately cover everyone. Teachers are burning out in massive waves and college students aren't going into education in large enough numbers. Those who do may stick around for a little while, but they quickly discover they can't handle all of the BS.

There are just so many things wrong with our education system and it's the students who are suffering the consequences, whether they realize it or not. Sure, you're going to have those students who do well, no matter what. You're going to have those students who don't give two flips, no matter what. It's the in-between students who make up the largest portion and they're the ones getting the raw end of things.

As for me, I plan on going at least another 7 years to make it to 30 and then 3 years of in the DROP system. I may end up just sticking it out until my full 40 years are done. I don't know yet. I roll with the punches, but I've seen many people come and go in my years.

I know we have discussions about education here and there in various threads, but I wanted to have one that keeps education as the main focus. So, let's discuss.

My oldest sister retired after 29 years. She couldn't take it anymore. I feel for you

 

[jrdbrn]

My oldest sister retired after 29 years. She couldn't take it anymore. I feel for you

My wife wants to always quit, but she knows finding a job with a teacher schedule is near impossible. Our lifestyles can't really continue if she decides to quit and not get a full time job. Did she stay semi retired after she quit or fully quit? If she went back to work, what field did she go in?

My wife is going from a D school to an A school next year and literally 5 minutes away from home, so hopefully that helps with her liking her profession again.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

It got to the point that this issue is district specific. At the top we have a mindset of these poor kids and they need all this help because they can’t. Site specific they have allowed a bad choice as principal put in all her friends/yes men that are no threat and just agree. I’ve been in hot water most of the year because I do believe, and started questioning. They spend hundreds of thousands just at my site for programs and training for compliance. So I asked where is the training for young teachers to learn how to teach well? Hone their teaching skills. My principal looked me dead in the eye and said “I expect compliance with programs. Training like you suggest is a waste of money”.

So this issue to me is more site/district than anything else. So I will find another job in a surrounding district. I have connections, and admin who know what I can do. I’m not worried.

Sounds like Dolores Umbrage

 

[faceman]

She's fully retired. She did it at the first chance she got. I can't go into much detail, but she is not a fan
of Ms. politics

 

[bonnjer]

My wife is going from a D school to an A school next year and literally 5 minutes away from home, so hopefully that helps with her liking her profession again.

Going from a D to an A school will help to some degree, but there's no escaping some of issues in education, which I'm sure she likely already knows. But if the change in schools can help, that's a definite plus!

 

[Swamprat]

Going from a D to an A school will help to some degree, but there's no escaping some of issues in education, which I'm sure she likely already knows. But if the change in schools can help, that's a definite plus!

This afternoon my wife left her 4th grade school for the last time. A new chapter was overdue. This Fall she’ll sub at the ~7 elem schools within a few minutes of home and will determine which of them she would like to join and then go from there…

To keep going as-is was unsustainable and I’m really hoping this significant change will help make her happier.

 

[gboudx]

My wife is transferring from the Title 1 school where she has been teaching for 3 years. She got an offer soon after the transfer became known to other teachers and principals. She’s going to the school she had hoped from the beginning. She‘ll have to deal with helicopter parents and bored stay-at-home moms more now, but will have supportive admin. She’ll stay teaching ELAR, and move back to 4th grade. She’s been very excited to say the least. Oh, and the school is 5 mins away rather than 25.

 

[gboudx]

Bumping this thread in case anyone wants to discuss with the new school year starting soon. My wife starts back on Aug 2, students on the 15th. She met her new principal today and was told they're short teachers, so they need to move some around with larger class sizes. Her grade, 4th, was going to have 4 teachers, but will now have 3. The ISD is short 20 teachers and a couple vice principals. It sounds like it was confirmed what was predicted in the Spring, that there would be a large exodus from public education.

And in "this is effed up" news, the starting salaries for new teachers were increased. My wife got a 3% salary increase which brings her salary closer, but not at the same level of new teachers. So the new teacher going to 3rd grade, fresh out of college, will make about $1500 more than my wife who has 4 years of teaching experience. Seems fair right.

 

[Sun Wukong]

I'm starting at a new school this year. Moving from middle to high school. Getting a substantial pay bump. I'm hoping for the best but we'll see.

 

[bonnjer]

Bumping this thread in case anyone wants to discuss with the new school year starting soon. My wife starts back on Aug 2, students on the 15th. She met her new principal today and was told they're short teachers, so they need to move some around with larger class sizes. Her grade, 4th, was going to have 4 teachers, but will now have 3. The ISD is short 20 teachers and a couple vice principals. It sounds like it was confirmed what was predicted in the Spring, that there would be a large exodus from public education.

And in "this is effed up" news, the starting salaries for new teachers were increased. My wife got a 3% salary increase which brings her salary closer, but not at the same level of new teachers. So the new teacher going to 3rd grade, fresh out of college, will make about $1500 more than my wife who has 4 years of teaching experience. Seems fair right.

We start back on the 2nd, as well. Students back on the 4th. Our parish is short teachers, which is nothing unusual. What is telling, though, is the large parish next door that pays thousands more was short 75+ teachers. I was somewhat shocked by that, considering their pay. They even made it so that anyone with a degree (ANY degree) can teach. More and more places are doing something similar and basically tossing a warm body in the classroom. The exodus has definitely started and it's only going to get worse. Couple that fewer people majoring in education and things aren't looking so good.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

And for some state legislatures these are features not bugs

 

[bonnjer]

I've been teaching for 24 years now and today is about the closest I've come to walking out and going home. We have to give these benchmark tests every 4.5 weeks, so this is the second one for the school year. This is for high school, state tested subjects. These kids are already burnt out on testing, but yet we pile on more. I have enough experience to know what my students traditionally struggle with. Even this early in the year, I can pretty much tell you what each kid will score on their end of year LEAP test for me. But because education has become an increasingly money-hungry monster, our district had to spend money on a benchmark testing company. Nevermind that the kids are burnt out already. Nevermind that this testing company is not aligned with Louisiana standardized tests and the questions being asked are not similar to what they'll see (meaning, these questions are quite a bit more difficult). Nope, disregard all of that. I have to give these and waste class time on data that I REFUSE to look at because it is invalid. I'm not one to complain to my principal, but I wrote an email to him, the assistant, and the instructional coach letting them know that I was seriously considering just not giving the next benchmark. He said that I was required to, which, by the time I calmed down a bit later, I understand is what he has to say. So when the next ones roll around, I'll be giving them, but they'll be on my terms and I'm going to let the students know not to bother trying. Put whatever, you've got 10 minutes, go. There I gave them. Now, I'm going back to doing my actual job of teaching.