Sweeeeet. Yeah. That's right. Be a PS teacher when you grow-up.

[Smarmie Doofus]

>>>>On April 14, 38-year veteran teacher Rosemary Byrne-Dunn handed in her retirement papers.

The 61-year-old said she would have liked to stay at IN-Tech Academy, MS/HS 368 a little longer, but administrators there gave her unsatisfactory ratings on routine evaluations for little or no reason, making her job unpleasant and stressful. She is the second teacher in about two months to make this claim.

A wheelchair-bound polio victim, Ms. Byrne-Dunn said she got her first unsatisfactory rating about a year ago and, since then, has received three more. All the unsatisfactory ratings were on informal evaluations. In February, she got a satisfactory rating on her formal evaluation.

She got low marks for various factors, including not using enough technology and not providing for English language learners. >>>>>>

more here:

http://www.riverdalepress.com/stories/Veteran-teachers-U-ratings-forced-her-out,48452?page=1&content_source=



I worked for a couple of years in that building. "Union" is a dirty word.

Also interesting: the admin who harassed her was implicated.... though not disciplined... in the Principal Blige ("give them a bad eval; I don't care if you haven't observed them") scandal ( which WAS investigated and substantiated) at a nearby Bronx HS.

So.... this is the wave of the future. Eh, Mr. President? Mr President! HELLO!

[pnwmom]

1. If she isn't using enough technology in a technology oriented school

and she doesn't provide for ESL students, aren't those good reasons for giving her low marks? After 38 years, maybe it WAS time for her to retire.

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. Maybe. Maybe not. Give it a re-read. nt

[pnwmom]

7. I read the whole thing before I posted. My question remains. n/t

[Smarmie Doofus]

9. That's encouraging. The answer to your question is:

Maybe. Classroom evals are *extremely* subjective. It's very strange that she was able to adequately incorporate technology into her teaching for 38 years then suddenly was unable. Perhaps the smart board was a bridge too far.
Perhaps the admin had an agenda. ( See post #5). This circumstance is extremely common.

Ditto the incorporation of ELLs. If she taught in the Bronx for 38 yrs. she had plenty of exposure to and experience w. ELLs.

There's no assertion in the eval that she's either to too old or enfeebled; so , it seems to me, this speculation is beside the point.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. So 'they' say

They play the same trick here. I've seen way too many very good teachers forced out like this and the common element was age.

We've had several age discrimination lawsuits here. This has been an issue for years.

Surely you realize that just because a teacher is older doesn't mean he/she isn't capable of being a good teacher. My father taught for 40 years and often said his last few years were his best, when he was doing his best teaching. I worked with a teacher for many years who retired just a few years ago at age 65 and she was phenomenally good, and only improved with age and experience.

[pnwmom]

8. It's pretty hard for any of us outsiders to judge this. One of my children

did have an older 2nd grade teacher who seemed very uncomfortable with computers when they were first introduced. When I was there helping out one day, I remember her swooping down on one of the kids, screaming: "You're not supposed to type anything above the line!" As if typing there was going to break the computer or something.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. And I've worked with young teachers who weren't very techy

You never know.

[pnwmom]

11. Any recent college graduate has basic computer skills at least.

Older teachers had to learn on the job, and their aptitude and interest varied.

[Smarmie Doofus]

6. I did some sleuthing. See reply #5. nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. Sounds like a vindictive vice principal

I taught with a couple teachers who had polio as kids. One was in a wheelchair and the other on crutches. Both good teachers. But as they aged, they were placed in buildings with no elevator or in buildings with nasty administrators.

ADA seems to apply only to kids in some districts.

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. It's *very* interesting. Clink this link:

http://gothamschools.org/2011/01/21/bronx-principal-keeps-her-job-after-imperiling-the-jobs-of-others/

Mr. O'Neill, Ms. Byrne's supervisor and antagonist, was involved in 2005 in a highly-publicized case wherein he *HIMSELF* testified that he was told by his principal to manufacture BS false evals to get rid of teachers the boss didn't like ( or cost too much $$$, like Ms Byrne , in the OP).

Now in THAT case he came off as the *good* guy ( he denied that he carried out this direct order; pardon me; my bs detector is beginning to make some noises: it's unusual in a system as hierarchical as this bureaucracy for an AP to simply choose not to follow up a directive from the principal.) And in his testimony.... I'm guessing it's sworn.... he implicated the principal directly.

So there are many different angles from which one can view the case in the OP. On the one hand, O'Toole was previously involved in a conspiracy nearly identical to the one that Ms. Byrne implies he's involved in right now. OTOH, he claims he didn't follow through on the orders ( I find that hard to swallow) and he did, in fact, give evidence against her ( i.e. school "reform" principal Iris Blige.).

On the third hand: if I read the links correctly, O'Toole took no initiative in turning Ms. Blige in. That appears to have been the result of multiple complaints by multiple victims, probably to the union. That's malfeasance of some variety right there.

I hope this guy never does my eval. Ahhhh.... if people only knew.

BTW, note the *severity* with which Blige was disciplined.