Damaging teachers with tenure

I need to blow off some steam before I get nasty in the larger public forum.  We're part of the Beaverton K-12 School District.  We've had fabulous teachers at Raleigh Hills School.  Then there is this year.  I feel like all fabulous work done in the first three years by amazing teachers has been undone by one politically savvy teacher with tenure who knows how to work the system and must have friends in high places. 

Our daughter has been embarrassed, isolated, degraded in front of her classmates. The children in this woman's class are regularly in tears due to the treatment by this teacher and her methods.  Third grade is hard enough as girls choose sides, shun each other and embrace each other without warning.  But to have the teacher, the person you rely on for your anchor, decide to isolate you from the other students, this is a nail in the coffin of socialization. It emphasizes that something is wrong with the child and the others are right in shunning him or her because the teacher is supporting this notion.

When this is your method of addressing a situation along with having children put their heads on their desks regularly because you cannot bring about peace in the room any other way, it's time to retire.  Your methods are outdated, damaging and backwards.

So here is the problem; with budget cuts, teachers like this one are allowed to maintain their jobs.  They don't have to be graded or evaluated thanks to the union system in place.  Then, younger teachers, newer ones embracing newer technology, teaching techniques and styles are let go because they were last to join the fray.  They may be making progress with students through new methods, but they won't get to continue because dead wood like this one continue to take up oxygen in the school.  There are too many good and many great teachers who should be allowed to continue making headways reaching students that were formerly unreachable through old teaching methods. I can think of at least a dozen amazing teachers just at our school.

I loathe the Teachers' Unions.  The money and power behind them only damages our children, wastes money and doesn't make anyone accountable for their teaching skills or lack thereof.  It's criminal.  Most companies reward employees who excel and let go of the ones not contributing to the overall goals.  Why wouldn't teachers be held to the same accountability since they have our most valuable commodity - our children?  Shouldn't they be the most valuable asset in our world?  They deserve the same quality control as a car, set of golf clubs, a box of cereral, don't you think?

There are ways to take action. I guess I'm on my way to another side cause.

Comments

[C Kepner]

I hear you loud and clear! No adult has the right to belittle a child, let alone someone in a position of power, like teacher!