As if to demonstrate their utter contempt for teachers, the Tennessee State Board of Education changed the licensure rules on a telephone conference call that was open to the public.
The vote was 6-3. Some board members said the change should be delayed because the changes were not well understood by the board.
Not all the board members agreed with voting to adopt a plan that had elements that concerned them, even with the delayed implementation.
Dr. Jean Anne Rogers of Murfreesboro suggested voting the proposal down and studying the issues “piece by piece” rather than implementing something that board members did not fully understand.
“I just have such serious concerns with a couple of the issues,” she said.
A dog was heard barking in the background of the call, although maybe it was a teacher howling in despair about the board’s unending attacks on teachers.
As a result of the changes approved by telephone meeting, teachers’ licenses will be tied to student test scores.
This is a strategy that has not produced better education anywhere but is guaranteed to produce teaching to the test and a narrowing of the curriculum.
It is not clear what will happen to the licenses of teachers and other staff who do not teach tested subjects.
Perhaps Tennessee will invest tens of millions to test everything.
We know who benefits. Not teachers or students. Testing corporations.
The changes in licensing rules was warmly endorsed by the Wall Street hedge fund managers’ group Democrats for Education Reform. Their members take home millions of dollars in income every year, but they don’t see why teachers need to earn more than $40,000 a year unless they raise test scores. Teachers in Tennessee earn less than the secretaries of most board members of DFER.
I think doctors should lose their license anytime a patient dies. And it doesn’t matter how old or sick the patient was to begin with – no excuses!
This is INSANITY on steroids!!!! How or why is the public rendered helpless when greed and self-gain is the guiding moral conscience for people who have put themselves in power? Time and history reveals that the oppressed will only stay down but for so long. They cannot continue to keep their foot on our necks and not expect us to fight back!!
Unfortunately, the people put these people in power or at least the people who appointed them.
With so many competing economic interests at the moment, I’m afraid it seems education is taking a back seat when people are voting and that they’re voting on issues that might matter more to them or that they understand more.
At worst, people believe the rhetoric and are still choosing this.
I am heartbroken for Tennessee teachers. I am frightened for the rest of us. I teach in a small rural district so I know how onerous what I am about to say is to some people, and for good reason. That said – even though Tennessee is a right to work state, the time may be drawing near for Tennessee teachers to organize and strike. Yes, I know that probably means jail time. Teachers went to jail to get the right to unionize in my state in the 70’s. Yes, I know that means they might take your license. But, it seems to me they are going to anyway. I just think that the time is drawing closer when we won’t have any other options. I will continue to make phone calls and send letters and e-mails to the powers that be in TN and other places – but it just seems that no one is listening. It keeps going from bad to worse.
The government in the state has gone crazy. All they are going to do is weed out the good teachers and elderly. That will leave the younger teachers who will be brainwashed into going along with the system no matter what they put in place. The people need to let them know how you feel. Maybe we can defund their salaries.
The discussion on The Tennessean’s web site has been interesting on this, particularly since the licensure would be based on Value Added (TVAAS) nonsense.
http://www.tennessean.com/comments/article/20130817/NEWS04/130817006/Teacher-license-plan-approved
Could you imagine revoking the license of a doctor, if he or she didn’t haven’t sufficiently high enough cure rates, or a sufficiently positive improvement in their patients’ conditions,
or too many patients died?
Could you imagine disbarring a lawyer because his/her clients’ settlements—monetary or otherwise—were not high enough, that that his clients received too many “GUILTY” verdicts?
Could you imagine a police officer losing his badge because the crime in the geographic area he patrols had an increase in crime, or failed to achieve a sufficient decrease in crime?
You could go on and on all day with analogies.
If you were a freshman in college, and reading Huffman’s latest insanity, would you want to enter into the teaching profession?
Sick. Sick. Sick.
How come there are no requirements for government officials except age. Maybe licenses should have a time limit and teachers have to renew them by updating their backgrounds and showing continuous improvement but this way no teacher would opt to teach in an inner city or take loww courses. Who will work with the needy?
Licenses do have a time limit and teachers are required to show continued training/education. In WA state and in OR state, I am required to renew my license every 5 years. Part of the requirement in WA is to show evidence of at least 15 credits, or 150 CEU’s in addition to proof of professional employment. Oregon is very similar. And it is even more for newer teachers.
There are similar requirements here in Connecticut. Teaching licenses must be renewed periodically, even the “professional” licenses held by veteran teachers. Renewal depends on proof of continuing education and employment/experience.
Interesting that Mr. Huffman is so interested in Charter Schools, could he want to privatize Tennessee schools and then be in charge of them? As a former teacher, now retired, his method of administering seems more than a bit smarmy to me.