229 Teachers RIFed, see DC Wire for full story

[Anonymous]

I was fired in the 200 teachers 'certification' firing brou-ha-ha two years ago after an endless, quixotic process of trying to get certified in DCPS. What was most interesting to me was that two weeks after receiving a mid-summer termination letter (at least I had a month lead on new employment over these poor teachers) I received a letter placing me in a new school! The famous Hart Middle School that was in the paper all last year....where TFA teachers were apparently having shoes thrown at their heads. Is that where they send the teachers who are not 'good enough' to be certified and hence terminated, but suddenly look like warm bodies for troubled schools when the year begins? I just can't believe the Chancellor anymore. The standards she holds people to seem to be a moving target of convenience.

BTW, upon receiving this unsolicited re-hiring letter, my new hassle became getting myself OFF DCPS rolls! Truly, from first to last encounters--I have to call my entire time as a DCPS employee (including under Reformer Rhee) high farce.

[Anonymous]

I used to work for DCPS in the late 90s. A full year after I quit and went to work for another employer, I started getting direct deposits every two weeks in my checking account. It was a nightmare to get them to stop paying me! It was pure craziness. And the Central Office employees acted like I was the problem! My experience working for DCPS from beginning to end (well, actually, past end as I was dealing with this a year after I was a DCPS employee!) was mind boggling.

[Anonymous]

YES! I am the fired teacher who was unwillingly rehired. Currently working on getting my measly retirement that they took from my paycheck and stowed somewhere.... another fun DCPS central office journey. I don't think anyone who has not done it can possibly understand what it is like to walk into 825 (central headquarters) and try to do anything.... How about the time the ladies 'helping' me did not want to turn away from their TV show and told me to go find a working fax machine in the building to process my own papers and left me wandering from desk to desk begging? This when my school was waiting for me to report to teach (contingent on my paperwork being processed). How about when OSSE and HR were in the same building but not 'talking' to each other, so they would call you to come down from your school and 'walk' a paper over from one office to the other? And remember how important it was to hang on to 'receipts' for everything you turned in? Those little handwritten things for the inevitable lost paperwork. Has it improved after Rhee "shook up" the central office? I didn't notice it. I am not convinced she knows how to meaningfully reform--just splashy, headline making moves that people think are meaningful but are not adding up to building a better way of doing business in the long run. Truly, with how administrators are abused and this new IMPACT for teachers (does a more ridiculous document exist???? It is like some nightmare of science fiction: an observer notes down at five-minute intervals the quantity of children paying attention to the lesson....) YIKES. Run people! It can't be good in there.....

[Anonymous]

10:13 or 16:02, I have a brief question for you. I am a recent college graduate with my degree in elementary education, who is stuck without a job this year thanks to the economy, and various counties hiring freezes. I'm very interested in teaching abroad, in a program similar to what you spoke about. If you wouldn't mind sharing what organization you worked through, I would be very appreciative. If you would prefer to share off the DCUM board, I'd be happy to leave my email address for you to email me. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:YES! I am the fired teacher who was unwillingly rehired. Currently working on getting my measly retirement that they took from my paycheck and stowed somewhere.... another fun DCPS central office journey. I don't think anyone who has not done it can possibly understand what it is like to walk into 825 (central headquarters) and try to do anything.... How about the time the ladies 'helping' me did not want to turn away from their TV show and told me to go find a working fax machine in the building to process my own papers and left me wandering from desk to desk begging? This when my school was waiting for me to report to teach (contingent on my paperwork being processed). How about when OSSE and HR were in the same building but not 'talking' to each other, so they would call you to come down from your school and 'walk' a paper over from one office to the other? And remember how important it was to hang on to 'receipts' for everything you turned in? Those little handwritten things for the inevitable lost paperwork. Has it improved after Rhee "shook up" the central office? I didn't notice it. I am not convinced she knows how to meaningfully reform--just splashy, headline making moves that people think are meaningful but are not adding up to building a better way of doing business in the long run. Truly, with how administrators are abused and this new IMPACT for teachers (does a more ridiculous document exist???? It is like some nightmare of science fiction: an observer notes down at five-minute intervals the quantity of children paying attention to the lesson....) YIKES. Run people! It can't be good in there.....

Yep, this is what bothers me about Rhee. She needs to work on improving procedures and bureaucratic functioning. Just firing a bunch of people is not the way to go to fix a system which is broken administratively.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I agree with the teachers who are talking about the dysfunction that is still pervasive at 825. As a parent, I see no improvement there.

Basically Rhee is a 6 figure help desk. I thought the fact that she responded to individual emails was sort of charming at first. It is two years later now and that's all she has, "email me directly." Based on my experience, you get shuttled to one of her staff, who then proceed to do nothing.

This is year 8 for me as a DCPS parent and I have to say, things are worse now than ever.

[Anonymous]

Fired teacher here--
Yup, I was referred by Rhee to her critical response team. I have no doubt they work as a team, but I would suggest taking out the words 'critical' and 'response'. Did not see evidence of either in the lackluster dealings I had.

[Anonymous]

Hi--I wrote the WaPost and they said that complaints about their editorial in support of Rhee's latest move should go here. I think it would be good for him to hear some of the views expressed above, given how dissonant their editorials on Rhee seem to be.

You may wish to redirect your e-mail to Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt ([e-mail]).

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Hi--I wrote the WaPost and they said that complaints about their editorial in support of Rhee's latest move should go here. I think it would be good for him to hear some of the views expressed above, given how dissonant their editorials on Rhee seem to be.

You may wish to redirect your e-mail to Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt ([e-mail]).

The Post is a lost cause. If you remember, Fenty revealed that Rhee was his choice as chancellor to the Post before he revealed it to the Council. The Post got a scoop (really, just a one-sided article sourced only to Rhee supporters) and ran a glowing editorial the same day. No quid pro quo of course (from the same outfit recently caught trying to sell access to its newsroom). It's sad, but the Post is really just a test preparation company that happens to own a newspaper. It should be renamed "The Kaplan Post" given that most of the company's revenue comes from the testing service.

[Anonymous]

See the following WaPost story on quality riffed teachers...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/07/AR2009100701196.html

[Anonymous]

Oh, there's our girl. Good for her. I should have done the same when fired, but was too ready to close the door and hide in a corner from DCPS. I think that is what they count on...apathy and the voicelessness of 'one';. I sense a change though in what the public will accept, and with people joining together to say 'Enough!" with the rally tomorrow and the new scrutiny....I think our girl will most likely get her job back! More importantly, I think DCPS will be held accountable which will help all our children.

[Anonymous]

Of the 3 people profiled in the story, I'd have to say it sounds like all 3 were the type of individuals that DCPS should WANT to keep in the system. It's enough to make me question the judgement of those administrators who did the firing, and more specifically the "wisdom" of the underlying policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi--I wrote the WaPost and they said that complaints about their editorial in support of Rhee's latest move should go here. I think it would be good for him to hear some of the views expressed above, given how dissonant their editorials on Rhee seem to be.

You may wish to redirect your e-mail to Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt ([e-mail]).

Or alternately, get in touch with Howard Kurtz, Washington Post national media correspondent.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps the issue people have with Rhee is that she is not personable. She seems like a stranger coming in and dumping out an entire group of teachers without figuring out which ones are actually good apples.

I have to think that her strategy is to literally start from scratch and build up. Her move is risky, but I believe that if in 5 or 10 years, the systems starts running and starts providing education to all DC students, and not just those in the NW, that she will have made the right decision. Sometimes you have to break your arm again, to reset it and have it heal correctly. I'm not saying her strategy is the best, but I am saying that I understand where she is coming from.

This is not about people loosing jobs and it's not just about current students. It's about the long-term success of the DCPS. I think DCPS got into this mess in the first place by hiring adults who were primarily looking out for themselves.

I do find Rhee to be harsh, but I also believe that she has signed on to try to fix a nightmare of a problem and I don't think I could do a better job. I hope that her plan works, not for her sake, but the sake of all DCPS.

I do not have children in DCPS, but I am a resident of DC and I see awful DC government service all the time. I grew up in a different part of the country and cannot believe the terrible service, attitude, and lack of work ethic that DC public servants have in general. I cannot imagine seeing those very same people running the DC school system. That's why her mass firings don't really bother me. I have seen entire offices of DC government that should be fired. I remember trying to get some paper work taken care of in one office and four people stood there trying to figure out what the Temp could do. So this is where I am coming from.

[Anonymous]

I looked this up on the DCPS website. It explains her cuts.

Frequently Asked Questions Concerning The Budget Shortfall and Staffing Reductions

http://dcps.dc.gov/portal/site/DCPS/menuitem.06de50edb2b17a932c69621014f62010/?vgnextoid=de6dda8cfbb24210VgnVCM1000007e6f0201RCRD&vgnextchannel=737ae2b1f0d32210VgnVCM100000416f0201RCRD