Reply to Frontline doc about Rhee and cheating

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Reply to "Frontline doc about Rhee and cheating "

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Here is my issue with your original post. The entire first part talks about teachers this... and teachers that. So, as I teacher- do I know that it all comes down to admin- OF COURSE. But I feel like teachers often get the blame for working in a culture of dysfunction The first part of your post you say again and again- teachers did this... teachers did that. Teachers, likely were also doing some heroic work. Also, and this is the tough part- you left.  I am not blaming you- as I am now ready to head out the door to, but its hard to take negative feedback about the terrible things that are going on in the schools, from people who left. Those of us who stuck it out- and are trying to make good for the kids of DCPS (ALL the kids, not just the ones in NW) do not need one more thread of parents generalizing us as lazy, or asleep on the job. I would just ask- did you not see good things too? Was everything at your school terrible? I have taught Title I DCPS for my entire teaching career and sure- there is some bogus stuff going on- but there are also things that make me proud to be engaged in this amazing work. So am I 'defensive' teacher. You bet! When teachers are used as a scapegoat to ignore larger issues. (Not saying that is what you were directly doing, but you were laying the groundwork) [/quote]

Oh my goodness... reading comprehension. My entire second response was about admin, but maybe I wasn't explicit enough. I have included handy hints in my message below. Admin creates, facilitates and nurtures the culture of a building. I had 6 principals in 5 years. You have a right to be a "defensive teacher" but if you must please try to resond to what is actually written. I have a feeling that you never taught in high school. It is a completely different environment in which to work. There is a lot that can go on in a 200,000 sq ft building that only serves 700 students, but all of it is under the direction of the leadership. 
And FWIW, I loved the kids and many of the families. I still keep in contact with lots of them on a very regular basis. I still live in DC and send my kids to a charter school, and I still teach in public schools. I did leave that school after only 5 years because my ceiling collapsed (ADMIN) and I had been very ill for months because of the mold growing in the plaster that rained down on me (ADMIN). I felt a lot of guilt about it, but I couldn't physically or mentally do any more. I litereally fed, clothed and mothered hundreds of kids (FAMILIES) and it was a 24 hour a day job. There were plenty of physcial realities that required constant defense. I had 4 open drains in the middle of my classroom (ADMIN). There were rats and filth everywhere that wasn't attended to (ADMIN).  I won't mention the one year I had to to teach science on a cart because of a many month battle to remove asbestos from my classroom (falsified reports made it so that "no one" knew about it- falsified by ADMIN who refused entrance to the room by the Army Corps of Engineers). I'm just grateful that Dr. Vance The only place I had to store my cart was in a bathroom (ADMIN). I wasn't assigned a temporary classroom (ADMIN)- I just had to find space for all of my kids every day, every period (ADMIN) My prep area was A DAMN BATHROOM. But it was okay because the ADMIN would only allow 2 bathrooms in the building to be unlocked and used by students so I had a 12 stall girls restroom all to myself.  :roll:

And to the PP regarding a book: I have long thought about it, but books have plots with a beginning and an ending. People want to read stories that have closure. I have a long, long list of stories that don't have endings. I do have an equal number of great and wonderful, uplifting stories, too. Maybe that is the closure part?[/quote]
OMG, compare and contrast. THIS post is nothing like your first post. And guess what, I get to disagree with how you present things. Its called having a conversation.[/quote]

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