The falsehoods and misrepresentations regarding the Maine Education Association espoused by Rep. Jonathan McKane in his Jan. 24 BDN OpEd cannot pass without some clarification of the facts.
McKane’s vitriolic castigation of the MEA’s lobbying effort on behalf of teachers is unwarranted and unfounded. In many cases he blatantly professes false information as political gospel, presumably designed to favor a personal political agenda. As a registered Republican who considers the MEA a valuable and necessary asset to teachers, schoolchildren, their families and yes, even the taxpayers, please allow me to respond to some of the inflammatory statements contained in the aforementioned opinion.
First of all, the most significant variable that impacts the success of children at school is the teacher. The MEA advocates strongly for the educational excellence through their support for teachers. Mr. McKane convicts the MEA for going beyond advocacy for teachers and for venturing into a place where he claims teachers don’t belong. However, teachers are residents of this state and possess all of the rights of free speech and petition that are guaranteed to everyone else.
In a representative democracy, people, including teachers and the union they employ, have the right to voice their opinions on any issue at any time. It is hypocritical for Mr. McKane to suggest otherwise.
On the issues, LD 1326 seems reasonable on the surface, but breaking up the MEA Benefits Trust in favor of allowing local school districts to shop for better deals will, over time, cause violent shifts in premiums and threaten benefits. The trust has a pool of 70,000-plus members which stabilizes rates and protects the integrity of the benefits package. If a local district is able to get a better deal for their smaller pool of employees, it assumes a position in which only one catastrophic illness will cause devastating premium hikes. This kind of instability threatens the ability school districts to properly manage their budgets.
The MEA Benefits Trust has nothing to do with alleged greedy union bosses and has everything to do with keeping teachers safe and healthy. As for the lawsuit, it is an attempt to prevent the implementation of an irrational decision made by an unchecked Legislature and an anti-union governor.
Also, regarding the expectation that teachers and the MEA know their place, I argue that anything that supports the children who enter our classrooms and their families is fair game for our lobbying interests. Softening child labor laws that prevent students from attending to their studies while resisting attempts to increase personal income for the poor is contrary to the facilitation of success in school.
Next point. MEA members choose to join the organization and are not forced to pay dues against their will. The false statement by Mr. McKane that tax dollars are used to pay MEA dues is either in error or an intentional smear. The money that funds the MEA is in fact “private” money from the pockets of teachers, ed. techs and support staff which allows the union to serve as their advocate in Augusta.
The MEA lobbying on behalf of teachers is an exercise of the same rights enjoyed by the Chamber of Commerce, the Sportsman’s Alliance and the Maine Heritage Policy Center.
I assume that Mr. McKane would validate his statement that “charter schools have been proven to be effective” by citing a 2009 policy brief published by Commissioner Stephen Bowen — then eduction director at the MHPC — touting charter schools. A closer examination of that brief shows that the entire reference list is comprised of right-wing blogs and conservative think tank papers. The MHPC’s brief does not include the most comprehensive study on the effectiveness of charter schools conducted by Stanford University ( http://credo.stanford.edu) which methodically demonstrates that the effectiveness of charter schools is a mixed bag and will likely produce poor results at a higher cost to the taxpayer.
Simply put, charter schools are not in the best interest of Maine’s children or the taxpayers.
The attack on the MEA as a greedy union is an out-of-date, right wing, partisan ploy designed to prop up a weak anti-labor agenda and the accusations of irrational party politics is ironic and laughable. The MEA legislative scorecard is a way to inform members on how their representatives voted on important issues. Many conservative special interest groups do the same thing.
The twisted facts and outright lies professed by Mr. McKane are unfortunate and an embarrassment to the people of his district. If he thinks teachers should stay out of the business of advocating for themselves, for Maine families and for the children in our classrooms then he is overdue for a lesson in the democratic (emphasis small d) process.
Adam Leach teaches at Bangor High School and is president of the Bangor Teachers Association. He lives in Hermon.
A similar ignorance of and contempt for teachers is ever more prevalent within the University of Maine System. The handsomely paid top administrators–few of them with any experience as faculty or as staff on any campus, and none of them with any academic distinction–and their generally right-wing Trustees (many nominated by pseudo-liberal Democrat Gov. Baldacci)–are paying hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to consultants in order to impose “scientific” standards and models on campuses they rarely visit and know little about. They are seduced by phrases like “performance standards” that are more rhetoric than reality.
A superb commentary by Adam Leach, a highly respected veteran Bangor High teacher. May it not fall on deaf ears.
Thank you for this piece! I was aggravated when I read Mr. McKane’s diatribe. Many teachers I know spend money form their own pockets for their classrooms. That is so prevalent that the IRS even recognizes it and allows teachers to deduct those expenses on the income tax. Representative McKane is a lot of bluster and very few facts. Your piece was a much more accurate view of the MEA and the teachers who belong to it. The fact that some, such as Mr. McKane, want to find ways to cut teachers and their earnings shows the lack of understanding or perhaps caring, about the quality of teachers and education. He is a strong indicator of what is wrong in Augusta currently!
I love teachers, but it is okay for me to love teachers and criticize their labor organization.
There are no perfect organizations. All organizations can be criticized. What are your criticisms of the NEA?
The NEA is purely a political organization that directly funds Democrats and other liberal agendas. 1 of 10 delegates at the Democratic National Convention are members of the NEA. The NEA is far less about teaching than politics. The NEA has donated $300,000,000 to political causes. Virtually all of this money originated from taxpayers. Tenure is a system that promotes the worst and creates an atmosphere of complacency.
You say they are a political organization ?? How about the bank industary do you know they have 5 lobbyist for each rep in Washington DC. Now you take all the lobbyist in DC an i bet there are 15 to 1 if not more
News Flash for Flat: That’s what unions and associations do they lobby for their constituents. They donate money to political causes that benefit their members: The NEA, the Chamber of Commerce, the CIO-AFL, the Heritage Foundation, lobbying groups for hedge fund managers all have paid lobbyists and take part in politics.
The idea that taxpayers somehow own teachers’ pay indefinitely is so dumb it’s not worth a response.
Sally, here’s what the NEA does: it takes its massive amount of union dues and gives it to the Democratic Party, who then turns around and makes laws and policies which involve more TAXPAYER money ending up in the hands of teachers. Who then give lots of said money to the union, who gives it to the Democratic Party, who then turns around and…….you get the idea. In any other scenario, it would properly be called money laundering. As it should be in this case.
Oh, and I’m an ex-MEA rep. Try your schtick elsewhere.
but its ok for the anti worker chamber of commerce to give money to the republican party and lobby, right?
try your schtick else where
So……the Chamber of Commerce employees (all 50 of them??) get their salaries from taxpayers, after it’s funneled through state and federal governments??Huh.
(Oh, and I’m not talking about lobbying. I’m talking about money laundering itself. But then, you knew that already).
Virtually all of this money originate at the US Treasury. Once that money is payed to an employee as part of their salary, it is no longer anyone but the payees money.
Why do you continue to repeat the lie?
Thank you Adam Leach for a strong sane voice countering the spittle flecked yapping of conservative mad dogs.
How civil of you. Hope you’re not around kids much (or ever).
I notice you’re not, any reason why?
Your post makes no sense.
One has to understand that one of the stated goals of the Koch brothers funded pressure group ALEC is to destroy public education, and replave it with corporate for profit school. Rep. McKane is just parroting one of their talking points.
Does the tinfoil hat make your head itch?
Just wondering….
Pretty childish response. That all you got? Truth hurt? Any intelligence there?
That is the problem, that IS all he has. And there is absolutely no room for intelligence in the conservative agenda. My personal favorite is the clock punching Republicans! lol. Talk about lost. They are like the chicken who drags the ax around behind colonel Sanders. Completely oblivious to the fact that it will be their turn as soon as they are no longer useful. Like the day after an election.
Maybe not: I seem to recall that the most significant predictor of academic success is the presence of books in the home.
Or maybe parents at home who care if their child is successful at school . . .
this would have been a much better response without the left wing dibble. this is no more than an opposing view , no better than the original article from mckane, with no more facts.
try again
Lies? I don’t think so. There might be a few stretches in this piece, though.
http://www.themainewire.com/2012/01/study-reducing-public-sector-unions-50-save-maine-263-million/
Mr. McKane. First off I am not a teacher and as far as I know no one in my family has any association with the education system in Maine other then either being or having been a student. You attempted, in your article, to make it sound as if the taxpayers were directly paying the teacher’s union dues and that sir is not true. Once an employer pays someone for their work then the money paid no longer is that of the employer but of the employee. Weasel wording seems to have become stock in trade for the far right especially in op-ed pieces such as the one you authored. You go on to use “themainewire” as your source. As most know “themainewire” is the brain child of Lance Dutson, aka The Grand Wizard” , the leader of the clan of highly paid political operatives at the Maine Heritage Policy Center. Speaking of “themainewire” didn’t they just have to terminate one of their so called reporters after it became known that he was a bigot? You talk about stretching the truth in Mr. Leach’s article but after re-reading the one you authored I came away with the feeling , and this is being charitable, that what you did in your article as far as the truth was concerned was to stretch a penny into thin copper wire.
More lies from your piece “Charters have proven to be effective.” It depends on what their intended effect is. Charters are twice as likely to hurt the education of a child as help, and in rural states their outcomes are even worse. If the intent of charters is to provide a substandard education, hurt public schools, and hurt children then they are certainly effective. If it is to help the children and provide a better education then they are not effective. I guess it depends what effect you are looking for.
Here’s the piece – where are the “lies?” http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2012/01/23/opinion/contributors/for-mea-education-excellence-takes-a-back-seat-to-politics/
One of the biggest lies in the piece was that the MEA backs causes that do not affect education, like the minimum wage law. If you had ever interacted with children you would realize that having a stable and supportive home life is the BIGGEST factor in the education of a child. Being paid a living wage for work can go a long way to improving our schools and our education. You have to either be willfully obtuse or completely dense not to see this.
Minimum wage laws hurt poor people, minorities, and kids. Nice.
But then we knew the MEA wasn’t very nice already, didn’t we??
We’ve heard this tired argument brought out before. In regards to the kids, they shouldn’t have to be working. Their job is to go to school, get good grades, and be kids. Now if a family needs their child to work, shouldn’t they be working for adequate compensation to help the family out more? Study after study has shown that there is no correlation between increases in minimum wage and a sustained negative effect on the aforementioned group. In fact, since the mid 1990’s economists have revised their traditional models and have come to the conclusion that minimum wage is a necessary evil in our less than perfect free market where collusion between employers give them a monopsony with so many seeking jobs and the terms being fixed in favor of the businesses who refuse to yield. So workers have two avenues of recourse, minimum wage or unionization. With so many employers acting unethically towards unions, that leaves only one true recourse.
It would appear that anything less than slavish devotion to left-wing dogma is defined as a “lie.”
No anything less than the truth is a lie. McKane uses no facts or figures. His points have no basis in reality. Of course let’s be honest, if he wanted to deal in reality, there would not be an (R) after his name.
What a unique and powerful rebuttal /s.
So charter schools are not the answer? What is the answer? More money going into the public schools which apparently produce illiterates? I read recently that over 40% of Mainers are functionally illiterate, meaning they can’t read above a 4th grade level. With this level of failure I see that the current system is broken and needs to be reevaluated. Competition in all areas of life improve results and reduce costs, why is public education somehow exempt from this economic fact?
Taxpayers pay taxes from their income=public sector employees (who make 2X average)=union dues=Democrat politicians=liberals who spend other people’s money like drunken sailors and blame someone else when it is all gone
or
75% of property taxes go to schools=public teachers salary=union dues=Democrat politicians=promote abortion which kills off future teacher’s livelihood
Katherine nice post. I couldn’t help , after seeing your 40% number that you claim is the percentage of functional illiterates in the State of Maine, how well that number compares with the percentage of the vote received by Paul Richard LePage in the 2010 election.
Katherine: exactly how do you think public schooling should be run? Do you have any constructive suggestions or are you simply interested in a spittle flecked rage to show how much you hate unions, teachers, schools, Democrats, abortions, state workers, liberals.
I began teaching in 1985 and wanted to support my professional colleagues and myself so I became a member of MTA (Maine Teachers Assoc.). I put up with the very left slant of the NEA and paid my dues to maintain the local association. 20 years into my career I had a desperate need for help from MTA and received none. It is my view NEA is in existence to support a very powerful “Chicago style” political machine with little interest education itself.
The MTA does not have the ability to give legal assistance. The NEA does. They will defend teachers in matters of discrimination, breech of contract by the school board, harassment and failure of school board to follow teacher termination policy. They will not give assistance to someone that has violated their contract, been involved in illegal or criminal behavior or refused to follow school policy or directives.
Student progress, educational outcomes, educational policy and practice are the responsibility of your school board and the superintendents and principals they hire. If the NEA tried to tell communities how to manage their schools the anger from school boards, teachers, citizens, parents and administrators would be overwhelming. In fact it is illegal for the NEA to make policy or meddle in school affairs.
You’re right, they do it the other way: they are the money launderers for elected Democrats, who DO make policy and meddle in school affairs.
Just saying.
Do you have to work very hard at being obtuse or is it a natural talent?
“the most significant variable that impacts the success of children at
school is the teacher. The MEA advocates strongly for the educational
excellence through their support for teachers.”
Stripped of the pseudo intellect, this amounts to “what is good for teachers is good for students”, an arrogant pinky ring union thug pronouncement that goes a long way toward explaining the growing legions of high school graduates that can’t tell you how many quarts there are in a five gallon bucket or even read their own diplomas.
I can’t agree with much beyond the Teacher’s being important to our children.
Have we decided that teachers are corporate? I ask this because I don’t know of too many profession’s that go running to an attorney if they’re “Contract isn’t renewed” other then executives and pro athletes. I ask this, if there isn’t any obvious funny business, If a contract isn’t renewed simply because the administration think’s they can find someone better, or if there are cutbacks, why isn’t that okay? It’s good enough for the manager at your LOCAL grocery store, why isn’t it good enough for teacher’s?
VERY few teachers go quietly. No matter what the circumstances.. That’s why so few are fired. Administration ends up in a urinating match and it costs THE TAXPAYERS MONEY.
I love teachers. I like honest debate as well. Not just “He hates teachers”. I don’t.
Because local grocery store workers are generally low-skill jobs that anyone with a HS diploma or working on one can get. I find it pretty telling that you don’t want to compare teachers to managers and CEO’s but instead to store clerks.
And yet who else beside the teacher may be part of a union? Lemme see, the GROCERY STORE CLERK, and the TRUCK DRIVER. Which is it. are teachers better then them, or not?
Lotta corporate types belong to unions?
I’ve said before I think good teachers should be paid more. I just think we need to figure out who the good teachers are. Don’t try to paint this as though i’m against teachers. That’s simply not the case. I’ve known many. I do not undervalue the profession.
I’m trying to keep this a rational discussion Please don’t say. “You find it telling.”
I’m certainly not wealthy, nor am I stupid. Do you want everyone of your party to represent who you are? Neither do I.
Managers and CEO’s generally have a multi-year contract much like teachers do. In terms of lots of corporate types in Unions, there most certainly are. Over 25% of Union membership is by people in the professional classes. White collar Unions are where most of the growth of unions in this country occur. It could be because white-collar workers are generally educated enough to understand the imbalance of power between the corporations and the people.
I did a few searches for white collar unions. Seems pretty much everything I found was at least five years old. I want to thank you for leading me to information stating that it seem the term “White Collar” has been expanded. A great many of the unions your referring to are in the NURSING field. Not exactly corporate types. The amount of corporate white collar union jobs is about .0001 percent of the population
In any profession where workers have negotiated a pay scale based on experience management may not refuse to renew a contract simply because they think they can find someone better. Management has to show just cause and in most professions there must be a specified period of time given to improve performance. No employee in a non-renewal situation such as you describe would “go quietly”. No manager in such a situation would be dumb enough to refuse renewal of a contract.
If school boards and school administrators do their jobs properly and follow the legal procedure for non renewal of a teachers contract pissing contests do not arise. It’s when the procedure has not been followed that a teacher will ask the NEA for help, hearings are held and costs start to rise.
The people that run the schools, hire the and fire the teachers, principals and superintendents are not the teachers. They are your local school board. They are responsible for how the schools are run. How many times does this have to be said before people understand who is responsible for their local schools.
When I say they can do better I mean they just may not find them to be very good at the position. Not that they’re terrible people. In the real world if a business can find someone better to do the job THEY ARE ALLOWED TO DO SO, without an act of congress.
Are you suggesting as long as a teacher does nothing inappropriate, shows up to work everyday and yet the kids year after year appear to be disinterested in how this teacher works. they have a job for life? That’s certainly how it appears. And I don’t agree. . Even corporate people are held accountable for their performance. What I would love to see is an objective way of grading them, but that doesn’t seem possible.And it seems, therein lies the power of litigation.
His/Her students have performed poorly for three years running. No, no one was molested, no one was belittled or abused. That person just isn’t a very effective teacher.
How is that unreasonable? Yes, there may be extenuating circumstances but I’m not talking about those cases. I’m talking about the average, quiet school in the suburbs.
One last point. Your post suggest that teachers are not employing attorneys. Google Teacher suing school. Seems to be pretty popular.
That would be the fault of the management in your case. Teachers are required to do everything in their power to reach every child. If they have been evaluated, and the principal cannot come up with ways that they can reach the children better to critique and create an improvement plan for the teacher, then the principal should be the one out of a job not the teacher. It is up to us to hold the administrators feet to the fire to do their jobs. Give the teachers the tools they need to succeed, if you can’t then the teacher is doing everything right, and we need to discover new tools.
Notice how litter77 gets insulted when teachers are compared to the supermarket bag boy who piles the canned goods on top of the eggs yet immediately denies any responsibility for the quality of the educational product. If the student doesn’t learn, that has to be the administration’s fault — like a mongrel dog who can’t be held responsible if its master can’t get it to sit and shake hands.
The prevailing attitude: “I’m a teacher. I deserved to be paid scale for merely waking up breathing each day.”
That isn’t what I said at all. I said that if the Principal cannot give guidance on how the teacher can improve instruction than the Teacher is doing the best that they can. Now if there is something the teacher isn’t doing and could, the Principals job is to come up with a plan of action to improve the teacher. If the teacher refuses to improve, it is easy to get rid of them. If not, then another plan of action is clearly required. It is why the Principal makes the big bucks.
With your rationale then My question wouldn’t even be possible.
I’m ALMOST speechless.
You just stated That teachers are NEVER at fault and that the principal should be fired if a teacher is doing poorly.
READ THAT. Does it make any sense to you?
So in EVERY situation the administration is at fault and an employee is never just a BAD EMPLOYEE> Do you really believe that?
Do you believe in personal responsibility for anything?
You think every single teacher is doing, “everything in their power to reach the kids”??
Reading comprehension, it is a lost art. Please point to my paragraph where I said the teacher is never at fault. If the teacher is not using their tools at their disposal then it comes down to one of two things, they don’t have the tools, or they don’t want to use the tools. Now the Principals job is to give the teacher the tools that they are missing. That is why they come up with a corrective action plan. If the teacher fails to use the tools, they can be fired. I never once stated that teachers shouldn’t be fired. I have never once said that all teachers are doing everything right. If you have truly bad teachers in your school, it generally means you have incompetent principals, an incompetent superintendent, and an incompetent school board.
I don’t believe it’s “Reading comprehension”.
Look at what you wrote.
“That would be the fault of the management in your case. Teachers are required to do everything in their power to reach every child. If they have been evaluated, and the principal cannot come up with ways that they can reach the children better to critique and create an improvement plan for the teacher, then the principal should be the one out of a job not the teacher. It is up to us to hold the administrators feet to the fire to do their jobs. Give the teachers the tools they need to succeed, if you can’t then the teacher is doing everything right, and we need to discover new tools. ”
So if a teacher is evaluated as performing poorly what you wrote maintains it’s the administrations fault.
Perhaps your realized you mispoke and are attempting to rein it in but THOSE ARE YOUR WORDS. and it doesn’t say you support the appropriate firing of a teacher ANYWHERE.
We spend the 2nd most per child and yet we don’t rank near that scholastically. We live in a time in which parents are doing a horrible job and the teacher’s aren’t getting the support from them. I am fully sympathetic to the teacher’s plight. But a teacher is a human being not a super hero. Just as in any other field, you find the good and the bad.
Just saying it should be difficult to terminate because they chose a noble field is poppycock. We should all be held to the same standards.
Let’s see, you stated that the teacher has gotten poor results for three years. Your justification for getting rid of the teacher is these poor results. Knowing that it is the administrations job to help improve teachers (which the administration hasn’t done for three years) you note that we should get rid of the teacher. My solution is that if we have such inept administration that cannot help improve the teachers, they are the ones who should go. Not once in your post did you state what the teacher was doing wrong. I am asking for objective criteria for dismissal of a teacher, or anybody who is paid by taxpayer funded sources. I realize in your world, you would much rather see teachers who are exceptional but cost too much replaced with newer cheaper teachers. I however believe this would be bad for the schools, the children, and ultimately the country. I have never stated people should not be dismissed for not doing their job, they absolutely should. However any objective measure of teacher performance indicates that too much of what goes on in the typical classroom is out of the hands of the teachers. They do not determine the composition of their classes, often times have little to no say about what is being taught, and cannot control for parental support. You want to fire them for things out of their control, not their actual ability.
No I don’t, that’s the point. I want to fire them for things that are within their control. THEY AREN’T DOING A GOOD JOB. Let’s make the assumption that the teacher HAS been evaluated for those three years. That the administration has been saying, “What can we do to help you teach?” And yet the teacher’s results haven’t improved. YOU STILL MAINTAIN THAT IT’S THE ADMINISTRATIONS’S FAULT.
Just to let you know, coming back with, “Some administrations aren’t doing that”. is not a very effective defense. Some are doing a great job. The hypothetical has nothing to do with any of them. In a perfect world this teacher would be terminated.I’ve just had an epiphany. The police department has the , “Blue wall” You know, always cover for your brother, speak the brotherhood line. Protect at all costs. What would be the equivalent for teachers?
If the teacher has done everything that the admin has told them to do, then yes I do believe that it is the admins fault. If they haven’t then they should be gotten rid of. Kind of simple. People should be judged on merit, not on the capricious whims of an administrator.
In other word, the teacher’s employment is more important then whether they can engage and teach the children. WOW, I have no idea how you sell that to independent voters(Me)
You really don’t understand what Itr77 is trying to tell you.
Ya know what miss? I understand just fine. I’ve punched holes in every point now I “Just don’t understand” I will not have some anonymous partisan hack speak in a condescending manner thank you.
Whether you like it or not I represent the MIDDLE . You can’t paint me as the religious ignorant partisan that you use generalizations to talk down to with most posts.
Your blinded by your PURE HATRED of an entity (the RNC) and have forgotten that people don’t fit into simplistic categories. Just because someone else is ranting about liberals doesn’t mean you need to reduce yourself to no better then those you criticize. And it doesn’t mean they represent anyone’s opinion other then their own.
Just a little helpful advice that may save you some time and effort: Don’t run for school board. You are not qualified.
And how am I not qualified? Because my opinion doesn’t come from a cookie cutter? I could critique my typing all day, is that why? As you know I’m ultra liberal on social issues so I would fit in fine until I was the only one on the board that sided with the administration.
From what I’ve seen in several communities the school board tends to be populated by many of a like mind with the teachers. Which in turn tends to put the administration in a no win situation. Not everywhere i’m sure, but I can think of three communities off the top of my head that encounter this problem. (I’m certainly of like mind with teacher’s an most issues. I just don’t feel they should be immune to criticism.)
Teacher’s are just people with strengths and weaknesses just like everyone else. I’d love to be an astronaut but i’m claustrophobic. To bad I went through the training before I figured that out.
Just a metaphor. No I didn’t go through the training. sheesh, What’s really silly is six months down the road someone will say I said I was an astronaut.
You don’t seem to understand contracts, professional employees, school law, union powers, school board powers and responsibilities, administration responsibilities, school organization, educational history, philosophy or funding or how it all fits together to provide a system that generally works. Not that it doesn’t need some shaking up at times.
Your right, I, a 48 year old disabled male with an IQ of 148 couldn’t possibly understand the complex world of POLITICS because THAT’S ALL THAT’ S LEFT.
I feel sorry for our children. They now receive the message, “Me first ” from the moment they walk into the schools to the moment they listen to their first rap song. ME, ME, ME
Can someone please give me a blueprint . Does anyone honestly have any good ideas as to how to OBJECTIVELY rate a teacher? How about expectations within the contract? The idea that you can rank a teacher simply by grades is ridicules but what the heck do we do?
By the way, I don’t necessarily think a teacher is doing a good job just because the kids like him/her either. Respect is more important then being a kid’s buddy. Everyone keeps having this argument but, it never leads anywhere. I also believe that some just aren’t effective teachers. Even with the right materials.If the teacher can’t keep them engaged then the material doesn’t matter. This doesn’t mean anyone is a bad person. It does mean that maybe ya’ shouldn’t be a teacher.n Or maybe you would be better suited to a different medium. Who knows?
Also, unsaid in all this is the fact that those horrible parents were overwhelmingly churned out by the public school system.
If school boards, superintendents and principals were doing their jobs they would not hire incompetent teachers in the first place. If for some reason they did, they should have realized their mistake before the teacher was given tenure and dismissed that teacher. The dismissal is not negotiable, there are no legal formalities, just cause does not have to be given there is no legal redress. The teacher is simply gone.
If you have incompetent teachers: your school board hired them, your school board gave them tenure and your school board is currently not trying to end their contracts through observation and documentation.
A teacher that seeks a private attorney has already been told by the NEA that they don’t have a case. You surely aren’t suggesting that frivolous suits should be banned? That would leave the Christian Right, the Creationists and other book banners hanging out to dry with nothing to do except complain on comment sites. LOL
ONE MORE TIME
I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD. The fact that you would randomly throw religious comments shows you don’t even pay attention to what you’ve read.
Do you really have the audacity to suggest that anyone that disagrees with teachers is a religious nut? By the way, irrationally banning things appears to go both ways. What about the ONE SINGLE 16 year old girl. She was an atheist, there was a banner with religious content that had been in the school for TWENTY years. They had to remove it because she, ONE SINGLE, NAIVE, SIXTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL was offended. Now because it’s against religion some may automatically say it was the right thing to do. I DON”T . Tolerance now goes one way in our country, YOU APPEAR TO BE JUST FINE AS LONG AS YOUR NOT A CHRISTIAN.
And yes I do think there should be TORTE reform. First order of business, you lose you pay all expenses for the other guy. Opponents will say that the little guy loses, I don’t agree. Attorneys will ALWAYS take cases they know they can win. With reform they would think twice before taking on silly litigation.Unfortunately, our politicians are in the pockets of the attorneys so once again we can throw common sense out the window.
Why do they need to show just cause? If it is simply POOR PERFORMANCE that can be documented through a little research they WHY isn’t that good enough? that seems like just cause to me. Government employees are not ENTITLED to lifetime employment.
If no one is willing to acknowledge that not all teachers are perfect people, they’re just people, then I guess I have to rescind my opinion that the good one’s should make more.
If we’re willing to wallow in mediocrity then don’t expect me to defend them.
And in your chosen profession everybody is a top performing employee, the very best in the nation, awarded for outstanding ability and in demand world wide? I’m assuming you lead this group of employees with world class skill, talent, dedication and product output and nobody wallows in mediocracy.
Irrational attacks.
I’m certainly a lot less concerned about mediocrity on the assembly line then I am with PEOPLE TEACHING OUR CHILDREN.
You have just acknowledged that we accept mediocrity in the teaching profession. Hey, no keeping score, everybody gets a trophy, I get it. We’re at the point of settling for mediocrity.
It’s neither irrational nor an attack. I’ve simply tried to make the point that in no profession are all members equally gifted. You appear to think that in teaching, however, that should be the case. Could all endeavors use some improvement. You betcha. Probably including yours.
IF the school boards follow the letter of the law they STILL end up wasting money in court with teachers. Deny that?
No, you are misinformed. The NEA will not go to bat for an incompetent teacher who been terminated legally. I know this because as teacher’s association president for our district I was required to sit in on a dismissal hearing. A NEA rep attended also. The teacher was dismissed. The case did not go any further. The court was not involved. The cost to the district to dismiss the teacher was $0.
Blatant incompetence ISN”T the issue. What you’ve described occurs in a very small amount of cases.
By the way, I’ve never served on a school board, however my father was the chairman of the school board in my hometown for several years. He was a little too stubborn at times but it was because the budget was important to him. And yet the kids were of equal importance. Too few voices in the middle trying to balance common sense and everyone’s best interest these days. You would think they would go hand in hand.We all agree we have to compromise but no one is willing to say on what.Our dysfunctional school system is just another microcosm of our country.
Our educational system itself is not dysfunctional. We do have curriculum, testing and methods issues that have been turned into political and religious footballs that are disruptive and are taking valuable time away from teaching. Teacher training could be a bit more rigerous. There are a lot of problems with the training and certification requirements for principals and school board members.
According to every poll from every source, our kids are getting dumber every year. How is our system not dysfunctional? What,let the teachers have unfettered access with no restrictions because the teacher’s know what’s best?? I don’t think so. Most kids already get anything .they know about politics from John Stewart and Bill Mahar and oh yes, Bill Mahar is such an important influence. Yes I do think the liberal media is out of control. The same people that have the nerve to suggest that President Obama is treated with disrespect sure as heck have a short memory don’t they?
i caught your reply on the other posting..
sigh- the term hey rube is a call for assistance between carnies, dont try to teach me laddie, i grew up in the business
corporations are people, the activist conservative court said so
I am profoundly ashamed of my time being a union rep for the MEA, and offer apologies to every Mainer.
Couldn’t hack it as a teacher, huh?
I did my time……lol…….have you??
Most professional and dedicated teachers do not make statements like “I did my time”
i’m ashamed that you’re ashamed and i’m not even a teacher–got kicked out eh?
Nope.
The feeling of shame is usually stems from the guilt associated with having done something degrading , disgraceful or profoundly unethical.
Gotta wonder whether a thorough audit of the MEA Benefits Trust might closely resemble what was going on at the Maine Turnpike Authority or IS going on at the Maine State Housing Authority.
Are you teachers out there supporting lifestyles for the pinky ring thugs that YOU can only DREAM of?
Well I gotta wonder whether Paul LePage is eating the first born of every Maine citizen systematically. It is based in about as much reality and facts as your ponderance.
Spoken like the Jimmy Hoffa of the teacher’s union.
Spoken like a true follower of the bigoted hate and ugliness purveyor, Rush Limbaugh.
(Wait for indignant disclaimers that “I never listen Rush Limbaugh. I make up my own mind”)
Riiiiiight!
I have invested in corporations that have taken my money and used it for lobbying the Government with it against my free will, effectively drowning out “my” freedom of speach, with my own money!
The Republicans want Right to Work?
I want Right to Invest!
Excellent come back to all the idiotic reactionary drivel about them being forced to support unions because teachers pay NEA dues. Let’s hope the level of intelligence displayed by these strange little minds isn’t representative of the average voters understanding of education, schools, unions monetary theory and economics.