Pertaining to the most recent hit you posted, I guess it just goes to show
that districts vary greatly. In my school I rarely see teachers coming in
late unless there is some emergency reason. (I have been told, however, that
the principal comes in late regularly.) Our teachers are required to be in
the building from 7:40 until 3:10. Many come in at 7 or even 6:30 regularly
and others stay until 3:30 or 4 regularly. They spend time with students on
their prep hour and at lunch regularly as well. The
teachers in my school generally seem much more devoted to the job than the
administrators and I can't think of one that ought to be let go.
Marsha Redd
Librarian, Kelloggsville High School
Grand Rapids, MI
marsharedd@hotmail.com
Education is not a goal; it is a life-long process. Everyone is a student.
Everyone is a teacher.
----Original Message Follows----
From: Nancy Dickinson <dickinson1@K12TN.NET>
Reply-To: dickinson1@K12TN.NET
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: [LM_NET] HIT: Policing our profession, part 3
Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2007 15:41:14 -0500
Here is another entry into the discussion on policing our profession.
These are not my comments, but rather the comments of another member of
lm_net.
Nancy Dickinson, Librarian
Hillsboro Elem. School
Hillsboro, TN 37342
dickinson1@k12tn.net
Several comments on the hit regarding policing our profession. First of
all, it was a real eye opener for me in terms of the Union and
Administrators role. I am not sure if it is just my shop town or my state
of Michigan, but I have never known a tenured teacher even a very bad one
to be fired. It appears that the Union protects both those doing their
jobs and those who are not. This includes at the end of their teaching
careers too when many teachers should have retired but just hang in there
doing as little as possible and everyone lets them. The kids are the big
losers here. All that is required is to pay your Union dues.
However, I do not know what goes on behind the scenes between specific
teachers and specific administrators. I do know that where I am at,
teachers want everything they can get from their contract but don't
necessarily want to fulfill their obligations. I can give you two current
examples. First the contract says teachers are to be in the building from
7:40 AM (classes start at 7:50 AM) to 2:40 PM every day they are
scheduled. Yet I consistently saw teachers come in 3 - 4 times a week at
7:45- 8:00 AM (often after classes began). Second, we ended the year with
2 full weeks of Professional Development for which we were paid additional
funds. Again, showing up on time was an issue but teachers were still
paid. (double dipping - being in two different places at once and being
paid twice - was an issue too but that is another story.) However,
another issue was just plain listening, being courteous and participating.
At least ¼ of the room were consistently reading magazines, books, doing
Soduku and crossword puzzles, etc. Another ¼ of the room were doing other
education related stuff like lesson plans, MEAP questions, etc. unrelated
to the speaker. This is the third building in this district I have been
in and the other two were not any different.
I think it is a combination of administration and Union reps. Both have to
be willing to work together. Administrators have to be willing to
document, document, document even the little piddling things (if the
teacher is truly a poor teacher and needs to change professions). By the
same token the Union needs to support the teachers doing their jobs but
NOT the ones who are just using the system and sliding by!
As to the Law and the medical profession. Yes, they do have systems in
place to police their own. However, these systems DO break down. The best
evidence of that in the medical profession is the huge amount of
malpractice insurance that must be paid. Of course, that goes hand in hand
with the law too. If people weren't so litigious, then malpractice
wouldn't be so high. But also if the medical profession policed itself
better, the number of lawsuits wouldn't be so high either because people
wouldn't feel the need to sue. Not every medical lawsuit is about money
until you get to the lawyer. In many cases it starts out as trying to
prevent the same mistake from happening to others. But once it hits the
lawyer, they need their fees (I know they have to make a living) and the
higher the settlement, the greater the fee. As far as the law profession,
I know there are many good and ethical lawyers practicing law. However,
that said, there are also many corrupt lawyers that know how to work the
system and get away with it. I suppose the same is true in many other
professions, but here it seems to abound because of the nature of the
beast. There are, I am sure, many rules in place, but a lawyer knows just
where the loopholes are. So the reality is that the mistake has to be very
public or HUGE in order for action to be taken. You can see this again and
again in the news and indeed in your own life if you just look and in
(dare I say it) politics where the vast majority are lawyers. Perhaps the
problem is the definition of the word ethics. It must be different for
lawyers than for regular people.
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