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Neighborhood Chat / Re: If any more of the local public high schools close...?
« on: April 30, 2012, 08:02:28 PM »
Actually few of these schools are being reorganized into smaller schools. Most of the schools will have the same student populations and be renamed. They are replacing 50% of the teachers and appointing new principals. The other 50% will have to find new jobs or go into the "ATR" pool. Teachers will not be reinterviewed until July, leaving many of them to find new jobs now so they feel secure for September. The logic seems poor to me, as I would think most of the highly effective teachers will be picked up by other schools by the time July rolls around. It's also extremely unfair to those who have been in the system for 20+ years and have only a few years to go until retirement. I know several excellent educators at some of these schools who fit exactly that description, and they are very worried that their last two years will be spent floating around an ATR pool because some schools are more likely to higher more less experienced teachers than experienced teachers to save money, especially now that budgets are tighter than ever before.
Ultimately, it appears as if this plan targets teachers rather than improving the schools. These schools were ineffective due largely in part to poor policy and not due to lazy teachers. I know this because I taught at one. Now that I teach somewhere else, it is clear to me that the teachers I worked with who will be fighting for their jobs are just as good, if not better, than those I work with now at a "better" school. If I had an 8th grader set to attend one of these schools next year, I would be very worried about just how much improvement could be made to a school within only six weeks time. Throwing a bunch of new teachers together during a vacation no less is not likely to build community. And I would also be very concerned as to how many of the good teachers would wait around to see if they are lucky enough to be hired back for jobs they already have.
Ultimately, it appears as if this plan targets teachers rather than improving the schools. These schools were ineffective due largely in part to poor policy and not due to lazy teachers. I know this because I taught at one. Now that I teach somewhere else, it is clear to me that the teachers I worked with who will be fighting for their jobs are just as good, if not better, than those I work with now at a "better" school. If I had an 8th grader set to attend one of these schools next year, I would be very worried about just how much improvement could be made to a school within only six weeks time. Throwing a bunch of new teachers together during a vacation no less is not likely to build community. And I would also be very concerned as to how many of the good teachers would wait around to see if they are lucky enough to be hired back for jobs they already have.