229 Teachers RIFed, see DC Wire for full story

[Anonymous]

So sorry, 16:02, that sounds horrible. I hope things get better.

[Anonymous]

Just for context, 16:06, what kind of teacher were you? Was it Special Ed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the wife who was Riffed. No, the administration did not know the other teachers better. The school had been reconstituted last year - so all the administration was new and the majority of teachers are first year teach for America. My position was cut- while the first year teachers were not. No one observed me (for more than five minutes total) and no one even talked to me about what I was doing with my classes, so I have a hard time figuring out how they made the decision. I guess I am now considered an old-school veteran, worth getting rid of my third year in the classroom. This is despite getting excellent evaluations last year!

This is just dismal, 16:02. I genuinely hope someone from Rhee's office reads this board and gets a different perspective on the way her policies are going down.

[Anonymous]

Hi 16:25. I hope they read the following too...

The day in the life of a RIFFED DCPS Special Educator

Most of yesterday was a normal day for me, a third year special education teacher. I wake up at 5
am. After getting up, getting ready, and feeding my four month old baby, I check my DCPS
email, respond to a question about a student, and enter grades from the day before. Everything I
need to do online I do at home in the early morning, because I don't have internet access at
school.

I take the metro to Anacostia and then walk the mile to the high school, arriving to work at 7:30.
On the way in I see the assistant principal who tells me that there will be 10 students added to my
caseload of 20 and I should consult with their general education teachers about their progress. I
go to my classroom and prep. I set up learning stations for my group of diverse first period
learners. Some will be doing a math activity, others a reading activity for the first 20 minutes of
class. All teachers are then called to a meeting. We are told that DCPS has lost their contract with
Hawk One Security, and therefore today there will be no security guards. All teachers will need
to give up their planning periods to man the halls.

I go back to teach my first period, a special education resource class. After students work in
their learning stations, we read from the book, The Pact, a book about high school students from
inner city New Jersey, who make a pact to go to college and become doctors. As we read I
demonstrate the technique of asking questions to monitor comprehension. Many of the questions
I ask are different than the questions my students ask, and we have a meaningful conversation
about how the different perspectives we bring to reading shapes the way we read. The students
seemed to be engaged in the book, which pleases me. I have spent my own money (about $200)
to make sure that all students have their own copy. At the end of the class I remind students about
their essays which are due on Monday and we do our end of the week raffle. Students win
tickets for the raffle when they hand in homework, are on task, participate well, etc.

Second period I go to my Algebra II inclusion class. In this class I am supporting the general
education teacher to meet the needs of all the students. In the beginning of the period I assist the
students who need help, and then I pull a student who needs more individualized attention. This
student I've been working with for three years. Before he came to Anacostia, he was at another
school and he made almost all D's and F's. His grades now are B'c and C's. He has improved a
lot, but he still faces challenges dealing with frustration. Earlier this week I had had to call his
uncle in for a behavior conference. The uncle talked to his nephew about his behavior, and told
him that it was important that he respect me, because I had been working with him for so long,
and was like family to them. The student apologized for his behavior. It's because of students like
these that I love(d) teaching.

Next class is English IV inclusion. For the first half of the class I assist students who need help
with a grammar lesson on semi-colons. I then teach a mini-lesson on reading strategies. The
behavior during this class is not good, so after the class, during my lunch, I brainstorm ideas with
my co-teacher on how we can improve behavior next week.

Second half of lunch – a student comes to me for help with reading. He is another student I have
worked with for three years. In the beginning he would not come to my class, as he was
embarrassed about being 'in special education.' Slowly we have built a relationship and he now
participates during class, and comes for extra help. Today we review vowel sounds and I tell him
I am impressed by the progress he has made.

Fourth period is my planning period, which today is taken up by hall monitoring. I monitor the
halls, telling students to get in class, and also stop by general education teachers to check in on
the progress of students on my caseloads.

The only thing atypical about my day was the ending. At 3:15 an administrator sees me in the
hall and says she needs to escort me to Room 102. In Room 102 another administrator reads
from a script informing me that my position had been cut. I am to leave work, take all my
belongings, and not report back. According to the letter I am given, a competitive level
documentation form was used to determine who would be cut. School needs, relevant, significant
contributions, and experience, and length of service were all considered. I am not given a copy of
this documentation and I have a hard time understanding how they decided to cut me. Last year I
received "exceeds expectations" on my end of the year evaluation. This year we have all new
administrators. An administrator has only been in my classroom once this year, for less than five
minutes. Furthermore, an administrator never once talked to me about what I was doing in my
resource class or inclusion classes.

Before leaving, I go back to my classroom to collect belongings and say goodbye. In the hallways
I meet other RIFFED teachers: An art teacher, a music teacher, a math teacher. There are
probably more that I didn't see or hear about. I run into a SPED teacher, who is in his second
year, and has also been RIFFED. Our school had been reconstituted last year, so we were a few
of the only returning special education teachers. With us gone, the department is now made up
almost entirely of first year Teach for America teachers.

As I walk to the metro I have many emotions. I am angry at the system. For more than two years
I have worked so hard, invested so much, and for what? I am also worried about losing the
income and health insurance. My husband and my baby are both on my health plan. How am I
going to find another job in the middle of school year? Finally, I am sad for my students. I hope
they know I didn't quit, and I hope they know I care about them and believe in them.

[jsteele]

That's a very moving message. I heart really goes out to you. If anyone is wondering whether it is worth reading such a long post, it definitely is.

Would you permit me to repost this message (keeping it anonymous unless you prefer otherwise) on our home page blog? It deserves more exposure.

[Anonymous]

16:35 here. I'd be happy for it to be on the homepage.

[jsteele]

Thanks. I've just added it.

[Anonymous]

So horrible, but SO typical. And the worst is to see misguided parents dancing around the bonfire like it's Guy Fawkes Day because the 'bad teachers' are gone. Wake up people--demand explanations!!!!! No-one is against school reforms, but Michelle Rhee is implementing school deforms. Above scenario case in point. No one benefits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So horrible, but SO typical. And the worst is to see misguided parents dancing around the bonfire like it's Guy Fawkes Day because the 'bad teachers' are gone. Wake up people--demand explanations!!!!! No-one is against school reforms, but Michelle Rhee is implementing school deforms. Above scenario case in point. No one benefits.

Good point. And what a waste of tax-payer money. Yes, District of Columbia tax payers pay for the DC Teaching Fellows program. The program has a dismal attrition rate. The fact that this teaching fellow made it to her third year is a testament to her commitment to DC students. What a terrible, idiotic waste.

[Anonymous]

NewVaGal – Please come to the rally for teachers at FREEDOM PLAZA, 14th and Penn, NW, right downtown in front of the District (Wison) Building and near several metro stops, from 4:30-6PM on Thursday October 8th Here’s a link to the flyer:

http://www.wtulocal6.org/custom_images/file/1001%20rally%20flyer-1.pdf

Bring your friends and colleagues. I hope that a lot of people will come from the surrounding suburbs to rally against Fenty and Rhee and the harm they’re doing to education in DC.

[Anonymous]

And Rhee wants to bring Special Education BACK under DCPS control?

WHY WOULD ANY PARENT IN THEIR RIGHT MIND SURRENDER THEIR CHILD FROM A PRIVATE PLACEMENT (AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE) TO THE WHIMS OF DCPS???

If I had let to let a first year TFA teach MY special needs child we'd be one more family suing DCPS for a private placement. This is a disgrace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our school had been reconstituted last year, so we were a few of the only returning special education teachers. With us gone, the department is now made up almost entirely of first year Teach for America teachers.

This sentence is chilling.
What is Rhee thinking? That novices who really really want to teach can handle the whole load by themselves?

[Anonymous]

And that's an optimistic assessment. I'd guess TfA has its share of economic refugees this year.

[Anonymous]

And what's with Rhee's cozy r-ship with all these orgs? TFA? New Teacher's Project? She seems to have ties and inroads to all of them. How is that affecting these vast policy decisions and public expenditures?

New Teacher's Project DC website (org founded by the Chancellor after her 3 year dip into teaching with TFA--wow. What a teacher's teacher!).

http://www.tntp.org/ourimpact/impact_washington.html

[Anonymous]

What does ET-15 stand for? Families from our DC's elementary school received an automated phone call to share how these RIFs would effect our children. We were told we lost one ET-15 position. Just parents, we don't know the jargon.