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| Photo credit: Care2 Make a Difference |
Annette Bening's perfectly-delivered line during a climactic moment in the movie, The American President, is one that should resonate with President Obama, as tens of thousands of angry teachers in New York are likely saying the same thing today.
One day after New York teacher rankings were published, those educators and hundreds of thousands more nationwide are outraged, and we're not just mad at the idiots in New York who allowed this useless data to go public.
I'm certain that I speak for many of my colleagues when I say that the blame for this must fall squarely at the feet of President Barack Obama. After all, a monstrous $5 billion of Obama's education budget is intended to "tie teacher pay to performance." Don't assume for a second that "performance" means how well teachers actually teach. This is all about standardized testing -- something Obama suggested he'd fix, while campaigning four years ago.
Being kind, I'd say Obama has fallen short of his goal of fixing No Child Left Behind. Being accusatory, I'd say that Obama has flat-out lied.
If anything, during Obama's presidency, American education has gotten much worse than it was when he arrived. Not only are we still stuck with the monster that is high stakes testing, now teachers are being judged by this insidious data, which even most people outside of the profession realize is nothing short of illogical.
I proudly supported Barack Obama four years ago. I even campaigned form him. When things were going poorly his first couple of years in office, I defended him. Enough is finally enough. I can no longer support a president who has turned his back on education. I can't defend a purportedly-intelligent man, who wasn't smart enough to hire an educator to run his education department. I can't stand by a leader who values numbers over people.
President Obama has lost me as a supporter. He's lost more than me, though. He's just lost my vote.
I agree. I only wish there was someone to whom I could whole heartedly give my vote to. Right now, there is no one. I was so heart broken when I saw the reports for the teachers in NY. I am not against teachers being accountable, on the contrary, but I agree with your assessment that a standardized test does not in any way, shape, or form perform a complete or accurate assessment of a teacher's ability. There are ways to combine a variety of measures: student and parent assessments, evaluations, lesson plans etc. These could be combined to create a fairly accurate profile for a teacher. However, I would never advocate publishing them in a newspaper. I would advocate support and continuing education for a failing teacher, and ultimately, if no progress is made, termination of contract. NOT public humiliation. Never that. I predict a mass exodus from the teaching profession. Maybe not those of us who have been teaching for some time, but our present college students. Who would willingly subject themselves to this?
ReplyDeleteDanielle, your response is heartfelt and insightful. I agree on all counts. I'm not a fan of the word "accountability," but I have no problem with an evaluation system for teachers. It should certainly involve peers (from other districts) administrators and even some objective feedback from students.
DeleteSadly, your comment about a mass exodus is also likely spot on. For now, things seem dim.