"Teacher of the Year" quits over Common Core tests

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

What fucking good is your union if you have no power? And don't you realize there's more than one way to skin a cat, anyways? When your administrators are incompetent, there ARE ways to get them fired.

You are right. The unions have no power. Many states don't recognize them at all and where they do exist, they have been weakened. So there's no going to the union for help anymore. And if the administrator is incompetent, a lowly teacher is not going to get them fired. More likely the administrator will make the teacher's life living hell first. You are very naive. And the feds can't fire the administrator either. If you're in the "good old boys" district, good luck.

If administrators are incompetent, go to the media and let them make mincemeat of the "good old boys".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

To return to that farm analogy above, that's actually a pretty good analogy. If the livestock is underweight, it's the farmer's responsibility to look at the whole picture, rather than either blaming the scale and throwing it away or rushing to just fire the farmhands. Do you have enough feed and is it the right kind? Do you have enough farmhands? Lots more questions need to be asked by the farmer, rather than just firing and punishing. If the farmer isn't doing that, it's a sign that he's incompetent and there needs to be accountability.

And if you don't, what are the weighers going to do about it? Who is going to pay for the food and extra farmhands? We have an aging population and the funds are going into Social Security, Medicare, etc. Do the feds have some extra money sloshing around? We know this is a problem, but just testing is not going to solve it. Just pointing it out and saying, hey teachers, get rid of your bad admins and hey, admins get some more help and hey school board tax your locals more is not working. What will happen if the feds force more unreimbursed mandates on the states is that the states will start to say take your scales away. They are not helping us.

Again, it's not up to the manufacturer of the scales to solve that problem, it's up to the farmers. The scale just lets you know you have a problem, it's entirely up to you how to solve it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Finally honest?" I've been honest and have been saying the exact same thing all along. I, unlike you, have actually read the standards and I've actually carefully read the CC site and the supporting links and info they provide, which is why I believe they make sense and why I am comfortable with the standards. I believe that you have been nothing but intellectually dishonest from the start, spouting disinformation and fearmongering. And when confronted with information that refutes what you say, you just double down, with your fingers in your ears and tin foil beanie strapped on tight, unwilling to hear facts. I seriously believe you still wouldn't be satisfied even if you were given every last scrap of documentation on the planet as evidence.

You still have not answered the question. And, why are you the expert? By the way, I have read the standards. They don't even meet the criteria stated by the organization.

It's glaringly obvious in every comment you make and every piece of misinformation you put out there that you have *not* read the standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And the farmer already knew the weight of the pigs. And he is trying to do the best he can given the resources he has (and the mandates he has been given). Now what?

And, the farmer's boss demands that he lines the pigs up at least once a week to determine if the pig is gaining- Instead of feeding the pigs.

Again, it's up to the farmer to feed the pigs, not the maker of the scales.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Weighing the pigs will never get at the root of the problem (whatever the problem is) and is not intended to get at the root of the problem (whatever the problem is). The purpose of weighing the pigs is to find out how much the pigs weigh. Do you know everything once you know how much the pigs weigh? No. But you know more about how much the pigs weigh than if you didn't weigh the pigs.

And the farmer already knew the weight of the pigs. And he is trying to do the best he can given the resources he has (and the mandates he has been given). Now what?

No they aren't, there has already been post after post attesting to the fact that the school administrators are NOT making the most effective use of their resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
^It's all part of the dance called federalism.

The feds only paid for the scale to be manufactured and distributed. They left it entirely up to states to decide what the optimal pig weight should be, and they leave it entirely up to states and school districts to figure out how to get the pigs to that weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And, the farmer is demanding that all the pigs be fed the same feed--they must all eat the same amount, too. Even though the pigs may not be able to digest it.

The demand is only that a minimum standard for feed be met. How that standard is met is entirely up to each producer, as long as they meet the minimum standard. They could feed the pigs chocolate cake to fatten them up, as long as it at least meets the minimum standard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And, the farmer ignores what the pig keepers say that works best for the pigs they keep. Instead, the farmer buys feed from a big conglomerate--when the pig keepers have better feed in their barns.

If the farmer wants to put together his own feed mix or buy from someone else, that's perfectly fine - as long as it meets the minimum standard - as such, if he already has "better feed" there's nothing preventing him from using that, as long as it meets the minimum standard.

Again, it's a *minimum* standard, not a "not-to-exceed" standard. So the "but there's better feed" analogy fails.

[Anonymous]

The demand is only that a minimum standard for feed be met. How that standard is met is entirely up to each producer, as long as they meet the minimum standard. They could feed the pigs chocolate cake to fatten them up, as long as it at least meets the minimum standard.

But the minimum standard was set by people who know nothing about pigs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The demand is only that a minimum standard for feed be met. How that standard is met is entirely up to each producer, as long as they meet the minimum standard. They could feed the pigs chocolate cake to fatten them up, as long as it at least meets the minimum standard.

But the minimum standard was set by people who know nothing about pigs.

Back to the obsession with the sausage-making process. Although I do admire the way that fits with the pig analogy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The demand is only that a minimum standard for feed be met. How that standard is met is entirely up to each producer, as long as they meet the minimum standard. They could feed the pigs chocolate cake to fatten them up, as long as it at least meets the minimum standard.

But the minimum standard was set by people who know nothing about pigs.

Only according to you. It was set by state education officials who I would wager know a lot more than you do.

[Anonymous]

Back to the obsession with the sausage-making process. Although I do admire the way that fits with the pig analogy!

But if you don't know how to make sausage, the sausage comes out all wrong. The pigs may not be able to digest it--or it may not give them the nutrients they need. Some of the sausage is okay--but most is not good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Back to the obsession with the sausage-making process. Although I do admire the way that fits with the pig analogy!

But if you don't know how to make sausage, the sausage comes out all wrong. The pigs may not be able to digest it--or it may not give them the nutrients they need. Some of the sausage is okay--but most is not good.

So, is the sausage all wrong? (Or the pudding. Somebody else posted that the proof was in the pudding.) How do you know?

Also, shouldn't you be on the phone to the National Governors Association, or is that a different poster?

[Anonymous]

^^^maybe blood pudding? That involves pigs and could be considered sausage.

[Anonymous]

Also, shouldn't you be on the phone to the National Governors Association, or is that a different poster?

Different poster. They are in town today. You do know that it is a trade association, don't you?