Anonymous wrote:
What's stunning to me is that there's this, pardon my expression, toadstool at the teaparty that everyone acknowledges is a problem, but that there's just nothing that can be done. Job security apparently trumps every other concern.

This sort of thinking -- along with your earlier comment blaming the WTU -- is pretty out of date. If this teacher is a veteran, she has been subject to IMPACT since 2009. If she is not being accurately evaluated, it is either due to the school administration or shortcomings in the IMPACT evaluation system. But, as a result of IMPACT, over 300 teachers were fired this year alone. Job security is not trumping every other concern and there is little the WTU can do about it.

How could this be anything other than a red flag? It sounds like you think that the school is punishing your child for your attention to his education.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Just got back from our first parent-teacher conference with our DD's DCPS PK-4 teacher. I hate this woman like poison. She seems not to give a shit about anything other than whether or not all the kids are silent, pliable little automatons. That coupled with the fact that she seemed incapable of actually listening to a word we said, or having an actual dialogue, was just horrifying. She literally couldn't look either of us in the eye, and when she responded to something one of us said, it was clear she hadn't listened to a word. Anyway, on the way home, we both agreed that this teacher could probably do minimal damage at this early stage. But the fact that we're talking about "minimal damage" is appalling.

In 30 minutes, I've gone from being mostly in favor of the DC teacher's union to thinking principals should be able to fire teachers at will. Literally, they should pass out a questionaire at the end of the school year, and if a teacher gets an average of 2 out of 5 stars, they should be given a boot in the behind.

what do you think of the school in general? the principal? any other teachers you've encountered? the community? other parents, especially those of older students may be a useful resource to you. is it a case of one bad apple, but you are otherwise happy?

also, what does your child think? is he/she enjoying the introduction to school?

you are understandably concerned. your strong reaction reflects a genuine concern with your child's education. know that you are the single most important ingredient to his/her success in school.

OP here: Her previous teacher was fantastic. Warm, effective. Also a bit of an oddball when dealing with parents, but obviously that's to be expected. She spends most of her waking hours teaching 3-4 year olds. The school in general is more than we could've hoped for. The principal is completely amazing--she's a super-bright, incredibly dedicated force of nature. We have a really strong school community, with lots of motivated, highly-involved parents who bring tons of resources to bear.

What's stunning to me is that there's this, pardon my expression, toadstool at the teaparty that everyone acknowledges is a problem, but that there's just nothing that can be done. Job security apparently trumps every other concern.

The one thing that keeps me from getting too concerned is that several of the most involved parents in the school also have children in this class; it's almost as though they put the most invested parents in the crappy teacher's class, and all the parents who might consider jumping ship into the good teacher's class.

One other thing: this bad teacher also has a reputation for sort of discouraging parental participation (e.g. as room parents). Is this normal, or is that something of a red flag?

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Just got back from our first parent-teacher conference with our DD's DCPS PK-4 teacher. I hate this woman like poison. She seems not to give a shit about anything other than whether or not all the kids are silent, pliable little automatons. That coupled with the fact that she seemed incapable of actually listening to a word we said, or having an actual dialogue, was just horrifying. She literally couldn't look either of us in the eye, and when she responded to something one of us said, it was clear she hadn't listened to a word. Anyway, on the way home, we both agreed that this teacher could probably do minimal damage at this early stage. But the fact that we're talking about "minimal damage" is appalling.

In 30 minutes, I've gone from being mostly in favor of the DC teacher's union to thinking principals should be able to fire teachers at will. Literally, they should pass out a questionaire at the end of the school year, and if a teacher gets an average of 2 out of 5 stars, they should be given a boot in the behind.

what do you think of the school in general? the principal? any other teachers you've encountered? the community? other parents, especially those of older students may be a useful resource to you. is it a case of one bad apple, but you are otherwise happy?

also, what does your child think? is he/she enjoying the introduction to school?

you are understandably concerned. your strong reaction reflects a genuine concern with your child's education. know that you are the single most important ingredient to his/her success in school.

Anonymous wrote:And maybe teachers should get to do the same thing

Not sure how that would work. If you have twenty students, and you average a two out of five, I'm sorry, but you suck. That a particular teacher doesn't get along with a particular set of parents is not comparable.

Hahaha, would love to know the school.

If it is any consolation, initially I did not like my child's PreK teacher - she also could not look us in the eye at the first P/T conference. But it all turned out fabulously, and we even became slightly friends outside of school, and she was fabulous with the kids. She was just nervous as all get out with us. But early on in the year, we had to keep reminding ourselves that skills that work well in a professional office setting are not ones that work well with kids, and vice versa. So I'd rather have her be great with kids and not as great with parents.

THe next year, child had a cold, hard teacher who was very, very strict. It was a hard adjustment, but eventually it did work out ok for our child. Since I had gotten to know other teachers in the school, I kind of asked around for what other teachers thought and they praised my child's teacher to the high heavens for having such a quiet, well-mannered class. But I will say it did not work out well for some other kids, who needed more nurturing.

So don't despair just yet. Keep your eyes and ears open, check in with other parents, volunteer as much as you possibly can. It may be better than it looks right now. It may not be, I don't want to be naive, but it just might work out in the end.

And maybe teachers should get to do the same thing

Wow. Just got back from our first parent-teacher conference with our DD's DCPS PK-4 teacher. I hate this woman like poison. She seems not to give a shit about anything other than whether or not all the kids are silent, pliable little automatons. That coupled with the fact that she seemed incapable of actually listening to a word we said, or having an actual dialogue, was just horrifying. She literally couldn't look either of us in the eye, and when she responded to something one of us said, it was clear she hadn't listened to a word. Anyway, on the way home, we both agreed that this teacher could probably do minimal damage at this early stage. But the fact that we're talking about "minimal damage" is appalling.

In 30 minutes, I've gone from being mostly in favor of the DC teacher's union to thinking principals should be able to fire teachers at will. Literally, they should pass out a questionaire at the end of the school year, and if a teacher gets an average of 2 out of 5 stars, they should be given a boot in the behind.