Entire School Staff Fired

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Yeah there is nothing better than going all WWE on a group of folks that are already society's punching bag.

Hey, it's easiest to beat a guy when he's down.

[Ali G. 37]

Hey, it's easiest to beat a guy when he's down.

I was thinking we fire social workers next. Then fire the police and so on.

Forget training or investing in these critical people. After all they are paid CEO wages. I'm always shocked to see how many 7 series teachers drive, all while living it up in 5,000 sq ft mansions.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I'm always shocked to see how many 7 series teachers drive, all while living it up in 5,000 sq ft mansions.

I'm amazed at how many parents get to think that they can just outsource parenting to the school systems and still get desirable results. Fire the fcuking parents of these kids so that at least the kids will have a fighting chance to succeed in life. It's just absolutely ridiculous how little value is assigned to parenting and family in this oh so conservative country of ours.

[jundp 191]

I'm amazed at how many parents get to think that they can just outsource parenting to the school systems and still get desirable results. Fire the fcuking parents of these kids so that at least the kids will have a fighting chance to succeed in life. It's just absolutely ridiculous how little value is assigned to parenting and family in this oh so conservative country of ours.

BINGO!!!!

And the teachers get blamed for EVERYTHING that happens.

Truly, we don't get paid enough to handle 1/4 of the BS thrown our way and we not only handle it, but most of us handle it with grace and keep a smile plastered on our faces so our students don't have to deal with it too.

[Ban Hammer 13,345]

rather than fire the teachers, why not fire the administrators?

[AandD 20]

What a shame!

Where to start with this one...

1) Systemic learning failure are the result of what happened prior to arriving at high school...they have the wrong 'culprit'

2) They will probably hire many of the teachers back in the fall, but they send the wrong message to everybody with this bit of politics.

3)The type of failure they speak about is not resolved by blaming teachers by any means. Effectively funded parent/community involvement programs. combined with grant funded academic interventions during and after the school day , in conjuction with relevant instruction targeted for abilty levels, combined with a culture of accountability for student learning supported with 'incentives' ...maybe some inroads can be made.

4) Firing the teachers is going to save the town lots of money..the older expreienced teachers on the pay scale will be gone and replaced by inexpereinced teachers who they will have only to pay the bottom salary on the scale.

5) These inexperienced teachers, without the right supports in place to adress the systemic issues, will soon fall into the same position as the previous teachers....and everyone will be back where they started except the townspeople can feel better for having tried to 'do something'...lol

6) Follow the $$$ on this one...

[trillium13 84]

I'm amazed at how many parents get to think that they can just outsource parenting to the school systems and still get desirable results. Fire the fcuking parents of these kids so that at least the kids will have a fighting chance to succeed in life. It's just absolutely ridiculous how little value is assigned to parenting and family in this oh so conservative country of ours.

Everything is always someone else's responsibility/fault.

[Ali G. 37]

A friend of mine who is a college professor, told me about a parent that organized a meeting to discuss a poor grade, because their daughter felt she deserved an A rather than a C. I thought he was pulling my leg, as what sort of a parent can honestly be that stupid. I'm in my early 30's, yet this would had been a stock standard case of 'you better study harder if you want a better grade' in my house. Nowadays, you have a growing type of parent who likes to blame everyone else. Not the first time I have heard of such incidents at college level either.

What are people trying to achieve with actions like these? Or it it just an attempt to blame others and avoid reality?

[Ali G. 37]

What a shame!

Where to start with this one...

1) Systemic learning failure are the result of what happened prior to arriving at high school...they have the wrong 'culprit'

2) They will probably hire many of the teachers back in the fall, but they send the wrong message to everybody with this bit of politics.

3)The type of failure they speak about is not resolved by blaming teachers by any means. Effectively funded parent/community involvement programs. combined with grant funded academic interventions during and after the school day , in conjuction with relevant instruction targeted for abilty levels, combined with a culture of accountability for student learning supported with 'incentives' ...maybe some inroads can be made.

4) Firing the teachers is going to save the town lots of money..the older expreienced teachers on the pay scale will be gone and replaced by inexpereinced teachers who they will have only to pay the bottom salary on the scale.

5) These inexperienced teachers, without the right supports in place to adress the systemic issues, will soon fall into the same position as the previous teachers....and everyone will be back where they started except the townspeople can feel better for having tried to 'do something'...lol

6) Follow the $$$ on this one...

Very true, if a student hasn't learned the basic earlier on, fat chance they are going to catch up by high school.

Problem with newer younger teachers is that they are not going to stay on as long as the older teachers who actually care. Personally, you couldn't pay me $300K a year to put up with the ####### in such schools.

Come to think of it, why don't those who fired them show everyone how it's done, since they dd not like all of their performance. $10K bet that they start at 8am, leave for lunch and never return. At the end of the day, it's the parent and teenagers that have power over their learning. You can lead a horse to water but...

Edited February 25, 2010 by Booyah

[spookyturtle 9,466]

A friend of mine who is a college professor, told me about a parent that organized a meeting to discuss a poor grade, because their daughter felt she deserved an A rather than a C. I thought he was pulling my leg, as what sort of a parent can honestly be that stupid. I'm in my early 30's, yet this would had been a stock standard case of 'you better study harder if you want a better grade' in my house. Nowadays, you have a growing type of parent who likes to blame everyone else. Not the first time I have heard of such incidents at college level either.

What are people trying to achieve with actions like these? Or it it just an attempt to blame others and avoid reality?

An old friend of mine's father was a high shcool guidance counselor in an affluent suburb of Boston and the stories he told about the parents were unbelievable. Just as you say, complaining because Johnny got a C and it was going to hurt his chances for getting into the college he wanted to go to. You name it, the parents blamed someone else, the school, the teachers, the town, etc. It's worse in the wealthy towns than it is elsewhere.

[AlHayatZween 2]

rather than fire the teachers, why not fire the administrators?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Everybody's looking for accountability without first understanding why the students are under-performing. No teacher can make their student succeed in class if that student doesn't make themselves accountable for their own effort (I'm talking about High School mainly). Academic failure is an option to the student with little consequence beyond a failing grade. We can deny them a driver's license, not allow them to work, place curfews on them, but there's no magical way to force them to give a good enough effort to succeed.

We need to stop placing the emphasis of student test scores as an evaluation of job performance for teachers. Instead, have a teacher job evaluation system similar to most other jobs out there. Whether it is having administrative staff sit in on classrooms, there are a myriad of effective ways to measure the job performance of a teacher.

They are there to teach...they aren't magicians who can turn a student with a poor track record into an honor student.

Edited February 25, 2010 by Galt's gallstones

[Niels Bohr 72]

It's the parents' fault for not thinking of a long term strategy to raise a child. They wait until it's too late to do something about their child. So, when many of their children fail, they will suffer the wrath.

[Ali G. 37]

Everybody's looking for accountability without first understanding why the students are under-performing. No teacher can make their student succeed in class if that student doesn't make themselves accountable for their own effort (I'm talking about High School mainly). Academic failure is an option to the student with little consequence beyond a failing grade. We can deny them a driver's license, not allow them to work, place curfews on them, but there's no magical way to force them to give a good enough effort to succeed.

We need to stop placing the emphasis of student test scores as an evaluation of job performance for teachers. Instead, have a teacher job evaluation system similar to most other jobs out there. Whether it is having administrative staff sit in on classrooms, there are a myriad of effective ways to measure the job performance of a teacher.

They are there to teach...they aren't magicians who can turn a student with a poor track record into an honor student.

The other thing that I see as being an issue here is that everyone is pushed to go to college, when in realty, not everyone is cut out for college. As a result, kids are almost made to feel like failures unless they join the bandwagon of amassing $30K to $120K in debt.

Back in Victoria, you are able to drop out at 16, and many from my school did. They then went on to learn a trade or undertake an apprenticeship. By twenty five, many of them had successful businesses and better paying jobs than those who went on to college. That's the beauty of it, everyone did what they wanted to do rather than be pigeonholed and pushed into something not suitable for them.

The result of implementing Victoria's system in such a school would mean that those not interested in learning leave, or are forced out, leaving the teachers the extra time needed to work with the remaining students. The other reality is that students from poor families are going to struggle more than those that are well off, no matter what. That is why this knee-jerk action is probably one the dumbest decisions I have heard in a while.

Edited February 25, 2010 by Booyah

[one...two...tree 2,762]

The other thing that I see as being an issue here is that everyone is pushed to go to college, when in realty, not everyone is cut out for college. As a result, kids are almost made to feel like failures unless they join the bandwagon of amassing $30K to $120K in debt.

Back in Victoria, you are able to drop out at 16, and many from my school did. They then went on to learn a trade or undertake an apprenticeship. By twenty five, many of them had successful businesses and better paying jobs than those who went on to college. That's the beauty of it, everyone did what they wanted to do rather than be pigeonholed and pushed into something not suitable for them.

The result of implementing Victoria's system in such a school would mean that those not interested in learning leave, or are forced out, leaving the teachers the extra time needed to work with the remaining students. The other reality is that students from poor families are going to struggle more than those that are well off, no matter what. That is why this knee-jerk action is probably one the dumbest decisions I have heard in a while.

Yep. I think we should move the end of secondary education back two years, to the age of 16, and then support (publicly fund) more trade schools. I used to think that college was where a student can finally find themselves and figure out their path in life, but it's too costly nowadays to really do that. Students should be encouraged to have some pretty clear career path ideas by age 16, which is the age that many of them start working part time jobs anyway. If by 16, a student really doesn't have their mind set for college, then they should go to a trade school (2 year program) and then enter the job market with enough skills to survive on.

Edited February 25, 2010 by Galt's gallstones