And the drop out rate will go down; and the test results and literacy will increase significantly.
Yes, this two weeks will mean even more education time lost. But this cost will be more than made up by the improvments and cost savings in the education system that will likely become quite apparently by the end of even this school year.
When a group of employees is too lazy to do the job that they are paid quite handsomely to do, and you have to go to court to get them to do the right thing (the important job they are paid to do) it spells only one thing:
complete professional fail
The "teachers" have been playing hardball with the kids. Time to fight back. Give them a day to return. If they don't, never let them back again and do what you can so their gross unprofessional behavior is known to all and they will have trouble getting a job in the same field anywhere in the country again.
Where is Oshea during this Strike, we have hundreds of Chicago teachers in our ward and our alderman is silent! we are screwed over again and again. Oshea another stooge for the Mayors of this city. i understand tryiong to get along with the sitting mayor, but NOT ON THE BACKS of your residents Matt. I have seen posts on here calling on the Joyce family to get back involved, Rahm screwed the joyces very badly in their business dealings, i think they should get back involved in our community. wHEN Jerry Sr. ran things our ward was a strong vibriant proud neighborhood, now that kevin left and Jerry Sr. has retired things have gone terribly bad over the last decade.
I am calling asking no....BEGGING Michael "pickle" jouce to please step forward and re-insert yourself into this downward spirling mess we have. what should we have expected when we hired a frigging bartender to be our Alderman. Need i remind us all that Pickle is an Attorney at law! lets wake up folks...sdaly it may already be to late.
There are many laid off and other teachers in similar situations in Chicagoland, and within moving distance. And of course, many from the CTU will cross the picket lines to teach.
You don't just walk into this job. There are not enough laid off teachers who are qualified and who have met the requirements to teach in Chicago. Background checks are required. If they don't live in the city, then they have to move here. Will they just sell their homes that are severely depreciated? Obviously many from CTU will not cross the picket line. 90% authorized CTU strike and they are currently striking. How would a principal interview candidates? I'm not worried. My job is safe.
Anon said: "Obviously many from CTU will not cross the picket line. 90% authorized CTU strike and they are currently striking. How would a principal interview candidates?"
But many will, when they realize that they threw away their jobs, the union failed them, and the alternative is to sell tale hot-dogs at a 7-11.
That is, when this really reaches a boiling point. Right now it looks like a couple of extra weeks of summer vacation for the striking teachers, with full pay. why wouldn't those who do nothing but "look out for Number One" vote for this?
Now that Rahm lost in court he is running out of options. Rahm is 5 foot nothing and 120 pounds dripping wet. Karen Lewis looks to be taller and over 200 pounds. Being at such a height and weight disadvantage Rahm cannot possibly try to poke Lewis in the chest when he's naked. That would be suicide. Maybe now Rahm should probably try to do honorable thing and negotiate fairly and in good faith. The problem is that would go against his nature so his next move will be to try to rip the teachers in the media for being "against the kids".
The CTU screwed up by not going back to work today. The longer they stay out the less support they will have. Yeah they have support among the city workers in our ward, but I do not believe the majority of parents are behind these people. You cannot escape the fact that they are to a certain degree - holding the kids hostage to their demands. Karen Lewis comes off as a wild eyed radical to alot of people and she seems to be drunk with power. The one question NONE of you teachers on this blog will address is the most important question. "Where is the money going to come from?" They will not discuss that because we know the answer - from higher taxes paid by those who make FAR less than the teachers....the averages are about this ...teachers 75k the average Chicagoan - 47k take from those making 47k and give to those making 75k ? Makes no sense - plus the schools have terrible achievement numbers - why do we reward poor performance. AND oh yeah does anyone at CTU realize we are in the worst economic environment in 50 years?? They don't care....they have convinced themselves that they have been somehow wronged? Maybe they are not so smart after all.....
Where does the money for TIFs come from? Where do tax incentives for entities like Boeing come from? Nobody asks this.
The other point is that Rahm will close as many public schools as he can get his hands on, thus saving on teacher pay and benefits in the long run. Many of these teachers know they won't have jobs in CPS in four years.
Rahm's plan has nothing to do with "saving the kids"; it has to do with all that money he gets from CEOs and moneyed advocates of the charter school movement.
So, what of the other moneyed interests? The CTU and NEA? At least the charter movement is focused first on effective education.... as opposed to the unions blocking reform, resisting accountability, putting a high priority on massive forced campaign contributions from teachers to political parties, and insisting that pay have nothing to do with performance.
All of which are major problems lacking in the charter reform movement.
Again, we all know your bias. Say something against corporate welfare -- just one comment.
The charter movement, in Chicago, has been no more effective than public schools, and this is with cherry-picking. Many of them are focused, first, on making money.
"The data is ambiguous enough that either side can draw conclusions from it. What it certainly isn’t, though, is a clear mandate that Chicago’s charters are blowing its traditional schools out of the water.
For Don Moore, that ambiguity is proof enough.
“Emphasis should not be on investing money and energy in starting more charter schools that turn out not to achieve on average any better than the average public school,” Moore said. Instead, the focus should be on finding the best practices of public schools that succeed against the odds, and helping spread them throughout the district."
Anon: "You cannot escape the fact that they are to a certain degree - holding the kids hostage to their demands."
That is what they are doing: directly punishing the kids in the hopes that it would cause chaos and sympathy. They chose an easy target to kick. If their beef is with management, why not instead refuse to meet with principals, etc? But they choose to take it out on the kids.
The 19th ward may very well have more teachers in Chicago and beyond than any comparable region in metropolitan Chicago. All of these teachers would do well to understand the choice movement some 20 plus years in the making. Most of you well intentioned,hard working teachers seem to not understand this radical change. Rahmbo is right in the middle of it as is his buddy in NYC. This is the brainchild of Economists led by any number of economists and business types that is now in full bloom with close to 10% of public schools in this format. TEACHERS IN THE 19TH WARD AND BEYOND PLEASE UNDERSTAND THIS MEANS LAYOFFS. Now Lewis hopes to protect the veterans and Rahm is determined to dump the ones who he thinks based on foolish principals evaluation using silly test scores. This whole situation is crazy,but I can tell you it has always been this way going back to the 60's. Seems like every 10 years or so we have a new breed on the left and right who have never taught a day with all the answers. This latest clown on the right made a fortune hustling people using pyramid schemes selling sh__ over the phone. I can remember attending a luncheon at the Union League Club a few years ago with one of these former lefty,bomb throwing radicals from the 60's who had all the answers for high schools. Look, hard working members from the 19th ward be prepared both sides are your enemy here and if your chosen profession remains be prepared for more choice that will include ,at minimum, a huge increase of charters and a likely voucher pilot program that has the support of the Illinois Catholic Conference. Brian McCann
Brian you make some good points. All sides have some good points to make. However every time I talk to a schoolteacher all they can do is bad mouth evil Rahm. They are making arguably alot of money. I know MOST of them work hard...but everybody works hard these days. We are in an era where we just do not have the money. I think Rahm is trying to do what Romney did with failing businesses - cut out the dying parts or the cancerous parts in order to save the "body" as a whole. We need to bring non minorities back into the system - and noone who has the means will subject their kids to some of the nonsense and worse that takes place in the public schools. Heck even 40% of CPS teachers send THEIR kids somewhere else. Why?
Brian: Hard working? You can't say that of the striking "teachers" who can' be bothered to show up for work for a couple of weeks now.
Test scores are far from "silly". They are an effective way to measure job performance. But it seems obvious that those who aren't doing a good job of it would hate them. But the reality is that these tests are essential for accountability, like audits are in other professions and sectors.
Hey Stupid .... Rahm had 10 months to negotiate. Him, and that Idiot ... Brizarro. The first negotiation, they told the teachers, you just sit there, we'll tell you, what your gonna get. These kids are inundated with tests, Stupid. Like 12 .. 13 .. tests. Tests for Kindergardeners ?? Rahm gave 5.4 Million dollars to Pritzker.. Tiff dough. Your name fits you D-Marks .. cause thats what i'm sure you got, in School
Test scores are indeed silly for a variety of reasons and even the pros will agree that their validity is suspect. However the fools on the right and the left are now convinced that they somehow will fix these broken schools. The problem is no one has a clue what education means. It is a process that is extraordinarily complex that requires a fundamental love of learning that all pre schoolers have and somehow loose once they enter formal schools. Back in the day when people came into the profession for the love of teaching and were left to their own devices to inspire and yes educate we saw incredible results. When the new breed of experts entered the debate armed with foundation grants and foolish endorsements from elites going back at least to 1983 the whole process broke down. Chicago has been violated by the likes of Paulie,Arne,Richy,Rahmy, Goofy etc. that never spent one minute of one day in a classroom. The key is cultivating leadership from mid level on up. Sadly,none of these people get it. Read Ron Grossman today,pg 2 in the Trib. That might help.
Agreed. In fact let's go the full stride. What exactly does government produce? NOTHING Government consumes at the taxpayers expense. What does CPS Produce? Union dues. And next year, higher real estate taxes. And why do some teachers get to live in Evergreen Park and other suburbs, but demand my taxes go up to support them? How much longer do we have to pay for this failed system that produces fewer decent citizens every year? If there are so many great teachers, why do so many students fail? Close them down!
Ya know, you're right. I mean, we live in a perfect city -- no crime, no poverty. All these poor little bastards should just stay in school instead of getting chased out by the teachers.
said...The 19th ward may very well have more teachers in Chicago and beyond than any comparable region in metropolitan Chicago....
Dont you all understand this is why i agree with previous poster WHERE IS MATT OSHEA?....doing nothing!!!he is a schill for Rahm lets face it f0lks why are we so easily fooled???
Regarding Mike Joyce,I also agree he would be a supurb leader in our community, who will not simply rubber stamp Rahm Emanuel! the anti christian!
I also agree with this poster:...Anonymous17 September, 2012 Where is Oshea during this Strike, we have hundreds of Chicago teachers in our ward and our alderman is silent! we are screwed over again and again. Oshea another stooge for the Mayors of this city. i understand tryiong to get along with the sitting mayor, but NOT ON THE BACKS of your residents Matt. I have seen posts on here calling on the Joyce family to get back involved, Rahm screwed the joyces very badly in their business dealings, i think they should get back involved in our community. wHEN Jerry Sr. ran things our ward was a strong vibriant proud neighborhood, now that kevin left and Jerry Sr. has retired things have gone terribly bad over the last decade.
I am calling asking no....BEGGING Michael "pickle" jouce to please step forward and re-insert yourself into this downward spirling mess we have. what should we have expected when we hired a frigging bartender to be our Alderman. Need i remind us all that Pickle is an Attorney at law! lets wake up folks...sdaly it may already be to late
Tests are only 'silly' in the opinion of teachers who aren't any good at doing their jobs. If they do what they are being paid to do, the students will easily pass the tests.
Even in kindergarten. There is no excluse for these teachers to bungle early education as well. No free pass. The kids deserve better.
It seems the issue isn't that students are tested at all, but that they are tested so much. The amount of testing and the time dedicated to it is excessive.
I might agree if there wasn't overwheming evidence of things going wrong. Such as illiteracy, the dropout rate , and low scores. Crises demand crisis management, including intensive monitoring.
If you can't measure it, you can't manage it. All the more important when the system shows major evidence of mismanagement.
To put it more bluntly: when something is going wrong, you need to check up on things a lot more frequently.
Again, you seem to see things strictly in black and white. Students aren't illiterate, dropping out, and low-scoring across the board. There are good schools out there in Chicago. You want some stats? I'll give 'em to you if you want. Just let me know.
I've looked over the contract somewhat and started thinking about the fuure of education generally and the role this industry plays in our back yard here in the 19th ward. Think about it with all the educators in the community in private,public and charter schools coupled with the the several thousand K-12 kids in 16/17 or more schools we have a vested interest in this issue. I would argue that the very future of our community rests in the continued success of these schools both public and private in addition to the few hundred home schoolers. The contract is nothing more than a contract that will maintain labor piece for a few more years at best. Lay offs of 5K or more likely long term with more charters. I would not rule out a charter or two here if it was controlled by local interests meeting community needs first and legal requirements second. Some pretty good models out there nationally,not locally. In my view we need to come up with creative ways to help neighbors who have struggled in this economy and want a good school particularly at the secondary level.
The contracts evaluation system is a joke. Invariably these evaluations will be reduced to absurd evaluations by school managers. Principals have long figured out ways to get rid of what they consider disloyal teachers and will continue along this path. Chicago's political culture fosters loyalty over substance and sadly this has infected the school house for the last 50 years. This will not improve schools. Remember, Pauly,Arne, Richy and now we have Brucy and Rahmy who have never been a classroom with 25 hyper active kids.
Last, our many parochial schools struggle financially and thankfully many creative hard working clerics,board members and volunteers manage to keep them prospering. The parish subsidy has been reduced substantially and that is what kept our tuition obligation so low until the 1970's. Fund raising efforts have helped substantially and we should all continue to support these efforts. The voucher option continues to be debated and perhaps a local voucher scheme could be developed within the ward with continued fund raising efforts. Need based of course. In closing. CPS teachers stay strong by attending monthly meetings and invest in strong Profesional Problem Committees.
He has to go!
ReplyDeleteGo back to mayor school.
ReplyDeleteHis next move is to fire the teachers and hire replacements. The whole process would take about 2 weeks at great cost savings to the district.
ReplyDeleteAnd the drop out rate will go down; and the test results and literacy will increase significantly.
DeleteYes, this two weeks will mean even more education time lost. But this cost will be more than made up by the improvments and cost savings in the education system that will likely become quite apparently by the end of even this school year.
When a group of employees is too lazy to do the job that they are paid quite handsomely to do, and you have to go to court to get them to do the right thing (the important job they are paid to do) it spells only one thing:
ReplyDeletecomplete professional fail
The "teachers" have been playing hardball with the kids. Time to fight back. Give them a day to return. If they don't, never let them back again and do what you can so their gross unprofessional behavior is known to all and they will have trouble getting a job in the same field anywhere in the country again.
Where is Oshea during this Strike, we have hundreds of Chicago teachers in our ward and our alderman is silent!
ReplyDeletewe are screwed over again and again. Oshea another stooge for the Mayors of this city.
i understand tryiong to get along with the sitting mayor, but NOT ON THE BACKS of your residents Matt.
I have seen posts on here calling on the Joyce family to get back involved, Rahm screwed the joyces very badly in their business dealings, i think they should get back involved in our community.
wHEN Jerry Sr. ran things our ward was a strong vibriant proud neighborhood, now that kevin left and Jerry Sr. has retired things have gone terribly bad over the last decade.
I am calling asking no....BEGGING Michael "pickle" jouce to please step forward and re-insert yourself into this downward spirling mess we have.
what should we have expected when we hired a frigging bartender to be our Alderman.
Need i remind us all that Pickle is an Attorney at law! lets wake up folks...sdaly it may already be to late.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteI believe you should have used "their" not "there" or "they're"
DeleteI know an English strike.
Pickle Joyce equals = LEADERSHIP!!!
ReplyDeleteplease respond pickle step up
How would you replace 25,000 at once, genius?
ReplyDeleteThere are many laid off and other teachers in similar situations in Chicagoland, and within moving distance. And of course, many from the CTU will cross the picket lines to teach.
DeleteYou don't just walk into this job. There are not enough laid off teachers who are qualified and who have met the requirements to teach in Chicago. Background checks are required. If they don't live in the city, then they have to move here. Will they just sell their homes that are severely depreciated? Obviously many from CTU will not cross the picket line. 90% authorized CTU strike and they are currently striking. How would a principal interview candidates? I'm not worried. My job is safe.
DeleteRahm could waive the requirement to live in Chicago. Its an emergency after all. I hope he fires every one of you.
DeleteAnon said: "Obviously many from CTU will not cross the picket line. 90% authorized CTU strike and they are currently striking. How would a principal interview candidates?"
DeleteBut many will, when they realize that they threw away their jobs, the union failed them, and the alternative is to sell tale hot-dogs at a 7-11.
That is, when this really reaches a boiling point. Right now it looks like a couple of extra weeks of summer vacation for the striking teachers, with full pay. why wouldn't those who do nothing but "look out for Number One" vote for this?
Not enough qualified teachers? What two years at governor state? Check brewbakers thats where you'll find current and future teachers. Great isn't it
DeleteWord is one of his next moves is make Clissold a charter school.
ReplyDeleteNow that Rahm lost in court he is running out of options. Rahm is 5 foot nothing and 120 pounds dripping wet. Karen Lewis looks to be taller and over 200 pounds. Being at such a height and weight disadvantage Rahm cannot possibly try to poke Lewis in the chest when he's naked. That would be suicide. Maybe now Rahm should probably try to do honorable thing and negotiate fairly and in good faith. The problem is that would go against his nature so his next move will be to try to rip the teachers in the media for being "against the kids".
ReplyDeleteRegardless of what Rahm says, the teachers are indeed acting "against the kids". If they were for the kids, they'd be teaching, instead of loafing.
DeleteThats what happens when you elect someone who really wasn't from Chicago and didn't grow up here. The antichrist sent him from Washington.
ReplyDeleteThe CTU screwed up by not going back to work today. The longer they stay out the less support they will have. Yeah they have support among the city workers in our ward, but I do not believe the majority of parents are behind these people. You cannot escape the fact that they are to a certain degree - holding the kids hostage to their demands. Karen Lewis comes off as a wild eyed radical to alot of people and she seems to be drunk with power. The one question NONE of you teachers on this blog will address is the most important question. "Where is the money going to come from?" They will not discuss that because we know the answer - from higher taxes paid by those who make FAR less than the teachers....the averages are about this ...teachers 75k the average Chicagoan - 47k take from those making 47k and give to those making 75k ? Makes no sense - plus the schools have terrible achievement numbers - why do we reward poor performance. AND oh yeah does anyone at CTU realize we are in the worst economic environment in 50 years?? They don't care....they have convinced themselves that they have been somehow wronged? Maybe they are not so smart after all.....
ReplyDeleteWhere does the money for TIFs come from? Where do tax incentives for entities like Boeing come from? Nobody asks this.
DeleteThe other point is that Rahm will close as many public schools as he can get his hands on, thus saving on teacher pay and benefits in the long run. Many of these teachers know they won't have jobs in CPS in four years.
Rahm's plan has nothing to do with "saving the kids"; it has to do with all that money he gets from CEOs and moneyed advocates of the charter school movement.
So, what of the other moneyed interests? The CTU and NEA? At least the charter movement is focused first on effective education.... as opposed to the unions blocking reform, resisting accountability, putting a high priority on massive forced campaign contributions from teachers to political parties, and insisting that pay have nothing to do with performance.
DeleteAll of which are major problems lacking in the charter reform movement.
Again, we all know your bias. Say something against corporate welfare -- just one comment.
DeleteThe charter movement, in Chicago, has been no more effective than public schools, and this is with cherry-picking. Many of them are focused, first, on making money.
"The data is ambiguous enough that either side can draw conclusions from it. What it certainly isn’t, though, is a clear mandate that Chicago’s charters are blowing its traditional schools out of the water.
For Don Moore, that ambiguity is proof enough.
“Emphasis should not be on investing money and energy in starting more charter schools that turn out not to achieve on average any better than the average public school,” Moore said. Instead, the focus should be on finding the best practices of public schools that succeed against the odds, and helping spread them throughout the district."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/01/chicago-charters-ask-publ_n_914776.html
Keep buying the party line, d. When was the last time you stood up for a raise, by the way?
Deletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/why-merit-pay-for-teachers-sounds-good--but-isnt/2011/10/09/gIQAVb72YL_blog.html
Anon: "You cannot escape the fact that they are to a certain degree - holding the kids hostage to their demands."
ReplyDeleteThat is what they are doing: directly punishing the kids in the hopes that it would cause chaos and sympathy. They chose an easy target to kick. If their beef is with management, why not instead refuse to meet with principals, etc? But they choose to take it out on the kids.
The 19th ward may very well have more teachers in Chicago and beyond than any comparable region in metropolitan Chicago. All of these teachers would do well to understand the choice movement some 20 plus years in the making. Most of you well intentioned,hard working teachers seem to not understand this radical change. Rahmbo is right in the middle of it as is his buddy in NYC. This is the brainchild of Economists led by any number of economists and business types that is now in full bloom with close to 10% of public schools in this format. TEACHERS IN THE 19TH WARD AND BEYOND PLEASE UNDERSTAND THIS MEANS LAYOFFS. Now Lewis hopes to protect the veterans and Rahm is determined to dump the ones who he thinks based on foolish principals evaluation using silly test scores. This whole situation is crazy,but I can tell you it has always been this way going back to the 60's. Seems like every 10 years or so we have a new breed on the left and right who have never taught a day with all the answers. This latest clown on the right made a fortune hustling people using pyramid schemes selling sh__ over the phone. I can remember attending a luncheon at the Union League Club a few years ago with one of these former lefty,bomb throwing radicals from the 60's who had all the answers for high schools.
ReplyDeleteLook, hard working members from the 19th ward be prepared both sides are your enemy here and if your chosen profession remains be prepared for more choice that will include ,at minimum, a huge increase of charters and a likely voucher pilot program that has the support of the Illinois Catholic Conference.
Brian McCann
Brian you make some good points. All sides have some good points to make. However every time I talk to a schoolteacher all they can do is bad mouth evil Rahm. They are making arguably alot of money. I know MOST of them work hard...but everybody works hard these days. We are in an era where we just do not have the money. I think Rahm is trying to do what Romney did with failing businesses - cut out the dying parts or the cancerous parts in order to save the "body" as a whole. We need to bring non minorities back into the system - and noone who has the means will subject their kids to some of the nonsense and worse that takes place in the public schools. Heck even 40% of CPS teachers send THEIR kids somewhere else. Why?
DeleteBrian: Hard working? You can't say that of the striking "teachers" who can' be bothered to show up for work for a couple of weeks now.
ReplyDeleteTest scores are far from "silly". They are an effective way to measure job performance. But it seems obvious that those who aren't doing a good job of it would hate them. But the reality is that these tests are essential for accountability, like audits are in other professions and sectors.
Hey Stupid .... Rahm had 10 months to negotiate. Him, and that Idiot ... Brizarro. The first negotiation, they told the teachers, you just sit there, we'll tell you, what your gonna get. These kids are inundated with tests, Stupid. Like 12 .. 13 .. tests. Tests for Kindergardeners ?? Rahm gave 5.4 Million dollars to Pritzker.. Tiff dough. Your name fits you D-Marks .. cause thats what i'm sure you got, in School
DeleteTest scores are indeed silly for a variety of reasons and even the pros will agree that their validity is suspect. However the fools on the right and the left are now convinced that they somehow will fix these broken schools. The problem is no one has a clue what education means. It is a process that is extraordinarily complex that requires a fundamental love of learning that all pre schoolers have and somehow loose once they enter formal schools.
DeleteBack in the day when people came into the profession for the love of teaching and were left to their own devices to inspire and yes educate we saw incredible results. When the new breed of experts entered the debate armed with foundation grants and foolish endorsements from elites going back at least to 1983 the whole process broke down. Chicago has been violated by the likes of Paulie,Arne,Richy,Rahmy, Goofy etc. that never spent one minute of one day in a classroom. The key is cultivating leadership from mid level on up. Sadly,none of these people get it. Read Ron Grossman today,pg 2 in the Trib.
That might help.
Brian McCann
Public education is America's biggest and most wasteful entitlement program. The cost of educating kids should fall on the shoulders of the parents.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. In fact let's go the full stride. What exactly does government produce? NOTHING Government consumes at the taxpayers expense. What does CPS Produce? Union dues. And next year, higher real estate taxes. And why do some teachers get to live in Evergreen Park and other suburbs, but demand my taxes go up to support them? How much longer do we have to pay for this failed system that produces fewer decent citizens every year? If there are so many great teachers, why do so many students fail?
DeleteClose them down!
Ya know, you're right. I mean, we live in a perfect city -- no crime, no poverty. All these poor little bastards should just stay in school instead of getting chased out by the teachers.
Deletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/the-real-problem-with-rahms-school-reforms-in-chicago/2012/09/11/c77c3cc4-fba4-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_blog.html
ReplyDeleteLike the securitization of people's homes, Rahm's charter vision is just another scam.
said...The 19th ward may very well have more teachers in Chicago and beyond than any comparable region in metropolitan Chicago....
ReplyDeleteDont you all understand this is why i agree with previous poster WHERE IS MATT OSHEA?....doing nothing!!!he is a schill for Rahm lets face it f0lks why are we so easily fooled???
Regarding Mike Joyce,I also agree he would be a supurb leader in our community, who will not simply rubber stamp Rahm Emanuel! the anti christian!
I also agree with this poster:...Anonymous17 September, 2012
Where is Oshea during this Strike, we have hundreds of Chicago teachers in our ward and our alderman is silent!
we are screwed over again and again. Oshea another stooge for the Mayors of this city.
i understand tryiong to get along with the sitting mayor, but NOT ON THE BACKS of your residents Matt.
I have seen posts on here calling on the Joyce family to get back involved, Rahm screwed the joyces very badly in their business dealings, i think they should get back involved in our community.
wHEN Jerry Sr. ran things our ward was a strong vibriant proud neighborhood, now that kevin left and Jerry Sr. has retired things have gone terribly bad over the last decade.
I am calling asking no....BEGGING Michael "pickle" jouce to please step forward and re-insert yourself into this downward spirling mess we have.
what should we have expected when we hired a frigging bartender to be our Alderman.
Need i remind us all that Pickle is an Attorney at law! lets wake up folks...sdaly it may already be to late
Tests are only 'silly' in the opinion of teachers who aren't any good at doing their jobs. If they do what they are being paid to do, the students will easily pass the tests.
ReplyDeleteEven in kindergarten. There is no excluse for these teachers to bungle early education as well. No free pass. The kids deserve better.
It seems the issue isn't that students are tested at all, but that they are tested so much. The amount of testing and the time dedicated to it is excessive.
ReplyDeleteI might agree if there wasn't overwheming evidence of things going wrong. Such as illiteracy, the dropout rate , and low scores. Crises demand crisis management, including intensive monitoring.
ReplyDeleteIf you can't measure it, you can't manage it. All the more important when the system shows major evidence of mismanagement.
To put it more bluntly: when something is going wrong, you need to check up on things a lot more frequently.
Again, you seem to see things strictly in black and white. Students aren't illiterate, dropping out, and low-scoring across the board. There are good schools out there in Chicago. You want some stats? I'll give 'em to you if you want. Just let me know.
ReplyDeleteNo I see things as they are. Yes there are good schools and good teachers... and bad schools and bad teachers.
ReplyDeleteI celebrate the former. But in the case of the latter, it should not be accepted or rewarded.
Good enough, DMarks.
DeleteI've looked over the contract somewhat and started thinking about the fuure of education generally and
ReplyDeletethe role this industry plays in our back yard here in the 19th ward. Think about it with all the educators in the community in private,public and charter schools coupled with the the several thousand K-12
kids in 16/17 or more schools we have a vested interest in this issue. I would argue that the very future of our community rests in the continued success of these schools both public and private in addition to the few hundred home schoolers.
The contract is nothing more than a contract that will maintain labor piece for a few more years at best. Lay offs of 5K or more likely long term with more charters. I would not rule out a charter or two here if it was controlled by local interests meeting community needs first and legal requirements second. Some pretty good models out there nationally,not locally. In my view we need to come up with creative ways to help neighbors who have struggled in this economy and want a good school particularly at the secondary level.
The contracts evaluation system is a joke. Invariably these evaluations will be reduced to absurd evaluations by school managers. Principals have long figured out ways to get rid of what they consider disloyal teachers and will continue along this path. Chicago's political culture fosters loyalty over substance and sadly this has infected the school house for the last 50 years. This will not improve schools. Remember, Pauly,Arne, Richy and now we have Brucy and Rahmy who have never been a classroom with 25 hyper active kids.
Last, our many parochial schools struggle financially and thankfully many creative hard working clerics,board members and volunteers manage to keep them prospering. The parish subsidy has been reduced substantially and that is what kept our tuition obligation so low until the 1970's. Fund raising efforts have helped substantially and we should all continue to support these efforts. The voucher option continues to be debated and perhaps a local voucher scheme could be developed within the ward with continued fund raising efforts. Need based of course. In closing.
CPS teachers stay strong by attending monthly meetings and invest in strong Profesional Problem Committees.