On Jul 18, 2007, at 5:27 PM, Debbie Goodis wrote: > I always thought that WE (the teachers in general) who do NOT do our > jobs adequately (and we know who WE are) are the ones who are really > the reason the powers that be "tell" us what and how to teach. I saw > it in Head Start, when there was an arrogance among some teachers to > relax and not go the extra mile, I think around the same time it > became unpolitically correct to fire people or write them up based on > poor job performance. Suddenly, we couldn't find a way to get rid of > the bad or dead weight and so we had to force them to do the job by > making them conform to a "program" of teaching. I used to direct > centers and it was very difficult to let a teacher go (preschool, not > public) because of the "liability." And we all know how difficult it > is to get rid of teachers in public schools. The unions mostly protect > the slackers, it seems to me. (I do realize there are bad and > vindictive principals, too) I would be curious to know if anyone > thinks I'm way off base here, or if this might be part of the picture.
In my opinion it is the teachers who have gone the extra mile by not sticking with the program who have made others uncomfortable, including the powers that be. Unions do not "mostly protect the slackers." Do some slackers get protected? Of course. But unions bargain for higher salary and better working conditions, caps on class sizes, extra pay for extra work, compensation for additional education, protection from complaints and even lawsuits by parents, and protection against retaliatory practices by vindictive administrators. My two cents. Renee When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. ~ Chinese Proverb _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
