Tony Danza did something amazing.
He put his Hollywood career on hold and taught English in a Philadelphia high school for a year.
He learned what every teacher knows.
It is really hard work.
Some kids don’t show up.
Some don’t try.
Some parents aren’t involved.
He discovered that everything he thought he knew was wrong.
Can the movie version be far behind?
We can all hope.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I have appreciated teachers for the past 27 years, being married to one who was a teacher for 33 years. Lazy she certainly was not. Many a night I made dinner because she was making lesson plans and meeting with parents at “back to school” nights or parent teacher meetings, among other activities. Even when when she got home, she was doing work related to her kids.
What I did and still do object to are the NJEA and NEA, which took exorbitant dues and paid dearly for far away union executives, who put the dues into programs in which neither she nor I believed and candidates we did not support. Also, most union problems could easily have been resolved between administration and local association.
Correction–dues do not go toward candidate campaigns. That kind of action is separately funded where members may volunteer a few dollars a paycheck if they’d like–it’s completely optional. Also the endorsement process is rigorous and bipartisan (actually it’s pan- or multi-partisan). You should read up on it before you condemn it.
I’m sorry that you felt her dues were misspent, but I can assure you that the NJEA is a professional organization comprised of people who work for its members in ways they might not be able to work for themselves. For example, there is a full time staff member whose soul job is to interpret the current school legislative policies and to provide information to the members regarding how these laws will affect them as individuals. He attends legislative sessions, reads the laws, follows up on the details and then presents the laws to members in a format that is usable. That is just one of the many kinds of jobs that dues money supports.
It’s a shame that after your wife’s 27 years in the job, you do not understand the work that is done on behalf of NJEA’s members.
What percentage of dues goes to each political party?
Thank you for clarifying the dues issue.
Every teacher in my school who had been working for there for under five years would have been let go had it not been for the unions protecting our jobs. I didn’t mind the dues when the adminstration was coming for my job!
LG is correct, union dues are not allowed to be used for political campaigns, I believe that it is a federal law. Contributions to the NJEA PAC are optional, voluntary. The GOP has always been anti-union so it is not a surprise that the teacher unions would usually support the Democratic candidate. The local associations need the backing and support of these larger advocacy groups from which to gain strength. Your wife enjoys a pension and health benefits through the advocacy efforts of the NJEA. The NJEA can give vital support to a local association that decides it must go on strike and it can aid a teacher that has been unfairly accused of wrongdoing. Your wife is reaping the benefit of those union dues, though it may not be obviously apparent at first glance.
Sorry, that should have read “sole job.”
Again, there is no “percentage of dues” going to any politician because dues cannot be legally used for this purpose. PAC money is a separate and completely optional contribution that individuals make.
There is no arbitrary contribution to each party, and there is no support given on the basis nothing. The whole point of the PAC is to support those candidates whose platform policies support both public schools and the people who provide direct services within them.
The endorsement process begins with a candidate questionnaire on issues that align with the ideals of the NJEA’s membership, however the support can only go to those candidates who actually make the effort to respond to the committee’s questionnaire. If a candidate does not respond, that person does not get an endorsement. There have been some who refused to respond and then made a public statement about how the “union” did not support them. How is the committee going to endorse a candidate who refuses to respond?
By the way, there have been many NJEA endorsements for candidates from parties other than the democratic party. You ought to do a little research on the topic–you might be surprised to learn that the common rhetoric is usually false.
Again, great explanation! Candidates have to go through the whole process. Also, the unions may opt not to endorse anyone. They may only recommend. Also, money is not always what is given. It may be phoning, canvassing, etc. The process is rigorous. People do need to understand.
Absolutely, Kathy. There are other ways to support a candidate. I think the most important point is that the PAC is funded by those willing to contribute their own money. No union dues go to this endeavor, despite the lies and misinformation out there saying that they do.
Thank you, Mr. Danza!
Here he is, in his own words:
Tony Danza: What I learned teaching your kids –
The popular actor devoted a year to teaching in high school. His new book has timely advice.
http://www.usaweekend.com/article/20120824/HOME01/308240011/Tony-Danza-What-learned-teaching-your-kids
I was sorry to read that he believed the nonsense from Joel Klein and Condaleeza Rice about “declining” US schools causing a “national security” crisis.
Tony Danza should read this blog.
Diane
Yes, he should.
I commend Tony Danza for this. His action is not necessarily something to “scale up,” but it has meaning in itself.
From the article:
“And, although he heard plenty about how teachers need to engage students, ‘kids have to understand that it’s their responsibility to do well—no matter who their teacher is or the quality of their school.'”
Yes, indeed.
Paul A Zoch’s book Doomed to Fail speaks to this. It is well worth reading.
Great- another unqualified, untrained person slumming for a year in a city school. This one gets a reality show and a book out of it, but whose job did he take? I guess it doesn’t matter if the students passed the test. I wonder if he used the Common Core Standards or some other script?
I like Tony so here goes:
His undergraduate degree was in history education.
He had a mentor.
I don’t believe he “took” any teachers job.
The school was economically and racially diverse.
The Common Core standards didn’t even exist at the time he was teaching in Philly.
Based on what I saw, he developed real lessons and units. He fretted over the students passing his tests.
He also reflected on what went right and what could be corrected.
He sought student feed-back.
As for the state tests, I don’t know if they did.
He did hold a talent show and assisted the football coach.
Not bad for a first-year. He did more than some of my colleagues ever have.
Now, regardless of his motives, he has a platform that we do not have at the moment. We should allow him to run with it. Broadcast, speak, tour, write-, whatever it takes to rehabilitate our image. He alone can do more than an ad campaign that neither union has chosen to undertake.
He does need a brief tutorial on the Klein-Rice CFR report. Other than that, I encourage him to go forth and spread the word. And you know, you can always come back and teach. You’ve got the chops. Something you may wish to consider. It’s never too late.
Mark, if you know him, please send him my review of the Klein-Rice report and help him understand the context in which he is speaking.
He has put himself in a classroom for a year and is a great ally, but should not buy the reformers false narrative about failure and decline, unless he refers to larger trends.
I did fine with the article until I got to the “but” in the second to last paragraph. Between the cliched characterization of school in general as the “industrial” model and the eighth grader’s complaints about her white teachers treating her like a slave, I lost most of my positive feelings toward the article. I am white, so I know I can’t possibly relate to the experience of Jada on a visceral level, and I’m not even sure what the industrial model of education is. That is not the point. What do either of these asides have to do with Tony Danza’s book? Both of these issues are more than worthy of discussion; give them their own platforms.
Yes, aspects of the article were a bit odd–but like you, I separate that from Danza. I look forward to reading his book.
“Signy emler’s” points are well taken, too–but I’m willing to believe for now that Danza did this with good intentions and conscience. It wouldn’t be good as a model or a fad, but as an individual action, it has meaning. Of course, much depends on the work he did, what he drew from it, and what he will convey to others.
Tony Danza’s time as a teacher at Northeast High School in Philadelphia aired as a reality TV show last year on A&E. “Teach” can be seen here:
http://www.aetv.com/teach-tony-danza/
If you look at “Grading Mr. Danza” on the website, where students grade Mr. Danza and answer several questions, several comment that the was good “for a first time teacher.” These students obviously know that experience matters!
They do, but we as a country apparently haven’t gotten the memo that retaining teachers is important. We’re CHASING people out of the classroom with punitive evaluation systems, high stakes testing, and an investment banking attitude of burning through high volumes of staff. Teach For America attracts a lot of blame for this, but I think the real issue is that very few people besides Ms. Ravitch are advocating for the policies and investment it will take to keep teachers in the profession.
You are absolutely correct.
I like Tony Danza, and I’m happy to hear his say this now, BUT, anyone who doesn’t already know what he learned the hard way is a twit or is just not paying attention or is just not honest or something. There’s a reason we all chose the careers we did, and most of us (I am not a teacher) didn’t choose teaching because we know we couldn’t handle it.
I spent a couple half-days in my daughter’s pre-k/kindergarten last year. It’s a class of about 15 kids at a private daycare. None of the kids have any obvious disabilities and all come from homes where parents are at least working. After those half-day sessions I came straight home exhausted and took a nap, grateful for my day job. And, of course, I didn’t even have to do anything like grade papers, meet with parents, coach a team or any of the millions of other things teachers do.
I just don’t get how anyone, especially someone as smart as Tony Danza, could ever think that teaching was easy in the first place.
For the last twenty years groups like TFA and TNTP seem to think so. TFA only believes you need energy, an elite college diploma and five weeks of summer training. Most people who don’t know a teacher think it’s a cushy job. I do my best to disabuse them of that – pronto.
As a TFA alum, I just want to chime in that I don’t think TFA actually thinks their model is optimal for all teacher preparation. What they do believe is that SOME people can be trained to teach effectively in a short period of time, and that there is value in attracting people into the profession who fit a profile that typically doesn’t even consider teaching. My opinion is that it’s best viewed as one of many pipelines into teaching, complementary to all the others.
And for the record, it’s a fact that although TFA seeks people with a strong record of leadership and achievement, they recruit and accept people far beyond the “elite” colleges.
Five weeks is not adequate preparation for anyone to teach, especially in high-needs schools.
In Finland, no one would be allowed to step into a classroom with only five weeks of training; or even with six months.
I made a photo post again, since the last one was such a hit! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=438241549551892&set=a.132992836743433.12039.132987906743926&type=1&theater Were there any other choice quotes in the book?
The high stakes testing world of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have had many unfortunate consequences. This world is not compatible with the way the human brain works. When students with learning disabilities, etc. cannot get what they need due to the rigid imposed schedules from these tests, unfortunately many students give up. Obliterating the damage imposed by the billionaire boys’ club is more useful than blaming the students that are victims. If a child’s brain is not developmentally ready to learn a concept, the brain can’t learn it. It is no different than putting a one month old baby on a potty and expecting that they can be potty trained.
Did you ever watch the show? His planning and preparation for teaching was way below standards. I felt embarrassed by how teaching in a high school was represented on the show. Danza had no idea what he was doing, what he was supposed to be doing, or how to take the advice given by mentoirs and colleagues and change his delivery and planning. I appreciate his support for the real world of teaching but the show was an unflattering portrayal of school life.
Nope, don’t watch TV much (an occasional ball/hockey game while having a brew at a local tavern) as I can’t afford the satellite service costs. Didn’t even know that the show existed-appears I didn’t need to know it existed.
It’s good that Danza took this on. However, I’d be even more impressed (and, I believe so would he…) if he had taken on the WHOLE teaching experience – including living on a teacher’s salary for a year.
Not just for a year but 5 or 10 years on a teacher’s salary.
I love what Tony Danza did and that he’s highlighting the teaching profession from an outsider’s perspective. One of the great values of TFA is that a lot of its corps members come from other professions and a lot go on to do other professions, and this gives its alums an ability to bridge gaps between the traditionally insular teaching society and the rest of the professional world. I think what Tony did was quite similar in many ways.
I do have one bone to pick. Tony wrote, “we all have a role to play in this, but when I was in teacher orientation, I constantly heard that teachers must “engage” the students. After a year of teaching, it strikes me that what we really need are students to engage in their own education.”
The problem with this statement is that children cannot in and of themselves learn to engage education; it needs to be taught. All adults should be taking responsibility for the mixed messages we’re giving our children (which Tony speaks on). But as people who study education, we need to realize that not everyone understands this dynamic or believes that we have cultural issues with the value we place on education. After all, today’s adults are just yesterday’s children, raised in a society that doesn’t value education.
Therefore, we can’t simply wait around for the whole country to wake up; we need assertive policies to intervene in the aspects of our culture that are causing education to fail. We need to be responsible for the content that children have access to. We need to invest the money in social services to step in where parents are ineffective. Right now, we’re increasingly putting pressure on teachers to address these issues, and not only is it not working, but we’re burning out teachers at insane rates. We need leaders who are able to wake people out of their morass to allow policy makers to address these issues. Other countries are already way more proactive than we are, and it’s showing.