Listening to Nathan Saunders makes me crazy

[Anonymous]

I meant to say the token female, again my point exactly race is irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

The job of the WTU first and foremost is to represent the best interests of teachers. That does not mean that the WTU and teachers do not care about the students. Please.

I agree that Saunders is a buffoon. And I'm not sure I buy into his argument. But in this climate of teacher bashing I am glad I have someone looking out for me. (White).

By the way, IMPACT as a tool is flawed. At my school I've seen excellent teachers receive low scores and ineffective teachers receive high scores. And I'm plenty suspect of the percentage of highly effective teachers who just happen to teach in NW schools.

[Anonymous]

Did we not create our own monsters? When both Saunders and Parker were boxing each other with words like Ali and Frazier, we all watch as it was a spectator sport. It was evident that it was more embarassment entertainment than informative because of the union membership turn out for the election.

Now Saunders has all of sudden had an educational enema and now he is crapping and courtesy flushing during the summer hiatus. He's words probably resonated amongst his WTU membership as if he was farting in the wind on the National Mall at midnight. He said what he said and when he said when it would have the least effect.

[Anonymous]

Maybe he does. But this article certainly paints him as one who wants to keep the status quo happy (AKA no real accountability for performance) over getting rid of ineffectual teachers. I can't see how that shows much concern over the needs of students. Unless you mean the students who are just fine with passing along to the next grade with no skills and no accountability themselves. Maybe he just wants to start training the next generation of DCPS teachers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe he does. But this article certainly paints him as one who wants to keep the status quo happy (AKA no real accountability for performance) over getting rid of ineffectual teachers. I can't see how that shows much concern over the needs of students. Unless you mean the students who are just fine with passing along to the next grade with no skills and no accountability themselves. Maybe he just wants to start training the next generation of DCPS teachers?

I think his point is that IMPACT does not provide real accountability and perhaps that concern for students can mean less needless turn-over of teachers. regarding getting passed along to the next grade, teachers don't control that, no matter how good or bad they are.

THe system passes them on.

[Anonymous]

I had the same response as the OP. The guy just infuriates me. For one, of course IMPACT has a disparate impact on African-American female teachers, they are the ones who predominantly teach in schools. What is the point? That's not discriminatory. If he wants to make the case that some of you are, that is fine, but that's not what he is doing. He is calling it racist because it biases AA women.

[Anonymous]

I am a DCPS teacher, not AA, and happy that DC teachers finally have a real advocate heading WTU. He is not a buffoon. He is crazy like a fox. IMPACT is not a fair instrument for evaluating teachers. I believe DCPS will lose more of the teachers that you want for your children because of its intrinsic lack of fairness. All teachers are at risk of being labeled ineffective or minimally effective if they work for principals that use IMPACT to fire teachers they don't like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the article:

Saunders has used provocative language in the past, talking about teachers' "blood on the floor" and that the WTU "has teeth" and "will bite." He says using that kind of language "is an issue of communication and style."

"The unfortunate thing is, I'm a victim of the media that only wants short bites. So when I say 'blood on the floor,' people pick that up," he says. "Then that causes folks to go into, 'Well, what is he really talking about? In what context?' And so, that's been a good thing."

I'm sure all the people who criticized Henderson over "ain't" will be out for Saunders' head. What a buffoon this man is. In the unlikely case that WTU gets any traction at the local court level in pursuing this hypothetical lawsuit, I look forward to them getting their asses handed to them at the district level.

I can't even imagine what the Supreme Court as currently composed would have to say about the Saunders' argument that teachers should exempt from accountability because they're disproportionately black and female.

Sorry, can't believe Saunders said teachers should be exempt from accountability -- sounds like an interpretation from someone who already doesn't like Saunders, or maybe doesn't like unions in general. remember, teachers were accountable before IMPACT - they had evaluations and a system in which they could be terminated because of poor performance.

Sorry, but this is bunk--and you're taking advantage of folks who may not know the history of DCPS. Before IMPACT, it was almost impossible to get a teacher fired for being ineffective. So for decades it almost never happened. And just as *most* teachers are professional and effective, there are plenty of teachers who should not be teaching at all. It's the purpose of the WTU to protect those teachers, and ensure that they can keep their jobs in perpetuity.

I don't blame the WTU for that; that's what dues are for, apparently. But let's not pretend that the teachers union as an entity has anything even approximating the children's best interests in mind. The motivation of the WTU is to ensure that "teaching" is an adults-focused jobs-program with as little accountability as possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My word if the WTU is thinking like this then what is the CSO thinking? In regards to the principal union the majority who have been fired/non-reappointed under Rhee/Henderson have been AA females. This is evident it can be disputed or disregarded but the CSO President has not brought that to the forefront because it is not the main issue. The issue is that the process is wrong and not that the pigment is in error.

This BWC (Black when convenient) need to have the issues to be thrust in the forefront is such a lazy way. The workforce dynamics and demographics speak for itself, shoud we assume that Saunder picked Peterson because she could be the token white. No, that would be the furthest from the obvious. To describe the past washington teacher union presidents in two words. Let's see you had the wig-wearing, the suck-up and now the the dumb-ass. I advise everyone get their innoculations over the summer for the upcoming "foot in the mouth diseases" that will be spread by the WTU.

There's a battle for the soul of the WTU: on the one side, there is a faction that wants to professionalize the ranks. On the other, there's a faction that wants to defend teachers jobs at all costs, and the students don't enter into the equation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The job of the WTU first and foremost is to represent the best interests of teachers. That does not mean that the WTU and teachers do not care about the students. Please.

Sure, it's just that the primary obligation of the WTU is to protect the jobs of the current corps of teachers. At all costs. If it ever comes down to the job of the somewhat rare ineffective teacher on the one hand, and the educations of scores of children who are left in their care on the other, the WTU is going to come down against the kids every time.

So while you're right, the WTU isn't driven by antipathy towards the kids, their interests are secondary. After all DCPS is primarily a jobs program for adults, not an institution for educating children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After all DCPS is primarily a jobs program for adults, not an institution for educating children.

This is BS

[Anonymous]

Well, this is all much ado about nothing, since IMPACT isn't going anywhere, and it's not subject to arbitration:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/todays_paper/Metro/2011-07-05/B/1/22.0.4109770277_epaper.html

WTU has failed at the lower court level, and frankly, the higher the appeal goes the less likely an appeals court is going to overturn it. Can you imagine what the current Supreme Court would have to say about the idea that public school systems don't have the right to evaluate teachers ( with IMPACT, or any other system)? They'd be laughed out of the building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had the same response as the OP. The guy just infuriates me. For one, of course IMPACT has a disparate impact on African-American female teachers, they are the ones who predominantly teach in schools. What is the point? That's not discriminatory. If he wants to make the case that some of you are, that is fine, but that's not what he is doing. He is calling it racist because it biases AA women.

In JKLM schools, this is not an accurate statement at all. At Janney, for instance, there are exactly 3 full time teachers who are AA. Don't know the stats, exactly at KLM, but most of the teachers in the upper grades are white. Just saying--and I am white and female... It seems rather absurd to be offended by being placed in a protected class just because you personally don't feel the discrimination--you are not unlike the house slave crowing about how "good" things are when taking to the field slaves. If you are a white teacher, you have no idea how the winds of change could sweep you out at anytime. You sound very naive...and arrogant. I hate the WTU, but of course, I understand that their mandate is to get the most for their constituents with little or no regard for the students. They could use a good PR firm, btw, jeez.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had the same response as the OP. The guy just infuriates me. For one, of course IMPACT has a disparate impact on African-American female teachers, they are the ones who predominantly teach in schools. What is the point? That's not discriminatory. If he wants to make the case that some of you are, that is fine, but that's not what he is doing. He is calling it racist because it biases AA women.

In JKLM schools, this is not an accurate statement at all. At Janney, for instance, there are exactly 3 full time teachers who are AA. Don't know the stats, exactly at KLM, but most of the teachers in the upper grades are white. Just saying--and I am white and female... It seems rather absurd to be offended by being placed in a protected class just because you personally don't feel the discrimination--you are not unlike the house slave crowing about how "good" things are when taking to the field slaves. If you are a white teacher, you have no idea how the winds of change could sweep you out at anytime. You sound very naive...and arrogant. I hate the WTU, but of course, I understand that their mandate is to get the most for their constituents with little or no regard for the students. They could use a good PR firm, btw, jeez.

Wow. You hate the WTU. I guess you hate me. And I am a caucasian, well-educated, insanely dedicated DCPS teacher. I might have taught your children. I'm a proud WTU member and building representative. So go ahead and hate me. You seem like a person who is full of hate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a DCPS teacher, not AA, and happy that DC teachers finally have a real advocate heading WTU. He is not a buffoon. He is crazy like a fox. IMPACT is not a fair instrument for evaluating teachers. I believe DCPS will lose more of the teachers that you want for your children because of its intrinsic lack of fairness. All teachers are at risk of being labeled ineffective or minimally effective if they work for principals that use IMPACT to fire teachers they don't like.

Can you give a specific example of how IMPACT is unfair? I know an earlier post (I think it was this thread) mentioned a teacher being negatively viewed because of a child eating in class, which IMO has nothing to do with teacher effectiveness. What else was the kid doing? Was he paying attention, engaged, responsive but having a snack? Would it be better for him to be empty mouthed and half asleep? I just don't really understand how the tool works. Since you teach for the district, how specifically does it differ from past evaluation methods? Are the questions more specific? Does it require different or more documentation to prove proficiency? Give us the scoop!