Comments on: Oakland’s pink slip imprint, by school

By: Maureen

Maureen — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:11:39 +0000

AH, Muriel and Starshaped, can you share evidence to support your claim that schools are staffed with new teachers because administrators want inexpensive staff? or Teachers to be able to push around?
As a former administrator in a school where I desperately tried to stop the turnover of teachers (exactly in alignment with the horrifying statistic that 70% of teachers leave within the first 5 years of working in urban districts), I’m saddened by this assumption. What we didn’t spend on salary (due to EVERY staff member having 5 years or less experience) we spent on coaching, extra prep periods for PLC’s and other forms of support…..that might not have been needed so intensely if we had a balance of veteran teachers and newer teachers. I think operating from an assumption that schools who have less experienced teachers are doing that on purpose is an unfair assumption and perpetuates the divide we need to close if we’re going to unify against the state and federal governments to SIGNIFICANTLY increase resources for pay, preparation and development for teachers.

By: Trish Gorham

Trish Gorham — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 22:16:24 +0000

PINK STINKS. Show your outrage, along with others across the nation this Monday. Support threatened and overburdened educators. STAND UP!

http://local.we-r-1.org/weareone/events/show/543

By: Turanga_teach

Turanga_teach — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 02:01:59 +0000

Wow–look at the spreadsheet. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of teachers at West Oakland Middle. Every single teacher.

Hundreds of kids, right now, going to a school in which every single education professional they interact with is teaching to the best of their ability while simultaneously wondering whether they’ll have a job next year.

We can argue all we want about where to go from here, but first, let’s take a minute to acknowledge: it’s screwed up.

By: J.R.

J.R. — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 21:19:35 +0000

I too agree with post #12, the middle class are being destroyed for the sake of the top and bottom.

Starshaped,
Bones is right, some of our best teachers have been swept away(statewide), and that is a direct consequence of seniority policies. You cannot dispute that. You may not like it, but that does not change the facts. Some of the best teachers have indeed been new teachers. Being a good teacher is so many different things(patience, determination, energy, subject knowledge, ability to adapt etc) that experience is just a very small piece of the puzzle of what goes into making a good teacher.

By: Nextset

Nextset — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 20:35:56 +0000

I agree with post # 12. Maybe it is time to stop with the tax breaks for the wealthy.

I just also feel it’s first time to destroy the welfare entitlements and the treatments that keep the criminal element alive and well.

The social policy that feeds anti-socials while simultaneously killing the middle class is dangerous to the survival of this nation in a recognizable form. Gouging “the rich” so we can continue to feed/clothe/house and medically treat drug addicts, mental defectives and criminals and their rapidly reproducing broods is just going to hasten Civil War II.

Maybe the solution is a new constitutional convention with the plan being to finally limit federal power while allowing the states to experiment with these optional “rights” and social policies – throwing the entitlement battles back to the states.

But then that was supposed to be the Constitution we already had.

By: Starshaped

Starshaped — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 20:05:16 +0000

As a ten year teacher, with 5 in OUSD and who has subsequentially been pink slipped, I take GREAT offense to Bones comment about seniority. I am a better teacher NOW than I was 8 years ago. So this malarky about young-TFA’s being better than older teachers is inaccurate at best and ignorant at worst. I went to the BEST teaching college in Northern California, had experienced, talented master teachers help me through student teaching, and have a natuaral aptitude to teach. I know I was a better prepared for my first years as a teacher than ANY TFA with their BA and their 4 weeks of training. So when you so rudely say that seniority is the problem, you are sadly and pathetically mistaken.

By: Can't believe it

Can't believe it — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 03:48:16 +0000

Nextset you nailed it.

By: TheThruthHurts

TheThruthHurts — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:51:45 +0000

They are we.

By: Bones

Bones — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:49:57 +0000

Some of those “interns, TFAs, and newly certificated teachers” are at some of our best schools. TCN is losing 80% of its staff.

Nobody seems to notice that many of our best teachers are our youngest. To me, this is one of the most striking pieces of evidence that seniority-based layoffs will hurt our children

By: Piedmont Avenue Elementary Dad

Piedmont Avenue Elementary Dad — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 21:32:45 +0000

The funny thing in all of this is that people are buying the government line about being broke. It’s a crock! They have revenue sources but they refuse to tap them. Under Eisenhower the top tax rate was 91% under Nixon it was 70%, now it’s about 35%. The rich are getting insanely wealthy while our kids get the shaft. What’s lacking here is a spine on the part of our elected officials at the state and federal level. The top rate in England is currently 50%. Our millionaires are getting tax breaks while our kids suffer. We don’t need more cuts we need more politicians that represent the majority and not just the wealthy elite. Neither Democrats nor Republicans have shown any willingness to do the right thing so perhaps they should all be replaced. There are other parties you know…