"The reality is that the school system has a lot of work to do and work is underway and it's unfortunate you guys are focusing on this one statement by one individual. "There's plenty else to write about." - Jon Mitchell
Should he be concerned with the way our Educators are being treated? Was St. John's statement reflective of what's going on in NBPS?
15 comments:
Lou's statement is more than reflective of what the staff of NBPS is feeling.I have been teaching for 32 years and have never seen teachers so angry and frustrated. I love my class, but the amount of work , data, plans, etc that has been added to our job is simply ridiculous. Yes, they want rigor but eventually teachers are going to be burned out and not be able to produce any rigor at all.
I could not be working any harder. Other than reading this blog, my dismal life as a teacher in NB consumes me emotionally, physically, and financially. While our mayor discusses street lights, pocket parks, and minor issues...our schools are becoming anxiety breeding soul crushing hell holes.
What we should be concerned about is the priorities of the politicians and upper level administrators. Instead of acknowledging the fact that nbps teacher morale is at an all time low, on the job stress is obvious and out of control and we are losing teachers to other jobs (2 that I personally know since the start of the school year who had no intention of leaving) there seems instead to be so much energy being dispersed by those in power in covering up the truth rather than acknowledging this problem and working towards fixing it. I can guarantee, as a veteran teacher, that I have never seen the fear and anxiety in my years as a teacher in New Bedford as I have seen in the past few months. And this isn't due to teachers resisting change, it is instead due to the constant threats and reminders that nothing we do is or will ever be good enough and that we are uninterested in improving. I am also a parent of a NBHS student, and as such, I'd much rather my child's teachers expend energy on being the best teachers they can, as they have in the past, instead of constantly worrying about what new threat or negative review will be put on their plate that day. The only bright point in all this, during open house, several parents gave me unsolicited opinions about the way that teachers were being treated, and I say unsolicited because it would have been unprofessional for me to intitiate conversation about anything other than their child's improvement. Parents wanted to assure me that they had confidence in the teachers at New Bedford high school and they felt strongly that we were being mistreated by authority figures, the newspaper and that they had little confidence in the authority figures running the show. I refrained from commenting other than to thank them for their confidence and redirect the conversation back to their child, but if I was a school committee member, mayor or any other New Bedford elected official, I'd be very worried about the next election.
Lou you have only hit the tip of the iceberg!
What? This is a direct insult to all the educators who have the responsibility of teaching the children of this city; his city. How can he be so bold as to imply we are not worthy of a happy and healthy work environment so our students can flourish as well. Are we making this up? Mayor needs to seriously rethink about what comes out of his mouth. Maybe a strike will shock him into reality.
Stop messing with our union president. If you did your job correctly and invested in the district, Lou and the teachers would not be sailing on this ship. You have a responsibility to us and the students. Use your moral compass for once. How many level 3 grievances did you deny? I can't hear you!
All I have ever wanted to do is teach; teaching is my calling, my passion and my life. God blessed me with my dream job twenty plus years ago, and my dream has become a living nightmare. I am willing to learn anything, try any technique , to give my students the best chance to improve their skills and grow in academic success; I am a lifelong learner who is eager to learn and grow and improve my craft and I am open to change and constructive guidance . But I am depressed, broken, and terrified that nothing I do, despite giving my heart and soul and effort, will be enough for this administration. We are vilified and persecuted and disrespected and never know where the next hit is coming from... And while there are some problematic students, they are not the greatest threat... Unless of course you count the number of teacher assaults which administration apparently not reporting to the police. We are not valued... We are scapegoats and pawns and have no rights. I love my students, my school and teaching, and I am privileged to work with some of the most intelligent, compassionate, talented and gifted teachers any system could ask for... But how long can we be abused before it destroys us... And make no mistake, people lives are being destroyed... When did we become the villains when we are so often the only constants in our students' lives? Administrators, politicians... They come and go... But most teachers are lifers ... Encourage us, support us, utilize our skills, respect us, and we can reach our goals of bettering our schools TOGETHER .
Maybe Mitchell will get his head out of the sand when Durkin convinces Chester Mitchell to take over the New Bedford Public Schools and the property values plummet. No one will want to buy a house in this city. What will he tell the residents of New Bedford then? It's so obvious that is what she wants as she's set us up for failure. Open your eyes "Education Mayor"!
I sometimes don't know who am I abused more by, my students, or my administrators. But then I think to myself. the administrators let the students physically and emotionally crush my soul to the point where I contemplate walking out into oncoming traffic, so I suppose it's a coin toss at this rate. Only in NB can a student spit on you, get penalized with two 30 minute detentions and then YOU get penalized on your record with those "secret strikes" because you should have managed the situation better...i'm predicting a mass exodus of teachers and quite a few early retirements. I wonder what they'll do when they have to beg people to come teach? how will that 40% be looking then? More like a 40% increase in alcoholism
The only reason this guy is unopposed is because no one want to clean up the mess he's made. Two more years of this? God help us.
No one wants to come teach in this city. Classes are overcrowded, no technology, kids are disrespectful, teachers are getting hurt on the job, administrators turn a blind eye, and the mayor and school committee doesn't give a damn. They're still having a love fest with Durkin.
What he should take blame for (the mayor) is self identifying his school system as a disaster. He opened this district up to the "reformers". Instead of highlighting great things in a challenging atmosphere, he placed a spotlight on the very worst of us. The very students that need structure to succeed have less accountability as teachers are now targets. The false idea that boredom (teacher caused) is our biggest issue has destroyed this system in only 2 months.
I'll admit that I thought this mayor actually had a big pair to take on the challenge of fixing the disaster he inherited from the pervious mayor and superintendents. Unfortunately he should have turned over the system to the state when he had the chance to do so because unless a miracle turnaround happens the state will eventually take the system and when it happens he'll be blamed for it.
The bigger problem is the complete lack of institutional knowledge among the decision makers in our system. Why do we have a $90,000 facilities manager and also have a separate security director? That doesn't exist in other districts but it does here. Why does the new director at NBHS race out the door at 2:20 everyday. Shouldn't that raise come with added responsibility? I thought the dream team of Haskell/ Gurek could do no wrong!
Lastly the biggest problem we have at NBHS and throughout the district is the inability to properly discipline rude and disrespectful students who do not want to learn, only know trouble and wouldn't think twice of injuring a staff member of any of our schools.
The war on our teachers and system has to stop. Where have common sense and good judgement gone? I guess it doesn't matter if the test scores go up.
This city needs a mayor who can relate with its citizens.Mitchell is not that man we need a working class mayor not a yuppy lawyer. Send him to the suburbs....
I tell people, when asked, that I teach in New Bedford school district. They always hug me and tell me to stay safe. What does that tell you? Mayor-mindless +
Durkin-mindless =0
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