Sunday, June 2, 2013

Teachers to Work 12 Months per Year?

Grace Kelly wrote this interesting post over at MPP. Apparently she feels for the folks in Public Education and their financial issues, so she recommends some ideas that I don't think will be very popular with many groups. MPP Being the Best Representative of Labor

Here were my thoughts have garnered no response at MPP so far:
"With regard to Public Schools, wouldn’t it make more sense to title this ???

Being the Best Representative of Students

Though I appreciate those that work for the schools, the schools are not there for the benefit of the employees. The tax payers fund the school system to help our children become educated and responsible adult tax paying citizens.

I think many of the workers that choose the Public Education field would very unhappy if you took away their Summers off. And I am not sure our society is ready to have kids in school 12 mths a year. It is an interesting idea though.

Personally I think all students that are not meeting the academic achievement thresholds should be in school 12 months per year until they get up to speed. Unfortunately that is not very popular with many groups. First we have to pay for it, second some may call it racist, third we have to find good Teachers who are willing to give up their Summer off, fourth some will think the poor kids will be too stigmatized, etc…

I agree that the 360 degree feedback sounds like an excellent idea.

However what would you do regarding a tenured Teacher who consistently gets worse feedback than their peers? Remember that this employee is high cost and job secure… Thoughts?"
G2A Teacher Evals (pt 2)
G2A Public Employee Comp
G2A Teacher Comp

5 comments:

R-Five said...

I think we should be able to find something for teachers to do to justify their full time pay, like helping struggling students. But I am categorically opposed to expanding the school year. School should be out (for those who pass) between Memorial Day and Labor Day, let the kids be kids.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't have any problem with year round school for all kids. Summers off is a scheduling pain for working families and a learning black hole for most kids, not just the underachievers. It's a weird remnant of our agrarian past that doesn't have any reason to exist in the 21st century.

Structure the school year to provide more frequent, shorter breaks throughout the year, and yes, put the teachers on 12 year contracts. In my mind, they could still receive similar vacation that coincides with the kids' year-round schedules.

--Annie

John said...

I understand how shortening the gaps would help the kids retain more, however I am not sure how it would help the other concerns.

Anonymous said...

Public schools are a work place. Policy must take that into account.

--Hiram

John said...

Hiram,
Now that was a cryptic comment. What do you mean?

We should pay them for 12 months when they work 9.5?

We should protect the employment of high cost Teachers, when there is a more cost effective alternative readily available?

And we should provide this ideal "work place" for the employees at what cost to the students? Fewer higher paid Teachers meaning more students in each classroom.

Should Public School policy really be set for the good of the Union employees? I don't think so.

If you set it around ensuring the kids learn, ensuring the best Teachers are fairly compensated would come naturally. Not this silly Steps/Lanes system.