Chapter 50: The Menial Teacher
The new teacher evaluation system imposed on the state of New York by State Education Chancellor John King signals the end of teaching as a legitimate career. Soon teaching will no longer be considered a profession. It will be menial labor.
Scenario 1: English classroom, ca., 2016.
Teacher: How do you expect to get a good job if you don’t study?
Student: (Sheepishly) I don’t know.
Teacher: You don’t want to end up flipping pages in books at $7.50 an hour at the local Leadership Academy High School, do you?
Student: You mean, like you ....
Teacher: Don’t make the same mistakes I made. Get yourself college and career ready. Then you won’t have to teach rote Pearson lessons for a living ....
The new teacher rating system stipulates that 60% of a teacher's value is determined by observation. The other 40% is determined by the performance of the teacher's students.
If a teacher is rated "inefficient" on the student performance portion of the evaluation, the teacher will automatically be rated "inefficient" for the year.
Scenario 3
Principal: Well, Mr. Jones, I've got good news and bad news.
Mr. Jones: Okay.
Principal: You are a highly effective teacher in the classroom. Congratulations.
Mr. Jones: Thank you.
Principal: Unfortunately, your students didn't perform so well on their standarized tests.
Mr. Jones: I see.
Principal: It's not me, you understand. My hands are tied.
Mr. Jones: But I volunteered to teach the overaged, undercredited group at your suggestion.
Principal: Exactly. It was one of your preferences and you got it.
Mr. Jones: But some of those students made great progress.
Principal: Progress is a relative term, Mr. Jones.
Mr. Jones: And I put in all of those after school hours on my own time.
Principal: Like I said, you are a highly effective teacher, Mr. Jones. Unfortunately, the rubric dictates that I have to rate you "ineffective" for the year. There's nothing I can do.
NOTE: This blog contains an excerpt of the first draft of this book.
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