Here's a news report about grading teachers.

[LWolf]

I'll give you a snip and a link, and leave it at that. I find it too discouraging to speak eloquently about.

<snip>
s the city’s students return to school on Wednesday, thousands will enter classrooms led by a teacher that the Department of Education has deemed low performing on internal reports. But in a sign of how complicated and controversial the reports are, many teachers never received them, and there are no plans to release them to parents.

The reports use standardized test scores to monitor how much teachers have helped students improve from one year to the next and whether they are successful with particular groups of children, such as boys or those who have struggled for years.

<snip>

President Obama and his education secretary, Arne Duncan, have pushed states to use student performance to evaluate teachers, declaring that states that banned use of student data would be ineligible for billions of dollars in competitive grants from the federal government. Last week, the Gates Foundation announced that it would work with the city and the union to develop a new way to measure teachers by using student performance on tests along with extensive classroom observations and videotaped lessons.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/nyregion/09teachers.html?em

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. U-n-i-o-n B-u-s-t-i-n-g.

Reprehensible bullshit devised by the billionaire republican Michael Bloomberg.

Incredibly, supported by turncoats and know-nothing democrats.

[LWolf]

2. You said it.

I figured others could say it better than I tonight; I'm tired, and reading that left me discouraged and pissed.

[Dinger]

17. U-n-i-o-n- B-u-s-t-i-n-g O-n S-t-e-r-o-i-d-s

Cripes, what's with people???

[Pilotguy]

3. Teachers should never

agree to performance based pay unless that same standard of pay is applied to our elected officials, police, and every other public service employee.

[ChazII]

18. Agree with you 100%/ n/t

[adnelson60087]

4. I'll never understand why the teacher unions endorsed Obama...

over other dem's in the primaries. His vision of education is just too right wing for my tastes.
While guys like Edwards, Richardson, and Hillary were talking about scrapping NCLB,
Obama was talking about "fixing" it. Now, we see his fixes and it just makes me sad. I've been
a classroom teacher for 17 years and I've never seen our profession so broken, in the midst of bad
pedagogy, with decisions made by those who've never spent a day as a classroom educator.

[LWolf]

7. Because, once he won the democratic nomination,

there was no education friendly candidate left to endorse, and they see democrats as easier to influence than republicans.

Which I think was a mistake. I don't think they should have endorsed anyone.

[YvonneCa]

5. This process is demoralizing. It disrespects...

...teachers and the complicated job they do. And it is completely unfair. There are so many analogy stories (dentist, etc.) that explain the unfairness...yet these folks persist. Are they just dense, or do they not care?

If my profession was dancing, I would expect to be judged on MY performance...I would be in charge of all the variables. But in the profession of teaching, I am in charge of one variable... teaching... but not not any of the others. These folks want to judge MY ability and performance by the skills of others(the students).

That's like judging a dancer's skill by how much the audience liked the show. How is that fair?

[LWolf]

8. There's nothing fair about it.

I don't think, at this point, anyone cares about validity. They care about privatizing and union-busting.

:(

[YvonneCa]

11. I think you are right and...

...that's what is so demoralizing. I understand that we are at the point where...if we don't fix our schools...our country could suffer irreversible damage. That's why I am all for fixing our schools.

But the validity argument is real...and if it is not addressed we will take wrong action in reform. Generally, teachers are not what is wrong with the system. If we put all our reform energy and money THERE, we aren't addressing the real problems in public education. Not only that, we will drive good teachers and potential good teachers away from teaching. If the goal of reform is an industrial model with cheap labor, then that goal will be met...but a system of true, equitable, public education will be lost in the process. JMHO.

[LWolf]

14. You said it.

This deserves a thread all its own:

"Generally, teachers are not what is wrong with the system. If we put all our reform energy and money THERE, we aren't addressing the real problems in public education. Not only that, we will drive good teachers and potential good teachers away from teaching. If the goal of reform is an industrial model with cheap labor, then that goal will be met...but a system of true, equitable, public education will be lost in the process."

[Dinger]

6. Well, WTF, I'll Say It:

Good luck in 2012 Mr. President, unless duncan is gone and this war on teachers and their unions. You will need our votes, no matter what rahm tells you.

[LWolf]

9. I'm with you on that one.

:(

[Reader Rabbit]

10. Accountability is only for teachers.

This #*$^ "accountability" movement is a farce when one considers that the Obama Administration won't be holding Bush officials accountable for their numerous crimes against both the Constitution and humanity. Nor were the CEO's who effed up their companies and the economy royally held accountable. They got bazillions in golden parachutes, instead!

It's Orwellian: All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others.

Excuse me while I go somewhere to primal scream.

[YvonneCa]

12. "Excuse me while I go somewhere to primal scream"...

...:7 I'm with you on the primal scream....

[LWolf]

15. It is a damned farce.

Accountability is a convenient weapon to use against select populations.

I just had a related conversation with my 8th graders today, after reading "Harrison Bergeron." We were talking about equality, of course. What needs to be equal, what doesn't, and how to achieve equality when there is a need.

Animal Farm might be a good book to include this trimester.

[downeyr]

16. That's an awesome story to teach when discussing this topic!

Both, "Harrison Bergeron" and "Animal Farm"

[LWolf]

19. They are both appropriate,

and my 8th graders are all fully engaged, which is a great accomplishment in itself. ;)

[pfloydguy7750]

13. it's ridiculous

[MichiganVote]

20. Because grading federal and state workers is just so much trouble you know...

:grr:

[PVnRT]

21. I think we should evaluate firefighters based on property damage

Hey, if they can't stop it from burning down, it's their fault.