A "new low"? ("Mayor: Teachers union 'hits new low,' Dec. 28.) Was the prior low making sure children drop out or don't succeed in the New Bedford schools? I would not be surprised if you also blamed teachers and their union for not providing appropriate support for those children.
It seems to me like you like to add wood to the fire more than teachers like to add "insult to injury." You should know better than to imply teachers are not being generous. In my experience as a retired teacher, the majority of teachers are generous with their time, and with their money in the classroom and outside the classroom. We give our time to help students at school after classes, and also to work on our lesson plans and students' work in our homes. We give our money by buying supplies to better the students' experience in the classroom. We, the same as many other people, also give to charitable organizations of our choosing.
Yes, the United Way is a good organization that supports many deserving causes, but there are many such organizations to which we can give, and to which we do give. And I am sure these organizations know how to tell their directors to be sure not to take sides, because they may be offending the very people that contribute to them.
Yes, the association could have chosen to make a boycott exception for the United Way, but how else can they address the inappropriateness of the United Way's having thrown its weight behind the ad in support of Dr. Pia Durkin way before she has proven herself with a fair plan for students?
If Ms. Hantman wanted to do it, she should have done it at a personal level, not as the director of United Way. The same goes for all the other people who named the organizations or companies they worked for when they added their names to the ad. Personally, they have a right to their opinion; as representatives of their organizations, they do not.
Have they forgotten that their organizations and companies also have an obligation to support the teachers of New Bedford? Why don't they take another full-page ad in support of the teachers who, despite the lack of sufficient support to deal with the needs of all our students, are in their classrooms teaching and caring for all of our students.
3 comments:
Thank you for the great post and outstanding comments! As a current Teacher I respect and appreciate your service to our students. Just not sure if I will be making it to retirement the way things are. You are to be commended for speaking out. Thank you.
Thank you for the great post and outstanding comments! As a current Teacher I respect and appreciate your service to our students. Just not sure if I will be making it to retirement the way things are. You are to be commended for speaking out. Thank you.
I believe the education debate, the loss of jobs is getting buried in the "Do Not Support" so-called NBEA campaign.
This is a perfect rouse for the city's leadership, superintendent, and SC. It is taking the focus off of the true problems and diverting what should be significant "District" discussions into blabber from third parties that although may know their own business, do not necessarily know or understand ours: and that is how to teach and reach students.
Now, naysayers may say exactly the point: teacher are doing an awful job; look at the MCAS results.
I've learned along time ago that just because I listen to music, I'm no musician, and just because I drive a car, it doesn't qualify me to race NASCAR.
The same can be said of people arms-length away from actually teaching content in NB. Don't think because you employ people, work with the public, or have a child in school, that you "fully" understand what it takes to educate the children (not just your child) of a city like NB.
You may have a better shot at understanding the needs of Newton or Wellesley, but not necessarily NB.
If the war is going bad, you fire or reassign the brass, not the soldier. Same is true in a company, if you want to move the company in a different direction. You look at your management team first, skilled workers second. Companies that cut workers first are looking at their bottom line first, trying to catch their breathe.
I hope this exercise of replacing teachers is not a balancing of the budget on the backs of the teachers. The more I think about it...hmmm.
The blogger that said the issues are deep rooted in cultural and economics is dead on. Leadership is reacting to sick patient without investigating why the patient is sick, and go from there.
Please don't say there is no time for that!
Even though some may say that bloggers are cowards, the bloggers know the implications of signing their names, and this severely hampers our ability to defend ourselves in the ST. That is why you'll see more pieces reflecting the non-teacher side of events. The ST has jammed their swords the ground. Unless parents sit down and write, this battle is lost.
One thing that amazes me is how teachers remain silent on commenting on their own school's leadership, be it good or bad. I do get it, all too well, and your administrators should recognize this fact, and give everyone of their teachers a big hug when they return from the holidays. Merry Christmas.
It is truly in the nature of teachers to be kind and warm, even in the face of distress.
Lets all check where we are today, and begin a new discussion on getting to the root of the issues that plague this city and its education issues.
Stop listening, ear to ground for the bus, because you're about to get flatten by the semi carrying the Trojan Horse, and that seems quite perfect for our leadership.
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