KCMO District Releases Probationary Teachers

[proud2BlibKansan]

This article fails to mention that a month ago, the district signed a contract with Teach For America, agreeing to hire 150 TFA interns next year. Did the NCTQ report recommend firing non-tenured teachers and replacing them with TFA interns? Hmm. Somehow I doubt it.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City, Mo., School District told about 115 probationary teachers Friday that they would not be retained by the district past this year.

Principals throughout the district informed the affected teachers Friday afternoon.

In a statement, the district told the teachers, "earlier this year, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) issued a report regarding teacher retention and teacher effectiveness. The non-renewal of non-tenured teachers by the district today is in line with the recommendations from the Building Teacher Quality in KCMSD report.

"Because this is a personnel matter, the district cannot provide specific detail regarding teacher non-renewals; however, the district issued approximately 115 non-renewal letters to non-tenured teachers working in the district, which represents 10 percent of the teacher workforce. This decision reflects the goals for improving teacher quality issued in the NCTQ report."

more . . . http://www.kctv5.com/news/27481262/detail.html

edit to add link about TFA contract: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/10/2716155/kc-schools-approve-contract-with.html#storylink=misearch

[madfloridian]

1. That seems to be happening more and more now.

Laying off experienced teachers and recruiting TFA ones.

It is just plain sickening.

Kick and rec.

[madfloridian]

2. Imagine....firing probationary teachers, replacing with those with 5 weeks training.

This is terrible.

[glowing]

3. Disgusting.. The teachers without tenure, i.e., new teachers who have

graduated with student loans, probably living with their parents or roommates because they cannot afford to live on their own with the salary and the loans they must pay back for a degree in teaching are thrown under the bus for TFA teacher contract... Which in some areas has shown to be more expensive than retaining teachers who majored and studied to become a teacher... all because rich people are attacking all public sectors in a manner in which to bleed the tax payers dry... NOT to improve education; but to create burger flippers and robots for the future who are told to expect nothing but their bootstraps to hold them up. I suppose new graduates of education will have to start hoping to be hired into TFA... it will be the only way in which to be hired at all and will circumvent those horrible, awful Unions.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. The one competent TFA intern I worked with was an education major

She changed her major and after she graduated with a non-education degree, she decided she really did want to teach. So she became a TFA intern. And she is an absolutely excellent teacher who stayed on after her two year internship. But of course, she was fired along with the others yesterday.

[SoCalDem]

10. How nice.. TFA.. Our time's own "Kelly Girls"

Use them, then lose them..and get a new batch next time you need some temp-teachers..


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Services
William Russell Kelly founded Russell Kelly Office Service in 1946,initially providing office services performed at Kelly's offices, rather than providing temporary staffing at the client's location. However, customers asked for the work to be performed at their locations, and the temporary staffing concept was born out of responding to this type of request. It was in 1946 that the first 'Kelly Girls' came into scope and the first 'Kelly Girl' was Adelaide Hess Moran who was able to demonstrate that this new working sphere for women could be one to enjoy.

The temporary workers, who were usually female, became known as 'Kelly girls'. In recognition of this, the name of the company was changed to Kelly Girl Service, Inc. in 1957.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. I feel sorry for these TFAers

Most are very dedicated and try very hard to do a good job. And they are being beat up politically - on both sides.

It's just a tragic situation where the students suffer the most.

[SoCalDem]

13. They are victims too, since they want to teach, but without permanency

they are little more than casual labor:(

[xchrom]

11. it would be interesting to add up the school debt

all these untenured teachers have all over the country.

they did due diligence for their careers -- went to school -- incurred debt for the betterment of others in their community --
and then got fired -- or TFAed.

[LWolf]

17. That would be a big number.

:(

[madfloridian]

4. Kansas City’s TFA costs over the three years would range from $750,000 to $810,000.

From your link.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Yep.

And the district is so broke they closed nearly half their schools last year.

Another interesting angle is the board members who voted to close the schools and were up for re-election last spring either lost or decided not to run again.

[SheilaT]

14. I thought that a major reason for the closing

of all those schools was a huge decline in student population.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. Yes you're right

[The Midway Rebel]

7. I am sure those TFA teachers will work miracles at South West.

:sarcasm:

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Hell they already are.

LOL

[madfloridian]

9. Oh my I see the district has an Eli Broad superintendent...they move fast.

http://www.broadacademy.org/fellows/68_John+Covington.html?page_filter=0

"JOHN COVINGTON

The Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2008
Superintendent
Kansas City, Missouri School District

“When the status of our nation, relative to measurable student academic achievement, is compared to other industrialized nations, the results are both staggering and frightening. The educational stewardship of the nation’s youth rests on the shoulders of public school superintendents. Their success and the success of their districts may very well determine the future of our economy and the freedoms we all enjoy and take for granted. In this regard, I am driven to make a meaningful contribution to improve public education as an urban superintendent.”

[hack89]

15. This is the NCTQ recommendation they were following

4. Aim to dismiss the bottom-performing 25 percent of nontenured
teachers each year. Examining consistent patterns of teacher
performance, economists recommend that districts should routinely
dismiss at least the bottom-performing 25 percent of teachers
eligible for tenure in order to build a high-quality teaching corps
that is capable of making significant gains in student achievement.
Denying tenure to the least effective teachers (as measured by their
value-added impact on student standardized test scores) would
have a comparable impact on learning as reducing class size by five
students per class.16 Although KCMSD is hiring few new teachers,
this strategy would nonetheless have a significant impact on the
quality of the teaching corps as a whole.

http://www.nctq.org/tr3/consulting/docs/kansas_city_report_01-18-2011.pdf