High Stakes Community Schools: No wonder they are high-risk!

I was quite dissapointed with the forum on Monday night. I feel that certain points, valid, controversial points did not come up or even mentioned! I was especially disturbed by the arguements made (and not made) by the "teachers' union," and would like to touch on them now.

Firstly, the teachers' union representatives did not even touch on issues regarding teachers. They only were concerned with the students' learning, which should be the main plight of the parent. They never brought up the dismissal procedures that would be enacted if the teachers' students fail to make progress for 2 years in a row. This idea fails to take into account new teachers, who just starting, may not know the ropes as well or are settling into their curriculum. This may be seen as an "excuse for poor teaching," but I would invite Drs. Langholz and Knick to teach thid grade for a week and see what progress is made. It takes time to adapt and familiarize oneself with teaching. Also, if a teacher has low-potential students, ones with learning disabilities or emotional issues in her room two years in a row and her job is then under scrutiny for her children's scores, is that really what we want as a community? It would lead to a cycle of struggling teachers trying to do a near impossible job. We need to support these teachers, and they in turn will support the students.

Another problem that the Union failed to bring up is the pseudo-incentive $1000 for met acheivement goals. This brings into question the validity of the goal, whether it is really in the students' best interest, or just low enough for them to meet so that the teacher is cushioned with a nice sum. It encourages teaching towards the test, a form of "memorization" on the students' parts that requires little genuine learning but offers nice results on a short term test. The merit pay encourages teachers in the wrong way, in a way that is detrimental to the students' well-being.

While I am in support of legislation that ensures our students a well rounded education, I would be behind it fully if it did not do it at the expense of the teachers in our community.