When State Commissioner John King released the teacher ratings, he said that teachers should be relieved because only 1% were found to be “ineffective.” The implication: You have nothing to worry about; you won’t lose your job based on my untested evaluation system.
Some reacted by wondering why the state had spent hundreds of millions of dollars to determine that only 1% of teachers were ineffective; principals were furious about the mountain of paperwork they had waded through to prove what they already knew.
But this teacher had a word of advice for Commissioner King:
“This just shows how out of touch John King is. He says these numbers should ease teachers concerns because the ratings aren’t bad. This is an insult! Teachers aren’t criticizing this dumb evaluation system based on test scores because they are selfishly concerned about their ratings. Teachers are concerned because the over emphasis on test scores will lead to less effective teaching, squash creativity, narrow the curriculum, suck the enjoyment out of learning and on and on… Maybe King lives his life simply worrying about himself but most teachers are driven by a desire to help their students grow as people. He just doesn’t get it!”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Can someone forward him Maslow’s Hierarchy?
Maslow? In this climate, the work of Maslow and Dewey, not to mention Bracey’s research are well…ignored or probably not read, because it counters the current DEFORMS.
This is what John King really thinks of
parents who “opt out”, or even complain
about his “education reform.”
http://www.southbronxschool.com/2013/10/fine-dining-with-new-york-state.html
King draws an asinine analogy between
parents bitching about Common Core, or
excessive or inappropriate-for-grade-level
testing or whatever…
to…
the lack of restraint to a customer
would show at a restaurant when that
customer has a problem with
the wine or food served to him:
http://www.southbronxschool.com/2013/10/fine-dining-with-new-york-state.html
He puts himself in a higher order of class
than those belly-aching parents because
when a waiter brings him substandard
food or wine… well… in such a situation,
he doesn’t complain, or send it back. He
sits there and eats it whether he likes it
or not…
(*** actual quote… no joke***)
JOHN KING: “When I’m in a restaurant,
and the waiter opens the bottle of wine for
me to taste, I never say ‘No,’ send it back,
even if it’s horrible. The same with my
meal; if I don’t like it I’ll eat it anyway.”
AND DAMN IT!!! THAT’S WHAT THE
PARENTS AND STUDENTS IN NEW
YORK STATE SHOULD DO AS WELL!!!
Here’s NY Education Commissioner
John King behind-the scenes:
He seems to be guided by the notion that teachers are lazy and mediocre and that they only care about their pensions. I cringe when I think of the people I hear say “but you can’t fire bad teachers!” So if that is true, which is a first world problem, then you find ways for principals to voice that and work together on how they critique their staff. You don’t blow up the whole system. If you have a couple chipped dishes in your cupboard, you don’t rip up the whole kitchen. Nobody eats that way.
Very good point — but as a principal, I would say that our old evaluation system worked just fine and it was certainly possible to fire those few people who were not competent at their jobs. The new system makes that much more difficult because of the huge amount of paperwork required. The legislation seems to come from the assumption that educators, including both teachers and principals, have plenty of time but are not doing their jobs, and the best way to make them do their jobs is to make them do a ton of paperwork about it. The truth, of course, is that we already have more than full-time jobs and all of this just makes it more difficult to do a good job for kids.
I suspected that was true. Glad to hear it from a principal. 🙂 Thank you.
“How to Fire a Tenured Teacher in 45 Days” That was the subtitle (not that explicit of course) of a “School Personnel” class I had to take to complete my masters and be certified to go over to “the dark side”.
$10.00 gets you a free brochure.
It’s really quite simple but I don’t want to give any administrators any “new” ideas.
(WS23, this is not meant as a jab at you at all.) I hope all take it for what it’s worth, but it is that simple to fire someone, at least here in the Show Me State.
I would rather teach without the CCSS and assessments and be considered ineffective than teach with it and be considered highly effective. I know what my kids need and I am a professional, I am capable of pushing my kids in ways that John king can’t even dream about with his limited classroom experience.
Wow! Millions of dollars spent to weed out 1%, using a system that is tragicly flawed to begin with. Really?! What a waste! If admins didn’t have so much ridiculous paperwork loads, better people would join their ranks, and they would have time to work with/fire the tiny number (probably much less than 1%, being that that 1% were deteermined using a flawed method) of teachers that just can’t do the job.
You are so right…King doesn’t get it!
King is another go-fer for the $$$$$. Wonder how his palms are getting greased?
Good Afternoon– Please note: This no doubt is after the student scores were adjusted.
King – it’s not about you. It’s never about you. It’s about the kids.