Sirota: Make War on Poverty, Not Teachers

November 9, 2013 //

David Sirota points put the facts that most educators acknowledge: poverty is a far more potent threat to academic success than “bad” teachers or unions. The bugaboos of the loon right have become the basis for federal policy, and it is taking its toll on teacher morale.

Categories Poverty, Teachers and Teaching, Unions

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deb says:

November 9, 2013 at 9:06 pm

I seriously don’t think they care about teacher morale. Our morale has been in the pits for more than 10 years. We have complained about the sheer lack of humanity shown by our principal and supertendent. We work like maniacs, do great work, and all we get is more , more, more demands.

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- Rene Diedrich says:
  
  November 10, 2013 at 1:44 am
  
  Of courses they care… “they”are driving us out any way they can. They knw exactly what the are doing. This is an educational holocaust. They want compliant consumers and wage slaves. Teachers are in their way, which is why rich men hate us.
  
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  - deb says:
    
    November 10, 2013 at 12:18 pm
    
    That was what I meant. Our work, dedication, education, and contributions don’t matter to them, even when they pay “lip service” to being appreciative. We are expendable.
    
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Jeff Nguyen says:

November 9, 2013 at 9:13 pm

Amen.

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laurie says:

November 9, 2013 at 10:45 pm

Now they are forcing teachers to give tests on an assigned day, whether or not the class has had time to learn all the material.

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- neanderthal100 says:
  
  November 10, 2013 at 4:54 am
  
  And ….in some school districts…you are told that if an administrator walks into two different math classes teaching the same subject..you are supposed to be doing the exact same lesson plan…
  
  If not..your evaluation will be downgraded…..
  
  Never factored in is the assembly or fire drill that took time away from Teacher 1 or the fact that Teacher 1 has 15 out of 34 EC students and Teacher 2 has a total of 10 academically gifted students.
  Teacher 1-34 students…15 EC….
  Teacher 2-10 students…
  This is junk education…..Like Angie from another post said..
  “Cookie Cutter Education”…
  
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  - deb says:
    
    November 10, 2013 at 12:23 pm
    
    I often wonder if they view teaching as presenting without regards as to whether all the students comprehend. Then on to the next lesson. When do we stop to be sure they got it? Oh … Wait “the test” will see if we were effective. How silly of me?
    
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  - laurie says:
    
    November 10, 2013 at 12:34 pm
    
    Giving a test before you KNOW your students have had enough instruction and practice is not only counterproductive, but is sending the wrong message to the students. I believe many more will start to drop out because they have failed before they have been given a chance to succeed.
    
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john Abramson says:

November 9, 2013 at 10:55 pm

“They” care not a whit about teacher morale. In fact, “They” are doing am unfortunately efficacious job de-professionalize teaching by busting teacher moral, attempting to destroy teacher unions and to drive teachers out of their profession. “They” want to turn schools into mini factories and sites where kids will learn how to labor for the 21th century jobs to which they have access and to which there will be no exit. I recommend the book “Learning To Labor: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class jobs”, by Paul Willis. Similarly, start reading most anything by the brilliant writer, polemicist, and theoretician of the new Critical Theory, Henry Giroux.

Those who continue to struggle, must give props to David Sirota, who continues to do a super job hurling fast balls past the lying, faux reformers..

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john says:

November 9, 2013 at 11:14 pm

I don’t think that using rational arguments is going to help anymore. Dr. Ravitch and some of us older folk grew up in society more governed by logic, rational thinking and actual debate. This era is long gone. We are well beyond that now. No, the elites don’t care about education, poverty, and certainly not about teacher morale. We are entering some kind of postmodern, technological Dark Ages. We are well on our way to that world in “Fahrenheit 451” or “1984”. Let’s face it, in a world like this, there isn’t much that an individual or small group like teachers can do. Just realize this, and don’t take all this educational destruction personally. This happens when civilizations fall.

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- neanderthal100 says:
  
  November 10, 2013 at 5:34 am
  
  Good Posts…but no…I will not be one to be sitting by and WATCHING our Educational System go down the Drain…
  No…No….No….
  We teachers can be more powerful that the few Greedy knuckleheads who know not what they are doing..
  WE CAN FIGHT THIS…TOGETHER…
  POWER IN NUMBERS…WE CAN FIGHT…WE CAN WIN!!
  
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  - Ang says:
    
    November 10, 2013 at 10:08 am
    
    Your mouth to God’s ears, Neanderthal.
    
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The English Professor at Large says:

November 9, 2013 at 11:27 pm

I chaired the Faculty Council, and one of our assignments was to raise teacher morale.
I worked with the administration and ran faculty meetings to that purpose. A new administration came in and eliminated my position at the school. So much for my morale!

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- neanderthal100 says:
  
  November 10, 2013 at 5:42 am
  
  The teachers do not really care anymore.
  They are like Robots..
  
  They scored this first tests given in Spring 2013 so that teachers would be waling around scared out of their wits that they would possibly lose their jobs and get an very bad evaluation..
  
  As another poster Angie said in her post……Teachers have a script they must follow…….
  
  Like playing Follow the Leader but you really are following a bunch of knuckleheads.. I can speak the Truth as I need not worry about losing my job..I speak for the teachers who ask me to speak for them..I am out of Public and into Private..(SWEET.).
  
  If every single teacher in this nation would have the GUTS to walk out for one day and let these Greedy Bunch of Useless Test Mongers take control of the classes…things would turn around..very quickly..
  
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  - laurie says:
    
    November 10, 2013 at 11:28 am
    
    I would have to disagree with your statement that the teachers don’t care anymore. They care very much. I don’t know of any teacher who thinks this constant testing climate is right or fair. The problem is that they are forced to do whatever they are told. Refuse and there are many applicants waiting to apply for your job.
    
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  - deb says:
    
    November 10, 2013 at 12:31 pm
    
    Most teachers care. They feel trapped and afraid. We have tried for 10 years to get our voices heard, even did the “work to rule” in which we worked only our required hours. Nothing gets through to the administration.
    
    The funny thing is that they started out with telling us all this tech change was going to be easier because we could bank and share lesson plans, etc. But all they did was heap on more work and more learning curve needs with no time for learning.
    
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  - laurie says:
    
    November 10, 2013 at 12:36 pm
    
    My district continues to pile on the work, to the point of having teachers rewrite the texts because they are not up to the rigor of the standards.
    
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John Young says:

November 9, 2013 at 11:50 pm

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nimbus says:

November 10, 2013 at 12:24 am

Tested my kids two days after the untimely death of a classmate because it was on the schedule. How do you think they performed? No excuses. Shall we do the same with John King’s kids? bill Gates’s kids? Mike Bloomberg’s kids (wait- he talks to his kids???) Obama’s Kids? Arne Duncan’s kids? I thought so. Hypocrites all.

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- neanderthal100 says:
  
  November 10, 2013 at 5:35 am
  
  What sick school district made you test those kids?
  The parents need to rise up but they are keeping them in the dark with their twisted facts..
  
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  - laurie says:
    
    November 10, 2013 at 11:25 am
    
    Teachers must test and have no choice as to when they must test. If too many parents exempt their kids the school is labeled a failing school. Remind anyone of a dictatorship?
    
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- LHP says:
  
  November 10, 2013 at 10:20 am
  
  Our school once sent a car to get a student to come for her state tests right after she had suffered a miscarriage. She was essential to our testing 95% of our students. They didn’t bother to see if she was all right physically or mentally. The only thing that mattered was the school’s numbers.
  
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neanderthal100 says:

November 10, 2013 at 5:05 am

Teachers are so stressed and burned out they are beginning to act like Robots..
Start Class….Teach Test…..Pre-Test the Test…Pre-Pre-Test the Pre-Test…..

Warm-up…Test Example(s) from standards.

Lesson Plan-More Test Examples from Standards

End of Lesson…More Test Examples from Standards

Daily Quiz..Test Examples from Standards..

Homework…More Test Practice…..Test Examples from Standards

Reminder….Benchmark Test every Friday..(Standards)

Reminder…..Test every Thursday..(Standards)

Reminder…Quiz Every Day..(Standards)

Reminder….Monday through Friday…tutoring before and after school….Test Prep

Reminder…Saturday School…Test Prep…Extra credit…4 hours in Mr Testers Room..
Snacks provided during Break..

Reminder…”If the shoe does not fit..wear it anyway”

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- Bill says:
  
  November 11, 2013 at 12:32 pm
  
  This is the teacher of the future. Already I have seen a lot of young teachers punch in at 7:30 and punch out at 3:00 and don’t take anything home. This is a job for them, just the way reformers want it.
  
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  - laurie says:
    
    November 11, 2013 at 1:14 pm
    
    I just retired, but I did not see teachers leaving at 3:00 and starting at 7:30. Everyone took piles of things home and many stayed until it was dark. Others left earlier but arrived around 6:00 in the morning. I think teachers are very discouraged and frustrated, but they still value their job.
    
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Skip Zalneraitis (@skipz) says:

November 10, 2013 at 5:42 am

thank you for sharing

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John Stewart (@Jstewart57John) says:

November 10, 2013 at 8:11 am

In some ways Obama, Duncan, Gates etc. fell into a Republican trap. The Republicans usually don’t want to spend money on poverty programs, and they hate unions, so education reform was something they obviously could get behind. I wonder if this political blindspot goes all the way back to Teddy Kennedy and NCLB?

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Bill says:

November 10, 2013 at 9:37 am

Why the war on teachers? We follow what directives the school system gives us. We teach the curriculum given to us and usually succeed. We teach what we are told to teach and do it well. Christie, and other reformers keep putting us down, but we work with what is given to us. If there is a war on education then go after curriculum designers and administration for giving us a flawed product.

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Vicki Seifred says:

November 10, 2013 at 10:06 am

Just saw an ad for private school in our area……..we teach the child, not the test! Say is all……

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deb says:

November 10, 2013 at 12:37 pm

Has anyone observed, learned, found out exactly what happens to the 60-65% of kids in some districts who fail? Are they promoted, retained, ignored? I only know of the 3rd grade reading guarantee and the graduation tests that stop a child from moving forward.

If so, how do students and teachers “catch up” when they have failed the objectives from the prior year? It all makes no sense.

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- laurie says:
  
  November 10, 2013 at 12:55 pm
  
  My experience is that they can be retained in third, sixth, or eighth grade, but it is very difficult to qualify them. They move on to the next grade where the teacher is supposed to be able to help them catch up. The problem is that there is no time.
  
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  - deb says:
    
    November 10, 2013 at 1:05 pm
    
    That is my point. You speak of what they do. Let’s say they fail 3rd, 6th, and 8th grade tests. So at the end of 8th grade they are 17…hmmm. That works, doesn’t it? Where will this lead. How can the next year’s teacher ever “catch them up” when they have new things to learn that are likewise above grade level.
    
    It is as if the curriculum writers say: here is what needs to be taught. Any child at any age can learn this, so teach it, developmental appropriateness doesn’t exist.
    
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  - laurie says:
    
    November 10, 2013 at 1:25 pm
    
    I agree with you. Developmental milestones are not recognized anymore. And they can’t be retained in all of those grades, only one. But no matter what, if you are ever remedial in any subject you have the odds stacked against you to ever catch up because the grade level curriculum is above the abilities of many students.
    
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  - deb says:
    
    November 10, 2013 at 2:19 pm
    
    That is why I believe that if there is a need for a CC and if it is implemented correctly, it would be introduced in K with the addition of a grade level each year so that by the time students graduate there would be a progression that is possibly more fair. It seems that if the K orb1 objectives were proven to either good or bad, that the time to adjust would be then and there.
    
    Almost everyone that I know who objects to this implementation and testing process do so because of the inappropriate grade level expectations as well as the lack of the underpinning foundation that would be required for success at each grade level.
    
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  - laurie says:
    
    November 10, 2013 at 5:17 pm
    
    Common Core is a good idea, if the questions are developed by people who understand developmental levels of children. Teachers need to be a part of that development. I taught at a low income school where many children are not good with computers. So, typing answers to questions will be laborious for them. We also only had a small computer lab and maybe one computer per classroom. How will they all be able to test and who will pay for all of the iPads or laptops so they can test on them? I think the idea is a good one, but the problems need to be ironed out before they are implemented.
    
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  - deb says:
    
    November 10, 2013 at 6:00 pm
    
    Obviously, there are things that need to be agreed upon as to what knowledge signifies an appropriate education.
    
    All I can say is that the current CC is not appropriate at the elementary level. If teachers were involved, they were misinformed. I know my principal went to meetings supposedly developing our state curricula. However, I wouldn’t call her input valuable.
    
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Marian Cruz says:

November 10, 2013 at 1:21 pm

David Sirota gets it!

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deb says:

November 10, 2013 at 2:44 pm

I think sometimes that we teachers and students are caught in a sick version of the Hunger Games, with the deaths being public schools across the nation. Not promising.

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Ellen T Klock says:

November 10, 2013 at 6:07 pm

Teachers in ELA classes throughout Buffalo followed a script for five years. There were surprise walk through by teams of administrators from downtown to be sure everyone was on task with daily schedules posted outside each door. And . . . It didn’t work. Scores did not improve. The vendor, I think it was MacMillan, who created the program, was overly optimistic of the results in a poverty stricken urban district. The results didn’t match the efforts. Oh well!

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Ellen T Klock says:

November 10, 2013 at 6:21 pm

And talking about computers. There are many issues which compromise their educational value in the Buffalo Public Schools. The type of computer and memory size, the inadequacy of the district server (the system couldn’t handle all the teachers creating online class lists and their five data points for their SLOs and subsequently crashed), the length of time the computer boots up, the fact that each child has a nine digit ID number to login then a formulated password to memorize – difficult for the primary level, and once they get online the computers are in danger of crashing, software that often doesn’t allow you to save your work, limited access to the computer lab for enough computers for a complete class, the lack of a computer teacher, the lack of a knowledgable on-site tech person to fix random computer problems, the online form to ask for tech help, the wait time for the technician to repair the computer, the lack of replacement computers or parts when one “goes bad”, the inability of students to access their accounts from home, the list goes on.

Technology is great, when it works properly. I’m still waiting.

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Ken Watanabe says:

November 11, 2013 at 8:11 pm

I wonder what “War on Poverty” in the 21st century looks(sounds) like. Could be something between FDR and Lyndon Johnson!?

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- john abramson says:
  
  November 11, 2013 at 11:25 pm
  
  i’d love to live to see the former, not that lbj didn’t have his heart in the right place. alas, objective conditions were operating at the dawn of the new deal, and the concept of ‘class’ was not a ‘dirty word’. as for lbj, a case of fine generational timing, collapsing int ‘the fog of war’.
  
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Marianne Stovall says:

January 25, 2014 at 1:41 pm

It’s right on tract with what i typed in to Google for others perspectives. This is what we do at my school. Follow an exact schedule of lessons related to the test;, test, grade, record, study data and we do that 187 days of the year. That is all we do! We do exactly what we are told and our students are making no progress. Then after we follow all the rules and fail to help 6 to 7 different children then it’s our fault, not administration, not the child, and not the parent. It’s a win/win situation for everybody it’s working for and a super duper case of lose/lose for each child and teacher it’s not working for. It’s like a business, the focus is not on the actual product, it’s on the money, advertising, and the recreating of newer better products to further confuse the buyer. The problem in school is that your product is a human being and you can’t recreate them. You have to tear them down and get to the nitty gritty of what is not working and that is far to expensive for public school and that is a different type of administrator and teacher. Perhaps we need 2 to three programs running within public school and forget all the synchronization. I know it works for water ballet but we are all not aspiring to be that. Public schools also remind me of your prison system. Again synchronization for simplification, but those people inside are angry, lost, and confused. They are even there because the school system created them. I am really scare for the U.S. The more the population grows and we keep follow this basic educational plan the worse it will get. THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM WILL BE THE DOWNFALL OF AMERICA. Teachers and helpless children aren’t the problem. The problem is we won’t change a pattern for fear it might be complicated, or messy. Public school is clean as a whistle but sneak into the inside and explore and you will find a virus effecting the majority and only a few are lucky and not infected. I would love to succeed but I am broken hearted to see things haven’t changed in schools and I’m 57. If we could somehow advance public school like technology we would lead the world in every way. BOTTOM LINE EDUCATIONAL IN AMERICA MEANS LIVING IN THE DARK AGES FOR 12 years times 187 days times homework times testing and failing to meet the criteria and then you compete for a job and then you fail and then you end up in the same place called prison and you do it all overagain. IM JUST PLAIN BORED AND SO ARE MOST OF OUR STUDENTS.

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