MO's "Teacher Continuing Contract Act" is "a nightmarish Dickensian and ALEC vision"

[highplainsdem]

This was posted at HuffPo by Randy Turner, a Joplin teacher (and former newspaper reporter and editor).

Senator Jane Cunningham, who sponsored the bill, "was Chairwoman of the Education Task Force and served on the Board of Directors of the American Legislative Exchange Council" -- according to her MO Senate bio: http://www.senate.mo.gov/11info/Members/D07/bio.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randy-turner/the-smackdown-of-those-sp_b_850105.html

Randy Turner
The Smackdown of Those Spoiled Teachers
Posted: 04/18/11 01:57 PM ET


-snip-

The "Teacher Continuing Contract Act" calls for everything so-called "educational reformers" have been demanding. It eliminates teacher tenure, it makes it illegal to pay any teacher based on years of classroom experience, and it requires all public school districts to divide their faculties into a four-tier pay scale, with pay based primarily on standardized test scores.

Under the four-tier system proposed by the bill's sponsor, Sen. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, teachers whose students score the lowest would receive the lowest pay, with the second tier receiving more, the third tier an even greater total, and then the fourth tier receiving 60 percent more than those in the third tier.

Even if all of the teachers are capable, the tiers would be required, and the bill even offers an elaborate tiebreaking system to determine who goes in what tier.

-snip-

Having teacher pay decisions turned into a cage fight, with teachers battling to see who can teach to the test best and receive a handful of gold-plated salaries, is a formula guaranteed to continue the transformation of our schools from places of learning, which they have continued to be despite the recent wave of negative publicity, to test preparation factories.

-snip-

Turner's right to point out at the end that the unanswered question is why anyone would want to become a teacher with "public education turning into a nightmarish Dickensian and American Legislative Exchange Council vision."

The bill Cunningham introduced, which already passed a state senate committee vote, will also:

abolish tenure and replace it with "continuing contracts" of 2-4 years depending on a teacher's students' performance on tests;

so away with minimum salaries for veteran teachers and teachers with advanced degrees;

ban teachers from campaigning for school board candidates (this might be payback; Turner points out Cunningham lasted only one term with her local board of education after she alienated too many teachers, students and school officials);

make all teachers who currently have tenure probationary teachers again next year; and

make the four-tier performance pay effective the following year.


Republicans are pushing a separate bill to tie administrator pay to test scores.


I'm glad Randy Turner is speaking out. This is his blog: http://rturner229.blogspot.com/ But the column he has at HuffPo isn't on it, which is why I've linked to HuffPo.

This is a link to that despicable "educational reform" bill:

http://www.senate.mo.gov/11info/pdf-bill/intro/SB372.pdf

[MadHound]

1. Oh, that doesn't even begin to cover the education problems in this state,

As one who is a newly minted teacher, wanting to go into teaching, I keep well abreast of these details.

Currently a 'Pug filibuster in the State Senate is holding up federal education stimulus funding. The rabidly conservative Congress wants to send this money, over two hundred million, back to the federal government in order to make a "statement" about lowering national debt, never mind that the feds will simply redirect that money elsewhere. Meanwhile, our schools are crumbling, thousands of teachers have been put out of work in the state, and the outlook for next year is grim. Local school districts are cutting programs in art, music, drama, etc. Now administrators are getting laid off as well.

What is being done to education is a crime, however I still feel the need to enter education because the next generation needs to know what I do. I'm qualified to teach everything from K-12, though my secondary emphasis is on history. This is quickly becoming a lost subject, as all the focus is on reading, writing, math, science, the areas that get tested. I feel the need to teach kids about what has gone on in this country, and where it is leading us.

Sadly, odds are that I'm not going to get that chance. I've put my life on hold for nearly a year, working a shit McJob while hoping a teaching job opens up. I'm going to make one more try at getting into teaching, making the rounds this spring in hope of picking up a position somewhere. But if nothing comes up, I've got to move on. I'm fifty years old, and don't have the time left to wait for this economy to get better, for this madness to pass. I will either go back and get a masters, so I can teach at a community college or some such, or go into a different field altogether.

We are going to pay a steep price in the future for what we're doing to education today. In fact we already are. Recent high school graduates simply aren't as well educated as proceeding generations. Freshmen entering colleges have to take remedial work because they don't know anything beyond what is on the test. Kids who aren't going into college are lost, and have little idea of how things work.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. Amen. This is the worst legislative session I can remember in Jeff City.

Our union legislative committee met about 6 weeks ago and looked at about 75 pieces of proposed legislation. 50 of them were bad and of that group, 35 or 40 were downright horrible. We had a really hard time finding bills we could support.

And they have a veto proof majority in BOTH houses. So we're screwn if these bad bills pass.

[highplainsdem]

2. kick

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Believe it or not, there's another bill worse that this one

SB 202 will abolish payroll deduction for public employee unions. It was proposed by Sen Jason Crowell of Cape Girardeau. Like Senator Cunningham, he is NOT a fan of public schools or teachers.

So we can fight losing tenure but if we win that one and SB 202 passes, then we'll have tenure but no union. :(