During the Kleinberg years it has been increasingly obvious that despite their emphasis on test preparation at the expense of a full educational experience, the federal test scores have shown little change since they took over in 2002. The question is why haven't the test scores improved despite the almost single minded emphasis on test preparation? While the answer seems complex to some, for me it is simple. It is the quality of the teacher.Under the Kleinberg administration the ideal teacher have the following characteristics.
1. Inexperienced and lower paid.
2. Less than 50 years of age.
3. Thankful about having a job.
4. Unaware of his or her rights under the union contract.
5. Never complain about working conditions or the classroom environment.
6. Just teaches the students and let somebody else handle their problems.
7. Follow blindly all dictates by administrators, even when they make no sense.
8. Clueless to what good teaching techniques are.
In my mind the above characteristics are of a mediocre teacher, the type of teacher that will never make a difference in the lives of his or her students. However, this is the type of teacher that the DOE wants teaching the children.
Gone are the days that teachers can challenge the student academically without that teacher endangering his or her career. Remember, a student accusation, however, ridiculous, will get a teacher removed and investigated. If a teacher even tries to get into the student's face about his or her classroom behavior, you can be sure that the student will retaliate and since the DOE always will side with the student, guess what happens to the teacher? Right, the "rubber room". Is it any wonder that the number of reassigned teacher goes up every year? Therefore, as the DOE pushes older teachers to retire, whether due to administrator harassment, deteriorating classroom conditions, or teacher disrespect, they will be replaced by younger & inexperienced teachers who, for the most part, are clueless on what quality teaching is. Is it any wonder that the test scores don't improve?
I think it's even worse than how you describe it. They don't want anyone over 30 (my little crew of friends, all 45+ in age, are constantly on the shit list), or with a mind of their own. The more sycophantic, the better. They agree to working extra hours (frequently for no per session pay), and are infamous for saying things like, "I'm so glad to have a job, I'd mop the floors if they asked me too." And like you said, none of these qualities make for a good teacher.
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ReplyDeleteBetter yet a principal can get young teachers to "cheat", lie and conspire. I have seen it! Some of these young teachers are no better than Hitler Youth converts and whatevery the pricipal requires of them they will do--not all but enough to turn a school upside down as the principal forces older teachers out of his or her building.
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