The fact is that the city of New Bedford has a huge problem with SOME parents who DO NOT make education a priority for their children and DO NOT take an interest in their education. While many of the parents in this city are caring and dedicated, there is a large percentage of parents who DO NOT participate in the education of their children. These same parents think nothing of spending $200 on sneakers for their children every other month but will outright refuse to purchase so much as a folder for class. Why bother buying school supplies when the teachers will buy them instead?
Come to New Bedford High School during Open House. Count the number of parents that come to meet the teachers. If NBHS asked teachers to start keeping track of the amount of parents that they see at either one of the two Open House nights compared to the number of students they have, the numbers would be astounding.
It might also be helpful to count the number of students who leave school at the end of the day WITHOUT SO MUCH AS A BOOK to take home. Many students refuse to take work home which should not be a surprise since these are the same students who do not do work in class. You would think that the parents of these students would ask them where their homework is or call the school to find out. Yet these calls and inquiries are few, and many students seem to simply be attending school for breakfast, lunch, and socialization. Education is the least of their concern.
Teachers have been complaining about this problem for years. They have received very little to no support from parents. Some parents blame the teachers as if they are the ones responsible for raising their children. It is as if these parents simply have children and plop them in front of the television for four years until they are old enough to go to school and then hope that the schools will raise their children for them. Since the schools feed students who qualify for free breakfast and lunch and many teachers support their students school supplies and extracurricular related costs with their own personal money, it should come as no surprise that some parents now seem to expect this from this city's teachers.
Teachers are being made out to be lazy, uncaring, inept, part-time help who enjoy their summers off and shorter work days. The people who think this about teachers are ignorant.
The information has been out there for years. The community has been told multiple times that teachers do NOT get paid for their "summer vacation". They have been told that teachers have to earn masters degrees and professional development points through additional coursework to re-certify their teaching licenses. They know that teachers in New Bedford spend their own money to furnish their classrooms with supplies, technology, tissues, and even BOOKS.
What is happening in New Bedford is a direct result of the lack of respect for educators. No professional should have to go to work to be sworn at and bullied by students, and then reprimanded and and told that they are UNSATISFACTORY by unsupportive administrators who offer no solutions but now expect miracles like a 40% increase in test scores.
Yes, this is an urban district with urban problems, but that is not an excuse for this type of treatment of teachers. These students deserve to know better and deserve to understand that they cannot go around talking the way that they do to each other or to adults without consequences.
The weight of the world is on the New Bedford High School teachers right now as well as the other teachers in this district. They need the city's support. They do not need to be demoralized by the local newspaper, local two-bit radio hosts, or ignorant community members who offer NO support and NO solutions.
Thank you to all of the GOOD parents, GOOD administrators, and GOOD community members who continue to support teachers during this difficult time.
16 comments:
Lay off (or fire for having an F in attitude) the demoralized ones. When they get energized at the prospect having a job, they can reapply for a job an interview with everyone else.
Jim,
Teaching isn't just a job for most teachers. Many teachers can earn more in the private sector especially with their advanced degrees. Others would probably earn the same pay working at a commercial store as a salesperson or manager.
The point is that if teachers continue to be made out as scapegoats, we will never address the real problems associated with student learning which stem from inadequate parental involvement and include a lack of sufficient resources within schools.
Gee, maybe the above comment should apply to everyone who has a job....including parenting!
@Jim - thank you for providing the readers with a concrete example of the author's explanation of ignorant bystanders with simplistic comments about teachers.
...and hire new teachers with no experience or who couldn't make their way through an interview process anywhere else? Good idea, Mr. Wilson. Ask teachers to keep track of Open House attendance; I bet the data would show a direct correlation between parent involvement and MCAS scores. How about funding and staffing an alternative school that can actually accommodate the population of students who need an alternative setting? It would probably be about 5% of our current roster. I can't stress enough how different a class is when that 1 student who spends the entire class creating disruptions in order to pull the teacher away from instruction is ABSENT. Enough is really enough. Ask teachers what should be done, what needs to be in place, in order to bring about change. We carry all of the burden, take all the criticism, but have no say as to how our school system is run. We will take the blame when data supports that it is our fault the kids are missing the mark, as opposed to kids who leave entire sections on the MCAS blank. Would you care how you scored on a test that is essentially pointless and has no impact on your life? Neither would I. Get real, city of New Bedford. Demand that Mitchell cut crime by 40% over the next 9 months or there will be hell to pay. That is REAL MOTIVATION. Then we can call him worthless and blame all of our problems on him...IDEFINITELY.
I really do hope that some of the membership are decent writers. The whole "Let's use caps as emphasis endlessly!" or "Fifty exclamation points is appropriate and eloquent!!!!" style of some of these entries does little to convey the talent and aptitude of NBPS faculty.
I want you to know all these bad behaviors are going on in the elementary schools as well. I have a class of 25 second graders and only 12 of the parents showed up for open house. Talk about disruptions it goes on all day in my class. There are children who do not want to be there and all they do is cause problems and therefore the ones that do want to learn can't because the teacher is dealing with the behaviors. So don't think it only goes on at the High School it goes on everywhere in the city. There is teacher accountability what about parent accountability.
To the poster who felt the need to criticize the use of caps lock as emphasis, please understand that blogs are typically considered to be informal. Blogs are simply virtual conversations, and more often than not, they include deviations from traditional approaches to grammar. Blogs are like twitter, only longer. In most cases, abbreviations, exclamations, and even CAPS LOCK are considered perfectly acceptable since italics and bold faced print are not available. You might even see the use of fragments for emphasis, and sentences that begin with and or but. For other examples of these types of style devices, I suggest you read other blogs and progressive magazines like THE NEW YORKER, for example.
Were this an op-ed or an article published in a more traditional format, such as a conventional or traditional newspaper, your point might have some validity.
But since you brought it up, we may as well talk about the ironic nature of your own post, which starts off with your "hope that some of the membership are decent writers" and ends with a person opinion that the NBPS faculty have both "talent' and "aptitude". In this way, your post is seemingly a paradox.
You get a C for effort, though.
This is a blog, not an essay writing contest. How trivial and argumentative to make a dig at someone's use of capital letters and punctuation. By the way, this is the problem with the school system; time wasted on things that don't matter and that take away from the real problems that need attention. Try working with kids who write, "idk" as an answer to an open response question. Perhaps the method of public shaming would work...that seems to be your preferred method. Thanks for the "teachable moment", anonymous.
A sincere "Thank You" to all caring and involved parents. Keep up the good work. We need you to stay involved and continue to set a good example.
I think that the more we argue with what is written by the many uneducated people that are trying to make us come off as lazy, inept and that we don't care are winning. I feel that we need to "look bad as they argue with themselves" because I will not be lowering myself to argue. guilty people argue their defense. People who are doing their job and doing it to the best of their ability with what they have do not need to prove themselves right. They are working hard teaching the kids of today with whatever is given to them and the success of the students is what should be our argument. We are stuck with Dr. Durkin. User her knowledge and ideas to fuel your individual classroom and do what you are expected to do and stop trying to prove that we can't do what she and the public wants and just do what you need to make your class the best that it can be.
Yes, I am a teacher for the NBPS and I am dealing with all that is being done. I am just trying to do what I can to make sure my kids our as successful as they can be!
Ideas? Ultimatums and threats are not ideas. I welcome ideas. SPEAKING Up has nothing to do with "guilt". FYI be careful when using our and are ---Durkin might label YOU inept.
First of all, who is Jim Wilson and has he ever walked in our shoes? As for more parent involvement, the risks are too high....read the literature.
Educating children is a shared activity between the child, the parent and the teacher. If any part of that triad is not invested in the process, then the endeavor of creating a well-informed person is bound to fail. This is true in Dover, Newton or New Bedford.
What do you do for a living Jim?
A child is a reflection of their parents. Need I say more?
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