What it really means to be a public school educator today

[Scuba]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/11/12/what-it-really-means-to-be-a-public-school-educator-today/

There was a big furor among educators around the country recently when Time magazine ran a cover that said, “Rotten Apples: It is nearly impossible to fire a bad teacher.” The cover, accompanied by a story that was somewhat more nuanced, sparked a mountain of response, including a post by Nancy F. Chewning, assistant principal of William Byrd High School in Roanoke, Va. on her blog, Leading by Example. You can read her entire letter to Time magazine here. Following (which I am publishing with her permission) is the part of Chewning’s letter to Time that talks about what life as a public school educator is like today in the era of high-stakes testing and “no-excuse” reformers who ignore or give short shrift to how much a student’s life outside school affects their academic achievement and puts all of the blame/credit on teachers:

…. First, let me clarify what it means to be a public school educator in the United States today. Unfortunately, at college campuses around this country, [education students] are berated by their peers for their career choice. I was told on many occasions at the University of Virginia that I was wasting my time and talent on teaching. After graduating, the Rotten Apples are then afforded what the Economic Policy Institute calls “the teaching penalty.” The EPI’s studies and those of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development show that teachers earn 12 percent to 14 percent “less than other similarly educated workers” and “60 percent of what their peers earn.”

These Rotten Apples then spend their summers attending conferences and classes, which most pay for out of their own pockets, to learn skills and knowledge to enhance the instruction their students receive when they report in the fall. They return to their classrooms in late July or early August using their own money to pay for essential supplies for themselves, for their classrooms, and for their students. Is anyone in Silicon Valley paying for their own office supplies? I can assure you they are not.

The Rotten Apples come into work between 6:30-7:30 a.m. because most are helping students in some way before the school day ever begins. They often feed their students breakfast. They teach all day even during their planning periods. They get less than 30 minutes for lunch, and many have students with them during their lunch breaks. The Rotten Apples then work with students after school either in the classroom or out on the playing fields coaching. After a full day they go home and grade papers, prepare lesson plans for the following day, maintain an online classroom and gradebook, and answer emails. Most don’t stop until at least 10:00 p.m. The Rotten Apples do this day in and day out throughout the school year. The OECD report indicates that “American teachers work far longer hours than their counterparts abroad.”

[femmocrat]

1. That pretty much sums up the differences between the reality and the misconceptions.

I would not advise anyone to become a teacher today.

[Odin2005]

2. TIME has always been a right-wing rag.

[Wella]

3. Or they're connected to the hedge funds investing in corporate charters

Always follow the money

[Rex]

4. TIME named Hitler and Stalin Man of the Year.

Fuck em.

[Recursion]

5. Hell, didn't they literally name everyone person of the year a few years ago?

"Time's person of the year is YOU" or some crap like that? When will this rag finally die...

Ah, yes, found it: 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_%28Time_Person_of_the_Year%29

[Rex]

6. I think of TIME as the waiting room mag.

I'd prefer the Texas Monthly while waiting to get my oil changed, but TIME is better than staring at the ceiling. Maybe.

[Recursion]

7. I miss Texas Monthly

Good recipes in there. But they snub Dallas.