Honors classes - are they teaching or bragging?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go private but you'll likely experience the same thing. Simply put, some teachers are great, most are good and some suck. They are overworked and certainly under paid yet most work their butts off.. For those that don't, stay on them to do better, report them in serious cases, and switch classes if you don't see improvement.
I've worked at a private school and public. There are bad apples in any bunch.

My son is in private. Teachers are great. No tenure means you can get rid of the bad apples. See Chicago strike for example

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go private but you'll likely experience the same thing. Simply put, some teachers are great, most are good and some suck. They are overworked and certainly under paid yet most work their butts off.. For those that don't, stay on them to do better, report them in serious cases, and switch classes if you don't see improvement.
I've worked at a private school and public. There are bad apples in any bunch.

My son is in private. Teachers are great. No tenure means you can get rid of the bad apples. See Chicago strike for example

Yes, every single private school teacher is brilliant and every public school teacher sucks.

So silly and small minded it's not worth discussing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go private but you'll likely experience the same thing. Simply put, some teachers are great, most are good and some suck. They are overworked and certainly under paid yet most work their butts off.. For those that don't, stay on them to do better, report them in serious cases, and switch classes if you don't see improvement.
I've worked at a private school and public. There are bad apples in any bunch.

My son is in private. Teachers are great. No tenure means you can get rid of the bad apples. See Chicago strike for example

Yes, every single private school teacher is brilliant and every public school teacher sucks.

So silly and small minded it's not worth discussing.

What you're saying is indeed extreme and not worth discussing.

I'm sure what you meant to say is that there are some great public school teachers and private school teachers. There are bad public school teachers as well, who, due to unions and tenure, take an extraordinary amount of time to fire, average time being 3-5 years. There are bad private school teachers, who's contracts are simply not renewed the following year. See the difference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go private but you'll likely experience the same thing. Simply put, some teachers are great, most are good and some suck. They are overworked and certainly under paid yet most work their butts off.. For those that don't, stay on them to do better, report them in serious cases, and switch classes if you don't see improvement.
I've worked at a private school and public. There are bad apples in any bunch.

My son is in private. Teachers are great. No tenure means you can get rid of the bad apples. See Chicago strike for example

Yes, every single private school teacher is brilliant and every public school teacher sucks.

So silly and small minded it's not worth discussing.

What you're saying is indeed extreme and not worth discussing.

I'm sure what you meant to say is that there are some great public school teachers and private school teachers. There are bad public school teachers as well, who, due to unions and tenure, take an extraordinary amount of time to fire, average time being 3-5 years. There are bad private school teachers, who's contracts are simply not renewed the following year. See the difference?

not really. DC had a bad private school teacher who has been there several years and has not been fired. Others have told us they left due to this teacher, as did we.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go private but you'll likely experience the same thing. Simply put, some teachers are great, most are good and some suck. They are overworked and certainly under paid yet most work their butts off.. For those that don't, stay on them to do better, report them in serious cases, and switch classes if you don't see improvement.
I've worked at a private school and public. There are bad apples in any bunch.

My son is in private. Teachers are great. No tenure means you can get rid of the bad apples. See Chicago strike for example

Yes, every single private school teacher is brilliant and every public school teacher sucks.

So silly and small minded it's not worth discussing.

What you're saying is indeed extreme and not worth discussing.

I'm sure what you meant to say is that there are some great public school teachers and private school teachers. There are bad public school teachers as well, who, due to unions and tenure, take an extraordinary amount of time to fire, average time being 3-5 years. There are bad private school teachers, who's contracts are simply not renewed the following year. See the difference?

not really. DC had a bad private school teacher who has been there several years and has not been fired. Others have told us they left due to this teacher, as did we.

I guess this private school will get the message when they lose students, and thus lose money. That's how the real world works.

What options do public school kids have if their parents can't afford private? Move to another public. And when the same thing happens there? How many bad teachers do you think public schools have vs. private due to tenure issues?

If you feel the publics are so good, why is your child in private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go private but you'll likely experience the same thing. Simply put, some teachers are great, most are good and some suck. They are overworked and certainly under paid yet most work their butts off.. For those that don't, stay on them to do better, report them in serious cases, and switch classes if you don't see improvement.
I've worked at a private school and public. There are bad apples in any bunch.

My son is in private. Teachers are great. No tenure means you can get rid of the bad apples. See Chicago strike for example

Yes, every single private school teacher is brilliant and every public school teacher sucks.

So silly and small minded it's not worth discussing.

What you're saying is indeed extreme and not worth discussing.

I'm sure what you meant to say is that there are some great public school teachers and private school teachers. There are bad public school teachers as well, who, due to unions and tenure, take an extraordinary amount of time to fire, average time being 3-5 years. There are bad private school teachers, who's contracts are simply not renewed the following year. See the difference?

not really. DC had a bad private school teacher who has been there several years and has not been fired. Others have told us they left due to this teacher, as did we.

I guess this private school will get the message when they lose students, and thus lose money. That's how the real world works.

What options do public school kids have if their parents can't afford private? Move to another public. And when the same thing happens there? How many bad teachers do you think public schools have vs. private due to tenure issues?

If you feel the publics are so good, why is your child in private?

You said the bad private school teachers don't get their contracts renewed, which is just false.
We are not in private now. DC is AAP and have been very satisfied with the teachers, the quality of instruction and DC's peer group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go private but you'll likely experience the same thing. Simply put, some teachers are great, most are good and some suck. They are overworked and certainly under paid yet most work their butts off.. For those that don't, stay on them to do better, report them in serious cases, and switch classes if you don't see improvement.
I've worked at a private school and public. There are bad apples in any bunch.

My son is in private. Teachers are great. No tenure means you can get rid of the bad apples. See Chicago strike for example

Yes, every single private school teacher is brilliant and every public school teacher sucks.

So silly and small minded it's not worth discussing.

What you're saying is indeed extreme and not worth discussing.

I'm sure what you meant to say is that there are some great public school teachers and private school teachers. There are bad public school teachers as well, who, due to unions and tenure, take an extraordinary amount of time to fire, average time being 3-5 years. There are bad private school teachers, who's contracts are simply not renewed the following year. See the difference?

not really. DC had a bad private school teacher who has been there several years and has not been fired. Others have told us they left due to this teacher, as did we.

I guess this private school will get the message when they lose students, and thus lose money. That's how the real world works.

What options do public school kids have if their parents can't afford private? Move to another public. And when the same thing happens there? How many bad teachers do you think public schools have vs. private due to tenure issues?

If you feel the publics are so good, why is your child in private?

You said the bad private school teachers don't get their contracts renewed, which is just false.
We are not in private now. DC is AAP and have been very satisfied with the teachers, the quality of instruction and DC's peer group.

Which do you think has a higher quantity of bad teachers being kept on, public or private. When you have to cherry-pick, you've already lost. You know the answer.

[Anonymous]

I have worked at both and say it is about even.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have worked at both and say it is about even.

Do you believe that both are able to act on it in a similar way?

[Anonymous]

Well, in the private, I was never observed and could do what I want. In the publics I get observed pretty often.

I have seen excellent teachers at both and not so good ones at both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, in the private, I was never observed and could do what I want. In the publics I get observed pretty often.

I have seen excellent teachers at both and not so good ones at both.

What I've seen is that in my son's private school, parents tend to be very aware of which teachers are good and which ones are not. The administration listens because of the parent's financial stake in the game, and because they have more flexibility to correct or let go of these teachers.

Publics observe more and do little. Unions ensure that.

[Anonymous]

In response to the previous poster 8:24:

You must know very little about what the status of unions in NOVA is. For one thing, there aren't any. There are "Education Associations", but frankly they are pretty impotent here. This isn't Chicago or NY.

Second, at the highly regarded private I worked at, they had the sense to not let go of teachers if a parent complained. One teacher that may be a parent's favorite, may be another parent's least favorite - both sides would be pretty vocal. This method you think is so great isn't very effective in distinguishing quality.
At least with a public there is a system to make it more objective, but I will admit that IMHO, that system is also circumvented by admin when they feel like it. This has nothing to do with the union, rather longstanding relationships/friendships. I imagine this probably happens in the business world too. I am not saying it is right, just what I have observed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In response to the previous poster 8:24:

You must know very little about what the status of unions in NOVA is. For one thing, there aren't any. There are "Education Associations", but frankly they are pretty impotent here. This isn't Chicago or NY.

Second, at the highly regarded private I worked at, they had the sense to not let go of teachers if a parent complained. One teacher that may be a parent's favorite, may be another parent's least favorite - both sides would be pretty vocal. This method you think is so great isn't very effective in distinguishing quality.
At least with a public there is a system to make it more objective, but I will admit that IMHO, that system is also circumvented by admin when they feel like it. This has nothing to do with the union, rather longstanding relationships/friendships. I imagine this probably happens in the business world too. I am not saying it is right, just what I have observed.

How long does it take to fire a bad teacher in the public school system here in VA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In response to the previous poster 8:24:

You must know very little about what the status of unions in NOVA is. For one thing, there aren't any. There are "Education Associations", but frankly they are pretty impotent here. This isn't Chicago or NY.

Second, at the highly regarded private I worked at, they had the sense to not let go of teachers if a parent complained. One teacher that may be a parent's favorite, may be another parent's least favorite - both sides would be pretty vocal. This method you think is so great isn't very effective in distinguishing quality.
At least with a public there is a system to make it more objective, but I will admit that IMHO, that system is also circumvented by admin when they feel like it. This has nothing to do with the union, rather longstanding relationships/friendships. I imagine this probably happens in the business world too. I am not saying it is right, just what I have observed.

How long does it take to fire a bad teacher in the public school system here in VA?

define bad. They get due process. As they should. You will recall the recent case that was in the papers. The principal wanted to fire the teacher. She had tons of former students and parents say she was great. The board kept her. From my reading of the articles. that was the right decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In response to the previous poster 8:24:

You must know very little about what the status of unions in NOVA is. For one thing, there aren't any. There are "Education Associations", but frankly they are pretty impotent here. This isn't Chicago or NY.

Second, at the highly regarded private I worked at, they had the sense to not let go of teachers if a parent complained. One teacher that may be a parent's favorite, may be another parent's least favorite - both sides would be pretty vocal. This method you think is so great isn't very effective in distinguishing quality.
At least with a public there is a system to make it more objective, but I will admit that IMHO, that system is also circumvented by admin when they feel like it. This has nothing to do with the union, rather longstanding relationships/friendships. I imagine this probably happens in the business world too. I am not saying it is right, just what I have observed.

How long does it take to fire a bad teacher in the public school system here in VA?

define bad. They get due process. As they should. You will recall the recent case that was in the papers. The principal wanted to fire the teacher. She had tons of former students and parents say she was great. The board kept her. From my reading of the articles. that was the right decision.

And on the flip side, I knew a (public) teacher who had a lot of serious issues (the types that would become problematic in almost any job) and she was let go pretty soon after they became apparent in her job performance. I don't even think parents were really aware of the problems, in the classroom her issues could have easily been attributed to her being a first year teacher. But it was very very apparent to the rest of the staff that it was much more serious. So IMO though not perfect (none is), the system does have some merit.