Thursday, January 2, 2014

The high school is already staffed by great teachers — dedicated, hard-working, and underappreciated ... By Bill Callahan

Where are all the new teachers coming from? Superintendent Pia Durkin may be replacing dozens of educators at New Bedford High.

The assumption is that there is a large pool of well-trained, experienced, and motivated teachers ready to replace the existing ones. So, where are all these teachers now? Are they currently unemployed and sitting at home, waiting for a recruitment phone call?

Are educators at other SouthCoast school districts being lured away from their classrooms? Did a private school nearby go bankrupt and leave a bunch of teachers jobless? If there's a stable full of thoroughbred teachers in the area, how did New Bedford High School supposedly end up with all the donkeys and mules? In all probability, the high school is already staffed by great teachers — dedicated, hard-working, and underappreciated. You can blame 'em and then fire 'em, but where are the dozens of new teachers coming from?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

.........and what new hire wants to work in a level 4 school????

Anonymous said...

This really isn't about the teachers, but rather incompetence, egos, and federal funding. The lay offs in June reflected mismanagement of funds, corruption, and cowardliness. It's a domino effect among administrators to dodge the bullet and hang teachers out to dry.

Anonymous said...

It is my understanding that they have hired Teach for America...they have degrees but not in education...their passion is not education..its paying school loans..they have a 5-6 week crash course and are then put into schools...they are paid less so this will reflect positively in the school budget and make Durkin look good next year..they have not taken human development courses so they cannot recognize learning problems,etc in children...I heard of this happening incident happening this year in an elementary school where a child wet their pants and the teacher (
Teach for America) was beside herself on how to handle it...so they will probably get rid of qualified seasoned teachers and replace them with Teach for American staff who will eventually find jobs in their field and who will suffer...the students and our community...Sad...

Anonymous said...

The purpose of a union is to act in concert for a common purpose.

Venting on this weblog feels good but the elephant recommends having every teacher in the New Bedford school system sign a common letter questioning why teachers are being blamed for the aggregate effects of criminally incompetent parents and why no politician or journalist is brave enough to even mention the problem.

Give every teacher a copy of the letter with the recommendation that they mail it to as many major media outlets (foreign and domestic), politicians, and possibly celebrities who like to get involved in everything as they deem fit.

Parental Incompetence is not a New Bedford problem. It's a serious national problem dumbs down our education system and fills our prisons that few, if any prominent individuals are willing to acknowledge. One can compare our entire nation to the textbook model of an alcoholic family. Everyone knows what the problem is and who is most responsible for it...but no one is willing to mention the elephant in the living room.

You're a union. Try to act like one so you don't become victims of Pia Durkin's divide and conquer strategy.

Anonymous said...

So, TFA is going to raise MCAS scores, teach rigorous career and college readiness skills to close the achievement gap, and assist in removing the level 4 status although they are not highly qualified? The Commissioner of Education is on board with this lunacy?

Anonymous said...

We already had a couple TFA recruits in the building.... they didn't last two weeks

Anonymous said...

They still can't fill.the vacant positions currently at NBHS. What makes you think someone actually qualified will all of the sudden appear and fill 50+ positions?

Anonymous said...

A TFA member teacher is an NBEA member. So stop attacking them.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to see whomever they manage to hire for next year last two weeks in a classroom with some of our students and still go home saying they love to teach. What good are "motivated, highly qualified" teachers with no support and no student accountability? No good. No good at all. How do you like your numbers now Dr. Durkin? I don't think three years will be enough time to clean up the mess you made. And it's too bad. All you had to do was work with the teachers and for the teachers and amazing things could have been the legacy you left instead of this.

Unknown said...

Teach For America people, while they may have the best of intentions, DO NOT have the years of extensive training, education, and in-classroom experience that teachers do. To think that TFA people or new hires will solve the issue of student performance is foolish. It might save money, but our children deserve better than just saving money. Support your current teachers, stop mismanaging funding, and build appropriate scaffolds for the students that include their families.

Anonymous said...

I'm working for a new principal hired by Durkin. This principal has nooooo idea how to discipline the students. It's become an unorganized place of chaos where the students are in charge and running the building. The superintendent will only be able to deny it for so long. Mark my words, something bad is going to happen there.